Learn to Play "Love and Affection" by Def Leppard | Guitar Lesson

Dive into the layered guitar tones and melodic rock energy of Def Leppard with our note-for-note guitar lesson for “Love and Affection.” As the closing track on the band’s monumental 1987 Hysteria album, this song is a masterclass in polished rock production and emotive guitar playing. While perhaps not as widely known as the album’s hit singles, “Love and Affection” is a fan-favourite deep cut that perfectly balances powerful rhythm guitar, tasteful lead phrasing, and expressive dynamics—all underpinned by the band’s trademark blend of hooks and harmony.

In this detailed LickLibrary tutorial, you’ll learn every part of the song exactly as recorded, with expert guidance that helps you build both technique and musicality. This lesson places a strong focus on power chords, palm muting, hammer-ons, and vibrato—techniques that define the song’s tight, emotive feel and demonstrate the guitarists’ ability to shift effortlessly between rhythm and lead textures. Whether you're aiming to improve your rock guitar vocabulary or learn another great track from a classic album, this lesson has something to offer guitarists at all levels. This lesson is taught by Jamie Humphries.

Song Breakdown & Techniques Covered

Power Chords

Throughout “Love and Affection,” power chords are used to build the song’s rock-solid foundation. These versatile two-note chord shapes bring weight and drive to the rhythm sections, especially in the choruses. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to voice and mute power chords effectively, play them cleanly at tempo, and move fluidly across the fretboard. Mastering power chords is a fundamental part of any rock guitarist’s skillset, and this song helps reinforce timing, accuracy, and groove.

Palm Muting

Palm muting is essential in shaping the dynamics and texture of the rhythm guitar parts in this track. It allows you to tighten up the tone, create percussive attack, and add subtle variation to repeated chord patterns. Our lesson demonstrates how to apply palm muting with precision, helping you control your picking-hand pressure for optimal tone. This technique is crucial for modern rock playing and is used throughout the verses to keep the rhythm parts punchy and articulate.

Hammer-Ons

The melodic lead lines and fills in “Love and Affection” frequently employ hammer-ons—a technique that helps produce smooth, legato movement between notes without repeated picking. You’ll learn how to use hammer-ons to add speed and expression to your phrasing, especially when blending melodic motifs with clean rhythm parts. This improves your fretting-hand coordination and allows you to phrase more naturally, an essential part of developing musical solos and licks.

Vibrato

Steve Clark’s blues-influenced lead work is filled with expressive vibrato—and in this track, it adds vocal-like emotion to many of the sustained notes. Vibrato involves subtly bending and releasing a note to give it character and life. In this lesson, we’ll show you how to control your vibrato technique to avoid sounding stiff or uneven. Developing a strong vibrato is one of the most important elements of creating expressive lead guitar parts and elevating your solo phrasing.

Why Learn “Love and Affection”?

“Love and Affection” showcases Def Leppard at their most melodic and mature. While it’s not the band’s most complex guitar track, it’s packed with subtlety, groove, and taste—all of which are essential qualities for any guitarist to develop. The combination of tight rhythm parts, layered clean tones, and melodic lead phrases offers an excellent workout in control, tone shaping, and musicality.

With LickLibrary’s expert breakdown, you’ll learn the entire track step-by-step, complete with on-screen tab and demonstrations of each part played slowly and in context. Not only will you walk away able to play the song as recorded, but you’ll also gain deeper insights into tone control, phrasing, and arrangement.

Whether you're a fan of Def Leppard, an ‘80s rock enthusiast, or simply looking to tighten up your core rock guitar skills, this lesson offers the tools to build your playing and play like a pro.

About the Guitarists: Phil Collen and Steve Clark

The guitars on “Love and Affection” were recorded by Def Leppard’s iconic duo Phil Collen and Steve Clark. Their combined approach blended Steve’s bluesy, emotionally rich phrasing with Phil’s precise, technically fluent style. On the Hysteria album, this duality reached new heights, with layers of harmonised leads, clean arpeggios, and driving riffs working together in perfect balance. “Love and Affection” is a great example of their chemistry—Steve lays down emotive melodies while Phil adds tight rhythms and tasteful lead embellishments. Studying their parts in this song offers insight into how two guitars can work together to create texture and impact without stepping on each other’s sonic space.

Techniques Used in This Lesson

• Power Chords
• Palm Muting
• Hammer-Ons
• Vibrato

Master the polished yet passionate guitar work of “Love and Affection” with our LickLibrary note-for-note lesson. Learn every riff, lick, and phrase as recorded, and develop the essential skills that made Phil Collen and Steve Clark legends of melodic hard rock.