Eric Clapton is one of the all time greatest blues guitarists. In fact, he is the only person to be inducted three times into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - once as a solo artist, as a member of Cream, and as a member of the Yardbirds. Rolling Stone listed him as fourth on the list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Here’s an interesting fact - did you know that Eric wrote three songs about George Harrison’s ex-wife? Came you guess the three songs? They were Layla, Wonderful Tonight, and Bell Bottom Blues. Eric and George had been long time close friends and there were no hard feelings after when in fact Eric did marry George’s ex-wife. Talk about a close friendship - there are not many that get away unscathed after marrying a friend’s wife!
Lick #1: A Blues Lick
Here’s an Eric Clapton lick that combines a lead melody with blues rhythm playing. This lick can be played over an A blues.
Dial in a bluesy overdrive for this one.
Lick #2: Blues Before Sunrise Lick
Here’s a lick that was transcribed from Eric’s solo on Blues Before Sunrise from his album entitled From the Cradle. This is the first verse of his solo. Eric plays this one with a slide so bonus points if you have one but if you don’t, the lick still sounds great without one.
You notice a few slides in this one (measures 5 & 6). These are down and up slides and make sure to have enough gain so that these notes will ring! Eric does a bit of rhythm playing in measures 7 and 8 of the Db7 chord. The lick ends with a descending chromatic turnaround that ends on the five chord.
Lick #3: Ten Long Years Lick
This lick is transcribed from Eric’s solo on Ten Long Years from his album From the Cradle.
This lick uses the Ab blues scale and can be played over an Ab7 chord. The pickup measure is played with a more staccato feel. The entire lick should be played with an aggressive, heavy feel.
