Today we’re going to check out the style of Eric Johnson, one of my personal heroes. Hey YouTube, Simon here once again for Fundamental Changes.
ERIC JOHNSON CLIFFS OF DOVER GUITAR LESSON FREE
Make sure you log on and subscribe to our new YouTube Channel, dedicated to bringing you the finest free guitar lessons. It works perfectly over F#7.įor classic Eric Johnson style guitar licks, I recommend buying the album “ Ah Via Musicom.” My favourite track on that album being “Cliffs Of Dover.” Subscribe on Youtube Here is the scale used for the example above. I recommend taking your normal minor pentatonic blues licks, and adapting them to fit perfectly over dominant 7th chords, using the scale shown below.Įric Johnson Guitar Example 4 – The Hindu Pentatonic Scale The only difference being that the minor 3rd’s (of the minor pentatonic) are raised up to become major thirds (from A – A# here).
Despite its fancy sounding name, it is very similar to the normal minor pentatonic.
In this guitar lick, we are using the F# Hindu pentatonic. Eric also loves wide intervals, and shows this with three F# root notes, and a wide vibrato’d bend.Įric Johnson Guitar Example 3 – Guitar Lick I use the word ‘un-i-ver-si-ty’ to help me count each five note group. This guitar lick uses positions 1 ‘E shape’, position 5 ‘G shape’, and position 4 ‘ A Shape’ of the F#m pentatonic. ‘Quintuplets’ or five note groupings are a firm favourite. Odd note pentatonic groupings are one of Eric Johnson’s specialities. As mentioned in the video, try using two downstrokes, then a pluck with your middle finger on this progression.Įric Johnson Guitar Example 2 – Technique This chord progression shows how he would take a normal progression in F#m and add flavour with both string skipping, and hybrid picking. Emotive chords, speedy pentatonics and a musical blues background all add to his modern sound.Įric Johnson is a master of interval skipping. He is among the next generation of Texas guitar heroes.In this lesson, we are checking out three guitar licks in the style of the Texas blues rock giant, Eric Johnson. Rhett has performed with Tommy Emmanuel, Larry Carlton, Al DiMeola, Eric Johnson, Joe Satriani, Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, Billy McLaughlin, Larry Corryell, Tony Trischka, The California Guitar Trio, Carl Palmer, Andy Timmons and many other legends of instrumental music. Early on, Rhett developed a trademark hammer-on style that allows him to play two guitars at once by fingering each of their fret boards, coaxing filigreed harmonies and shimmering melodies without needing to strum. Rhett was admitted to the prestigious jazz program at the University of North Texas in 1993.
What blossomed was a fiery work ethic that is reflected in his mastery of multiple styles and his passionate performances. As his primary antidote against the pain and fear that he felt through his brother's bouts with cancer, Rhett retreated into the instrument. In 1987 he received his first guitar for Christmas. After that it became a matter of transposing many of the melodies down an octave and discovering a few new fingerings necessary for the tuning. I chose CGDGBD because the I, IV and V chords, which are the backbone of the song, would be easier to imply with their bass notes on open strings. The first accommodation that I had to make for the arrangement was to use an alternate tuning. The song holds up on the acoustic as a solo piece! Many years passed before I summoned the courage to actually develop an arrangement and an additional year to get it “under my fingers”. But on that hot June night at Antone’s, Eric was only playing on acoustic guitar and I remember thinking, how is he going to play “Cliffs of Dover”? That was the first time that I thought of arranging the classic song for solo acoustic guitar. Since then, I had attended many Eric Johnson concerts, including some that I played on. What I know for sure is that I was not alone. I first heard “Cliffs” in 1990 when a friend gave me a copied cassette tape of Ah Via Musicom. After all, “Cliffs of Dover” is the the standard by which all others are judged not to mention the last instrumental guitar song to hit the top ten on the pop charts. It was wonderful to get to share the stage with a legend and at the same time it was odd not to not hear him perform his signature tune. In June of 2004, I had the opportunity to open for Eric Johnson on his acoustic tour in Houston, TX.
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