↓Skip to main content
  1. Blog/

Songs to Learn in Open G Tuning — 12 Essential Picks

·6 mins
Open G Chords Blues Rock Folk Beginner Intermediate Guide
Table of Contents

The fastest way to get comfortable in Open G is to learn songs — not exercises, not scales, but actual music that takes advantage of what the tuning does well. These twelve songs span blues, rock, folk, and country. They’re ordered roughly from most accessible to most demanding, but any of them is a reasonable starting point depending on what drew you to Open G in the first place.

Before you start: tune your guitar to Open G and bookmark the Open G Chord Chart for shape reference.

Beginner-Friendly Starting Points #

1. Honky Tonk Women — The Rolling Stones #

The quintessential Open G rock song. The main riff is built on the open G chord and a barre at the 5th fret, with a simple hammer-on figure that makes the rhythm bounce. Keith Richards plays it in Open G with the 6th string removed, but you can play it with all six strings — just avoid hitting the low D if it sounds muddy.

What you’ll learn: The I–IV–V riff structure, rhythmic strumming in Open G, the signature partial barre approach.

2. Brown Sugar — The Rolling Stones #

Another Keith Richards classic built from simple Open G shapes. The intro riff uses a barre chord with a pull-off that creates the song’s driving momentum. Once you have the chord shapes, the rhythm is the main challenge — it has a specific lope to it that takes a few sessions to feel natural.

What you’ll learn: Barre chord transitions, the pull-off riff that defines Keith’s style, rhythm in a shuffle feel.

3. Start Me Up — The Rolling Stones #

One of the most recognisable riffs in rock, and in Open G it comes from a small number of very simple moves. The riff alternates between a partial barre and some open strings, giving it that punchy, rhythmic character. A good early goal once you have basic barre shapes down.

What you’ll learn: Partial barre shapes, combining fretted and open strings in a riff, rock rhythm feel.

4. Dead Flowers — The Rolling Stones #

A slower, more country-flavoured song that lets you hear Open G’s acoustic resonance clearly. The chord changes are simple — mainly between G, C, and D positions — and the pace gives you time to find each shape. A great one to strum through while you’re still building muscle memory.

What you’ll learn: Chord changes in a relaxed context, Open G’s natural country and folk character, strumming patterns.

Intermediate Songs #

5. Wild Horses — The Rolling Stones #

Probably the most beautiful thing Keith Richards ever wrote in Open G. The chord voicings ring with a depth that standard tuning can’t replicate, because the open strings are always resonating underneath the fretted notes. The fingerpicking approach is more demanding than the earlier songs on this list.

What you’ll learn: Complex chord voicings, fingerpicking in Open G, how the open strings create harmonic depth.

6. That’s the Way — Led Zeppelin #

Jimmy Page’s acoustic fingerpicking at its most delicate. The song uses close, ringing chord voicings in Open G that produce a shimmering quality as the open strings ring sympathetically. The picking pattern is consistent throughout, so once you have it, you have the whole song — but it takes time to build.

What you’ll learn: Fingerpicking patterns, acoustic Open G voicings, Led Zeppelin’s folk-influenced approach to the tuning.

7. In My Time of Dying — Led Zeppelin #

A slide guitar piece rooted in delta blues tradition. Page’s version draws directly from older gospel and blues recordings. This one requires a slide and some confidence with muting and vibrato. The positions in Open G are intuitive once you understand the tuning’s layout, but the feel takes practice.

What you’ll learn: Slide technique in Open G, delta blues phrasing, controlling vibrato and sustain.

8. Walkin’ Blues — Robert Johnson / Muddy Waters #

The delta blues template in Open G. Robert Johnson’s version of this song (and Muddy Waters’ electric take) demonstrate exactly why open tunings and the blues grew up together. A slide across the strings at position 5 gives you C, at 7 gives you D — the whole 12-bar form is right there.

What you’ll learn: 12-bar blues form in Open G, slide chord positions, the rhythmic thumb pattern of delta blues.

Acoustic and Folk #

9. The Circle Game — Joni Mitchell #

Joni Mitchell used Open G and related open tunings to build harmonic complexity with minimal fretting. The Circle Game sits in a warm, resonant space that rewards slow, deliberate playing. Good for players who want to explore Open G’s folk character rather than its blues or rock dimensions.

What you’ll learn: Open G in a folk context, suspended and add9 chord colours, Mitchell’s open-string voicing approach.

10. Going to California — Led Zeppelin #

Another Page fingerpicking piece — lighter and more pastoral than “That’s the Way,” though not significantly easier. The song exploits Open G’s open strings as a constant drone beneath moving chord shapes, giving it a drone-like, meditative quality.

What you’ll learn: Drone note playing in Open G, acoustic fingerpicking, how to let the open strings do work under chord changes.

Blues Classics #

11. Come On In My Kitchen — Robert Johnson #

One of the most famous Open G recordings in the delta blues canon. It’s quiet and intimate, played with a slide on a resonator guitar, and built around a simple motif repeated with small variations. The technique is approachable; the feel — that particular slow, grieving quality — takes more time to develop.

What you’ll learn: Slide phrasing in a slow blues context, single-string melody in Open G, emotional dynamics.

12. Little Red Rooster — Howlin’ Wolf / Rolling Stones #

Originally a slow Chicago blues with slide guitar, later covered by the Stones in Open G. Both versions demonstrate how slide guitar creates a vocal, conversational quality — the guitar literally sounds like it’s singing back at you between the vocal phrases. A good last milestone before exploring your own slide vocabulary.

What you’ll learn: Slide as a melodic voice, call-and-response phrasing, Chicago blues rhythm in Open G.

Where to Go Next #

Once you’ve worked through a few of these, you’ll have the vocabulary to start finding your own sounds in Open G. The Open G Chord Chart covers all the shapes needed for any of these songs. If you’re focusing on slide, the Open G Slide Guitar Tips lesson is a good next step.