Clapton Style Lick In The Style Of “Crossroads” From The Cream Era
A lot of people get hung up on a couple of things:
1 – The turnaround in a blues… the chords go by a little faster and it’s nice to have licks that you can just pull out of your bag-of-tricks and not have to think about it.
2 – Playing faster and incorporating hammer-ons and pull-offs with the picked notes.
Today’s lick will help with both. This is a straight feel blues/rock lick in the key of A. It uses mostly A minor pentatonic, but there are a couple of nods to the major 3rd (the 6th fret on the 3rd string) over the I chord.
Plus… it just sounds COOL when you get it down and works great even at slower speeds.
Downloads
This Video (MP4)Mac users should use the MP4 version to download the video
- This Video (WMV)
Windows users should use the WMV version to download this video.
If you need it, here’s the TAB for it. It’s not too tough as you can see… but the speed makes the challenge. If you take it SLOW at first and COUNT OUT LOUD then I promise you can do it. If you don’t do those things… it won’t be so good.
Great exercise for speed control. Thanks
This is going to be a challenge and I’ll enjoy the work.
Thank you, you do a great job on all of the lessons.
Just jamming along with this Clapton Classic recording last night so thank you Griff. Also maybe I havnt noticed before but the video lesson with the tab underneath is the perfect format. Thankyou once again,Chris.
Great lesson Griff! Love that turnaround.
Thank you!
Awesome!
I have seen this once before but a re hash is always good . Its a classic lick .
Excellent lesson and lick, Thank you very much
Griff,
Cool! – Love you and Clapton!
Check out John Mayer and Eric at Crossroads concert doing “Crossroads”. You see the young pup coming after the ole dog. Watch the bass player at about 1:55 he knows what’s going on. In my book “slow hand” is still #1. What do you guys think?
Old School & Still Rockin’
I always watch and learn stuff thru your lessons, but don’t comment. But I felt the need to after learning this cool turnaround. Thanks for all you do for the online guitar community!
Good lick. Thanks. Great course, too.
Great lick Griff! This is a classic Clapton lick he used countess times with Cream. He used it not only on “Crossroads” but this lick shows up on a few other songs on live Cream recordings, official releases and countless bootleg recordings too.
I think I’ll try to incorporate this lick into one of the tunes in “A” out of ABGL.
Great example of how minor box one and then box two into a major feel blends together love the Clapton stuff thanks Griff !
Great stuff! Always loved the riffs in this song!
As always great lesson.
Great lesson. I’ve been playing this lick for quite a while though not quite as fast as you,Griff but it’s getting very good.
I think of this as an intro more than a turnaround though they’re really the same. I’m a huge Clapton fan and if you breakdown what he does as you do Griff, it’s a very effective way to learn classic blues
Thanks again. You are the best. I’ve seen others try and teach but all they do is show how great their chops are. Who needs that? You do it just right.
Griff I don’t know how much trouble it is for you to attach a pdf of the tab but it makes a big difference to me because I can print it off and refer to it while watching the video full screen on my ipad
Holy crap! Awesome and soooo usefull!! Every time I see an E-mail from you, I learn something. Just watched Clapton on the tele! Impeccable timing if I do say so. Keep ’em coming Griff, and I’ll keep on try’in ’em on. Thanks so much. Until next time, yo!
Great lick Griff and thanks for all the lessons; keep em’ coming and thanks again!
Nice. As if it sounds better with faster speed .
Great song for sure , but l get lost in the weeds on this one Griff. To much dink,dink, dink ,and, 2 3 4 and, for me to follow easily here. Also l notice on his many versions of this he seldom plays the songs the same way anyway .
Hi Griff
Great lick, good breakdown with timing, back to the shepherds hut for practice (things are a little different in the UK).
Many many thanks for another great lesson.
Nice.
Love it, Griff. Actually, I love just about everything you do for us.
I agree it’s a great licker and i will definitely learn it . Thanks for that.
Thanks again so much!
Hey Griff,
What a great Turnaround Lick, simple and effective especially with the Hammer Ons and Pull Offs.
Certainly BGU V 2 covers some of this great guitar stuff to learn and above all have fun playing.
Thanks Griff
Michael-Sydney- Australia
Hi Griff yes real nice riff I wil hopefully nail it excellent sound as well close my eyes and it was E.C himself thankyou Griff . Incidentally I am just about to get a new amp this Christmas a Vox ac 30 to improve my sound and it will give me a better blues sound do you have an opinion on this Griff All the Best Edward Bargery Plymouth England
I was thinking a few days ago and I realized that I only took up my guitar again after 30 years of working only about a year ago and Griff is the best. YOU NEED TO…Make a wall of Griffs wall of knowledge. It is so easy to have it staring at you IN YOUR FACE…ALL THE TIME…I have many of his CD’S and printed out a lot of things to put up on the wall to study as I play. It is so easy to study…oh yea I also put some guitar fretboard stickers that have all the modes, pentatonic scales and blue notes. It is called Daprofe fretmap. I really think if you have picked up the guitar after a while of not using it these pints will make your learning faster. I cannot believe how far that I have come in my playing with Griff Hamlin’s courses. YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY. I actually do a lot combined together and Griffs course on guitar theory was so enlightening to the guitar neck and how things go together. Oh and use your guitar strap as much as possible because I discovered that when you have the strap on you can adjust it for BAR CORDS that your wrist has to be in the right position to play bar cords. But this was GREAT JUST LIKE ALWAYS HE PUTS THING ACROSS SO SIMPLE. And I am a simple man that needs things put across in a simple way…GREAT GRIFF. I will be getting a few more courses to put up on GRIFFS WALL OF KNOWLEDGE that will be in my face all the time and it is so easy to study this way for me instead of taking out a book and looking it up. I really recommend getting as many of his stuff as possible…
Hi John, You have some great ideas here and I agree Griff is one of a kind for teaching Blues Guitar. I have most of his courses. What I do is I have a current BGU Course Manual on a Music stand when watching DVD, I also print out all the Tab sheets for his email lessons and Keep them in Plastic sheets / Folders relating to a Category matching the Wmv video lesson.. with Tech Sheets on the wall of music Den.. It all works.
Michael-Sydney-Australia
Hey Griff,
This is a great refresher from last year, you can never learn enough Licks which is endless. I have been learning now for 3 years and it is all making sense. I am now going through BGU V 2 again as a refresher as now retired and have the time to learn properly now that my eye sight is restored to 20 /20 vision.. all good.
Michael-Sydney-Australia
Thanks Griff. Another great lick and you taught it well.
Great teacher! You always out do yourself.
May see you in Memphis!
Later!
Cool lesson, Griff! Great timing! I just completed Eric’s example in your BGU Bonus material last night! It was interesting watching you COUNT this one. You don’t bother using the the “ee’s” or the “uh’s” when you’re counting the 16th’s. Always learning something new from you! Thanks!
Thanks Griff,A great riff,I am working on it.
Thanks Griff for this MUST have have ‘lick’ for ALL us guys and gals students learning to play the ‘Blues’.
Great Lesson Griff. I find it very invigorating.
Ditto on the PDF, I have an iPad mini so a printed copy is always easier.
Thanks for the lesson..
I like seeing it in tab since I don’t always catch what you’re doing. And the notes are good for seeing the timing.
I cannot seem to download this to Windows media player which I rarely use as it is hopeless, is there some way I can download this to VLC media player. Cheers
You keep connecting those missing dots. Thanks!
God bless you buddha griff aloha
God bless you BRUDDHA griff
Not duplicate cuz buddha and bruddah not same kine ting
Grate exercise Griff, thanks.
This is great stuff. Thanks Griff
Love your teaching me the why!!!
Real good lick, I can use it a lot of ways just by changing the phasing.
Great. If you could transcribe and demonstrate the whole of Crossroads I would by it from you as a single purchase!! It would make one of the best studies.
Thanks, man!
Griff, excellent insights, explanations, and illustrations. No need to feel bad about incorporating or applying the riff in whole or in part into your own solos. Eric often did that and would be the first to admit that he did. Also, remember the words of the great composer Igor Stravinsky, who famously said “Lesser artists borrow; great artists steal.” (And, indeed, Stravinsky did steal from time to time. I can hear passages in his work that were surely lifted directly from Maurice Ravel.)