Song · Open G tuning

Start Me Up — The Rolling Stones

Keith Richards' whole style lives in this riff. A single index-finger barre at the 5th fret gives a C chord across the middle strings — then one more finger hammers onto the two highest strings a fret higher, and the chord shifts to F/C without moving the barre at all. That hammer-on is the entire trick: C to F/C and back, over and over.

The riff resolves through a Bb5 power chord (just two strings, same index finger, third fret) before landing on the F chord — a full barre at the 10th fret, and the actual tonic of the song.

The C↔F/C hammer-on is the documented intro riff shape; Bb5 and F are the song's other two core chords (IV and I), shown here as the natural resolution. Open the progression below to hear the exact fretting in Open G.