Honky Tonk Women
The Rolling Stones · 1969
The cowbell intro and laid-back pocket teach feel and Watts's signature relaxed swing.
- Artist
- The Rolling Stones
- Year
- 1969
- Genre
- classic rock
- Drummer
- Charlie Watts
- Tempo
- 116 bpm
- Time
- 4/4
- Feel
- loose cowbell-led swing
- Difficulty
- beginner
Drummer's Quick-Start
Practice tempos
Woodshed
70bpm
Building
92bpm
Target
116bpm
The feel
A loose cowbell-led swing in 4/4 around 116 BPM. A comfortable mid-tempo — lock the backbeat first, then shape the dynamics.
What to watch
- •Lock the shuffle triplet; the #1 mistake is letting it straighten out as you speed up.
- •Sit just behind the beat and let it breathe; don't chase the click forward.
How to learn it
Well-known tutorials exist for this one — use the links below, and play along from your own copy.
Generated from this song's groove profile — analysis only, no notation. A human-reviewed AI brief with a full groove breakdown, key moments and song map replaces this as briefs roll out.
Learn it
Find drum tutorials on YouTube ↗iDrum links to where lessons already live — we don't host recordings or publish transcriptions. Play along from your own music.
Discussion
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