For most of the past five decades, British guitarist Eric Clapton has been at the forefront of blues/rock guitar playing.
...
Though he has incorporated many different
For most of the past five decades, British guitarist Eric Clapton has been at the forefront of blues/rock guitar playing.
Though he has incorporated many different stylistic elements into his music during his long and very successful career, Clapton’s legacy was forged long ago on his brilliance as a virtuoso soloist, and he will long be remembered as one of the most important and influential guitarists ever.
This month we’ll examine that magical period from 1966 to 1968, when Clapton established the standard for modern blues and rock guitar with his incendiary work with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and Cream—back when he was commonly referred to by the modest nickname God.
Though Clapton initially gained recognition with the Yardbirds, with whom he played from October 1963 through March of 1965, his work with the Bluesbreakers established him as one of the best guitarists of the day. His inspired performance on the 1966 classic Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton is also noteworthy for introducing a mind-blowing guitar sound.
Armed with his 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard, plugged into a 45-watt model 1962 Marshall 2x12 combo amplifier, Clapton forged a thick, overdriven sound with tremendous sustain. He routinely turned the amp full up, as he liked to say, “till it was about to burst.” In those days Clapton used light-gauge Ernie Ball Super Slinky strings (.009–.042).
Let’s first look at the scales Clapton relies on primarily for soloing. Following the lead of two of his greatest influences—B.B. King and Buddy Guy—Clapton often alternated between minor and major pentatonic scales in his solos. FIGURE 1a illustrates one of the most commonly used scale positions for G minor pentatonic (B Bb C D F). FIGURE 1b shows a signature Clapton lick based on this scale in this position: it