 | Lesson 40 - Original Ballad ChordsMay 15th, 2008 |
Details
If you’ve always wondered how to play those fat, thick, Hendrix and SRV style chords, this lesson will take you through the chord sequence used in the original ballad I wrote and used to demonstrate my Fender Blues Junior Amp. This style of playing is a mix of chords and lead techniques and when played correctly, it results in a very soulful rhythm style.
In this lesson, I walk you through the basic chords that the sequence uses, and then elaborate on how I connect them with Hendrix style hammer-ons and little lead licks to transition from chord to chord. Lastly I talk about the important of timing of certain key notes in the sequence, and the importance of accenting certain notes and beats in order to bring out the most soulful elements of this playing style.
The free video is the first 10 minutes, but the full video is over 30 minutes.
Gear
Guitar
- Brand: Fender
- Style: Strat (mexican made)
- Pickups: Rocketfire Guitars
- Frets: Jumbo
- Tuning: 1/2 Step down (Eb)
Amp
- Brand: Fender
- Model: Blues Junior Tweed NOS Edition
- Mods: None
- Tubes: Stock Groove Tubes
- Speaker: Stock Jensen
For this lesson, I am not using any effects.
Tablature
I will be creating tablature in GuitarPro for this lesson soon and will be posting here soon.
Full Lesson
The full lesson is over 30 minutes long and can be purchased in the lesson download store.
June 1st, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Also I think people should know that Stevie and Hendrix , with his stint with the Isley Brothers ,learned the R& B soulful inversion playing from people that came way before either of them. As much as I love SRVs music, and I know thats what this site is about, I thinks its only fair to tell people to listen outside him to hear this style playing . Steve Cropper, Ike Turner, Solomon Burke, Tinny Hodges of Al Green all have used this style to comp and fill behind vocalist. For whats its worth I urge your readers to pick up on some “soul” music to expand their ears.
As usual Antony you have given a great lesson that will hopefully benfit many. Thanks for all you do and explain to the masses.
soul II soul
Bryan
Anthony Stauffer ( StevieSnacks Teacher ) reply on June 5th, 2008:
Amen.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:22 am
you are truly an inspiration i have been playing for just over a year and have been following your lessons for some of the stuff i want to play i am absolutely obsessed with being able to play like SRV now, and i was wondering how you came about being able to play all this stuff so smooth? i took lessons in jazz for about my first nine months and i feel like i know a lot about playing guitar ad why stuff works together but i just get frustrated!! any advice?
Thanks from a fan of yours and Stevie,
Harrison Jones
Anthony Stauffer ( StevieSnacks Teacher ) reply on May 30th, 2008:
Hi Harrison,
Thanks so much for the kind words. I only set out to show people how to do some of the things I learned from Stevie. To be considered an inspiration is beyond what I had anticipated, so it’s greatly appreciated.
In terms of playing smoothly, I learned all my speed in 3 years. I spent the next 10 years slowly polishing the licks, and rhythm playing. I’m still learning things today, noticing little places where I’m not playing as smoothly as I could be.
What it comes down to is building up the dexterity and a certain amount of speed so that your technical limitations are slowing you down, then it’s a matter of becoming so familiar with enough licks and chords and sequences that you can play them without thinking about what you’re playing.
It’s then, that your mind is free to think about HOW you’re playing. As long as your mind is focused on WHAT to play, playing smoothly is almost impossible.
Once you’ve got the WHAT and the HOW, then you can really just sit back and listen to what you’re playing as if you’re in the crowd
Anthony Stauffer ( StevieSnacks Teacher ) reply on May 30th, 2008:
Oops, that should read “so that your technical limitations are NOT slowing you down”
May 24th, 2008 at 1:55 am
Anthoy, simply great. I’m 43, I start playing guitar only 2 years ago and I find your lesson very helpful. Today I just bought this lesson, it’s the first I bough ’cause here in Romania Paypall was only recently introduced.
Thank you, keep on doing the great job
Anthony Stauffer ( StevieSnacks Teacher ) reply on May 27th, 2008:
Hi Florin,
Paypal has made it possible for me to share these lessons with people in many countries and I’m glad that Romania is now on board! Thanks for your support
May 19th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Anthony, another great lesson. Very useful and applicable to many situations!
Thanks
Tim reply on May 22nd, 2008:
+1
May 19th, 2008 at 10:45 am
Hi Anthony, Do I need to purchase this lesson inorder to view the tab? Thanks Keith
Anthony Stauffer ( StevieSnacks Teacher ) reply on May 19th, 2008:
No, I haven’t made the tabs yet, but when I do, the tabs will be published here for free. The incentive for buying the full lesson is that you learn how to play it, not just what to play. Also because of how long it takes me to make tabs, some people will rather buy the full lesson than wait for the tabs which might take a little while for me to complete.
May 18th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
how do you grab that first a chord??? ive been trying like crazy. i dont want to settle with the standard a major. and my hands are not small. i cant get all of the notes to ring. any suggestions?
Anthony Stauffer ( StevieSnacks Teacher ) reply on May 18th, 2008:
It’s a difficult thing if you’re not used to the “baseball bat” grip of the guitar like Stevie used. I’m guessing that it’s the high E string you’re having trouble with? Is that correct?
how do you grab that first a chord??? ive been trying like crazy. i dont want to settle with the standard a major. and my handeans to ring. reply on May 19th, 2008:
yes, the e is hard to grab. while barring the b, e. i end up muting the g. gues ill just keep working it
May 18th, 2008 at 8:45 am
Hey Anthony - very nice peice - such great chord texture. Would it be possible for you to tab just the double stops (ala hendrix/sRv) that you are playing while going to or on that beautiful E-Flat chord??
-Rob-
Anthony Stauffer ( StevieSnacks Teacher ) reply on May 18th, 2008:
I’ll eventually be tabbing the whole thing out, I do explain what notes I’m playing more in the full version, but whenever the tab is done, I’ll be posting it here so that should help too.
May 16th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Hey Anthony,
Splendid job on this lesson! I have often wanted to add this type of chord playing to my own style and I think this lesson will give me a terrific starting point. My only problem is that I broke my pinky finger on my left hand two days ago, so it will be a few weeks before I will be able to really dig into this one.
Thanks again, Bob
Timmy reply on May 16th, 2008:
I’m also among the walking wounded, I fractured my left radial bone near the elbow 3 weeks ago, however thats not bad, it was the twisting of the forearm muscles in the fall that really hurt ! Through therapy (heating pad wrapped around the forearm)and Aleve, I’m on my way back . The fingers are connected to all those little muscles in there and I’m getting the strength back to bend my .011 set. Get well soon Bob !