This is kind of hard to explain, but I think you’ll find it fun…

One of my students was asking about the intro to ZZ Top’s tune, “Brown Sugar,” and there are a few cool little things.

I didn’t want to just transcribe it (it would be hard to write down) but I thought it would be cool to walk you through the ideas, especially the little flurries and stuff, so you could put together your own version.


    20 replies to "Brown Sugar Tweedly Noodling"

    • JimmyD

      Well, for those of you wanting CD’s, ain’t happenin’ no mo.

      I asked and the reply was “Griff has decided CD’s don’t sell and to only offer lessons via the web”…or something to that effect.

      Too bad for me I guess because that is the format I prefer. Just bought a new player too.

      If you want CD’s from Griff you can now only get what’s left in storage from previous lessons.

      Bah Fahn Goo!
      .

    • Ja

      Keeping with the ZZ theme, how about a “just Got Back From Baby’s” lesson?

    • chuck

      the very beginning sounds exactly like humble pie’s “rolling stone” from the rock on album

    • Topaz Tschinnery

      Hello Griff,

      In musical terms, your “twiddlies” are actually called “trills”!!

      Keep up the good work,

      Topaz.

    • Mike

      Great little lesson… as always. Always loved that intro..
      I have a tributary question. What do you or rather… what should I do when I’m at a jam and the song is being played too fast for you to keep up with? Should you just layout, turn down your volume and fake-play, roll your eyes and walk off stage, shrug sheepishly when your turn to solo cones around, tweedle endlessly, clap along, try to slow things down, order a drink, melt…?

      • ian richardson

        If it’s really bad you can always set fire to the guitar..worked for Jimi…
        Might be expensive though…
        You can always turn the volume down to “off” look at the thing as if it’s your worse enemy and then point at it while looking stage left..or right where there might be a tech…or someone.
        Shrug ya shoulders palms up because your guitar don’t work…or you amp has packed up..or some other technical gremlin has struck..
        Of course it corrects itself when the rest of the band have finished showing off…as usual.

    • Graham lashmar

      Griff hi man
      I took the course and I have learnt to play better than I have all my life. I’m now 70 so I just play for me. This is now were I am with my playing and it’s fun now. Thanks mate. I still go through the disks to see if I missed any thing. Happy new year

    • blind Lame Bob

      As I’m watching this, I just got sidetracked.
      The local radio station just started playing Dave Brubeck’s Take Five. The piano parts have a nice feel. The Alto Sax parts are smooth with an incredible melody. The solo is one of the finest. Paul Desmond, the sax player, has been quoted in an interview saying that he tries to sound like a dry martini. And he has succeeded.

      Mr. Griff. While this song is in 5/4 and in Ebm I think, and outside of your normal territory, this jazz standard presents some incredible learning opportunities.
      Would you consider doing a video or lesson on this song.

    • JIM KUBITZA

      If you wanted to call out Brown Sugar at a jam, how would you do it? ZZ Top is ONE guitar. Jams have several. What are the others supposed to do?

    • Casey Brose

      Thank you Griff for your daily lesson. It fits right in with box one that I have learned. Do you have a CD program I can buy that has all the box’s explained and shown. I think it would be helpful for me learning the other box’s.
      Respectfully
      Casey Brose

      • Rod Woolley

        There is not much explaining needed for the other boxes once you have been introduced to box one. Boxes 2 to 5 are just the same notes as box 1 repeated all over the fret-board. As you go from the nut to bridge boxes join up in the sequence 1 to five and then back to 1 etc.

        What you then need is a print out of each box shape and that is easy to find with a web search.

        I suggest you learn each box in turn just by looking at a diagram and practicing. It probably helps to stick to stick to one key for example Emin is a good choice. and Amin would be another. It’s probably better to learn box 2 after box 1 because then you can noodle and move between box 1 and 2. Similarly its perhaps a good idea to learn box 5 after box 2.

        It’s probably best to learn the pentatonic scale without blue notes at first but you will probably want to include them as you become more proficient.

        Make a point of learning where the root notes lie for each shape. You will find that as you experiment and “noodle” with the pentatonic scale that you will “gravitate” around and return to the root notes quite naturally.

        I hope that helps. It gets easier as you practice more and more.

    • loyd newsom

      Really good lesson,now got to know where can I get a BB KING BLUES T-Shirt like the one you’re wearing also what pedals are ya using? And I have All you teaching cds thanks

    • loyd newsom

      Really good lesson,now got to know where can I get a BB KING BLUES T-Shirt like the one you’re wearing also what pens are ya using

    • Tom

      You always remind me to look back and refresh what I’ve learned.

    • MikeS

      Cool stuff. Keep it coming, thanks

    • Debra M Klan

      Got ur new CD…love. love. Love it !!…can’t wait for ur next one…..you are working on another one…right ?…..lol…thx Debra

      • Bryan Laidlaw

        Yeah. Like it. Also Fool for your stockings.

        • Chris CLEMANS

          Fool for your stockings is a awsome tune. Maybe we can get him to do it on a lesson

          • Christian Van Horn

            I’ll second that!!! Hell, if Griff had a ZZ Top course I would buy it in a sec! So much goodness in those songs!

    • Peter S

      Very cool tune !

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