I Tried Learning Cliffs of Dover in 1 DAY. Here's What Happened...
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- Опубліковано 2 гру 2024
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You good buddy Uncle Ben Eller here tried learning the legendary intro solo to Cliffs of Dover by Eric Johnson in just ONE DAY.... here's what happened!
In this video, I'm bringing you along for a mega challenge as I try my best to master this insane solo. I'll take you through my transcription process, details about Eric's signature downwards pickslanting technique, tips on how to practice this stuff, and SO much more! I'm also gonna show you something about this song that may potentially ruin it for you forever (you can thank my wife for this one)!!!
Using my amazing Fender American Ultra Stratocaster into the Fractal Audio AXE FX 3. Grab the patch I made on my Patreon page now!
What song should I attempt to learn at hyper speed next? Let me know in the comments!
Thanks for watching my attempt to learn Cliffs of Dover by Eric Johnson in one day!!! Watch the super extended ad-free cut here, plus get my Ben Dover AXE FX 3 patch and super accurate transcription here: www.patreon.com/posts/103157404?
Love it uncle Ben!
ua-cam.com/video/2BijTkVGAQU/v-deo.html
Excellent choice of instrument, if I do say so myself ;)
I always run into the exact same problems that you ran into. so many things that Eric does on the guitar sprains the brain. Haha
Sounds geat! Yes!! HAHAHA! Best way to ruin this song for me as well! 1 year before I got this song down to "pretty acceptable". Wish I found Troy Grady before that journey began.
“This shit is hard, really fucking hard” too right man. I finally managed to nail the first few bars at tempo then was fist pumping for the next 10 minutes. Small wins felt god like honestly
EJ is the goat. I love how he is like “oh yeah, I know that lick”
You nailed it when u said he never plays it the same way twice. He has “those licks” all over the fretboard in every key in every position.
Nicely done amigo!
Put er there amigo! 🤚 thanks for the phone a friend option haha
Yeah, listening to the song, there are repetitions and returning licks, but nothing overstays it's welcome. Always some movement and variation.
And just think, for 10 minutes before the song actually starts, he sits there and runs through about 487,271 variations and combos of this whole passage.
Yea just knows what to do in every key to exactly replicate the licks already found in the song. He’s different
To be fair, if you know 487271 variations you could improvise on stage like a boss.
You done better in 1 day than I will in a 100 years
I haven’t even watched it yet and I will say the same for myself!
2-0.
I will never be able to play it at all. And I am okay with that. 😪
Or more than Everton ever will 😂
@@peerzy_mark_iv Yes, because Everton are a well know guitar playing team...... You must be one of those Man Utd fans.
This place… I’ve been here before. To my fellow guitarist on this journey, there will come a point when you start to grow as a guitarist where your UA-cam algorithm will see this as well and flood you with all of these incredible guitarist playing legendary songs. Remember these songs are HARD. Please do not get discouraged from not being able to learn these songs right away. If you leave these videos with one small piece of knowledge, you are growing as a musician. You can take those small developments and turn them into something beautiful. Keep playing and have fun.
I’ve been trying to learn this off an on since quarantine. One hour after watching this I’m already playing it faster and cleaner than ever. Thanks uncle Ben!
So glad to hear that!
You rock uncle Ben! You didn't just attempt to play it, you had to Create your Ben Dover tone, Learn it, Tab it, Film it, Then play it! Insane! Thank you for taking the time!
uhuhuhhu you said bend over uhuhuhuh
Please do more of these vids of you learning songs/riffs/solos!! They’re great inspiration for us step dads. Seeing a fantastic guitar player learning, really puts into perspective the amount of work and persistence it takes to become fantastic.
really great and the self-deprecating humor is a winner (reminiscent of Joe Bonamassa)
I had the pleasure of seeing him play this as his encore. Absolutely incredible tone and technique. So glad you're going after this one!
Would also like to add using your ears and a DAW is the way to go. I try to only use tabs when I'm REALLY stuck. You retain so much more when you learn it on your own
I saw EJ test-drive this in a club in the mid-80s before A Via Musicom came out and I remember he had a much longer intro for it, kind of like a whole guitar solo passage for about a minute or two, then noticed when the record came out that it became much more condensed and economical. I had no idea at the time how legendary that intro would be, although it has always seemed blisteringly impressive (I still struggle with just the chorus!). Nice job working it up Ben, and great job with the tone on that patch. It’s phenomenal.
His intro on Austin City limits in the 80's is legendary.
@@Lance37aI remember that performance on ACL. My teenage mind was blown. 🤯
I once watched guitarist Alex Hutchings learn Cliffs Of Dover in basically a day, and was ready to play the entire song for a press filled product launch party! It was for the Roland Eric Johnson Blues Cube Tone Capsule. Crazy how good Alex is. 👍
Yes but Alex Hutchings is a jazz genius ! I do love Alex and he is not only one of the most magnificent guitarists he’s also really lovely to chat to as I follow his channel . But anyway he’s a magical guitarist that’s for sure ! Not many people could learn this in a day! 😮
EJ is one of the very few guitarists that have masterful precision and speed but still maintain the raw emotion in everything he plays. That guitar sings.
You forgot the most important part of being Eric Johnson, you actually use the Tone Knob on the bridge pickup.
Nice 👍
Always wondered what that knob did
@@eggnog52It's a low pass filter. Turning it down removes the high end (treble) frequencies. At 10 it let's all the frequencies through.
This intro is one of the coolest intros ever! Slowed down the original almost sound like a violin.Well tried, a lot better than I can!
This was me learning tornado of souls a little while ago. Luckily, I had your incredibly well made video to assist my shred pilgrimage. Thanks, uncle Ben.
“Look at that dog!” -Uncle Ben
That thing looked wild!!!
@@BenEller Are you sure wild? Or was it…..WYLDE?
His name was Eric Dogson
@@BenElleryou know what’s funny…there is a video somewhere on the tube of EJ playing a show, and out of nowhere a dog runs onto the stage. Eric looks surprised, but keeps playing.
That dog shit on his lawn?
Dude, major props for laying it all out there for the world to see. That last lick coming right on the heels of the hybrid w/pedal tone is a first class B#@* for sure! And then the pure harmonic to top the whole thing off... Definitely well done Sir! 🤘
I learned this from tab back in the 1800’s when it first came out…I never could get that beginning part up to speed…well done Uncle Ben 👍
Wow. You’re really old. Like…REALLY old.
I was totally a thresher back in 1887.
@@zenlandzipline ….hahaha…but it feels like yesterday 🤣
Did Mozart help you?
Been learning basically this song and nothing else for 3-4 months. Have the intro 95%down, the first 2 verses and choruses 95% and half the solo. It's a beast, I can't believe you learned so much of the intro in 1 day
Very nice work Uncle Ben! Thank you for this classic broken down into digestible parts! Rock on
Still remember being blown away by this song after hearing it for the first time on Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and I'm still baffled every time I hear it, Eric Johnson is a fucking beast and I still love it
I still remember being blown away hearing it when it was first released.
I am going to go take my Geritol and have spot of tea and a nap now.
This is one of those timeless pieces of music.
I've watched that Austin City Limits video of him playing this song about eleventy-seven times. His hand looks like a spider running across that fretboard!
Nothing about Eric Johnson says "stunning shredder and guitar legend".... until the man starts playing. My first ever music DVD was the G3 with Eric, Joe and Steve (back in mid 90's). I bought it to listen to Joe and Steve but ended loving it for the Eric parts.
I still think this is the best guitar instrumental ever recorded.
Was super excited to see you post this, ive seen dozens of videos on how to best play this but this is easily the best. Loved seeing you break this down in the classic Uncle Ben way, you've just got such a relatable way of teaching. Great job as always!
I've worked on it on and off for decades, managed to get it close at one point. So many great lines to bring into your own. Then there is his iconic tone, I gave up trying to get that right lol!
This is such a joy to watch. His melodic vocabulary is dreamy and cosmic, with tasteful bluesy parenthesis and seeing you work through it quickly but respectfully is so impressive.
Hey Ben, GREAT JOB! I was lucky enough to watch Eric play this from about 5 feet away a few times back in 1987 when he played small clubs and bars. Truly mind blowing! To this day I still can't wrap my head around that level of talent. Although completely different playing styles, Eric reminds me of EVH in that many times I have to ask just how did they dream this stuff up in the first place?
He's been playing it live in one form or another since 1984. I first heard of him thru a guitar magazine that had the breakdown of his song Zap.
Great job on this. Appreciate your transcription skills, your playing skills, your explanation skills, and your humility skills as you approached this holy grail of guitar licks.
Dude, i encountered this song first as a transcription in a magazine, back when i had been playing for about a year and the record was new, and tried to learn it from there... then bought the album and realized i had a looooooooong way to go. Bravo to you!
“Did he just say making f**k?” Love the shirt.
I love those tall triads and that flag pole thingy. What an amazing composition and well done for tackling and teaching it.
Thank you very much!
You're killin it, man. I got goosebumps when you played it straight through at the end - very inspiring effort! 👊😎
The last part, where he loops those 5 notes 3 times, at first i learned exactly the way u did in the video, but after analysing him playing on that famous performance in austin city limits, i felt like he does hammer ons from knowhere on the last note of each loop(5th string) to avoid this weird picking movement. Damn dude, impressive how far u got in just one day, u rock
KC and JoJo😂😂😂. Thanks Uncle Ben, I can’t un-hear it now either 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
Incredibly accurate lesson. :)
This intro has always been hell for me as a natural upward pickslanter...
Cracking the Code is what brought me to you. I love CtC but I find that you have been able to break down the concepts in a way that makes a lot more sense to my lizard brain
Thanks for breaking this down Uncle Ben! If I ever get brave enough to try it, I know where to come back to on getting it right.
You can do it!
I like that you give good value in your videos with appropriate humility. I would never have gleaned enough to learn the right technique from just trying to play along with Cliffs of Dover.
Tried and failed to break the COD many times...this will help.
PS...nice to bump into you at the the Beacon a few weeks ago ...cheers!
Hey man, cheers! And good luck!
Not trying to stir up trouble here, but I heard ol' Douglas Bubbletrousers knocked this solo out just before lunch.
I’m no Bubbletrousers, that’s for sure!
Douglas Bubbletrousers is a cowardly drunk!
Great video, edutainment supreme (with sour cream) gotta ask though, been wracking my brain for months and Bubbletrousers is still going over my head.
Beyond all of the goof you put on, you're really a fantastic player. I think maybe 1% of your audience could do this, but you make people want to try. Well played (pun intended).
It's the Transformers 40th Anniversary this year. Perfect timing for Ben's guide to the guitar parts for "The Transformers Theme" by Lion on the original 1986 TFTM soundtrack!
Oooooh
@@BenEller yes please. That song rules.
14:24 As soon as you played that at a speed my brain could follow, I was like dammit! 5’s! EJ and his dang 5’s again. No wonder I can never follow that part (or any of the rest of the intro). Thanks for the lesson Uncle Ben. I’m going to figure this one out. Saw Eric about 10-15 years ago in a small club. It was pretty amazing to see love for sure.
It's a super challenging part. Took me 3 months to get it up to speed. You did extremely well for 1 day! I like to use the intro now as a test to see how 'match fit' I am! 🙂
Ben, your lessons and videos make the world a little more betterer.
Ben! I'd almost lost hope in learning this song. I love the perspective of how both picking angle, and pattern change the playability of it. *mind blown*. Thank you, and nice job man!!
I put this song on the Bluetooth at work and several people that I NEVER would have expected to know it recognized it. They knew it from Guitar Hero. I thought that was pretty cool
"It's by no means perfect…" 20:28 the hell it wasn't. Nailed it :D
Aaaaah thanks. The original is MUCH faster there at the end, I’ve still got work to do!
@@BenEller That was an epic task. I've been playing since '74 and it still took me days to learn the whole 5 parts of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" which has 3% of the notes! Most of that time was listening to embed the licks in memory before copying them. That was all about a detailed nuance safari far more than note hunting. But still, we guitar players feel that deep need to tame those Holy Grail guitar masterpieces. And you certainly did here.
Thanks for showing the process and all that . Its always nice to see even amazing players like uncle ben are just as human and have to practice just as much as anybody else. Its easy to forget how much work and time gets put in when we're so used to seeing the perfect final product recordings.
Thanks a lot for watching! It’s really a goal of mine to bring some more REALITY to the online guitar scene. Perfection is boring and discouraging to watch all the time.
I LOVE these types of vids Ben… you should do more like this.
This is a fun one, Ben. I recently thought about how long I could get lost in this song. 2 months? 3 months? More? Hard stuff, shart-ton of memorization. This might be a post-retirement project.
Most excellent!!! Impeccable timing as well. I'BRAVELY decided to tackle this as a project, and all of a sudden, like the Lord himself heard my prayers, HERE IT IS!!! It's coming from Ben, so you know its accurate as it could possibly be, and in bite sized pieces as not to overwhelm. Goes along well with Crystal Planet, so when I'm having an emotional meltdown over one, I can amplify my burden with the other, lol. Eric opened for Joe in a 1,000 seater, Vancouver, 1989 I believe. Life changing. Keep up the most excellent of excellence. It's so apparent it's for the Love of the game.
12:57 "More Smoothlier" Another classic Ben-Ism (Benglish). Sounds great!!
You are just so modest, Bro....exceptional guitarist! Eric freestyle warm up Think... Like EVH eruption...
that can get you in the spirit.... NO RULES!
Thanks dude!
I always like to watch other people's learning process. This was really insightful and I nabbed a trick or two to help me learn more better. Can't believe I never thought to use flex time!
LOVE your videos and channel so much, Ben! You rock. -- Bro, it is time to upgrade your camera! 😉
As guitarists, Why do we subject ourselves to such torcher. I laughed when you were dropping f-bombs in that intro. Reminds me of someone else. 😂
At 9:27 your tab is correct. I had an old Wild Stringdom article written by EJ himself where he tabbed that out. Nice job.
Oh nice!!!
Great video, and I love how you show the progress ups and downs and potential ways to overcome certain areas. That's a brutal intro to tackle for sure. One of the tunes I'd love to see you cover is Technical Difficulties by Paul Gilbert. That's a hard one for me. Thanks, Uncle Ben! :)
I admire your willingness to show the process of learning a difficult piece. I especially like that you are willing to show the failures, and the work you did to understand and overcome them. I see a lot of videos of perfectly performed feats (not just musical ones mind you) that would make you think that advanced skills are just something that happen, or that you are born with, when they are usually the result of a whole lot of analysis, thinking, trial and error, patience, hard work. Great video, thanks so much for sharing it!
I think this is my favorite video. You've made so far. I've never tried to learn that song. Now. You make me wanna try to learn a sound
That means a lot! Thanks!
Fantastic video and cover of that intro, Ben. Eric's playing always reminds me of that warning on a firecracker, "Light Fuse and Get Away"
I used to work at a great jazz bar called Caravan of Dreams. They had more than just jazz. Every year Eric would come through and play 2 shows a night for 3 nights. I NEVER saw or heard him miss a note. I wish I was exaggerating. It was awe inspiring and humbling at the same time. On top of that, he is a super nice guy.
Not too shabby at all Ben! I'll grab your transcription and start pounding my head against the wall!!!
The fact that you can play this song as well as you do with just 1 day-ish of practice is frigin amazing! Hope to hear you play it through as good as the OG with a little more practice.
Thanks for showing the human side of you guitar shredders. Lol Shows humility for yourself, and total respect for the artist! 👊💯
One of the best lessons I've seen on UA-cam. Thanks Ben!
Thank you nephew, Ben because I’m a little older than you and this is a good practice lesson learn to rest and teach us all how to use your fingers
I love it. This will definitely be the version I commit to learning once I know what hybrid picking and economy picking and pick slanting actually is.
Thank you
Well my weekend will now be spent in frustration trying to learn this for the 70th time 😂 thanks Ben
Ben thank you so much for this video. The humility of it is refreshing. Excellent job on the tone too. I fell into guitar with Enter Sandman in 1991 before the dinosaurs roamed the earth. Not long after I found The Extremist and I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Then a buddy of mine and I were talking one day and he was like, "Dude you have to listen to Eric Johnson." I bought that purple CD and it blew me away. I And still have it. EJ is one of the most gifted and graceful to ever do it.
Love it Ben ❤ getting that mix between being a "touch" player and the faster stuff is such a tricky thing to nail and you smashed it brother ❤
I remember nailing this on guitar hero 3. I wouldn't dare try it for real.
Lovely. The colors on that strat are like hot cinnamon roll icing to my eyes. Delicious.
And this was exactly the video I needed. I was just about to tackle CoD myself.
I have been following you since forever. Great content!
I dont feel the need to pick it just like EJ or Yngwie or anyone else. If it sounds right, it's right. Now if I struggle with a part I'll look into how the original artist did it, and that often helps but not always. We all have our own tendencies and strengths as players. If I happen to be good at inside picking or upwards economy picking and I can use them to my advantage to play the part in such a way that essentially no one will tell a difference, I'm going to do it that way.
You're my peer hero! This is fantastic.
Hoping the main riff vamp will be hashed out too. One of my favorite guitar parts ever! Lifts me out of any depression, more than any ssri could ever do!
Great video, subscribed off of the back of it. Made me want to go back to some things I've tried, and struggled, to learn by ear and really focus on the right hand and string changing etc.!
I love this guy! We all need humor when hacking through the most challenging licks of the great masters.
❤️🍕❤️
Ben, your Cliffs sound awesome!! Thanks for sharing this with us! We love EJ!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for watching!
Nice! I could play the whole song note for note 20 years ago. Can’t remember any of it now unfortunately.
Well done Uncle Ben. Bendover was a genius play.
Thanks Uncle Ben
Long-time EJ fan
Didn't really care about learning the song but when I heard your way of looking at the shapes and techniques I have to learn it! Genious insight man, thanks:)
So often in music we only see the end result of hundreds or thousands of hours of practice. Thank you for sharing your process!!!
70th anniversary of the Strat.... and this August, the 70th anniversary of EJ being on this planet. :) (And by the way, he can still tear it up on guitar!)
I am a huge Tourets guy fan as well, 😂
If I’m not mistaken, it was recorded on a ES-335. 🤷🏽♂️
Well done, young man. Super challenging piece.
Thank you kindly!
The last note of the final b-a-g-e-d descending lick is likely a hammer-on from nowhere, followed by a downstroke on the 6th string. He does this at 1:50 and 2:13 of the ACL '88 performance. ua-cam.com/video/5Nd7EZ3k39s/v-deo.html (On the one at 2:13 he didn't quite get the fingertip up to the 5th string and ends up hammering a G at d17, but that's not too important.)
Way too cool. You make me laugh out loud! Totally my sense of humor. It’s actually very enjoyable when an excellent musician like you lets us lesser wannabes see your mistakes. Thank you!
I really enjoyed this. That particular Austin City Limits version of that song is one of the only things that pulls me away from more metal focused stuff. People like to rip on overly pentatonic leads but man I find it really challenging to play at speed, way harder than 3nps.
EJ will always be my pick for fast but still melodic with a tonne of feel.
You really got this thing under control in a day man, well done.
You are my favourite person. Just like in general. Hope this helps the playing!
You're the best!
Took me a lot longer than 1 day to get the phrasing down. Speed is a whole other challenge. Good job Ben!
Your "I suck at those" is what I'm still trying to achieve!
That tricky part near the beginning, down near the fifth fret, I play it just like you are but with one open B instead of fretted B on third string. Gives me a millisecond to switch positions for the descending part.
Great job in just one day! On a side note, love the statue of Pazuzu. The Exorcist was the first horror movie to really creep me out as a kid. Still does.
I just learned this too bro! What a milestone it is. I can only play it at like 80% speed but hey only goin up from there!