Learn "Sweet Virginia" by the Rolling Stones on the acoustic guitar!

Learn how to play Sweet Virginia by The Rolling Stones on the acoustic guitar. Wow, what a tune! This song is great for working on shuffle strumming and linking open chords with fills.

You'll need your capo on fret 2 for this one! I've seen a lot of versions of Sweet Virginia written with E, A, D, and B chords, but the fills only work with a capo and open chords. The capo can help us make fantastic music!

We begin by looking at the chords and strumming. :)

Sweet Virginia by The Rolling Stones – Guitar Chords and Rhythm

The following is the simplest rhythm pattern you could play for this song, which I used in the video lesson.

1  trip  let  2  trip  let  3  trip  let  4  trip  let
B         U   D         U   B         U   D         U  
B means bass note

🎶 This is a Shuffle Rhythm: the upstrum (on the "lets") is closer to the next downstrum than the one before. Try it! It gives a totally different feel to the song. :) Go deep into shuffle strumming with my Strumming Dynamics course.

Let's look at the chords. We only need the standard G, C, D, and A open chords. The intro lasts 20 bars:

G, D, G, G
C, A, G, G
C, A, G, G
C, A, G, C
G, D, G, G

And the verse is the same as the intro, except we miss the first four bars! I suggest you memorize the chord progression before looking at the fills between the bars. :)

Got that progression down? Great – it's time to look at those wicked fills.

Sweet Virginia by The Rolling Stones – Guitar Linking Lines

The bass runs and embellishments have a clear pattern that repeats for most of Sweet Virginia. Let's start with the bass movement between the C and A chords.

Hit string 5 on beat 3 of the C chord. On beat 4, we put finger 2 down on 5:2. This is B. When we change to A on beat 1, we hit open string 5 (the note A).

Between the A and G chords, the run is E (6:0), F# (6:2), and G (6:3). The rhythm is the same.

💡 Fingering Choices: I like to play the F# note with my thumb, but this is a little tricky for many guitarists. Finger 2 also works great. :)

When switching from G to C, we climb from A (5:0) to B (5:2) to C (5:3). This is the same bass movement as before but in reverse. In the final C of the verse progression (bar 12), there's a lovely sus2 embellishment.

1   trip    let   2     trip   let    3    trip    let    4

D                 4:0   4:2h   3:0   4:0   4:2h    3:0   4:0

4:2h means hammer on 4:2

Make sure to pick the open G string on the "lets" using an up strum! Now we're into the final four bars. When switching from G to D, we play the note B (5:2) on beat 3 and E (4:2) on beat 4. And when we move back to G, we hit F# (6:2), then C (5:3).

🚨 Avoid the top four strings when you hit the note C. I tend to use finger 2 to fret it, meaning that my fingers hold a strange chord (X30230) that tends to sound strange in this context. It's useful to practice Picking Individual Notes While You Strum.

We switch to a C chord on beat 3 of the second-last bar of G. Leave your little finger on 1:3, strum with finger 2 off, then hammer it on at 4:2. Then pick 5:2 on beat 4.

Now it's time for the intro lines. :)

Sweet Virginia by The Rolling Stones – Intro Riff

The riffs in the first four bars of the intro are similar to those in the last four of the verse. On the "e + a" before beat 1 of the first bar, we play 4:0, 3:0, then 2:0. The picking for this is UDU.

On beat 4, hit the open D string, then hammer finger 2 on 4:2 (the 6th) before picking the open G string. The rhythm for this is 4 e +. Then on beat 1 of the D chord, emphasize the open D string to finish the line.

When switching back to the G, add the same F# to the C chord movement as we did before. And over the second-last bar of G, use the riff from bar 15 of the verse.

Plenty of riffs to practice! Now let's talk about the shuffle feel. :)

Master The Shuffle Feel

You must nail the shuffle feel! The best way is to play along with the original Rolling Stones recording from the album Exile On Main Street. This version has a fantastic feel.

🎸 Haven't memorized the chords yet? No problem. Mute your strings and strum along. It should feel relaxed and easy. When you feel confident, you can add the chords and the fancy stuff. :)

Many people struggle with this type of strumming, but Sweet Virginia is probably the best song for practicing the slow, country shuffle. Practice, practice, practice!

And that's all there is to it. It's now down to you to explore those great riffs and the shuffle feel. Have great fun jamming with this wicked acoustic guitar song! Laters. :)

🎵 Want chords, tabs, and lyrics to follow along with my song tutorials? Check out JustinGuitar Tabs!