I Know It's Only Rock n Roll (But I Like It) Rolling Stones Guitar Lesson

In this post, we'll dive into the guitar style of the classic rock anthem 'I Know It's Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It)' by The Rolling Stones. 'I Know It's Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It)' is the lead single from The Rolling Stones' 1974 album 'It's Only Rock 'n Roll'. The songwriting was credited to Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. In this guitar lesson, I'll guide you through the chords, strumming patterns, and rock guitar techniques you need to know to play it like a pro.

It's Only Rock n Roll (But I Like It) Chords

Essentially there are just 5 chords you need to know to jam along with this recording. Those chords are E, A, G, D, and B. Here’s how I would play them as open-position chords. 

For E I would play all 6 strings like this:

A like this:

G like this:

D like this:

And finally, B is like this:

Adding in the rhythm

Now Keith often instead of playing just the straight open chords, would substitute in blues rhythm patterns.

So instead of just strumming an open E chord he would play something like this:

This adds a little movement to the backing and helps it not feel stagnant as a lot of this song is just the E chord over and over.

The E blues rhythm continues for most of the verse until you hit these rhythmic hits over the lyrics.

Ain't he strange?

This is where the A, G, and E chords come in. However, instead of playing the full versions of A and G from the above shapes, here I’ll just play parts of them like this:

I do this because the chords are moving so quickly and there is no need to try to spell out every note in the chord. The basic idea is just to hit the essentials of the chord, which in this case is the root note and the 5th of the chord, and then get on to the next chord because they are moving fast and you want to keep pace with the vocals. 

After these rhythmic hits, then I go to the full open E chord instead of back to the blues rhythm pattern. Tip: Reference the video above for the demonstration.

How to rock out in the chorus

In the chorus, the song’s lyrics sing, "I said I know it's only rock 'n' roll but I like it," and this part is the anthem for rock music lovers everywhere. 

We’ll use three chords here, first A and then E two bars each.

A (2 bars)

E (2 bars)

Then we’ll repeat the A chord again for 2 bars and then finish with 2 split bars where we’ll play 2 chords per bar.

A (2 bars)

E, D (1 bar)

A, E (1 bar)

So the entire chorus is 8 bars long and looks like this:

A (2 bars)

E (2 bars)

A (2 bars)

E, D (1 bar)

A, E (1 bar)

For the chorus, I would plug in the open chord shapes used above in this lesson so far. However, for the first 2 bars when you play the A chord let’s drop in another blues rhythm pattern here to break it up like this:

Then there are some more rhythms over the lyrics “Can’t you see”. Here we’ll play another split bar of D to A but the A is going to be syncopated and come in on the “and” of 2 like this:

Bridge

The bridge of the song is the last part you’ll need to learn and that goes from a B chord to an A chord but again using blues rhythm patterns. This part can be a bit of a stretch so if it’s too much just try strumming the straight chord shapes from above. However, if you are feeling up to it using the blues rhythm pattern adds some nice movement and makes it a lot of fun to play the rhythm.

After this, the song goes back and repeats all familiar material eventually fading out on the chorus jamming the 2 bars of A to 2 bars of E all the way out.

Conclusion:

Learning 'I Know It's Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It)' by The Rolling Stones is a fantastic way to enhance your rock guitar skills while also gaining a deeper appreciation of rock music and its history. So, be patient with yourself, enjoy the process, and with time and effort, you will be able to play it with confidence and style, and maybe even add your own touch to it. And for another great bluesy rock guitar tune check out “Call Me The Breeze” next.