In this lesson, we'll continue looking at how Eric Clapton approaches playing blues rhythm guitar. This lesson is really a continuation of the previous Eric Clapton Rhythm Guitar Lesson, however this lesson is a little more advanced and has a lot of extra licks that spice it up. Neither of these Clapton lessons are direct copies of a particular song, but instead are a hybrid of common guitar phrases that he uses when playing rhythm. I had several requests for more Clapton rhythm stuff so … [Read more...]
Eric Clapton Rhythm Guitar Lesson – LEG014
Most Eric Clapton guitar lessons you'll find online will focus on his approach to lead guitar, that's what most people associate Eric Clapton with. In this lesson, however, we're going to take a look at one of the ways Eric Clapton might approach playing rhythm on a slow blues in the key of A. You might notice that these licks sound very much like a piano part. The reason for that is that Clapton is a huge fan of Maceo Merriweather, who was an accomplished blues piano player back in the in … [Read more...]
Keith Richards Style Rhythm Guitar Lesson – LEG016
In this guitar lesson I'm continuing showing different rhythm guitar parts and in this lesson I demonstrate how to play a Keith Richards style rhythm. Keith is about the best rhythm guitar player out there and his contributions to Rolling Stone songs are what define them (well Mick Jagger's voice too of course). Keith is a nice mixture of Muddy Waters style Chicago blues, mixed with some Carl Perkins rockabilly, with a little country pedal-steel sounding twang. Even though he's technically the … [Read more...]
Bo Diddley Style Rhythm Guitar Lesson – LEG017
In this lesson I'll show you how to play a driving rhythm very similar to the style that Bo Diddley would often use. He used this rhythm in songs like "Who Do You Love". Other artists would later use this rhythm style in songs like "Hand Jive" by Eric Clapton. I've added a few extra twists in it to make it more interesting (including a Steve Cropper style turn around at the end of it). This is definitely a rhythm style that you should learn and become familiar with (if you haven't already) … [Read more...]
Albert King Blues Guitar Lesson – LEG021
In this lesson I've put together several popular guitar licks that Albert King would commonly use. Albert was a left-handed player which means that he was pulling the strings when he did his bends (as opposed to pushing the strings), this is fairly common with left handed players because the order of the strings are updside down. Another thing to point out about Albert's style is that he usually tunes his guitar down to e flat (so everything is tuned down a half step). A lot of artists (Hendrix, … [Read more...]
Simple Blues Guitar Lick – 1 (Chuck Berry Style) – LEG025
<>I've decided to switch direction on occasion with these blues guitar lick videos and try to offer content for the beginner, intermediate, and advanced guitar players. This video demonstrates a simple blues guitar solo that even a beginner should be able to play, on either an electric or an acoustic guitar. Most of it is played using the double string technique (where you are playing 2 strings at the same time), and because of playing on double strings it ends up sounding a lot like … [Read more...]
Mark Knopfler Style Guitar Lesson – Lead Guitar – LEG026
I remember as a kid seeing the Money For Nothing video on MTV, that's the one that had the super high-tech CGI animations which were state-of-the-art at the time. The guitar riff at the beginning of that song totally blew me away and I believe was my first foray into playing proper air guitar. To this day day if I hear that intro in the car I'll turn it up as loud as it will go, I highly recommend trying that sometime if you haven't already. Money For Nothing was my introduction to Mark Knopfler … [Read more...]
Eric Clapton Style Blues Guitar Lesson – LEG027
I've been looking forward to creating an Eric Clapton style guitar lesson because I'm such a huge fan, although I had a really hard time trying to sum him up in a simple lesson because he plays so many different styles. He's best known as a an electric blues guitar player, yet throughout his career he's played country, reggae, rock, jazz, delta blues, you name it. So I ended up creating a guitar solo that was a little bit rock and a little bit blues (some would argue there isn't much of a … [Read more...]
Robert Cray Blues Guitar Solo Lesson – LEG028
When I first heard Robert Cray I remember having a hard time processing what he does because it's really unlike anyone else's approach to playing blues guitar. To my ear, he's a perfect mix of old school Chicago blues mixed with James Brown funk, with some country twang thrown in for good measure. He's one of those artists that grows on you over time and the more you listen, the more you discover just how deep his stuff goes (actually I've noticed that the best artists / songs are usually the … [Read more...]
BB King Blues Guitar Lesson – LEG029
This lesson is part of a new blues artist series that I'm starting where each lesson will cover a particular blues artist and I'll explain how they play some of their signature guitar licks. This lesson focuses on Mr. Beale Street Blues Boy himself - B.B. King. Although B.B. has never been considered an extremely technical player, his phrasing and emotion that he uses when he plays in like no other. Even non guitar players can identify a B.B. guitar lick because of his unique vibrato. I put … [Read more...]