BORN IN 1984 in Austin, the musical heart of Texas, Gary Clark Jr. plays a lot more than just pure blues. Though he has performed alongside legends like Eric Clapton and B.B. King, the young guitarist’s musical style also reflects strong funk, soul and rock influences, which tastefully inform both his playing and singing style. When it comes to tone, the guitarist opts for a mix of Fender and Gibson-style guitars, which he plays through Fender amps with a small selection of pedals.
For this lesson and its recorded examples, we’ve gone more with the fat Gibson humbucker tones than the brighter Fender single-coil sounds, but the licks presented herein also sound great with the latter. Just dial in a little more gain, mids and bass to fatten up the tone. Volume also plays a part, adding a touch of sensitivity and sustain, while maintaining clarity and definition. Alternatively, try adding a compressor into your signal chain to liven up your tone without causing domestic disputes!
Our featured examples are inspired by and demonstrative of Clark’s soul-infused blues riffing, raucous lead style and funky, syncopated rhythmic phrasing. There’s an all important element of feel here, with such things as string bends, vibrato and quick, decorative finger slides. As you gain confidence you’ll start to add these vocal-like phrasing elements without thinking about them. But it’s important to get the techniques down first.
FIGURE 1: BASIC PENTATONIC RIFFING
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Denne historien er fra October 2020-utgaven av Guitar World.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Kittie - Guitarists Morgan Lander and Tara Mcleod discuss the canadian metal powerhouse's unexpected rebirth — by fire!
Guitarists Morgan Lander and Tara McLeod explain that making new music was “not on their bingo card” when the band regrouped in 2022 for a few festival appearances, preferring to think of the sets as more of a “final lap” than a new beginning. But drilling into old favorites — whether the nu-flavored teenage slams of 1999’s Spit or the more venomously groove-thrashed tunes of their late-’00s period — revealed that despite not having raged together in years, there was something undeniably special about Kittie’s musical connection. “Playing with these girls is like putting on an old pair of pants,” Lander says. “It’s very comfortable — and it looks good too.”
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TC Electronic TC 2290P Dynamic Digital Delay
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WHEN I THINK back to the Seventies, the famously coined “Me” decade, it seems the only surefire way you could leave audiences awestruck was to strap on a doubleneck guitar.
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DEWAYNE "BLACKBYRD" MCKNIGHT
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PAT TRAVERS
The Canadian-born virtuoso discusses the rise and fall of the Pat Travers Band, witnessing the U.K. punk revolution and the riotous roots of \"Snortin' Whiskey\"
JOE PERRY
The iconic guitarist looks back on Aerosmith in the Seventies, the decade that literally made and temporarily broke apart those Bad Boys from Boston
