you’ve heard this riff a million times but have you ever really understood what makes it so good this is the riff that launched a thousand Guitar Heroes and today I’m going to break it down step by step so you can play it just like Chuck Barry and even make it your own grab your guitar and let’s dive in first things first this riff is built on classic blues double stops and major pentatonic licks these are the building blocks of rock and roll guitar we’re in B flat major but if you want to play it in A major that’s fine just move everything down one fret now let’s slow it down so you can hear how it all comes together [Music] let’s take a look at chunk number one the opening pickup up notes chuck starts this riff by climbing up the B flat major pentatonic scale these three notes set up the whole groove let’s slide from fret number five to seven and then walk up from on the G string now walk up from six to eight on the B string chunk number two the signature double stops here’s where it gets punchy this is Chuck Berry’s signature sound and it happens in more locations than one so we’re starting here on fret number six on the B and high E strings driving those two notes home and it happens again on frets eight on the A and D strings and then we start doing the punches again really cool this technique gives it that full arithmic attack but the magic is how you bend into it slightly [Music] we’re not really going back to frets four and six are we we’re just kind of ghosting an approach note up to fret six that subtle move is what makes it sing [Music] chunk number three descending lick and sliding down now this phrase seals the deal descending blues phrasing with a quick slide so we’re going to start [Music] here on the double stops and then we’re starting that that slide from five to seven on the G [Music] string and we’re moving up to fret number six and eight on the B string and then we’re starting to slide again immediately i’m going to use finger three to make that slide happen this is where Chuck Barry’s raw energy really shines you want to dig into those strings but keep it [Music] [Applause] smooth this is section three pro tips for authentic sound before we put it all together here are some quick tips to really nail the Chuck Barry feel dig in with your pick chuck’s attack was aggressive so pick with purpose use economy of motion so don’t let your fingers fly around stay controlled and relaxed breathe in breathe [Music] out add some swing it’s not straight eighth notes it’s got to bounce so listen to the [Music] [Music] groove all right now it’s your turn slow it down get it clean then work it up to full speed with the record if this lesson helped you drop a comment and let me know do you want more Chuck Berry licks and if you haven’t already hit subscribe because we’re just getting started and if you liked what you just saw you might like this too until we meet again happy picking
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