Eric Clapton Guitar Techniques

Ex 8 Blues Phrase
‘If I'm building a solo, I'll start with a line that I know is definitely a Freddie King line, and then I'll - I'm not saying this happens consciously - go on to a BB King line.' (Guitar Player, July '85)  The exercise shows a phrase that begins with a BB King pentatonic major lick and ends with an Albert King minor third-to-root ‘snap'. The final E note is fingered with the first finger and is an ideal opportunity to use Clapton's vibrato. Clapton often executes his vibrato with the index finger with a pivoting motion and the right-hand thumb taken off the neck, not unlike BB King.

Ex 9 Elmore James Lick
Clapton occasionally quotes licks almost verbatim. In Strange Brew from Disraeli Gears ('67) with Cream, he even famously quotes Albert King's solo from Oh Pretty Woman. This exercise shows an Elmore James Dust My Broom-style lick used by Clapton in Hideaway at 2;27 from Bluesbreakers.
 


Ex 10 Double-Stop Licks
Clapton's soloing is peppered with double-stops, ie two notes played simultaneously on adjacent strings, beefing up the sound. In the key of E, the exercise starts in the second position blues scale then moves down to the first position blues scale.