This is just one of my favorite SRV style licks (and I’ve learned many of them over the years…)
It has a specific usage – only over the V chord at bar 9 if the 12 bar pattern where it sort of nods to the V minor blues scale. So in the key of A that would be a quick nod to box 3 of the E minor blues scale, which is in the same finger position (roughly around frets 5-8) as box 1 of the A minor blues scale.
And if you dig this lesson I’m sure you’d dig my flagship Blues Guitar Unleashed course (the link will open in a new window) so check it out…
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The TABDownload a PDF of the tab for the lick.
58 replies to "My Favorite SRV Style V Chord Lick"
Cool lick, thanks Griff!
One small correction though is at
3:56 you say V chord, where I think you
meant IV chord, the D9th, for the 10th measure?
Hey Griff. I was just thinking maybe a lesson on something do-able that Jeff did would be cool. Just a suggestion.
I immediately recognized this lick from your BSBB course. You demonstrate it in key of C played over the G7. Love it! Thanks Griff.
If we leave out the second “E” on “One” we can abide by the “Don’t play on beat one” rule?!
Then you can steal it from me!!!
Not for nothin’, but I think the *rule* is Don’t BEGIN a lick on beat 1, Not don’t PLAY on beat 1 (if its in a subsequent measure). At least that’s how I understand it. And not for nothin’, but I’ve thought, why can’t I Begin on beat 1 if I can Play over the next occuring beat 1 of the lick.
I’ve been working on How To Jam Alone On Your Guitar. I think I’ve hit upon the answer. Because the blues is often a call & response type of sound. And if your by yourself playing, to begin you strike the chord (or part of the chord)–the Call–then you Respond with a lick…which could go longer than the end of beat 4 of the measure. At that point you’r still playing the lick through the first beat of the next measure until you end the lick. Then you Pause, wait until the next measure and strike the chord of that measure to begin the next Call. Then you play the next lick as the Responsse. If you’re playing lead with a buddy or in a band instead of playing by yourself, your buddy or the band will take care of the Call on beat 1.
The explination is a bit of an oversimplification, but it’s a good illustration of why you don’t BEGIN a lick on the 1st beat of a measure. That’s my take on it anyway.
Wow, I am on this one as I type. Thanks for sharing.
What brand of guitar is that? I saw Peter Frampton playing one too ?
Its a SUHR Guitar not sure which model.
Great luck! I’m a thief too!🤫
Thx Griff
I will try it slower
Thx
Griff,
Momma’s cold must really be kickin’ yore butt. Yes, this is one of my favorites too and I mean this video…..I have it archived from a year or two ago…..LOL
Keep up the great work, I enjoy everyone of your classes, even the “vintage” ones.
Stay Happy….Ugly Scott in far off Alaska…..keep on strummin’
What part of Alaska? Spent 20 years at PBU WOA strumming in the dark….
Great video Griff. ,, just what I needed to pick me up today..thanks for all the great lessons. ROCK ON BRO,
Craig
Thank you for turning us on to one of SRV’s great licks.
Thanks Griff another tasty lesson pulling out the strap turning on the tube amp have an excellent day 🙂
Cheers Griff
For the lesson 😎🎶
ive seen fhis many times followed since the start . what if you were to drop the tuning on our guitars one half step NOW HOWS IT SOUND DOING THIS LIC.
That’s my sound when playing A king sound SRV I said he sound like A. King yes blues for me
Hey Griff,
Great lesson, keep them coming. I always have a go at each of these lessons and then I have to archive them in my BGU Library until I get through all the BGU Courses that I have purchased as well as today I purchased your “Special Memorial Day Blues Guitar Unleashed” as it covers all the Blues Guitar Chords structure and Blues Rythym structure.
As I am now in full retirement I am practicing different courses of BGU mainly in all my weaknesses etc. These Lick lessons are very handy because I go back to the Library and practice them after my must do practicing. Now into my 3rd Year, I have no problems with bending etc
Keep these lessons coming as I can’t wait to get up to that grade. Your Pedal Lesson was great too. Your are a fantastic Mastermind in teaching.
Michael – St Andrews Australia.
This is a “Lonesome Sundown” (Cornelius Green) lick. A forgotten Swamper who recorded for Jay Miller.
Enjoy the video very much cheers griff.
My apologies if I am mistaken here, but at 3:58 you say that next chord that comes in is the V chord, yet the notes (and Chord) you play are from D, which, if I am not mistaken is the IV chord in A. I noticed the C you played was the flatted 7th and F# was the third, but those were also D. I just want to make sure I am on the right track since it had me confused for quite a while, and confusion comes easily to me in this regard. I assume since the lick is done on the V chord that it couldn’t also be what followed it. I think I answered my my own question, but it never hurts to have confirmation. I love the lick and I love the lessons. You Rock!
YOU REALLY CONFUSED ME WITH THE MUSIC CHORD THERORY. IT DOES NOT MATER I USE MY EAR . EVEN THOUGH I CAN’T PLAY FOR MORE THAN 10 MINUTES I STILL LIKE GETTING YOUR VIDEOS I HAVE A SOME GIFT THAT JUST WATCHING AND REMBERING THE TUNE OF THE LICK. STAYS IN THE BACK OF MY MIND. LIKE A PHOTOGRAFFIC MEMORY. THANKS FOR THAT ONE GRIFF
I think you’re exactly right Gregory. Good catch.
It is the D9th chord, which is the IV chord on the 10th measure.
I made the same comment below before I scrolled up
and saw your comment.
I think we’re right and that Griff just briefly misspoke in an otherwise
great lesson.
yep…my brain is full. Nice lick, but not even gonna look at it again until I finish (or officially quit) BGU.
Griff, you gotta go on vacation, or go on tour – for about a year – and let us catch up (never) with what we already got!
The first part of that lick is also played in Sultans of Swing…
Any time we get some Stevie I’m diggin it big time got to fire up the Princeton reverb and grab the Strat thanks as always Griff !!!
just stopped by today to catch this tasty morsel . it does help me out with theroy . it good to break out of the box at times to get that perfect note to tie up stuff. the video on the hendrix inspired lic starts out with triplets also the same way . i have been wotking on that like it and this one too thanks for theroy been hitting it on the money for some time now been here for well since the beginning . you did have a jam with marty the 17 min. one got to look at that again like the 2 guitar stuff .
Tony Arnett?
Thanx Griff 4 all the Great Stuff you share wirh us. If we stick it out & PRACTICE! it
Oneday we will also control & command
this 6 stringed instrument like you do!
Thanx Big G.
Sorry friends when reading my last post the word LINK should be the word Lick LOL cheers Dave
I am having difficulty bending strings, especially the G String. Is there a set of strings that do this better than other Makes, Type, low e starting the Set of string Gauge? Or do people mix and match different strings to get the maximum possible?
So strange I am bumping into parts of other links that make up that link you have just played Griff and I played the SRV lick in minutes just a beginner with the blues, played guitar for years but not lead, but really enjoying your videos and learning well. thanks Dave from UK
I use Ernie Ball Super Slinkys (9 – 42), and have the action on my first 3 strings set slightly higher. I’ve found this gives me more ease in grabbing and getting up under these strings which, of course, are the main strings I bend. The difference between having lower action across the board, and having the first 3 strings slightly elevated makes all the difference in the world to me when it comes to bends.
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Nice one , but not enough playing at the outset to set my ears to the rhythm flow , so the rest of lesson was Griff’s dink, dink, dink style which does not work well for my type of learning , but it did sound cool albeit too quickly to fly by.
That is an awesome lesson, and I too am stealing it to use whenever I can.. thanks for the licks
A big thanks to Griff Hamlin. Scince I started to listen and watch your vids on utube its given me more confidence and I’m enjoying my guitar now.and its all down to you Griff. Keep up the good work you influance so many people. Big thanks. C B Freeman…
I agree fantastic lick and lesson – as usual from our big brother Grif!
Nice one Griff! There’s me having (albeit) played this lick in Day Tripper for so long and didn’t recognize it straight away. Its not just what you play but also, the way you play it. Thanks for your hard work and dedication. Ray (UK)
This is a great luck and it is iconic. There’s something very solar in bar 4 of Texas Flood in the key of G. SRV lives it and Iit is a must to know. Versions of tis are all over his music.
Albert King had his favorites too. Check out the intro to Born Under a Bad Ign. That’s a short luck but iconic. Super fun when you can play it fast.
Thanks Griff -keep them coming
Amazing. I love it. I will too! Thanks Griff!
Another killer free-bee.
Thanks Teach !
A.B.
Hi Griff,
Nice Deluxe Amp stage left. Had twin, played on Deluxe some years ago & thinkin’ it’s time for another.
Great lick and was in tune with it almost whole way as I am a Texas Blues Fan and I have been thinking about one of my fallen hero’s and early inspirations and one of our biggest I was supposed to go see at a kind of annual thing, I think because he felt comfortable here at that time of year, maybe liked the snow and region, but that’s just the vibe i got.
I’m guessing the original was played from the hip. Some of us have had some where you wrote it this way but when the groove got going it went that way and said I like that better. It may not work mathematically (and YES, Music is Math), but the human ear likes it.
Thank you Griff for your passion and efforts. I do appreciate it. I look forward to the emails and always find them inspirational.
Work hard and Play from the Gut, Wade
Nice lick–thanks!! Keep ’em coming! BTW not sure if you noticed but there are many of the same notes/intervals (not sure if it’s the same key) in the Beatles’ Day Tripper! It jumps out at any Beatles’ fan! 🙂 Thoughts??
I’d like to learn how you ended that lick!~
Awesome. Your Blues Unleashed package plus all this. Awesome. Thanks for sharing so freely with us. Really like your products and style of instruction.
Griff,I love this lick.Cannot wait to play it with my friends, who get together once a month. Thanks, Mike
For what Griff did @ 05:32, just fire up VLC Media Player and have at it. It’s all right there.
BTW that first triplet is an ICONIC blues lick! If you don’t know it, you just ain’t playin’ the blues!
Guess you are sayin’ that Robert Johnson didn’t play the blues ’cause he didn’t play this lick. That’s just Horsepucky thinkin’. It’s like sayin’ you can only play the blues on a Chinese Counterfeit guitar.
…..whatever you did a 5.32 is more interesting than the featured lick!
Please break that one down……could be a good warm up exercise.
jim
Very cool lick/riff! Fits right in with all my other “stuff”! Yee Haw! Thank you Griff!
Very cool riff and I have seen and heard SRV play that lick, and other variations of it many times. I like the B note at the 7th fret on the E string and play it quite a bit when I am doing leads in this key. I like it especially as a three note pull off. I am pretty sure he did get this riff or something very similar from Albert King. Good stuff.
Sounds like it’s from Honey Bee albeit slightly modified.
I do not know exactly where stevie uses this lic I am guessing that if we want to find out where we will have to do some homework. I does sound familiar to me . Like you are saying it could go any where when the 5 cord is used . As far as 12 bar blues are concerned the E cord is used alot . I for one do not try to duplacate any lics I like to be original for this one I will use it . Its one of the coolist ones You have demonstrated . Billy Gibbons uses this too if I am not mistaken . Well Jesus left chicago . Love the walk down . peace out from ct.
Hi
I have a bit of a problem , I have on my left hand my thumb and index are half cut off so I can only play with the remaining three fingers , is there any nice easy Riffs you could suggest for me?
Meany thank
Albee
Hey Albee, I just tried this same lick with my middle, ring and pinky, I was able to do it although I have all my digits. With practice and patience, you can too. I don’t know what your experience or skill level is, but you can do it, you just gotta visualize it and built up the other finger muscles. Come up with your own variations. there are a lot of 3 finger lead players