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Foreigner - Waiting For A Girl Like You - Guitar Lesson

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Key C major
Foreigner - Waiting For A Girl Like You guitar lesson video
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Amp Settings

Classic Rock

Gain6
Bass6
Mid7
Treble6
Presence5
Master7
AI tone preset

AI-selected preset based on genre and era — adjust the knobs to taste.

Roll back the gain slightly and pick near the neck for a warmer, more open crunch.
4 (Expanded) album cover
4 (Expanded)
1981 4:52
Listen on Spotify
Foreigner Hard Rock 1981 C major
Capo Advisor 0 C major · Original key

About Waiting For A Girl Like You

Few songs from the early 1980s put a guitarist in quite this position: you are largely supporting a keyboard-driven arrangement, so your job is feel and pocket rather than flashy lead work. In C major at 116 BPM, the tempo sits in a mid-paced groove that rewards playing slightly behind the beat to keep things warm and unhurried. The chord voicings matter a lot here. Clean, open-sounding shapes with careful attention to dynamics will sit properly in the mix without clashing with the synth parts that Foreigner built the song around. The Hard Rock context can mislead you into reaching for more gain than the track actually wants. A light touch on the picking hand and a nearly clean tone will get you much closer to the recorded feel. If the transitions between chord sections feel rushed at full speed, use the Practice Toolbar to loop those passages slowed down until the movement becomes automatic.

  • The guitar tone here is cleaner and more restrained than typical hard rock, sitting well back in the mix to complement the prominent synthesizer parts.
  • At 116 BPM in C major, the moderate tempo rewards a relaxed picking attack and careful dynamic control rather than aggressive strumming.
  • Chord transitions are the main technical hurdle, so using looping it slowed down on the Practice Toolbar is the most efficient way to clean them up.

How to Play Waiting For A Girl Like You

Tuning: E Standard · Key: C major · Tempo: 116 BPM

Use the section loop to isolate a passage, drop the speed below 100%, and set the metronome to 116 BPM to build it up to tempo.

Fender Stratocaster
Guitar

Fender Stratocaster

Mick Jones occasionally grabbed the Strat for brighter, single-coil tones on specific Foreigner tracks, providing jangly contrast to his signature Les Paul warmth. The Strat's snap helped cut through dense keyboard arrangements without the heavy midrange of his primary guitars.

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

Jones's main voice throughout Foreigner's classic era, the late '50s and early '60s Les Paul Standards delivered thick, sustaining midrange from mahogany bodies and maple tops. These guitars enabled the dynamic clean-to-crunch transitions that define songs like 'Cold as Ice' and 'Waiting for a Girl Like You.'

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

The Black Beauty appeared on several Foreigner recordings and live shows, offering the same warm, rounded PAF tones as Jones's Standards but with a sleeker aesthetic. This guitar contributed to the band's signature rich, vocal-friendly lead tones that soared over synth layers.

Marshall JCM800
Amp

Marshall JCM800

The JCM800 head was the sonic foundation of Jones's tone, delivering warm crunch at moderate gain levels that cleaned up responsively with guitar volume changes. Driven into 4x12 cabs with Greenback speakers, it produced Foreigner's organic, dynamic overdrive sound without digital artifacts.

Fender Twin Reverb
Amp

Fender Twin Reverb

Jones blended the Twin Reverb in the studio for cleaner rhythm parts and arpeggiated sections, adding natural reverb and clarity alongside Marshall crunch. This combination created Foreigner's signature warm, spacious production that balanced heavy riffs with lush, layered textures.

Dunlop Cry Baby Wah
Pedal

Dunlop Cry Baby Wah

Jones deployed the Cry Baby on select Foreigner solos to add expressiveness and vocal-like quality to lead passages. The wah's sweep complemented his dynamic playing style, enhancing the emotional intensity of the band's power ballads and rock anthems.

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