Play "Werewolves of London" by Warren Zevon on guitar!

This 3-Chord Song Brings Back So Many Memories. :)

Since I was a teenager, I've loved Werewolves of London by Warrel Zevon! I have no idea when I first came across this song, but when I moved to London, one of the highlights was having dinner at Lee Ho Fuk, which is in Chinatown in London! :) This is the restaurant that Warrel Zevon name-checks in the song, and I think that's a really cool little thing. :)

But anyway! :) Today, we're here to learn how to play Werewolves of London on the electric guitar. We'll learn a simple, beginner version, which also sounds great on the acoustic guitar!

💡 Beginners following Grade 1 of my Guitar Course can play Werewolves of London with easy chords and strumming patterns.

Stick around if you're comfortable with the basic chord changes and strumming pattern – we'll also learn an authentic version! We'll explore the structure of the song, some Rock techniques you can add to sound great, and you'll even learn how to emulate that piano part on your guitar. It's loadsa fun!

Now let's get stuck in and learn how to play Werewolves of London by Warrel Zevon on the guitar. :)

Werewolves of London – Chords + Structure

We play the same chords throughout the entire song. You'll only need D, C, and G chords. The progression is two beats on D, two on C, then four on G. Easy peasy, eh?

If you're a beginner or want a chilled sing-along version, keep the strumming pattern super simple by strumming two downstrums on D and C and four on G.

If you want to get a little fancier, try this pattern:

D       C       G
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
D D D   D D D   D D D D   D D

Make sure to use all downstrums. :)

💡 Warren Zevon is an incredible guitar player! He plays some beautiful slide guitar in this song. We won't learn it in this lesson, but you should definitely experiment with that if you're getting into slide guitar!

The Piano Riff – Chords + Notes

More advanced guitar players might want to explore playing the piano riff. It's great practice for your picking hand technique! :)

To start, grab a D6 chord (XX043X) with fingers 3 and 4, but have finger 1 ready on 3:2 (string 3, fret 2). We strum the D6, then lift off finger 4 to get D (XX023X).

A similar thing happens on the C. Grab a C6 chord (X322XX) to start. I use fingers 3, 1, and 2, in that order, rather than fingers 3, 2, and 1. It just feels strange to have finger 1 under finger 2! Whichever fingering we use, we need to lift off the finger playing 3:2 to reveal the open G string. Target strings 5, 4, and 3. Open string 2 sounds sour if you hit it!

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After the C, we move to a G, using fingers 3 and 4 (3X00XX). We'll also hammer on the 6th (at 4:2) with finger 2. At the end of the bar, there's a bass riff. We pick the open A string, hammer on at fret 2 with finger 2, then pluck the open D string.

The rhythm is:

D           C           G
1  +  2  +  3  +  4  +  1  +  2  +  3  +  4  e  +
D6 D        C6 C        G  G  G6 G  B  G 5:0 5:2 4:0
(B means bass note)

You'll need a steady strumming movement and good picking accuracy. Practice is really the only thing that can get you there!

The Piano Riff – Picking Hand

It's a pretty simple riff, but if you want it to sound ultra-authentic, you need to take care with the picking hand. The devil is in the details! We play two downstrums on the D, only strumming strings 4, 3, and 2. Mute string 1 with your fretting hand. Strum quite aggressively – there's a lot of character in this rhythm part.

On the C, I only hit strings 5, 4, and 3, and I strum such that the pick moves away from the strings. By doing this, I avoid hitting string 2. On G, the only time I hit string 6 is on beats 1 and 3. When I strum the chord, I focus on strings 4 and 3. Don't worry if you hit string 2 in this case – it'll sound fine.

This is the basic framework. But even when I'm not strumming, I still feel the movement and occasionally hit the strings to get ghost notes. This is really subtle stuff, but it adds that little bit extra to your sound. Keep your hand moving and feel into the groove. Your hand should feel like it's dancing!

Werewolves of London – Performance Tips

This rhythm part repeats throughout the whole tune. If you're playing solo, you'll need to vary the dynamics and feel to keep it interesting for the listener. A simple way to do this is to play chords for some sections. Try changing the volume in each section too.

As for singing and playing, learn each skill one at a time! First, get comfortable playing the song on the guitar. Then you can start singing it. Automating one part will help you concentrate entirely on the other one. It might seem to take longer this way, but trust me: it doesn't.

I can't believe I hadn't learned how to play Werewolves of London before. I've always loved this one, and I've finally got around to playing it. I hope you have as much fun with this one as I did. :)

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