Lick #23: Stevie's Wrongun (Guitar Lesson LK-023) How to play

♪

Hi, how you doing?
Justin here.

In th is lesson today, we are checking
out a little lick I call Stevie's Wrongun.

cause it's kind of a
Stevie Ray Vaughan stylee lick,

but there's a funny note in there,
which sounds really cool,

but you have to be careful with it.

It's kind of a wrong note
but it sounds cool.

So uh let's get to a close-up
and check out how to play it.

♪

Okay, that's the lick that
we're looking at today.

Now, it's basically an
E minor pentatonic lick.

So all of the first part.

That's just a real clack,
very, very common...

♪

kind of a regular Blues lick.

What Stevie Ray Vaughan
tends to do with this kind of thing,

is add in a few extra notes
to give it a bit more flavor.

In this case, he's starting off
by adding a 9th after it,

which is this note here, the F#
on the thinner string, 14th fret.

♪

He's using the 3rd finger
on the 14th fret.

♪

And then he follows it with
a hammer-on and flick-off

12,13 on the thinner string,
which is the note E and F.

Now E, of course, is a good note
in the key of E minor or E Blues,

but F is a real funny note to be
using in the key of E

which is kind of a wrong note, but it
sounds great in this context

so it's a right note, but it's an unusual
note, I should have called it.

Maybe I should have called it
Stevie's Unusual Note Lick

but Stevie's Wrongun sounds funnier.

♪

And then we're kind of back
to pentatonic.

So let's have a look at the
fingering of it first.

So, we're starting off with the
3rd finger, 14th fret on the 3rd string

doing a tone bend.

1st finger barring the 12th fret,
or kind of like a roll, really.

I shouldn't call it a barre,
it should roll.

Don't hold them both down
at the same time.

So 12th fret on the 2nd string.

12th fret on the thinner string.

Then flick-off from 15 to 12.

♪

Now, I know it looks like I'm
doing a regular barre,

but it is just doing a
slight rocking motion,

cause you can hear there
i'm just getting one note at a time.

It's not this...

where you get the two notes
ringing together, it sounds funny.

You want it to be separated.

I've got a lesson on rolling,
if you're unsure about that technique.

Now here as well,
notice the little finger.

Sometimes I use the little finger,
sometimes I use 3rd finger,

cos a lot of Blues, I don't tend
to use my little finger too much.

I'd play...

♪

which doesn't seem as logical
to use the 3rd finger on the 2 frets

but it feels more comfortable,
and a lot of guys play like that.

I don't know which way
Stevie did it, unfortunately.

Clapton almost certainly wouldn't use
his little finger in that kind of lick.

but it fits.

If you want to use your little finger,
that's fine too.

Anyway...where were we?

Bend

12

12

15

Flick-off.

Now we got 3rd finger down
on the 14th fret of the thinner string,

followed by hammer-on, flick-off
12, 13.

Then 15th fret, 2nd string.

12th fret, thinner string.

And then 15, 12, flick-off.

Again, that's on the B string.

Remember, there's tabs on the website,
if you wanna look up any of the licks.

There's tabs for every lick on the site.

♪

Let's talk about the rhythm,
it's continuous triplets

except for the hammer-on and flick-off
which is a 16th note.

So really slowly, we'd have...

1 trip..let,

2 trip..let,

3 e trip..let,

4 trip..let.

Now, notice I say trip-e-let,

which is just my funny way of counting
16th notes in between triplets,

if we've got something like that.

1 trip..let,

2 trip..let,

3 e trip..let,

4 trip..let.

Just enables me to put a 16th note
in between 1 triplet, 2 triplet

by adding an 'e'.

You don't have to do that,
but it works for me.

What's really important is you're feeling
the triplet note there.

1 triplet,

2 triplet,

3 triplet,

4 triplet.

1 triplet,

2 triplet,

3 triplet,

4 triplet.

It's really useful to get the tab
in front of you for that,

so you can see where
the beat is each time,

but it's really making sure.

1 triplet, is the first three,

2 triplet, is the next one,

then, 3 trip

3 trip..let

4 trip..let, that's the bit that's hard.

♪Da-di-ya-bu-da-ba-di,
da-e-ya-bu-da-da-da♪

Again, make sure
you're doing it real slow.

♪

Using these pentatonic licks that have
got extra notes in them, are a lot of fun,

but you have to be careful with notes
like flat 9, the F note in this lick.

Cause they kinda sound a little bit strange

and if you overdo it, if you start using
that note too much or in the wrong place,

it just won't sound cool.

So make sure you keep your ears
focused on what you're doing.

Remember, if it sounds good,
it IS good,

but make sure you're listening,
otherwise you might not notice

if it doesn't sound very good,
if you're overdoing it.

Important thing to realize with this lick,

Stevie Ray Vaughan tends to use these
kind of things in a chord specific way.

Now, what that means is, the lick I was
showing you I played,

the backing track was all an E7 chord,
and I played E minor pentatonic things.

But, often this lick gets used
over an E chord,

and when the chord changes,
he'll change that lick with it, as well.

If I did it in A, just quickly...

using it as a turnaround at the end
of a Blues in A,

where it kind of goes E,

to D,

to A.

You could use that lick on the E.

♪

So you can use it for that
whole turnaround,

move it on the E up on the 12th fret,
where we've just done it.

Move it down two frets
to the 10th fret,

kind of, you know the D minor pentatonicy
kinda shape, for the D7 chord,

and then down to the 5th fret
for that A7 chord,

the A minor pentatonic
kind of bass thing.

This kind of lick moves around
with the chords.

It can be used in a chord specific way,

or you can use it as I showed you,
jamming it in a Blues.

Stevie Ray normally uses this
lick over a 5 chord,

in whatever key he's in, that would
be the usual place he uses it.

But you can use it where you like,

as long as it sounds good,
that's the important thing.

Have fun with that.

Remember to jam it lots and
try and work it into your play,

and I'll see you for
another lick very soon.

Take care of yourselves,
bye-bye.