How to Play Slap Harmonics I Maneli Jamal Acoustic Guitar
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Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Scales... Help?
Im one month into guitar and I’ve made huge progress (can play nothing else matters with open chords) and I saw a vid about scales... What do they mean? Why learn them? Any important theory behind them that I should know? And where do i start learning them? Any info will help... Thanks <3
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Guitar tuning Standard E to Drop C
I’m very much a beginner, is there a good app that I don’t have to pay for that will allow me to easily swap between set ups ? I want to go from Standard E to Drop C please.
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Help with changing chords?
A little background: I’m very new to guitar. Got an acoustic for Christmas and gave up playing within a week because it was frustrating. As of this week, I’m taking advantage of free Fender Play and have come much further than expected in a week. I can play some basic riffs and am learning chords now. I’m having a really hard time getting my positioning right with my fingers. I keep bumping one finger up against another chord and having it make a “buzz” sound. Having a really hard time switching chords too. Will this just come with practice, or is there anything I can do to to improve this?
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Transitioning from chord to chord speed
Beginner here,
Recently started playing guitar about 2 months ago. This quarantine has really given me a lot of time to practice and I’m trying to take full advantage of that. I’m using the fender play app to learn and it’s not bad so far. The only thing I’ve been struggling with is transitioning between chords, with speed. They make it look so easy. I notice it getting alittle more natural each week, but still slow and inaccurate. My fretting hand can’t keep up with my strumming hand, which is making songs very challenging to play. Does anyone have any good exercises for this? Is it normal to still be struggling to transition between 3 basic chords two months in?
Sorry if this is a stupid question, I just want to get faster and I’m getting frustrated lol. Thanks!
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Angus Young Talks About His First SG and His Favorite Song to Play Live
Today is the birthday of AC/DC’s Angus Young, who turns 65.
In the nearly 50 years that he’s been in the group, the guitarist has been associated almost exclusively with the Gibson SG model or some variation on it, such as the Jaydee SG. Young has used the model to bash his way through the group’s long list of hit records and songs, including “Back in Black,” “Highway to Hell” and “You Shook Me All Night Long.”
In this excerpt from the May 2015 issue of Guitar Player magazine, Angus answered a few questions about his SGs and which of AC/DC’s songs are his favorite to perform live.
What is your oldest surviving AC/DC Gibson SG?
It’s the one I’ve always played, before the band even started. It was the first brand-name guitar I had gotten for myself, as well. Before that, it was hand-me-downs - a beat-up acoustic, and a Hofner Clubman from Malcolm, who gave it to me after another one of our brothers gave it to him. I don’t know the SG’s year. Some people have said 1969, and some people have said it’s from the 1970s.
Does what [producer] Mutt Lange did on Highway to Hell and Back in Black continue to influence what you do in the studio?
There's always a bit of that. I remember Mal saying to me that Mutt was really great about spreading out the vocals across the stereo field on choruses. He said, “It was a clever thing.” And we still try to do that today.
After all these years, do you still have any favorite songs to perform live?
One of my favorite tracks to play is “Back in Black,” because it’s a cool riff and people get it immediately. You hear one or two notes and, boom, you know it’s “Back in Black.” That’s probably the song Brian [Johnson] hates the most, though, because he has to hit his high notes.
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Lyle Workman Shares Exclusive Previews of His New Album on 'No Guitar Is Safe' Podcast
“I probably got the same thrill most people get when they visit Abbey Road for the first time,” says Lyle Workman, who recently tracked an orchestra at the famed London studio complex. “You go into Studio Two, where the Beatles recorded, and there’s the ‘Lady Madonna’ piano. And, down a hallway, you can check out the little console with the big levers that they used on so many Beatles sessions.”
But Workman’s business was in Studio One - “the big room” - the room where the Beatles tracked the orchestra on “A Day in the Life.” On his own dime, Workman hired a full orchestra to perform on seven of the nine new songs that make up Uncommon Measures, the guitarist’s forthcoming solo album.
It all reflects Workman’s strongly held ethos that a guitar album should be more than “just a guitar album.”
“When it comes to great guitar records, I’ve always been influenced by the music behind the guitar playing,” says Workman, who shares exclusive previews of his new album on the latest episode of the No Guitar Is Safe podcast.
“The music has to be at least as compelling as what the guitar is doing. What’s happening before, after and under the solos is really important to me. Maybe that’s due to me growing up loving the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Steve Morse and the Dregs, and, of course, the Beatles.”
Presented by Ernie Ball and their clever new two-in-one volume/tuner pedal, the VPJR Tuner, the interview is hosted by Jude Gold and also finds Workman reflecting on everything from his tenures playing guitar for Sting, Beck, Todd Rundgren, Jellyfish, Bourgeois Tagg and other headliners to his soundtrack work scoring such memorable movies such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Get Him to the Greek and Superbad, and television series such as Crashing and Good Girls.
From tracking orchestras to hiring Bootsy Collins and other legendary funk players (for Superbad) to catching people’s ears as a young shredder as early as 1981 (when he appeared on the Mike Varney compilation, US Metal), Workman’s widely varied career stems from his passion for so many different genres of music.
“I’m a rock guitar player who happens to like a bunch of other music,” says Workman. “I like James Brown as much as I do Ravel and Stravinsky.”
To hear the interview, stream episode 110 of No Guitar Is Safe below, or listen on iTunes, Spotify, your favorite podcasts app or wherever else you get podcasts.
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Fender Unveils New Tom Morello Soul Power Stratocaster
First teased at this year's NAMM show, Fender has unveiled its new Tom Morello signature guitar, the Soul Power Stratocaster.
Based on the modified Designer Series Strat Morello used during his time in Audioslave, the Soul Power Strat features an alder slab body with binding and a "Modern C"-shape maple neck with a 9.5"-14" compound radius rosewood fingerboard and 22 medium-jumbo frets.
“This Fender Soul Power signature guitar is made to my exact specifications and is an authentic replica of the instrument that forged my sound in Audioslave,” Morello said in a press release.
"That was a period of renewed artistic freedom and limitless expression on the guitar for me and Soul Power was the sonic divining rod leading the way."
Pickups on the guitar are a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails humbucker in the bridge, and Fender Noiseless pickups in the neck and middle. A recessed Floyd Rose locking tremolo system and a kill switch - for Morello-esque "stutter" effects - also come standard on the guitar.
Other features on the Soul Power Strat include locking tuners, a matching painted headcap and a "Soul Power" body decal on the black Fender case.
Aside from getting the specs, tones and look exactly where he wanted it, Morello also wanted to use his new signature guitar for a good cause. "Just as important as getting the specs right is the charitable/social justice component of my collaboration with Fender," he said.
"Together we are giving away hundreds of guitars to underprivileged schools and to the Jail Guitar Doors prison rehabilitation program to help unlock creative doors and create better (and louder) futures.”
The Fender Tom Morello Soul Power Stratocaster is available now for $1,299.99.
For more info on the guitar, stop by fender.com.
* This article was originally published here
Steve Vai to Host Weekly Facebook Q&A Sessions
Steve Vai has announced two new series of weekly Facebook Live question and answer sessions. The sessions will be split into two series, "Alien Guitar Secrets Live: Music and You" and "Under It All: Hard Questions."
"Alien Guitar Secrets Live: Music and You" will feature Vai's thoughts and musings on technique, the guitar, music and the music business as a whole. He will also go in-depth on a number of songs from his catalog, and discuss his songwriting process in relation to them.
"Under It All: Hard Questions" will feature Vai discussing “more esoteric life principles and topics where no question is off limits,” including but not limited to “his observations surrounding life, the creative process, spirituality or the human condition.”
The two series will take place on Tuesdays or Thursdays at 12 PM PST.
“For the past three to five years I have been bouncing around in my mind the idea of launching these two webinars, but was waiting for an organic opportunity, and it seems the world lockdown situation was the right time," Vai said.
“I had no idea of knowing how these would be received, but the moment I went live, within minutes there were thousands and thousands of people logged in and the comments were tremendously encouraging. It was quite the shocker to get this kind of response, and quite humbling at the same time.
“My goal in these webinars is not to talk about myself so much, but to answer people’s questions that I may be able to assist with an answer based on my own experience.”
For more info on the sessions, pay Vai's Facebook page a visit.
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Ants Marching Guitar Lesson – Dave Matthews Band
In this Ants Marching guitar lesson video, I will show you how to play this acoustic smash hit from the Dave Matthews Band note-for-note.
The tuning is standard tuning.
The main riff of "Ants Marching", that catchy repeated lick, is pretty simple to play for any intermediate level player. For beginner players, it can be a nice challenge to be able to move quickly from open position chords to single note licks very quickly.
The chorus chords use a barre chord, but other than that, are pretty simple as well.
Dave Matthews routinely uses some unique chord voicings, and the bridge section of "Ants Marching" is no different. He also uses this same chord progression during the violin solo at the end of the song.
That violin solo section introduces some new chords as well, so make sure you pay close attention to that part of the lesson.
Have fun!
Carl...
Ants Marching Guitar Lesson - Dave Matthews Band
The post Ants Marching Guitar Lesson – Dave Matthews Band appeared first on Guitar Lessons 365.
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Learn How To Play Barre Chords Easily on the Guitar
Below is an awesome introductory video lesson that I came across while doing a search the other day. Its a lesson created by guitarist and instructor Peter Vogl. In this tutorial, Peter will show you step by step, an easier method to help master these challenging chords. Bar chords are probably the most avoided, most […]
The post Learn How To Play Barre Chords Easily on the Guitar appeared first on Learn Acoustic Guitar - Free Lessons For Beginners.
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Top 20 Easy Acoustic Guitar Tabs/Songs You Can Start Playing Now!
Easy Acoustic Guitar Songs For Beginners – Start Learning How To Play Today! Greetings fellow guitarist. I really appreciate your visit. So, I hear you are looking for some cool, easy songs to learn on the guitar? Very good then. You have found the perfect place. It is true. One of the best ways to gain […]
The post Top 20 Easy Acoustic Guitar Tabs/Songs You Can Start Playing Now! appeared first on Learn Acoustic Guitar - Free Lessons For Beginners.
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I need a capo fret to make some songs, but due to quarantine I can't go buy one, there's something DIY I can use to have the same effect?
I tried already with a pencil and an elastic, but it gives a too much metallic sound.
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Top 20 Easy Acoustic Guitar Songs
Easy Acoustic Guitar Songs For Beginners – Learn To Play Your Favorite Songs! Below are songs 11 – 20. If you arrived here from the search engines, be sure to visit Easy Acoustic Guitar Songs 1 -10 as well. Easy Acoustic Guitar Song 11 : Free Fallin’ by Tom Petty Click here for more information […]
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7 Easy Country Guitar Songs – Learn to Play Country Songs With The Guitar
Learn To Play Country Guitar Songs With These 7 Free Lessons! Hi fellow country guitar enthusiast. Do you want to learn to play country guitar? Well then, sit back, grab your guitar and get ready to learn how. Below are a handful of great country music songs, 7 to be exact. The following songs were […]
The post 7 Easy Country Guitar Songs – Learn to Play Country Songs With The Guitar appeared first on Learn Acoustic Guitar - Free Lessons For Beginners.
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How to Change Strings on an Acoustic Guitar
Beginners Guide To Changing Your Acoustic Guitar Strings When beginner acoustic guitar players are faced with the task of changing their acoustic guitar strings for the first time, they panic, in fear that it is some impossible task that will take hours to complete or that only a professional with years of experience can do. […]
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Monday, March 30, 2020
Free Acoustic Guitar Chords Chart for the Beginner
Below is a downloadable PDF ebook that contains 50 easy guitar chord charts for beginners. These charts are easy to read and will help you learn how to play them quickly. With these chords in your arsenal, you will be able to play hundreds of easy guitar songs. Learning guitar songs is one of the […]
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10 Free Acoustic Guitar Lessons That Will Bring Out the Creative Guitar Player In You
If you are a beginner in search of free lessons, then you are sure to learn a lot from the following post. Below are 10 free acoustic guitar lessons from the folks who created Next Level Guitar. What is Next Level Guitar? Next Level Guitar is one of the best guitar courses available online today. […]
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Fun Easy Guitar Tabs For Beginners
One of the first things most beginners do when they want to start learning how to play songs on acoustic guitar is to go online and search for fun easy guitar tabs. Now, there is a good chance you have already discovered a ton of sites offering free guitar tabs, but nothing compares to what […]
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Eric Clapton's 10 Greatest Guitar Moments
There was a time when the name Eric Clapton meant one thing and one thing only: guitar god.
His six-string exploits with the Yardbirds, followed by a pair of mind-blowing 1966 albums - Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton and Fresh Cream - briefly put the passionate young Clapton atop the U.K.’s, if not the world’s, guitar hierarchy.
By the late Sixties, he was sharing the spotlight with such rock deities as Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck. Significantly perhaps, it was around this time that Clapton began incrementally distancing himself from the flashy, lengthy solos of his wild youth, as he segued from Cream to Blind Faith, and then from Derek and the Dominos to a successful solo career.
He eventually fell under the mellow spell of J.J. Cale and the Band, put more emphasis on singing and songwriting, and dabbled in country rock, reggae, acoustic music and ultra-slick pop tunes.
Today, Clapton enjoys an enviable spot as one of the most respected elder statesmen in rock and blues. And although he happily handed over the guitar-god mantle decades ago, he’s not averse to melting a few faces when the opportunity arises.
Here, we look back at Clapton’s 50-plus-year career and pinpoint what we consider to be the 10 greatest guitar moments - thus far. Our list digs deep into his six-string artistry, putting the emphasis on the playing and not necessarily the hits. We hope you enjoy this guide to Clapton’s cream of the crop.
10. "Sleepy Time Time"
Cream - Live Cream (1968)
Cream’s initial inspiration grew from their dedication to a trailblazing, group-improvisational reinvention of blues forms, including Willie Dixon’s “Spoonful” and Skip James’ “I’m So Glad.”
This track, which they originally cut in the studio for their late-1966 debut, Fresh Cream, offers bassist Jack Bruce’s singularly twisted view of a swinging 12/8 “modern” blues in a more condensed but no less cutting-edge form, as compared to the 15-plus-minute jams that highlighted Cream’s performances.
Live Cream combines four tracks recorded March 7–10, 1968, in San Francisco at the Fillmore West and Winterland Ballroom, plus one studio outtake, “Lawdy Mama.” Cream played a staggering 200 shows in 1967 and, after just two weeks off, resumed an equally grueling schedule from the very start of 1968.
This LP captures them during their 223rd to 226th performances in just 14 months, so it’s no wonder they achieve the purely magical in-sync group improvisation displayed on this track and in evidence throughout this album.
Playing through a pair of 100-watt Marshall stacks (using the 1960A and 1960B “tall” 4x12 bottom cabinets), Clapton produced a massive sound. There is debate over which guitar he used on specific live recordings, as he alternately played his 1964 “The Fool” Gibson SG, 1964 Firebird I and 1963 ES-335 during this period, though some photos from the 1968 tour show him with a Les Paul.
Clapton’s soloing here evokes the influence of B.B. King as he moves deftly between phrases based on C minor pentatonic (C Eb F G Bb) and C major pentatonic (C D E G A). His lightning-fast hammer-pulls and heavenly “floating” vibrato illustrate why the 23-year-old Clapton was called God during this period.
09. "Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?"
Derek and the Dominos - Live at the Fillmore (1994)
In 1969, following the implosion of Cream and the short-lived Blind Faith, Clapton found himself at a career crossroads.
Disillusioned and directionless, he joined the powerhouse husband/wife-led Delaney & Bonnie and Friends as a sideman, and by that summer he appropriated Delaney Bramlett (with his entire band in tow) to produce his first solo release, Eric Clapton.
Three musicians from this lineup - bassist Carl Radle, keyboardist and singer Bobby Whitlock and drummer Jim Gordon - formed the nucleus of Clapton’s next band, Derek and the Dominos, who recorded the seminal Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs in the summer of 1970 and toured as a four-piece through August.
The Dominos’ live shows were filled with long jams, and at nearly 15 minutes, “Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?” was one of the longest, opening with an extended wah-infused funk workout. With stellar high-harmony vocals added by Whitlock, this four-piece emits a huge sound.
Clapton’s first solo has all the fire, fury and melodicism of his greatest playing, his 1956 “Brownie” Stratocaster screaming pure virtuosity and conviction. The second half of the song is a seven-plus-minute D major jam during which the 25-year-old guitarist displays inspired chordal and single-line inventiveness.
08. "Badge"
Cream - Goodbye (1969)
Much like “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” Cream’s “Badge” is the result of a strong and ultimately long-lasting friendship between Clapton and the Beatles’ George Harrison.
When Cream decided to call it quits in late 1968, each member of the band, including Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, was required to come up with a new song for the group’s final album, Goodbye, the remainder of which would be filled with live cuts.
Clapton called on Harrison for assistance. “I was writing the words down, and when we came to the middle bit, I wrote ‘Bridge,’ ” Harrison said. “And from where [Eric] was sitting, opposite me, he looked and said, ‘What’s that - Badge?’ ” Clapton wound up calling the song “Badge” because it made him laugh. For the session, which took place only a month after “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” Harrison played rhythm guitar.
Clapton, playing a shimmering, Beatles-inspired arpeggio riff through a Leslie rotary-speaker cabinet, enters the song at 1:06 and plays the rest of the way through. His guitar solo was overdubbed later.
The brilliant solo, which lasts a cozy 33 seconds, is a prime example of a “composition within a composition.” It finds Clapton sending his considerable blues chops through a pop-rock funnel, something he’d do on and off for the next 45-plus years.
07. "Spoonful"
Cream - Fresh Cream (1966)
Just as “Crossroads” introduced a new generation of music fans to the mystique of Robert Johnson, Cream’s “Spoonful” brought extra exposure to Willie Dixon, who wrote the song, and Howlin’ Wolf, who originally recorded it in 1960.
And while Howlin’ Wolf’s stark-and-dark version is haunting in its own right, Cream’s take on the song - driven by Clapton’s guitar and Jack Bruce’s heavy bass - moves it several steps further along.
Clapton’s solo, which starts at 2:23, seems almost playful at first, as if he’s toying with the listener, but at 2:46, things take a sudden and profound turn toward the dramatic. He plays a series of notes - virtual howls and moans - high on the neck, punctuating them with several perfectly timed cracks at his low E string.
At 3:31, he launches into a completely new melody, taking Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker along for the ride. Clapton’s tone on the track, a unique dense, reverb-drenched sound that only a Gibson humbucker could produce, stands alone in Cream’s canon and in Clapton’s entire discography.
At Cream’s live shows, “Spoonful,” like several other songs, gave the band members plenty of room to stretch out, as can be heard on the sensational, nearly 17-minute-long version on Cream’s Wheels of Fire.
06. "Layla"
Derek and the Dominos - Layla (1970)
Having played with several of the most influential bands of the Sixties, Clapton launched the Seventies with a new group of his own devising, Derek and the Dominos.
He wrote this tune - the title track of their debut album - to express his unrequited love for Pattie Boyd, who was George Harrison’s wife at the time but would leave Harrison for Clapton later in the Seventies. The song’s killer main riff was something Clapton cooked up with legendary guitarist Duane Allman, who guested on the Derek and the Dominos sessions at the suggestion of producer Tom Dowd.
The unusual half-step downward modulation from the D minor main riff/chorus key signature to the verses, which are in D flat minor, enhances the despairing mood of Clapton’s lovelorn lyric.
There’s a deep sense of musical telepathy in the way his bluesy Strat lines interweave with Allman’s eerily spectral slide guitar improvisations during the song’s extended solo over the main riff structure. This gives way to the track’s stately piano-driven coda, penned by Dominos drummer Jim Gordon and affording Allman and Clapton even more real estate over which to stretch out.
05. "Let It Rain"
Eric Clapton - Eric Clapton (1970)
This tastefully arranged song from Clapton’s debut solo album begins with the guitarist overdubbing a sweet-sounding mini choir of three harmony-lead guitars with perfectly synchronized finger slides and vibratos.
Together they create the effect of one instrument playing a melody harmonized in triads, but with the brightness and clarity that can only be achieved by three separate single-note lines, or “voices.” Clapton recorded this song on Brownie, his Fender Stratocaster, using its bright single-coil bridge pickup for his lead parts to achieve a brilliant tone and crystal-clear note definition.
Clapton’s solo over the song’s outro features his signature polished finger vibrato and use of parallel major and minor pentatonic scales (both in the key of A in this case). He begins by riding out on the high A root note on the high E string’s 17th fret with alternate-picked 16th notes.
Clapton then proceeds to travel down the string through the A Mixolydian mode (A B C# D E F# G) - a distinctly different approach to position playing - before gravitating toward A major pentatonic box shapes, using multiple hammer-ons and pull-offs to create a succession of repetition licks with syncopated “threes on fours” rhythmic phrasing that creates an almost banjo-like country feel.
While Clapton’s lead tone here is markedly brighter than what he used earlier in his career, his unique style, as determined by his phrasing, string bending and vibrato, remains his signature.
04. "Steppin’ Out"
John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers - Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (1966)
“Steppin’ Out” is one of Clapton’s best-known Bluesbreakers tracks, and with good reason. Along with “Hideaway,” it delivers the heftiest dose of Clapton’s solid, mind-blowing tone and ferocious playing.
This upbeat, straightforward blues instrumental in G finds him borrowing bits and pieces from Memphis Slim’s original 1959 version. Clapton (along with John Mayall on keyboards) plays the figure from Slim’s piano intro and then references the track’s tenor sax solo.
At the 54-second mark, he incorporates an ingenious “scraping” technique from the original guitar solo, which was played by Matt “Guitar” Murphy, who would go on to join the Blues Brothers Band in the late Seventies.
But there’s a lot more going on here. Clapton incorporates some serious finger vibrato on the 12th fret of the G string - which only adds to the sustain produced by his overdriven Marshall amp - and he uses finger slides as he shifts between several positions of the G minor pentatonic scale.
The well-paced solo ends with Clapton, much like his idols B.B. King and Buddy Guy, bending high on the neck before returning to the intro figure. It’s worth noting that he recorded other versions of “Steppin’ Out” with his short-lived 1966 supergroup the Powerhouse and with Cream, including the knockout 14-minute version on Live Cream Volume II.
03. "White Room"
Cream - Wheels of Fire (1968)
Penned by Cream bassist Jack Bruce and Swinging London poet Pete Brown, “White Room” provided a suitably glorious opening track for Cream’s third album, 1968’s Wheels of Fire.
From the first notes of the song’s 5/4 bolero intro, it’s clear that this is a landmark recording. Clapton’s mysteriously evocative layered guitar textures set a mood of high drama before the main 4/4 groove kicks in with an irresistible invitation to some serious hippie-era proto-head banging.
The descending D minor verse progression is reminiscent of Cream’s earlier epic track “Tales of Brave Ulysses,” which is said to have been based on the chord pattern in the Lovin’ Spoonful’s 1966 hit “Summer in the City.”
“White Room” contains some of Clapton’s finest wah-pedal artistry. He employs the device to create fluttery, aquatic magic in the choruses and to answer Bruce’s verse vocal lines with incandescent leads that match the fevered intensity of Brown’s lyrical imagery.
Breaking with the time-honored tradition of putting a guitar solo in the middle of a song, “White Room” waits for the outro fade to unleash the full fury of Clapton’s slashing, psychedelic blues-wah frenzy. Clearly, they saved the best for last.
02. "Have You Heard"
John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers - Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (1966)
Quite frankly, if Clapton’s “Have You Heard” guitar solo doesn’t cause heart palpitations, shortness of breath or at least a mild case of goose bumps, you might want to seek medical help.
The dramatic, 73-second pentatonic masterpiece is hands down the most frenetic, passionate solo of the guitarist’s 55-year career. The solo, which bursts out of the starting gate at the 3:25 mark, strings together a series of spectacularly intense, incendiary bends, hammer-ons, strategically timed position shifts and slides.
Clapton caps it off with a bevy of climactic high notes, an earmark of his solos on Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton. All of it is delivered via his groundbreaking new sound, a solid, sustained, overdriven tone that he forged by plugging a 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard into a 42-watt Marshall 2x12 combo and cranking it up to ear-splitting levels.
On the album, Clapton burns and bedazzles like a futuristic amalgam of his many influences, including Freddie King, Otis Rush, Hubert Sumlin and Buddy Guy. Amazingly, Clapton was only 21 (about to turn 22) when Blues Breakers was recorded in March 1966.
Even if he had simply vanished or faded away after the release of the album that summer (much like his stolen and still-missing 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard), he still would have earned a respected place in the annals of electric blues guitar.
01. "Crossroads"
Cream - Wheels of Fire (1968)
“Crossroads” has long been regarded as Eric Clapton’s most inspired and well-crafted lead guitar performance, and with good reason.
This live, highly reworked cover of Robert Johnson’s “Cross Road Blues” features him and band mates Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker performing some intense - and extended -interactive jamming on a 12-bar blues in A, set to an uptempo, double-time groove with a driving even-, or “straight-,” eighths feel.
The high point comes during the arrangement’s second, prolonged guitar solo, when the group engages in a rhythmically dense improvisation that represents the exhilarating apex of blues-rock freeform jamming. Conjuring a killer creamy tone with his 1964 Gibson SG Standard and stacks of 100-watt Marshall amps, Clapton exploits the rig’s available sustain, using his signature vocal-like finger vibrato technique to make his guitar sing.
Particularly noteworthy is Clapton’s consistently wide and impeccably intonated bend vibratos (bent notes that are then shaken), especially during his upper-register second solo, which he plays mainly in the 17th-position A minor pentatonic (A C D E G) “box” pattern.
He combines notes from this scale with those from the parallel A major pentatonic (A B C# E F#) to create varying hues of melodic “light and shade,” more so during his first solo, and seamlessly shifts/drifts from one position to the next by using legato finger slides.
The result is a performance that ably supports the then-popular declaration that Clapton is God. “Crossroads” may be a song about striking a deal with the Devil, but this recording shows Clapton in supreme command of his divine powers.
* This article was originally published here
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