“Got Me Under Pressure” by ZZ Top

But, like many great musicians, Vaughan was not sui generis. He synthesized his unique style by combining a huge number of influences from Albert King and Johnny “Guitar” Watson to Lonnie Mack and Kenny Burrell. That being the case, here’s a list of five Texas bluesmen (out of many) who, in addition to creating their own great legacies, paved the way for Vaughan to create a great legacy of his own.

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What a crazy sounding riff! It’s fairly easy to play, but the time change may throw many people off.

Guitar 1

Riff Resources

Complete Transcription To “Black Dog” (PDF)

Complete Transcription To “Black Dog” (Power Tab)

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Difficulty:
Intermediate

Composer – Lonnie Mack

Where to find this song – Wham Of That Memphis Man track #1

Release Date – April 1964

Lonnie Mack is a lightning-fast, vibrato-wielding, whammy bar-hammered
guitar stylist. He has influenced so many people, not to mention Stevie
Ray Vaughan, who idolized Mack’s early singles. Vaughan even played
with Mack on his 1985 comeback album, “Strike Like Lightning.”
Mack’s musical styling is that of Rhythm and Blues, Modern Electric
Blues, and Instrumental Rock.

Intro

You should have some fun with this intro. It isn’t difficult, and all
based around barre chords, except for the very first measure. Instead
of teaching note for note, just understand that when we say move to
the sixth fret for example, that would include all fingers that are
set in the barre formation. Just adjust that way to make this explanation
more understandable and not too lengthy for nothing.

Here’s what it sounds like looped at the normal tempo of 120 bpm:

The first measure is an E chord. Place your 1st finger on the first
fret on the “G” string. Place your 2nd finger on the second
fret on the “A” string. Place your 3rd finger on the second
fret on the “D” string. Play that with all other strings open
for the first measure.

The second measure is a barre chord on the first fret. Use your 1st
finger to barre all of the strings on the first fret. Then, use your
2nd finger to play the “G” string. Use your 3rd and 4th fingers
to play the third frets on the “A” string and the “D”
string. Play that one whole measure, and move to the second fret with
your fingers in position. Play that one whole measure, and then move
to the third fret with all fingers still playing like they were from
the beginning. For the fourth measure, simply move your fingers to the
fourth fret. Play that one whole measure. Now, move your fingers to
the fifth fret for the sixth measure. For the seventh measure, move
your fingers to the sixth fret. Play that one whole measure, and then
move your fingers to the seventh fret for the last measure of the intro.
Notice that all you just did was go from fret zero, to one, two, three,
four, five, six, and seven. Easier than you thought?

Main Theme

This is a bit more difficult. There are twelve measures here. The measures
that are identical are as follows:

Measures one, three, seven, and eleven – play these measures by placing
your 1st finger on the third fret on the “B” string. Place
your 2nd finger on the fourth fret on the “G” string, and
your 3rd finger on the fourth fret on the “high E” string.
Play that twice. Let off of the strings and play the open “high
E” string and the “G” string, and then barre your 2nd
finger to play the second frets on the “high E” string and
the “G” string.

Measures two and six – to play these measures, begin by doing exactly
what you did at the end of the first measure. Let off the strings as
shown, and then use your 2nd finger to barre the desired strings.

Measures four, eight, and twelve – these measures are mostly identical
to measures two and six, but instead of leaving all strings open at
the beginning, use any finger to play the first fret on the “B”
string. Your best bet is to use your 2nd finger.

Measure five – use your 2nd finger to play the second fret, and your
3rd finger to play the third fret. Then, all you will need to do for
this measure is use your 1st finger to barre the second frets on the
“high E” and “B” string.

Measure nine – use any two fingers or barre any finger here and play
it on the fourth fret on the “G” string and the “high
E” string. Then, just move to the second fret with the same finger(s).

Measure ten – this measure is actually mostly like the second measure,
so just make some adjustments to the number of strings being played
and you will be fine.

Video

Riff Resources

Complete Transcription To “Wham” (PDF)

Complete Transcription To “Wham” (Power Tab)

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The names given to the notes and rests refer to the fractional parts of a measure of common time. We’ll discuss common time in a moment. For now, take a look at the following notes and rests. Note particularly the way they look.

Occasionally in older music a double whole note is found, but
is rarely seen in today’s music. It will look like this:

Each note value or rest is equal to two of the next smallest value,
or one half the preceding value, like this:

Eighth notes and smaller values may be written separately, with
individual flags, or they may be grouped together under ligatures or beams.
(More on this under ‘manuscript writing’).

Rests of corresponding values are always written separately, meaning
they are not connected by beams (ligatures).

However, in practice several small rests seldom occur so their
total value will usually be shown by a larger rest.

Difficulty: Intermediate

Let’s take a sneak peak into the trick bag of the one and only Eddie Van Halen. One of the most innovative rock guitarist to come along. The guitar parts in Van Halen’s take on the Roy Orbison song “Oh, Pretty Woman” gets a Eddie Van Halen face lift.

The intro to the song is a really fun riff to play. It comes complete with whammy bar tricks, harmonics, and slides. Some of these “tricks” are actually very easy to play and master, so what are you waiting for? Jump right in!

Part 1

The first four measures of the intro a relatively easy:

The slide up to the 10th fret at the very end can be performed by sliding your first finger up the fretboard until you hit the 10th fret and then sliding it back down. Where you start the slide and end it doesn’t really matter. You should do it fairly quickly because you only have a beat to perform it before going on to the next part.

This is what it sounds like when done properly:

Part 2

The next part of the intro introduces some of Eddie’s signature tricks which include harmonics and whammy bar tricks.

The 1st and 2nd measure are identical. Apply a slight palm mute. To do this you’ll rest the heel of your picking hand lightly on the strings just before the bridge and apply a little pressure as you pick the string. This will create a slightly muffled tone for the note.

The “A.H.” above the D note on the A string/5th fret stands for artificial harmonic. This is sometimes also called a “pinch harmonic”. A harmonic is a cool trick you can use to make the sound of the note you’re playing sound at a higher pitch.

An artificial harmonic occurs when a harmonic is induced from a fretted string. For example, if you fretted the E string at the 3rd fret and played a harmonic at the 15th fret, you would hear a harmonic G.

Playing artificial harmonics requires you to touch the string lightly just as you pick it with your picking hand thumb. All you do is hold the pick so that only the very point is protruding below the flesh of your thumb. Immediately as you pick the string, allow the flesh of your thumb to touch the string. With a little practice you’ll start producing harmonics:

The “N.H.” in the measure below stands for natural harmonic. Natural harmonics occur with open strings. By slightly touching the string you are playing right above the 5th, 7th, or 12th fret when you pick an open string, you can get clear bell like tones. Give it a try! It’s pretty easy. If you don’t get a clear sounding note and get a muffled sound, then you’re touching too hard. You just barely have to come in contact with the surface of the string.

For this measure, Eddie creates natural harmonics on the 7th fret and then dips it with his whammy bar three times. That’s what the notation with the 1 over it means. It’s almost like a graphical illustration of the movement you use with your whammy bar. A dip only requires you to push the bar down and then let it return to it’s natural state. The “1″ is telling you to dip down on whole step which is the equivalent of 2 frets.

Here’s the example:

In the last measure Eddie does a dive with his whammy bar. To do this just push the bar down 1 1/2 steps.

Part 3

The last part of the intro is really the hardest. Jumping from the A string to the B and high E strings and back down to the low E string is no easy task to do with a clean attack.

There really is no secret cure that will allow you to play it right. All it takes is a little practice. Isolate the hard part and practice it until you have it right:

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Difficulty: Intermediate

You’ll use your fingers to pick this one.

Complete Transcription To “Betterman” (PDF)

Complete Transcription To “Betterman” (Power Tab)

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Riff Rundown

Difficulty: Easy

This is an easy power chord based song.

Verse

Chorus

Riff Resources

Complete Transcription To “Polly” (PDF)

Complete Transcription To “Polly” (Power
Tab)

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Electric Guitar Hasn’t Been The Same Since…

It’s a rare occurrence when a single song changes everything, but I’m going to list five songs that forever changed how electric guitar was played.

While Jazz musicians had been using electric guitars since the 1930′s, the later half of the 20th century saw the emergence of the electric guitar in mainstream music. This new spin on an old instrument provided the guitarist with more versatility over his instrument.  The guitarist also had the ability to alter and change the sound by using effects which enabled new experimentation.

Through the years a plethora of great electric guitar music has hit the airwaves, but the gems of songs found on this list stand out as turning points in the direction of the instrument. These songs did not create quickly fading fads, but changed how people played the electric guitar for all time.

So, without further ado…

The List:

“Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry

This song’s blazing opening  provided rock ‘n’ roll music with a template for guitar domination. Berry’s influence was heavy through 50s and 60s and artists such as The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix often played songs popularized by him  and used his music as starting point for their own styles.  It’s simply the penultimate rock ‘n’ roll song with plenty of electric guitar swagger. Plus, it’s the song you pull out of the bag when you really want to impress. Just ask Marty McFly.

Click here to download the PDF.

“(We’re Gonna) Rock Around The Clock” by Bill Haley & His Comets

Could it be?  Is this first “shredder” solo? Speed became a new focus for the electric guitarist after this technical demonstration from guitarist Danny Cedrone. It’s widely considered one of the greatest rock and roll guitar solos of all time. The solo may be tame by today’s standards and Danny Cedrone may not be a household name in today’s culture, but it’s influence can still be felt today.

Click here to download the PDF.

“Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix

Holy cow! Did you hear that? Not only was Hendrix technically brilliant on guitar, but he offered new sonic landscapes  never before heard with use of cutting edge effects. Purple Haze launched an army of Hendrix clones, and sent millions of guitarists to the music shops to get the hardware need to recreate the sounds introduced by Hendrix. He remains as probably the most influential electric guitarist of all time.

Click here for the PDF.

“Eruption” by Van Halen

Jaws dropped. Guitar were thrown out the window. A new technique was popularized. Many feelings ran through the guitar players everywhere when this song was first heard. Most people could tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing.  ”Eruption” was the 2nd song on Van Halen’s debut album and lasted less than 2 minutes, but those two minutes changed everything. It spotlights Eddie Van Halen’s use of tapping that had, until then, never been heard and by the end of the 80s everyone was doing it. You can still crank this song up full blast today and get chills running up and down your spine.

Click here to download the PDF

“Texas Flood” by Stevie Ray Vaughan

Vaughan  started a revolution. It wasn’t that he was playing anything new. Heck, he was just playing  traditional blues music and blues runs borrowed from his predecessors. No, it wasn’t what he played, but HOW he played it. It was his unparalleled intensity. It was his ability to shake and bend the strings that drove millions of players back to the basics found in the blues. It was as if he was an open channel to all the blues greats of the past. He, and he alone, revived blues music for years to come. “Texas Flood” was the slow blues song that first found the ears of the masses and exposed his soul wrenching solos.

Click here to download the PDF

Also, Don’t Miss…

“Lead Guitar In The Minutes”

Intro

The intro is in 4/4 timing, so you shouldn’t have any trouble.

Verse Theme

The verse is rather easy. Pay close attention to the pause from the
fifth fret on the A string to the Low E string that you have tuned to
D. Palm mute the open notes there.

Pre-Chorus

Chorus

Interlude

The interlude switches timing a bunch, but you will literally just
run through this entire part without pausing. It sounds weird, but it
is effective to provide that strange sound Tool is known for.

Outro

This is broken down because there are lots of repeats.

Here is the first measure :

Here is the second measure :

Here is the third measure :

Complete
Transcription To “Undertow” In PDF Format

Complete Transcription To “Undertow”
In PTB Format

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ROY ROGERS is an American slide guitarist and record producer, who has worked with everyone from Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek to Linda Ronstadt, as well as Sammy Hagar, Bonnie Raitt and John Lee Hooker.

• He was named after the singing cowboy, Roy Rogers.
• Rogers plays a variety of guitar styles related to the Delta blues, but is most often recognized for his slide work.
• In the 1980s Rogers was a member of John Lee Hooker’s Coast to Coast Band and produced and/or played on several of Hooker’s best-known albums, including “Boom Boom,” “Mr. Lucky,” and the Grammy winning effort, “The Healer.”

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