Boom Boom by John Lee Hooker Guitar Lesson

Which version?

As with many classic blues tunes there are multiple recordings of this track, all with slightly different takes on the track. For this lesson we are covering the version that appears on the album Whiskey & Wimmen. It's a nice 12 bar blues take on the track. But later on Jed will give you an alternative version too.

The feel

Before we go into the specifics of the notes we need to talk about the feel! We're swinging this one which basically means the 8th note 'ands' don't fall exactly halfway between the beats - they're a little bit later than that. This gives us a more tripletty, relaxed and groovy feel!

Phrase 1

We're in the open position for most of this riff, in the key of E Blues. This means we can use E minor pentatonic box 1 in the open position which looks like this:

Phrase 2

We're still in the same place on the neck but now we're introducing a b5 to 4 slide, and that b5 note is taken from the minor blues scale. Here's the shape for your reference:

Phrase 3

This phrase is an echo of phrase 1, but the last note is an open A string, instead of an open E string. This gives us a nice bit of variation and sets of a call and response between the phrases.

Phrase 4

Phrase 4 is identical to phrase 2, so you already know this one. Great job!

Phrase 5

We're again in E minor pentatonic for this phrase. It's another variation on phrase 1, with the change being the last note. This time it ends on the A note played on the G string.

Phrase 6

The last phrase rounds off the whole thing nicely with some lower notes from the same scale shape!

For the blues masters!

In the video Jed also offers a little extra for anyone who is comfortable playing the phrases above. There are some versions of this track where John Lee Hooker plays a riff in between the phrases too. It's based around an E7 chord with a b3 on the low E string. Once you have that under your fingers you simply play it in what was the empty bar between the phrases.

Lead

There's a lot of scope for some great blues lead in this tune. The solo section follows a 12 bar blues structure so you'll be able to practice your blues licks and ideas!

Here are a selection of shapes to help you get started!

Thank you so much to Jed for breaking down this track. Take your time and really try to get the feel when you're planing this one. You could argue it's more important than the actual notes themselves!