Lenny

Video

Thank you so much to Jed for the incredibly detailed breakdown of this guitar playing dream of a song! There's a lot to get our teeth into here, so let's start by checking out the video:

Set up

Before launching into the notes, it's really important to cover the guitar tuning, and SRV's infamous choice of string gauge! The most important point is that we're tuned down half a step to Eb Standard, meaning our strings from low to high are Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb. If you're used to playing with lighter strings, 9s for example, you'll probably find this makes them too rattly and buzzy, which is why we recommend going for heavier strings. SRV famously used 13s for much of his playing, but this can make bends extremely tough, even with the dropped tuning, so bear that in mind. You may prefer to find a middle ground like Jed and go for something like 11s.

Intro

We kick off this song with a wonderful E major 13 chord, and as Jed demonstrates, we can leave out the root note to allow room for the bass player. You can of course play the E on the 7th fret of the A string if you prefer that sound - SRV definitely does both! That's followed by a lovely E Major 6th (which we'll write as E6) voicing up around the 12th fret. Here are the shapes:

We then finish with an open E string followed by an open 12th fret harmonic on the E and B strings. To make a harmonic ring out you need to touch the string just above the fret wire, not where you'd usually fret. And don't press down hard, just touch the string, when you take your finger away the harmonic should still be ringing out!

This then leads into a lovely E major pentatonic run across boxes 5 and 1. Here are the shapes:

Main theme

From here we introduce the main theme that we keep returning to throughout the tune. It's based around two beautiful chords which are E Major 13 and A6. These names may sound intimidating, but the extra numbers are just telling us the additional notes to add to the basic major chords to give more flavour. As Jed mentions, the E Major 13 is really an E major 7 with a 6 added in. Here are the two voicings we'll be using for these chords:

Notice that the two shapes are the same as we used in the intro. The A6 is the same shape as the E6, just shifted down to the 5th fret.

We join the chords together with some very tasteful E major pentatonic lines, all based around shape 5 and 1. Here are those shapes again for your reference:

We then repeat the same progression, but with some subtle variations in the connecting lead parts. Jed takes us through these variations in the video, but the underlying chord and scale shapes are the same. Try to be aware of them as you're learning the specific notes!

B Section

After playing around the E Major 13 to A6 progression we move to the B section of the main theme, and we do that with a chromatic movement from the A6 through Bb6 up to a B6, arpeggiating the chords as we go. The shape remains the same, we're just sliding it up two frets to get up to that B6 shape. Here's how that looks on a fretboard:

For the entire B section we are using the same chord shape, and using slides to shift it around the neck to give us the rest of the progression. The whole progression goes like this:

A6 Bb6 B6 D6 G6 Bb6 A6

So, if we're using the same shape to play each chord all we need to do is place the root note on the correct fret. In this shape the root note is on the E string, so as long as we know the notes on the E string we can play all of these chords! This is a very good opportunity to learn those notes if you're not sure of them yet.

We then use boxes 4 and 5 of E Major pentatonic to play a lead line that takes us back into the A section. Here are those boxes:

First solo

The solo is played over the E and A chords from the main theme, with the important caveat that we are playing over just the bass, which deliberately leaves a lot of ambiguity when it comes to the tonality of the chords, mainly playing root notes only. This allows the lead to use major and minor scales without fear of clashing with a chord tone!

We start off with an E major pentatonic idea, but instead of using the boxes as before, SRV plays it up and down a single string. It's a great way to give some variation to your phrasing. Here are the notes on the fretboard:

From there we switch to E minor Blues scale in box 1, with plenty of double stops! Double stops are when you play two notes at once and it's a very common technique in blues playing. Here's that box:

From there we're into some classic SRV major/minor crossover with some chromatic notes thrown in too. This is a very long lick, so watch the video as Jed takes you through it, and try to visualise the different shapes on the fretboard as you play through it. If you can be aware of when you are playing minor, major or chromatic 'in between' notes you'll be able to take these ideas into your own playing! Here are the main notes we're using:

We stay in this position on the neck for the rest of this solo, and as Jed says, there's a lot to remember here! Take it slow and try to break it down into chunks, while remembering the scale context - this will really help!

Sting that note!

Another important point to remember when playing this or any SRV tune is to pay attention to your dynamics. Some notes will want to be played soft, while others need to be hit hard. This is probably something that will come later as you're learning this solo but it will really take your performance to the next level if you can get it!

Final thoughts

After that huge solo we can take a breath as we go back into the main theme! Thank you so much to Jed for taking this one apart for us. There is a lot to learn here, far beyond just the order of the notes. Try to think about the context of every phrase so you can use it to influence your own playing, and remember to have fun!

Guitar solo

Let’s now move on to the guitar solo! We’re still using the same setup as the previous part of the lesson, so we’re down half a step to Eb Standard. Our tuning is still Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb. In this solo, we’re still going to mix a lot of minor and major pentatonic licks together, just like we did on the first solo we looked at earlier!

Phrase 1

We start on the third shape of the E minor pentatonic scale, on the 5th fret on the low E string. As usual on this solo, we’re going to do a subtle mix between the minor and major pentatonic to get this iconic blues colour.

Phrase 2

We then jump to this long phrase that starts on the 7th fret on the A string. We’re now mostly playing in the E major pentatonic scale, over shapes 5 and 1, just like we did on the first solo before! We still have a touch of minor/major blues as we play a slide from fret 12 to 11 on the B string, where fret 12 is your minor 3rd. We also land on the fifth fret on the E string at the end of the phrase, which belongs to shape 3 of the minor pentatonic scale!

Phrase 3

In phrase number 3, we can breathe a bit as we’re just playing a small part of shape 5 of the E major pentatonic scale before landing on our low E string open (our root note).

Phrase 4

We start phrase number 4 with a double stop on the B and E strings, on shape 2 of the E major pentatonic scale, followed by a little slide on the same two strings.

We then jump to shape 3 of the same scale, moving on to what Jed officially inducted as a “triple stop” at the 14th fret on the A, D and G strings, building an A major triad. Finally, we play a “B.B. King hit” at the 17th fret on the high E string.

Phrase 5

On phrase number 5, we have a switch to the E minor pentatonic scale, and we’re now playing over shape number 1. We still have, as usual, a touch of the major pentatonic scale with the last note of the lick which is the 6th of the scale, but you could also visualise it as being part of shape 2 of the E major pentatonic scale.

Phrases 6 & 7

We’re still on the same spot on the fretboard, and still playing over the minor pentatonic scale, but this time shifting from shape 5 to shape 1.

Phrase 8, 9 & 10

Pickup shift! If you’re playing a Strat, switch from the neck pickup to the bridge pickup.

And again, this is one of those spots where you can have a little break and see everything we’ve seen before as a part of the solo, and we’re now moving on to a different part. This little tone switch on the guitar can really help you know where you are. Also, we’re now playing in a different hand position. We’re on shapes 1 and 2 of the minor pentatonic scale, with, again, a mix of minor/major pentatonic ideas. We also have a blue note on fret 1 of the A string, and a major third on the first fret of the G string!

Phrase 11

In this next phrase, we’ve got a really cool pull-off idea using the blue note of shape 1 of the E minor pentatonic scale, and we finish with, again, a touch of the major pentatonic using the major third on the G string.

Phrase 12

Pickup shift again! We’re jumping back to the neck pickup, but we’re still playing over shape 1 of the E minor pentatonic scale.

Phrase 13

We’re sliding from our previous position up to the mighty shape 1 of the E minor pentatonic scale, an octave higher, starting on fret 12!

Phrase 14

For this phrase, we expand shape 1 of the E minor pentatonic scale by adding shape 2! We have some pretty cool Albert King style bends on the high E string. Note that we’re also using the major third on fret 16 of the same string!

Phrase 15

In that phrase, we’re still playing over shape 1 of the E minor pentatonic scale, with some pretty tasty bends!

Phrase 16

Phrase 16 is a very fun blues phrase played over shapes 5 and 1 of the E minor pentatonic scale. As always, we’re adding a couple of notes to that scale to add some blues flavour, like the blue note (b5th) and the major third on shape 5.

Phrase 17

After the open E string that finishes the previous lick, we’re going to play our A6 again, just like we did previously on the song. The lick is very similar to what we played at the beginning of the solo, except this time we add some natural harmonics on fret 12!

The Last One!

The last phrase of the solo is played in the same position as before, with a mix of shapes 5 and 1 of the major pentatonic scale!