Let’s Stay Together (Al Green) Guitar Lesson with Backing Tracks + TAB

In this guitar lesson, we look at custom-made TAB for all sections — parts designed to work in a band setting even if you don’t have strings and horns!

Let’s Stay Together | TAB

We’ll go through a range of TAB examples for each section. These aren’t straight transcriptions of the original recording, but parts I’ve developed after playing this tune live for over twenty years.

I’m playing with more rhythm — it’s less floaty, and I’m carrying more of the tune. Live, I rarely have a string section and often no horns, so the guitar needs to be more prominent.

Intro

This part has the horns and strings baked into a single guitar line. Nail this and you can comfortably play the tune with just bass and drums.

You’ll hear elements of this return in the chorus — but we’ll get to that.

Verse

I’ve got two fairly busy verse parts here. Learn them, then strip them back, move to different positions, and aim for freedom.

Notice the repetition and small rhythmic variations — that’s the key.

Here’s another approach — this one is very busy.

Experiment with alternate shapes and vary these ideas until you can improvise. That way, if there’s a horn section or a busy keys player, you’ll naturally find a lighter part in the moment.

Bridge

As the bridge repeats with only one chord changing, I’ve included two different ideas. You could simply repeat one, or explore the fretboard further — that’s part of the fun with this tune.

Chorus

The chorus echoes the intro, although here we naturally need to play more. Let’s start with a foundational approach:

Here’s a busier variation — plus a new voicing. Keep going and see how many shapes and rhythmic ideas you can find.

Instrumental

The instrumental section is what makes this work so well in a smaller band setting — it carries the tune without needing strings or horns.

End

For some reason, every band I’ve played this with has used this ending without ever discussing it. I’m not sure it’s even on any recording — but it works.

When you can play all this TAB, play along with Al Green and his band using the backing tracks above.

Let’s Stay Together Backing Tracks + TAB | Related Pages

Let’s Stay Together | Chords + Backing Tracks

You can learn how to play Let’s Stay Together by Al Green using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.

| F (Fsus4) | F | Dm9 | Dm9 |
I, I’m so in love with you…

Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics