The Who Best Guitar Songs
Play These Legendary Rock Hits

Each lesson includes a free chord sheet, rhythm tips, lesson and a demo video to get you started. On this page are some chord and rhythm tips on the songs I teach by The Who.

The songs on this page is designed to help you learn iconic songs by The Who on acoustic guitar. You'll find free resources, including chord sheets, rhythm tips, and demo videos, to get you started.

If you need a more in-depth breakdown, step-by-step video tutorials are available for a small fee.

Bargain appears on the seminal 1971 album Who's Next. While it was never released as a single and therefore did not chart, it remains a massive fan favorite and a staple of classic rock radio.

The trivia here is quite spiritual: while it sounds like a love song to a woman, Pete Townshend wrote it as a devotional song about losing one's ego to find God (specifically his guru, Meher Baba).

The line "I'd gladly lose me to find you" encapsulates this theme perfectly.

Behind Blue Eyes was released on Who's Next (1971). This power ballad charted at #34 in the US and #24 in the UK.

Originally written for Townshend’s abandoned Lifehouse sci-fi rock opera, the lyrics were meant to be sung by the main villain,"Jumbo," expressing his loneliness behind a tough facade.

Interestingly, a cover version by Limp Bizkit in 2003 became a massive hit in Europe, actually charting higher in many countries than The Who’s original version.

Don't Let Go The Coat is found on the 1981 album Face Dances. It was a minor hit, reaching #47 in the UK and #84 in the US.

The song features a distinct country-rock influence that was prevalent in Townshend's writing at the time.

The lyrics are deeply personal, inspired by Townshend's reliance on his spiritual beliefs (and his guru) to keep him grounded while dealing with the pressures of fame and addiction during the band's tumultuous post-Keith Moon era.

Goin Mobile is a deep cut from Who's Next (1971), The song was never released as a single and did not chart.

The most interesting piece of trivia is that lead singer Roger Daltrey does not appear on this track at all.

Pete Townshend handles all the vocals. Additionally, the unique "quacking" sound on the lead guitar wasn't a pedal, but the guitar being fed into an envelope follower on an ARP synthesizer, giving it that distinct "underwater" fuzz tone.

It's Hard was the title track from the 1982 album It's Hard and this song was released as a single but failed to chart on the main US Hot 100, though it did reach #39 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.

It served as a statement of resilience for the band, who were on the verge of breaking up at the time.

This was the last single of new material The Who released on vinyl for over two decades until their comeback tracks in 2004.

Let My Love Open The Door was  released on Pete Townshend's solo album Empty Glass (1980),

This song was a genuine smash hit, reaching #9 in the US (making it Townshend's most successful solo single). Although it is a sweet, bouncy pop song, Townshend originally considered it "just a ditty" and was surprised by its success.

In 1996, a slower, melancholy ballad version known as the "E. Cola Mix" was released, which has since become a popular alternate version used in many films and TV shows. .

Love Ain't For The Keeping is a featured on Who's Next (1971) and this acoustic track was not a charting single.

It is the shortest song on the album and involves a radical change in style: the original version recorded in New York was a heavy electric rock song featuring guest lead guitarist Leslie West from the band Mountain.

The band scrapped that heavy version in favor of the gentle, folk-rock acoustic version that made the final album, giving the record a moment of calm.

Pinball Wizard was a breakout hit from the rock opera Tommy (1969),

It reached #4 in the UK and #19 in the US and is arguably one of the most recognizable guitar intros in rock history.

Townshend wrote the song purely to get a good review from rock critic Nik Cohn, who was a fan of pinball.

Townshend quickly incorporated the game into the plot of Tommy to please Cohn, who immediately declared the album a masterpiece.

So Sad About Us appeared on the 1966 album A Quick One, This track was never released as a single and therefore did not chart.

Despite its lack of commercial release, it is widely considered a prototype for the Power Pop genre and became a musician's favorite.

An interesting fact is that Pete Townshend originally wrote it for a band called The Merseys, but after their version flopped, The Who reclaimed it. It has since become a cult classic, famously covered by The Jam and The Breeders.

Squeeze Box was a  surprise hit and hails from The Who by Numbers (1975) album and reached #10 in the UK and #16 in the US.

It features instruments rarely used by the band, specifically a banjo and an accordion.

While the lyrics innocently describe a woman playing music, the entire song is a cheeky double entendre for sex. The band famously performed this country-tinged track on their variety TV special, seemingly enjoying the fact that the dirty joke went right over the censors' heads.

Waiting For A Friend can be found on the soundtrack for the film McVicar (1980), This number is a Roger Daltrey solo track that was released only as a promotional single and did not chart.

The song was written by Billy Nicholls, a longtime collaborator with The Who, rather than Daltrey himself.

It is frequently confused with The Rolling Stones' hit "Waiting On A Friend," which came out a year later, though the two are entirely unrelated. The track features appearances by Daltrey’s bandmates, including Pete Townshend and John Entwistle.

Without Your Love is another standout from the McVicar soundtrack (1980), and this Roger Daltrey solo single was a significant success, reaching #20 in the US and #55 in the UK.

Written by Billy Nicholls, the soft, piano-driven ballad stands in stark contrast to Daltrey's typical hard-rock persona.

The music video is notable for featuring Daltrey in character as real-life bank robber John McVicar, stripping away his rock star image to deliver a gentle, vulnerable performance that resonated deeply with American audiences.

You Better You Bet was released as the lead single from Face Dances (1981) and hit #9 in the UK and #18 in the US.

It holds the distinction of being the last top-20 single The Who achieved in the United States. Pete Townshend wrote the song as a love letter to his girlfriend at the time, Jacqueline Vickers, and the lyrics candidly reference his own drinking habits.

The music video was historically significant, as it was the fourth video ever played on MTV when the channel launched in 1981.