Lola

by The Kinks • Lesson #427 • Apr 1, 2022

Licensed Song Sheet 4 pages

Follow along with my print-friendly guide for this song! It’s available for purchase at Musicnotes.com, the web’s leading provider of licensed sheet music.

On the fence? Here's a guide I made showing the purchase & print process, including answers to common questions about my song sheets.

Buy at Musicnotes.com

Editor’s notes

Hey there, friends! New guitar lesson today showing how to play Lola by The Kinks, from beginning to end. I’ll tackle the intro riff, verse, chorus, bridge, and break down the distinctive lead guitar fill heard at the end of each verse. In total, this song uses a moderate number of chords (with some tricky rhythmic bits in the bridge) – but I’ll show you few options on how to approach strumming during the tricky parts. Let’s do it!

Timestamps for my full video lesson:

0:00 Lesson Summary
1:27 Intro
4:11 Verse
7:49 Chorus
10:15 Bridge
15:24 Lead Fill Riff
20:10 Playthrough

Extended Intro & Verse Riff (Lesson #165)

Here’s my initial video, which focuses on the instrumental intro & verse riff. This is inspired by Mike Massé’s acoustic cover, which is shown below. The tab for this section is included in my 4-page sheet music linked above.

Mike Massé’s Acoustic Cover

Here is the video of YouTuber Mike Massé playing this song. Great cover! This inspired me to learn it. I teach his extended intro riff (or a close-enough version of it) in my video lesson #165, shown above.

The Kinks live version from 1980

In this version you can hear the extended acoustic intro that Mike Massé plays in his acoustic cover up above. They start playing in 1:06 of this video:

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Lola

Licensed Song Sheet 4 pages

Editor’s notes

Extended Intro & Verse Riff (Lesson #165)

Mike Massé’s Acoustic Cover

The Kinks live version from 1980

Unlock My Secret Stash!

Browse Related Lessons

Enjoy My Lessons? Show Your Support!

Looking for More Song Lessons?

Featured Courses

Strumming & Rhythm

Fingerstyle & Travis Picking

Blues Starter Kit

Reading Music for Guitarists

Learning Lead Guitar

Beginner Chord Guide

Practical Music Theory

Using a Capo

Walk Ups & Walk Downs

CAGED Essentials

Fun & Helpful Tools I've Made

Fret Monster

Capo Captain

Key Master

Blank Tabs

Subscribe to my YouTube channel

Recent Lessons