Blues Instrumental Lesson/Jam Track – Clapton Style Uptempo

Many guitarists don’t consider themselves singers. My long term advice: learn to sing! But if you want to be the band leader when you step to the stage at your local jam night, instrumentals will be your songs of choice. Fortunately, for blues guitarists there are lots of choices.

The Bluesbreakers album with Eric Clapton and John Mayall is a must-listen-to record for all guitarists with blues/rock roots. The song “Hideaway” off that disc is a great instrumental that bands often cover. For jam nights, I prefer the song “Steppin’ Out” from the same album. There are fewer breaks than “Hideaway” and no groove changes to ‘train-wreck’ your jamming fun. Plus, the song’s uptempo shuffle groove is sure to get attention!

Here is a jam track for you to warm-up your chops!

Clapton Jam Track – Key of G

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Rhythm Guitar Parts

The rhythm guitar comp is a very straight-forward, but fast, I-IV-V 12-bar progression with chords played on the “1″ and the “and of 2″. The G7 and G9 chords in the following example are essentially interchangeable and are there for variety.

Lead Guitar Part

Learn to play this simple (but fast!) 12 bar head at the beginning and end of the tune and you’ve got the song.

Check out the following resources for more Eric Clapton sheet music and blues guitar instruction:

• Eric Clapton sheet music
• Eric Clapton on Songsterr.com
• Private Online Guitar Lessons