Hey everyone! In my "Cocaine" easy guitar lesson, I'm going to show you everything you need to play this Eric Clapton classic!
This easy electric guitar song will help you build the fundamentals: the power cord, which is a staple of rock rhythm, as well as the slide technique. It's also a great opportunity for learning how to mute strings on electric guitar.
► Cocaine Easy Chord Chart / TAB pdf is now published on Musicnotes (direct product links and FULL SONG PLAY-THROUGH are available on my Patreon page):
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► "Barre Chords Made Easy" shows you a gradual path from the power chord (a simple barre chord anyone can play) to the real deal:
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► And don't forget to grab your copy of my free lead eBook:
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
0:00 - INTRO
2:37 - MAIN RIFF
3:37 - MUTING EXCESS STRINGS
5:53 - MAIN RIFF PLAY-ALONG
7:05 - UPGRADE #1 - ADD THE SLIDE
9:38 - SLIDE PLAY-ALONG
10:14 - UPGRADE #2 - (OPTIONAL) BARRE CHORDS
13:30 - BARRE CHORD PLAY-ALONG
14:08 - TURNAROUND
15:40 - TURNAROUND PLAY-ALONG
16:04 - ASSEMBLING THE TUNE
17:15 - FINAL PLAY-ALONG
19:09 - TONE DISCUSSION
20:15 - SOLOING ADVICE
22:11 - A SIMPLE LICK TO START OFF YOUR SOLOS
The lesson begins with the main riff, which utilizes the power cord, an essential shape, the basis for barre chords and the rhythm in all rock songs since the '60s. We show you the proper positioning, as well as how to mute excess strings, so that you can strum them all at once and get a nice percussive sound.
Next we add a slide to it. You'll hear this on the recording, and it's actually being played separately but we can add it to our riff. In order to do so, we need to practice counting 16th notes. That sounds complicated but it's actually quite simple and necessary so that our rhythm can be spot on.
Next, we look at a barre chord version of this where we basically upgrade our riff with a shape that's a little trickier. Once again it's on the original recording so I thought it would be good to show you how to play it.
The final section is the turnaround. It uses the same shape in four different places, just a little bit of counting, nothing too tricky. We practice that together as well.
When assembling the tune, we put all these parts together like so:
INTRO: Main Riff x4
1st VERSE: Main Riff x4 + Turnaround + Main Riff x2
2nd VERSE: Main Riff x4 + Turnaround + Main Riff x2
SOLO: Main Riff x12
3rd VERSE: Main Riff x4 + Turnaround + Main Riff x2 + Turnaround + Main Riff 2x
OUTRO: Main Riff 4x (fades out)
We play our own little version of it, just so you can get a chance to feel what it's like to play through the entire tune and then we talk about tone.
Eric Clapton reportedly played a '57 Tweed Deluxe (5E3) with a Stratocaster on position two or four. Odds are, you don't have either of those, so the best thing you can do at this point is to use your ear and try your best. Chances are, putting your amp louder is going to make it sound better. I used a clean boost pedal into a Dr Z Cure, with the Master at 10! (preamp at 3) and my strat on position 4.
We also discuss some soloing tips and tricks for improvisation. I have three huge tips: leave space, less is more, and repeat ideas.
To help, I want to give you a simple lick to start off your solos. This is what a lot of guitar players do. They'll have an idea, and then they'll just build up on that simple idea to add cohesion to their solos, rather than just trying to play a bunch of notes and hoping something sticks. They'll have a simple motif, and they'll keep coming back to it to give the solo a theme.
When you are practicing your solo on "Cocaine", backing tracks will help immensely. If you'd like help following along with this lesson, I have a worksheet and backing track available on my Patreon, so you can actually work through it with this lesson, as well as use it to play through the entire recording.
That's everything you need to play Cocaine by Eric Clapton in the easiest way possible.
Have a fun time practicing and I'll see you soon!
-James
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