I Shot the Sheriff Eric Clapton Cover Originally written by Bob Marley Cover by Jamie Harrison jamieharrisonguitar.com Introduction......................................................... 3 What it’s all about .................................................................3 The Videos ...........................................................4 A Note on Gear ....................................................5 Aren’t we all just a little obsessed?? .....................................5 Repetition & Right Hand .....................................6 Technique no. 1 ......................................................................6 The Rake ..............................................................7 Technique no. 2 .....................................................................7 Suggested Gear ....................................................9 For low, medium and high budgets .....................................9 Closing Statements ............................................13 To conclude… .......................................................................13 What next? ........................................................15 Want to learn more…? ........................................................15 Chapter Number 1 Introduction What it’s all about Thank you for buying the I Shot the Sheriff Video Course. This PDF is your “Go To” for this course, and is basically a primer to get started learning I Shot The Sheriff. Over the next few pages, I want to share everything I can about this song, the gear that will help you get the best sound for this song and the techniques you should be aware of before getting started. The rest will be found in the videos themselves. Let’s get started, and the very best of luck! Chapter Number 2 The Videos My intention for this course was to provide you with enough instruction in as efficient a time as possible, so the task of learning this song is not too daunting for you. I didn’t want to put a whole lot of emphasis on tabs, because I am so used to being asked for tabs, and it is the last thing I want when learning in this style. I want to try and get you to learn this song without tabs and start using your ears more. I’m pretty sure Jimi Hendrix didn’t use tabs, and that’s good enough for me. As a quick disclaimer, I am not necessarily against tabs (you may get that impression from this course), but for this style of playing, I don’t think tabs are a good idea. For learning a riff, for example, that has definite notes, and is MEANT to be played a certain way, tabs are irreplaceable, but this style is a very improvisational style, and hits notes all over the place, different every single time. It is not meant to be ‘perfect’, it is just meant to feel good, and one of the biggest things that does that is practicing on your right hand, which I will speak about further in the course. Chapter Number 3 A Note on Gear Aren’t we all just a little obsessed?? ! I have included a quick video on gear, but it is very simple, there are no tricks, just good quality gear, but because I understand that not everyone has thousands of dollars/pounds/euro to spend on gear, I have decided to include a simple guide on what I would suggest is the best route to go for your gear, with three different budget types included. Chapter Number 4 Repetition & Right Hand Technique no. 1 The style of Hendrix, Mayer and SRV won’t come quick to you, that I can guarantee, but once you get it, you will see that it is very repetitive and very simple. The same “types” of licks are used over and over again, everywhere you see this. I would say probably the most important thing that makes the difference between those who play Hendrix, and those who PLAY Hendrix, is that right hand. Right hand, Right hand, right hand. When it comes to Clapton, his style is slightly different, and has a bit more of a traditional approach. He still has a very loose right hand and it is the driving force behind his, loose, but very rhythmic approach to playing. We can see ‘extra’, purely rhythmic based strums all over the place in this song. Chapter Number 5 The Rake Technique no. 2 ! One more technique to mention before you get started on the videos, and that is the rake style technique, which is used excessively in this style. It is a difficult technique to explain, but keep watching people doing it and listening to how it sounds. What it means is that instead of hitting one note on one string, you use both the side of your right hand, and the non-used fingers on the left to block the non-used strings. In my opinion, no one does this better than SRV, have a look at this video. Notice at 5:33 how his right hand, for the most part, is using big wide strums, even on single notes for the solo. Then compare it to this video, which an entirely different playing style. Eric Johnson, another very well known guitarist uses many more notes, but look at the difference in the movement of his right hand and how much more still it stays than the previous video of SRV. It’s also highly likely that Eric Johnson is using a smaller and much heavier pick, so he can really get into the strings, and pick very precise notes. SRV, on the other hand (no pun intended), likely uses a larger and softer pick, so there is more ‘slack’ on the strings, and this gives more ‘rhythm’ from the guitar alone. Chapter Number 6 Suggested Gear For low, medium and high budgets Unfortunately, you're not in a cheap game playing the guitar, so even the lower budget gear is not ‘cheap’ per se, but this is a guideline on what direction to go in your setup. Each setup includes options for a guitar, amp (you will be aiming to buy a tube amp, if you can’t afford this, then you will have to play around with some of the solid state amps available to you. I am not familiar with the range of solid state amps available on the market, but there really isn’t that much BAD gear on the market (but don’t buy in a toy store :D). When I was searching for my setup, for a low to medium budget, many people said ‘it all depends what you like – everyone’s different’ and it made it very difficult because I had no idea what direction to go. What I want to do here, is give you an idea of what to buy, and then you go out and play these setups, and then play around with whatever else is available to you in the shop, with this simple foundation in mind. Bear in mind that when you get to the point of higher budget gear, things can really get overwhelming, so I would see what is available to you (you may need to travel – I did, a lot) and see what you feel is the best, what feels like something you would play a lot (that’s the golden rule really – the gear that is the best, is the gear that you feel you enjoy playing the most – don’t listen to the guitar shop guy telling you how awesome it is, and how special the tubes are in it), and then just get it, instead of waiting around to make sure its right. You can drive yourself crazy looking for the perfect tone, and I think a lot of guitar players have a somewhat unhealthy relationship with finding ‘THE ONE”, that all your playing problems will be fixed once you find it (sound familiar? – it did to me). You will find something to improve and tweak on EVERY single sound once you get used to it, so no matter what you buy, it’s unlikely to be ‘beaten’ by anything else – as long as you followed the golden rule I mentioned previously. ! 1) Lower Budget: • Fender Squier Strat • Fender Blues Junior Series (I understand that this is still a little expensive, but the most expensive amp you will buy is the wrong one) OR I personally Really like the Ibanez TS15. This was demoed in My “5 Don’t Need To Knows” Video. Try both of these and decide for yourself which one you prefer. Both have a very different character. • Medium Picks • Ernie Ball regular Strings 00.10 2) Medium Budget: • Fender Standard Mexican Strat • Fender Squier Classic Vibe • Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Series • Medium Picks • Ernie Ball regular Strings 00.10 Now this is where it gets very personal, and below is just a simple guide on what to try first, if you are not sure of what to buy. This is by no means the be all and end all of gear, but may be a good starting place if you have some fuller pockets than the two previously mentioned setups. 3) Higher Budget: • Fender American Standard Strat • Fender American Deluxe Strat • Fender Custom Shop Strat Series (This is what I am playing, a 1956 CS Strat) • Fender Strat Signature Series – This will depend on what your local music store has, try them all. This all depends on what you prefer, but try these amps if you can: • Fender Super-Sonic (This amp is very versatile, but I felt it does several jobs very well, and none extremely well. But THAT’S JUST ME. I opted for an amp that had a killer clean tone. • Fender Bassman • Fender Twin • Toneking Imperial • Toneking Galaxy • If possible, try out some Dumble amps, and Two Rock amps, both of which are great amps, but can get very expensive. • Medium Picks • Ernie Ball regular Strings 00.10 or 00.11’s for slightly thicker sound Again, this is just a guide, but hopefully you will have some idea of what you should start to look at when going tone shopping! But in the end of the day, I do believe the tone is mostly in the fingers.