Learn how to play "Like a Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan!

Bob Dylan wrote this famous song about The Rolling Stones member Brian Jones.

🔙 Fun fact: I played in a Rolling Stones tribute band for around 7 years as Brian Jones – seriously, see the video for a surprising photo!

Let's learn how to play Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan on the acoustic guitar. :)

Like a Rolling Stone – Intro

The intro is based on C for half a bar and F for half a bar. You can play the basic chords, but we'll learn what Dylan does in the original.

Let's play a regular C chord for two beats, then move to FMaj7/C (X33210). Using the thumb, you could also play the bass note at 6:1 (string 6, fret 1). Play 3 + 4 + and lift off finger 2 for the "ands" to get the sus2 chord (X33010). That is how Dylan does in the original!

On the C, I usually add a hammer-on with finger 2. Lift it off for beat 1, then hammer it on 4:2 on the "e" after 1. Then strum D U D D U. The rhythm is 1 e + a 2 e + a.

Once you have the chords down, experimenting to find your strumming patterns and embellishments is a crucial step on the guitar journey.

🎵 Make Your Own Cover! Bob Dylan's songs have a lot of cover versions because his songs are like skeletons that you can dress up as you wish.

Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan – Verse

Each chord in verse lasts half a bar. We go C, Dm, C/E, F, and G for two bars. C/E It's a regular open C chord without finger 3 (XX2010). Use the tip of finger 2 to mute string 5.

Play F as a mini barre chord (XX3211), using finger 1 to play the two notes on fret 1. You can play a regular open G (3X0003) for the G or slide the mini F shape two frets up the fretboard (XX5433).

We play these chords this way so that we have a walking bassline. Play each chord, and identify the bass note of each. It goes 5:3, to 4:0, to 4:2, to 4:3, then to 3:0 or 6:3 or 5:5. If you know your notes in the open position, you'll realize that those notes are C, D, E, F, and G, the first five notes of the C Major Scale.

You can also play C/E (032010), F (133211), and G (3X0003) to get the same effect. The bass notes in the same, but we go back an octave after the Dm.

Like a Rolling Stone – Power Chord Version

To vary the dynamics of the verse and highlight the bass line more, you could use power chords. Play C (X35XXX), D (X57XXX), C/E (03XXX), F (13XXXX), and G (35XXXX). This gives you a lot of room to increase the volume of the choruses.

There are other ways to vary the dynamics. Try your solutions. Whatever you do, keep the verses quieter – watch how your playing comes to life. :)

Like a Rolling Stone – Pre-chorus

In the pre-chorus, we go from one bar of F (133211) to one bar of G (3X0003), then repeat each for another bar.

Then the chords for the next part are F (XX3211), C/E (XX2010), Dm (XX0231), and C (X32010), each for half a bar. Again, there's a bass movement: F, E, D, then C. We're coming down the C Major Scale.

💡 Scales don’t have to be scary! In fact, learning scales will ignite your guitar potential! Get going on your major-scale journey by checking out how to play the C Major Scale.

I've always played the latter section using a picking pattern and slightly different chords. I play Fsus2 (XX301X), C/E (XX201X), D7sus4 (XX001X), and C5 (X3201X). Don't worry about the names!

I pick the rhythm 1+2+3+4+, picking strings 4, 3, 2, then 4 for the first three chords. On the C, I play strings 5, 3, 2, then 4:0 (string 4, fret 0), followed by 4:2, to the rhythm 3 +a 4 +.

You don't have to do this – I heard this on a recording years ago and have always played this song this way, and I think it sounds wicked. You can also strum the chords if you like.

After two reps of this sequence, we play Dm for a bar, F for a bar, then G for two bars. With folk G (3X0003), one of my favorite embellishments is to add fingers 2 to 4:2 and fingers 1 to 2:1 at the same time.

💡 Dylan is a storyteller: He adds extra bars wherever he feels like it! If you’re playing alone, you can make up the chords a little. But in a band situation, you need to decide on an arrangement.

Like a Rolling Stone – Chorus

For the chorus, we play C, F, then a full bar of G. Use the same F as in the intro, and play the same embellishments with finger 2. After six repetitions of that sequence, Dylan usually stays on G.

You might find that slightly lifting a finger 3 when switching from C to FMaj7/C makes it easier to put finger 4 in the right place. I notice that I lift off finger 3 automatically!

🧐 A huge advantage of open chords is the embellishments you can add. Check out my Chord Explorer Series to master them for the common open chords. :)

Performing Like a Rolling Stone

This Bob Dylan classic is a long song, especially if you play all the verses, choruses, and solo sections like in the original recording.

So, this song is a great opportunity to record yourself performing it and listen back, analyzing how you can vary the dynamics.

Playing a song like this on your own can easily sound repetitive. In a band, it's much easier to vary the dynamics! So, ensure you vary them, so you don't bore the listeners!

Up for more? Check out my other Bob Dylan song tutorials, and have fun!