Active Melody

Learn to play blues guitar.

Unplugged Style Acoustic Blues Guitar Lesson – Clapton Inspired – EP303

Description

In this week’s acoustic blues guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play several classic Eric Clapton inspired licks from his Unplugged era. The best part is that you’ll be able to use these licks when you improvise going forward because I’ll show you how to connect them to basic chord shapes that you already know.

Part 1 - Free Guitar Lesson

Part 2 - For Premium Members

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Slow Walk-Through

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Video Tablature Breakdown

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Comments

  1. Robi Raw says

    Happy Birthday Eric! And Brian, this lesson is a perfect way to offer tribute to one of the masters on his appearance day. I know what I am doing today, practice practice practice!

  6. PB says

    Before You Accuse Me Take a Look at Yourself! I started playing guitar because of this album. I never heard anybody make an acoustic guitar sound that good! Although i learned to play this years ago, like Clapton did, i never did learn what was behind it. That’s why i’m here; can’t wait to dig in. Thanks Brian, you are a close second in tone to Clapton and I aint just blowing smoke!
    PB

  8. houliAK says

    I saw this lesson and knew immediately what I’ll be doing all week. For years I’ve been noodling and at times memorizing some leads off Unplugged but I am a WHY person. WHY does this or that work etc. ? You always do such a great job of explaining THE WHY and how the leads connect the leads back to the chords. That is really opening up my improvising. The related jam tracks puts it all in one place too! This will give me some more improvising ideas on Malted Milk too! Cant thank you enough!!

  10. David M says

    Oh MAN – What a great lesson, Brian. I’ve been playing a version of this for years, but now I have more ammo for my arsenal – espicially the 8-7-8-9-7 run. Love it! Thanks Brian – Keep em comin’ like this.

  14. jimbostrat says

    I feel I tend to get ignored when I recommend great stuff like this but……….if you’d love to “plug” into even more of Brian Unplugged solo acoustic blues guitar………..and keep this “unplugged” theme rolling ………if you haven’t yet; pull up Brian’s equally super EP213 & EP214 Muddy Waters works!!

    Great stuff……..the licks and cool concepts certainly crossover and can make you an unplugged blues player power to be reckoned with!! Some of Brian’s best stuff is done sans anything electric………..just his nice Martin CEO guitar and his nice vision for creating complete lessons…………here times three though!! Something absolutely industrious to work on over this weekend!! Jim C.

  16. Phil W says

    Greetings from the land of the long white cloud, Brian. Another very enjoyable lesson. I have the Unplugged cassette tape somewhere – only thing is, if I find it I’ll have nothing to play it on.

    Phil

  17. Gary W says

    Greetings from the Land of Castles and Dragons.

    A great EP302 ..spent all week cleaning-up my repertoire 🙂

    An interesting and very informative week ahead with 303

    Many thanks Brian
    and best wishes to the global Active Melody community from Wales UK.

  22. Walter D says

    Damn it, Brian! I promised my wife I would spend Saturday morning finishing up our taxes, But first, just let me take a peek at Brian’s new lesson. Well, it’s almost noon and I haven’t got to the taxes yet! Great lesson, so much fun.

  27. Matt Blues says

    I have been a member since December 2018. I am so excited, things are starting to make sense. I was able to follow everything and even kinda knew where you were going next. My playing still has a ways to go. But I really am starting to understand. Happy birthday to Eric Clapton. I will never forget the time I saw him at the House of Blues NOLA. Great lesson Brian easy to follow and not to tough to play.

  28. charjo says

    Straight ahead blues in E, Clapton style, what more could we ask for? I’ve been so distracted by the amazing challenge submissions I totally forgot about new lesson Friday.
    John

  30. sunburst says

    I like how you teach,, very easy going and so cool how you walk through all these classic blues licks beginner intermediate or even advanced players .. added to my 2019 favorites lol

  31. Bill B says

    Light bulbs are flashing like a Christmas tree after this lesson! WOW
    Awesome job, Brian. One of my all time favorite albums and to learn those licks is just icing on the cake for me.
    Thanks for breaking it down so it was easier to digest.

  33. Alexandre F says

    …I still remember Eric Clapton “tears from heaven” unplugged on MTV it was a lot different from the alternative rock that was passing by at the 90´s I was 15 years old just a kid but that song captured my attention even though if I followed the rock scene from Seattle because of the drums , powerful guitars , vocals and lyrics , so much music in my head I had to pick a instrument to learn and play, at first sight I tought drums so fascinating but soon I fell in love for a guitar it´s beauty and style , power too and a gateway to express your feelings or messages to the world…So in 2001 or 2002 I´m not quite sure… I bought a ticket to Eric Clapton live concert a few time after seeing Red Hot Chili peppers, I was really close to the stage and a few meters from Eric I

  38. AndersDejenfelt says

    When I feel down and out of energy, I find that starting to work on one of these lessons, I forget all the emptyness and all of a sudden I am energized and ready for the world again! Part of that, I think, is because of you Brian. All of a sudden, I feel that I have a friend right in my home, showing me how to do all the guitar tricks I always wanted to know. And you do it just like a natural friend, no special gimmicks or attitudes at all. The best antidote to bordom and lonelyness!

  39. Robi Raw says

    While working on this I started to think of Jerry Garcia and all the acoustic guitar he played over the years and that it would be a blessing if you would share some of his acoustic licks.

  40. Mike R says

    I really love these ragtime blues pieces on acoustic or electric. I also just discovered EP140 the Lonnie Johnson tune, which has a lot of similarities . These compositions are soooooooo much
    fun to play with the jam tracks and they really stimulate my imagination to come up with other licks. Thanks Brian.

  42. Paul D says

    OK. So I think that the show that Brian refers to in the Part 2 video is Clapton and Buddy Guy at Ronnie Scotts 1987. Filmed for the UK TV Programme “The Southbank Show”.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFJt0FemHes

    I remember recording the audio from this on to a cassette and almost wore it out in my walkman(!)

    Definitely worth watching, apparently a copy of the full show is available as a bootleg, but I never heard it, but I would like to…

    BUT, I think that the lick that he is talking about is the opening to Key to the Highway from the Derek and the Dominos album Live at the Filmore.

    Any Clapton fans out there who can set me straight?

  50. coreyman97 says

    In addition to all these great lessons, your ability to explain how to use these licks for future use is invaluable. I always learn something, and have fun playing the different types of music you share. Thanks for all, Brian.

  51. Henry G says

    Just a thought. … were you to say something on the lines of “…now we go to the E note on the fifth fret, second string, and then the C# on the sixth fret third string…” it might help all of us to learn the fretboard better.

    Just my opinion, and I could be wrong, but I think over time it would expand and enhance the fretboard knowledge and capability of us viewers.

    Again, thanks for all your wonderful presentations; always a delight to view them each week.

    • sunjamr says

      Hi Henry, there’s been a lot of discussion on the forum in the past about the value of sitting down and trying to learn the name of every note on the fretboard. Most guitar students know the notes on the two E strings fairly early on, and later they learn the notes on the A string and maybe the B string. But the consensus has been that it’s better not to strain your brain with forcibly learning them – it just comes naturally with time. Much better to learn all the different ways to play every chord on the neck. Like, how many places can you play a c# on the neck? That is all related to the CAGED system.

  54. Andy N says

    Great lesson and a great tribute to the birthday boy! The unplugged album has to be my favourite EC album which is a tough decision given the quality of his back catalogue. This style with its ragtime feel has become one of my favourites as a result.

  57. Tom D says

    Hi Brian,

    This one is my favourite. I have listed a Jimmy Hendrix course in my selection of courses to do, but I can not remember how I found it. Is there an Eric Clapton course and how do I find it to select it, if there is?

  60. Brent N says

    I have a complaint, a request and a personal question.
    But first, thanks for this awesome lesson, it’s so good.

    My complaint: there is a big problem with your lessons, you keep releasing too many good ones, too often. My Favourites list is getting ridiculously long, I don’t have time to learn them all.
    My request: please release a few really shit lessons, maybe some out of tune strumming. That will give me a breather to try and catch up and on all your good stuff.
    My personal question: just between you and I Brian, I won’t tell anyone….did you start this gig with the lessons and the website so you have an excuse to buy lots of cool guitars? Because if you did it’s working brilliantly.

  61. CC says

    Such an awesome lesson, thank you Brian and yes this really blends in with a few licks from your Muddy lesson’s…..Crossing my finger’s for a part two….just about done learning these ones 😉

  63. David G says

    Brian: I’ve been taking your lessons for over a year now. Sometimes I even have delusions of competency. This was my favorite lesson EVER! God, my fingers are killing me, but this sounds SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good. Thank you. MOREMOREMOREMOREMORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  68. AndersDejenfelt says

    This, and 305, are the most valuable lessons that you have ever given!
    I love playing achoustic guitar, and now I have a basic knowledge of how to play the blues on the achoustic.
    Love it. Get more into this, please!

  69. john p says

    Eventhough 303 & 305 are hard and will take me to the next level, you must feel a sense of accomplishment not just for your talent for playing & understanding what your doing, but you have made us all better guitar players. My guitar would be leaning up in the corner somewhere. Instead, i work long hours trying to master your techniques. And if i stay with it, i do. In time. I play because of you. And i enjoy it.

  72. John P says

    Best amount of enjoyment I’ve had for a long time, learning this Eric Clapton acoustic style lesson. More of the same if possible. The best guitar teacher on the net I reckon.

  73. Bruce G says

    Hi Brian–love this lesson! Any chance we can also get the tab for your backing track? My jam buddy and I are working on this together and would like to trade back and forth between backing and lead. Thanks!

  74. MIKE B says

    New here as a paid member. This is a great lesson, my fingers are burning for practicing this one so much. My head has a tough time grasping the timing, timing is always my issue, but it’s coming along. 1/4 of the way the slow walk through (up to where Brian stops the free lesson) – I am able to bump it up to 1.25x and only mess up a little. Once I get up to to 1.5x smoothly (this seems full speed), I’ll tackle the next.

  76. RICK m says

    great lesson, i’m a 71 yr old intermediate player and this lesson was perfect. keep the blues lesson coming, blues is all i play. i like the way you work in some music theory into your lesson as opposed to just memorizing frets and strings.

  78. john p says

    Man I love playn this. Now this is some flat pickn blues. Once you get timing down and playn smooth, it just feels good. Brian, God bless you. And a powerful thank you. You really are a blessing. More Clapton please. After all, he was “God” until a young man from Seattle Washington made the scene. But I still love em.

  84. Ralph P. says

    Love this lesson Brian. EC has always been my favorite guitarist . I first heard “Sunshine Of Your Love” in ’67, and absolutely loved the guitar solo. It to only took about 20 more years to learn to play it. I’ve learned quite a few other Clapton songs over the years, and the elements that make EC so great are his melodicism, his phrasing. and his perfectly smooth vibrato. You’ve definitely captured EC’s essence in this lesson. I played a Clapton Signature Strat for 25 years, and a Martin 000-28EC
    for 20 years. I may have his signature guitars, but you Brian, have his vibrato! Clapton said he worked a long time on his vibrato. You have Clapton’s vibrato down better than anyone I’ve heard. I think maybe you’ve studied Clapton a little bit too? Excellent lesson. I’m sure Eric would approve.

  86. Lawrence S says

    I absolutely love this . I’m a great Clapton fan and always wanted to play some decent fingerstyle blues and understand how it all comes together. This will give me hours of fun and practice and thanks for your great teaching style.

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