Riff No 1 in the Style of Robert Johnson

Riff no 1 in the style of Robert Johnson

° # 12 nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & 8 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ J J J œ J J J G 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 D 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 ¢ ⁄ G 0 0

3 ° # nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ & n œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ n œ œ bœ nœ Ó™ œ J J J J J 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 10 10 9 10 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 8 9 9 8 9 ¢ ⁄ 0

Starting with an easy one. This riff, typical of what Robert Johnson would have done on Kind Hearted Woman, uses tritones and a triplet/shufﬂe feel to create and resolve tension, setting up a shift to the IV chord (The double stop on the 8th and 9th frets is the tritone in the C7 chord).

j j ° # ° ™12 j j j j j œ j j j j j œ ™ ü & ¢ ™ 8 œ ‰ œ œ ‰ œ œ ‰ j œ nbœ œ ‰ œ œ ‰ œ œ ‰ j œ nbœ ™ † œ œ œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ bœ G ° ™ 0 0 0 0 0 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 5 3 ™ ü D ™ 0 0 0 0 0 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 5 3 ™ ¢ ⁄ G ¢ 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 3 †

This classic will be known to many but I just couldn't leave it out.s

° # 12 j j œ j j j j œ j & 8 j ‰ j œ ‰ œ j ‰ j œbœ nœ œ ‰ j œ ‰ œ j ‰ j œbœ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ J œ œ œ œ œ J

G 5 3 4 5 3 4 D 0 0 2 2 0 0 5 5 0 2 2 0 0 5 ¢ ⁄ G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

° 3 # j ‰ j j ‰ j j ‰ j œ j nœ j ‰ j j ‰ j j ‰ j œ j nœ & œ œ œ œbœ œ œ œ œbœ œ œ œ œ œ J œ œ œ œ œ J

5 3 4 5 3 4 5 0 2 2 0 0 5 5 0 2 2 0 0 5 ¢ ⁄ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

This variation on the classic "I'm a Man" riff was used in Muddy Water's version, Mannish Boy. The main lick, although used at the end of the bar here can be thrown in just about anywhere.

° # ° ™12 nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ ™ ü & ¢ ™ 8 œ œ œ œ œ ‰ œ œ ‰ j n œ œ œ œ œ ‰ œ œ ‰ j ™ † œ J J J J bœ œ J J J J bœ G ° ™ 10 10 10 10 9 9 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 10 ™ ü D ™ 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 ™ ¢ ⁄ G ¢ 0 3 0 3 †

This basic idea was used in Crossroads, Terraplane Blues and a stack of others. The movement from the flat 7 to the 6 note was often played as a rhytmic figure in the bass, Johnson got it from listening to the boogie-woogie piano players in his many travels. It would eventually make it's way to Chuck Berry's playing and now everybody does it. Here he's using it up the neck as a fill between his vocal lines.

° # ° ™4 œ œ œ œ ™ ü & ¢ ™4 nbœ œ ‰ j nbœ œ ‰ j ™ † œ bœ œ bœ G ° ™ 3 0 12 3 0 12 ™ ü D ™ 3 3 ™ ¢ ⁄ G ¢ 0 3 0 3 †

Most of the riffs in this package are in 12/8 time, giving them a triplet/shufﬂe feel. This one is a straight 4/4, typical of Son House and one of the things that drives his playing so hard, more like a Rock player would. He played it in a few different tunes, most notably in Death Letter Blues. Wille Dixon (no saint himself apparently) stole it and turned it into a shufﬂe in his classic Little Red Rooster.s

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ° # ° ™12 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ j j j j j ™ ü & ¢ ™ 8 bœ œ œ ‰ œ j ‰ j œ ‰ œ ™ † œ œ œ œ œ œ G ° ™ 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 3 0 ™ ü D ™ 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 2 2 0 0 2 2 ™ ¢ ⁄ G ¢ 0 0 0 0 0 0 †

This classic from Elmore James switches from a triplet feel to a classic shufﬂe in the bottom end in much the same way that Robert Johnson would in his intros. This is a whole lot simpler and more suited to the electric guitar. This riff is used by slide players more than probably any other. It's easy enough on the 6 string but the big jump back to the 3rd fret on a 3 string will take some practice.

° # ° ™12 j bœ œ j bœ œ ™ ü & ¢ ™ 8 j ‰ ‰ j ‰ ‰ j ‰ j œ bœ œ j ‰ ‰ j ‰ ‰ j ‰ j œ bœ œ ™ † œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ 1/2 1/2 ° ü G ™ 5 5 3 0 5 5 3 0 ™ D ™ 0 0 0 0 0 0 ™ ¢ ⁄ G ¢ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 †

This riff probably pre-dates the blues itself. Certainly the song, Catﬁsh Blues was played long before anyone got a chance to record it. If you listen closely you can hear how it's related to what we now call the "I'm A Man" riff that you learned earlier. The trick with this one is the quick release back to the tonic after you bend up to the ﬂat 5 devil's note.

° # ° ™ 4 ™ ™ ™ ü & ¢ ™ 4bœ œ nœ œ œ œ ‰ j bœ œ nœ œ œ œ ‰ j ™ † œ œ

G ° ™ 3 0 0 3 0 3 0 0 3 0 ™ ü D ™ 3 3 ™ ¢ ⁄ G ¢ 0 0 †

Another old song that did the rounds early on. This one is from Muddy Waters' playing and simpliﬁed for the 3 string. You'll hear similar ideas on Robert Johnson's Travelling Riverside Blues.

° # ° nœ ü ™ 12 Œ™ œ œ bœ j ‰ j bœ™ œ j ™ & ¢ 8 J J œ nœ œ œ œ œ †

G ° ™ 7 10 5 3 0 3 5 ™ ü D ™ 3 5 5 5 5 ™ ¢ ⁄ G ¢ †

The great John Lee Hooker used this one a lot, most notably in Dimples it's also very similar to Boom Boom. It's a classic minor pentatonic boogie style riff that's used every time you think of the great man.

° # 12 j j & 8 Œ jœ jœ jœ j œ œ j j nœ œ œ œ œ œ j bœ nœ ˙™ œbœ nœ œ œ

G ¢ D 3 5 3 5 3 5 3 5 3 0 5 ⁄ G 5 3 4 0 5 6 7

Jimmy Reed was one of the great Chicago Blues players and this riff typiﬁes the inﬂuence that he had on this style of guitar playing.