One of the things I tell guitarists that haven't listed to SRV is that you know what he's playing, but how he plays it is everything and that's the hard part.
I know a kid with Asperger's who could play Scuttle Buttin' at full speed a year after picking up a guitar. Then he got bored and quit playing. Then he got a piano and was playing Mozart in six months, then quit that. Normal folks like me can only dream of such aptitudes.
Scuttle Buttin cannot be his hardest song. It's the only song of him I can play and I'm too bad a rythm guitarist to play Hendrix convincingly and SRV is harder than Hendrix. Scuttle Buttin is just that one like, which is fast but it's literally one note picked per string up and back down the blues scale with that fast octave at the end. You can just sweep it if you can't pick it like Stevie does. A on the g string, slide into B and downpick open B and E string. Call it economy picking more than sweeping. And up is the same, pick the b flat on G pull off to a and open g, hit E on the D string and open E. Again all upwards economy picking. So the entire lick is just 3 downstrokes followed by 3 upstrokes and the rest is legato. The hard part is skipping the A string and no hitting it on the wad from e on D to E on E. The rest is just three chords E7#9, bottom for strings, e, a flat, d and g and then A7 and B7. That's it, lick followed by one of three chords for three minutes plus a simple solo for Stevie, which you wouldn't play anyway I think a song like that calls for an improvised solo anyway... his Hendrix-y riffs are way harder. The album version is impossible though. He doesn't open the lick with a slide from a to b on G he BENDS the a into a b... with 12 gauge strings. I play 9 and 8 gauge and that's impossible for me. And I have big hands but not Stevie big. Just compare the size of his hands to a Strat and you'll realise why he play heavy gauge. 12 gauge to Stevie is like 9 gauge to normal people. Good, not too thick not too thin...
@@stickmanmusic5840 Usually aptitude like that comes with a huge price. Squandering talent for one. If he's skippin' around not finding fulfillment in anything before boredom sets in then it's not worth it. I'd rather be bad ass but "normal" like Holdsworth, Atkins, Mancuso or even an Iommi or Gibbons any day. 🎸
Finally some validation of using the shoulder of the pick. I have been told by so many people I do it wrong. I am a lefty that plays righty so up strums get caught up. But my dad told me years ago to try it that way (he loved srv). And it’s just natural.
This stuff is super hard for people that learned guitar playing shred with a right hand locked to the bridge. This all was natural to me when I got into SRV because I was playing more funky with a wild right hand and muting with my left hand. So learning this 25+ years ago was super easy because I played like this already. Couldn’t sweep an arpeggio ever though.
@@indifferentuniverse3991 I've had to relearn a bunch of shit: found that if you slow it down with a metronome and only move faster once you get it perfect 3 or 4 times in a row, it'll be WAY easier to keep it perfect as you speed up.
@@indifferentuniverse3991 I actually think I played this almost perfect the first time I even tried. It’s all right hand, I watch someone like Cory Wong and have no idea why people think he is good on guitar but I’ll never be able to sweep. It’s just completely unnatural to me.
Yes I am a wannabe shredder who recently thought hmm, SRV, how hard can it be? Hard! But now I can play Scuttle Buttin. Kind of an easy way to show off lol. Someone hands you an acoustic and you play the lick and hit the Hendrix chord and people think you're performing magic with those 3 down and 3 upstrokes through the blues scale. People say its his hardest but if you can pick even somewhat fast and have a quick legato it's his easiest song to learn for an 80s shredder. Pride and Joy is for me 100 times harder and people who are unable to play Scuttle Buttin at speed laugh at me for failing at that. But it's just a different kind of hard. Funky rythms on a single chord is a huge challenge if your that right hand locked to bridge shredder. Basically need to start from scratch. But it's helped my rythm guitar so much. I used to be aweful now I'm passable enough to not be "the problem" haha.... and I've definetly been the guy dragging a band down with aweful rythm guitar just waiting to shred. 80s riffs are great though, they make you do the fiddly bits and rhythmic chord stuff. Really fun to play. Like Whitesnake or Dokken riffs. I play that for 3 seconds and it's 1987 and I can almost hear the crowd roaring and feel the nostalgia high from the days when cocaine was affordable and didn't cost twice what gold does.
Yeah, I haven't tried this yet, but I'll sure do it when I get back home to my gee-tar. This kinda thang is how I likes to play, I play music, no shreddin' crap. Who cares if ya can't even hear the notes?! Why bother with that crap? I mean, there's playin' fast , then there's shreddin'. I like music that ppl can actually hear. So, I'll work on it later when I gets home! Can't wait. That, and Scuttle Buttin'.
Stevie used this "muting" technique in several songs. I've been trying to nail it in Pride and Joy for no less than an year and I am still miles away. Of course, in Rude Mood it is extremely faster, so probably out of most of us mere mortals league. Well done, very good lesson.
I watched that video of Stevie playing it, and slowed it down, thinking "no way he is holding that shuffle tight that fast", lol boy was I wrong. at half speed every single note is clear and the shuffle is prominent
I don't think anyone will ever figure out exactly how Stevie played what he played. It all came from the heart and soul! If anyone knows how to even come close, it would be a kid I knew 40 years ago from Clarksdale Ms by the name of Daniel Karlish! Wish I could find you Daniel. Thomas Haley.
I remember skipping the record needle back a coupla' hundred times trying to learn this tune, yeah, I might be getting old. SRV continues to inspire guitar players, which is a tribute to his legacy.
@@RobertBakerGuitar I am dang near on top of this tune now, thanks for the inspiration! (I use the 2.0mm Dunlop Flow picks, on the pointy end, for what it’s worth)
It's not obvious bc of the coat sleeves, but I think he's also using "*dart throwers" wrist motion as per Troy Grady's picking series (bent back, reverse version its bent forward like EVH trem-picking) which is a fast angle to pick if you can find a comfortable spot. Pick angle - tried using the shoulder a while back, but another one to check out is what ended up working best for me - the shoulder between the thumb and forefinger and the tip angled only maybe 20-30 degrees away from the palm toward the strings so you get the widest point of contact. There's just a narrow, long taper showing, like half of one of those pop-out things that holds umbrellas open
keep going lol i want to hear the other higher riff melody section and see you do it lol I saw you show it off a bit at beginning! sounded great! Ive been working on it for decade here and there and I can play but when I lay off a few months Im having to re-polish it up for a week lol I initially learned it on acoustic fairly well ( Not SVR level and requires new strings) after watching him on a live performance. I think he had a guild?
I’m pretty sure he doesn’t always just hit the third fret notes (G and C) twice. Sometimes he does but sometimes he hammers on from the 3rd to the 4th frets. But it’s a quick roll into it, so it’s hard to notice. It’s like a sped up version of how he plays the Pride and Joy riff.
Yeah I do not remember if SRV did a Hot Licks type video in the 80's they were a great bunch of Videos. total electric guitar EJ was my favorite of Course. I used to own a Strat EXACTLY like the one in your video, 1979, was Quite heavy for a strat. It was like NORTHERN ASH body, weighed like a Les Paul.
I find i need to move from my normal Jazz II or III* to a regular Fender medium if I want any chance of making it to the other side. Whaddya gonna do?🤷 Jazz I's can work too.
If you play it with less Stevie blues style and more metal style with mostly palm muting what your playing I think it's easier than having to ring out the notes while trying to mute everything else out. He also used like 13 guage strings which would be really high tension maybe easier for playing his way picking really hard
Thanks for showing this. Hard but really fun once you get a feel for the insane techniques Stevie used. Stevie and Hendrix are underrated for their rhythm playing, probably the best ever.
I've not found anything SRV played to be easy. You can replicate, sound, style, rig used. BUT you'll never replicate his heart. SRV was a conduit for electric blues, that flowed from within him.
Being the ONLY guitarist in a band is challenging. You have to fill in a lot of rhythmic space. Every power trio guitarist is amazing. EVH, SRV, Cream, Triumph, Rush, and so many more. Each of these guitarists had to fill lots of sonic space, and every one of them are considered great guitarists.
"Youre going to see more of this 70's strat" I have all my fingers and toes crossed for a sweetwater giveaway. But its making practicing the srv riff kinda hard 😂
I remember seeing this clip on PBS, I think, sometime back in the mid-eighties and I remember thinking: "I can't do this, but I'm sure that playing bass will do the trick"
I grew up playing in a bluegrass band. Stuff like this is not really difficult for me. Bluegrass music has a lot of fast runs and quick alternate flat picking. People love to boast on rock players but listen to a guy like Larry Sparks or Ricky skaggs. They can play with the best of them.
Stevie once said that he plays guitar like he is busting out of jail. He's been gone for over 30 years and I still miss him.
I think it was Jimmy Vaughan said that . Pretty sure.
@@leslieperry3001 nope, Stevie. Jimmy doesn't play like that.
One of the things I tell guitarists that haven't listed to SRV is that you know what he's playing, but how he plays it is everything and that's the hard part.
I think Scuttle Buttin’ is SRV’s most challenging song, but this one isn’t far behind. Guy wasn’t human.
I know a kid with Asperger's who could play Scuttle Buttin' at full speed a year after picking up a guitar. Then he got bored and quit playing. Then he got a piano and was playing Mozart in six months, then quit that. Normal folks like me can only dream of such aptitudes.
I actually wanna learn how to play scuttle buttin@@stickmanmusic5840
@@stickmanmusic5840 Some people just have it man. I’m not one of those guys either. Been busting my ass for 16 years and I’m still mediocre 😂
Scuttle Buttin cannot be his hardest song. It's the only song of him I can play and I'm too bad a rythm guitarist to play Hendrix convincingly and SRV is harder than Hendrix. Scuttle Buttin is just that one like, which is fast but it's literally one note picked per string up and back down the blues scale with that fast octave at the end. You can just sweep it if you can't pick it like Stevie does.
A on the g string, slide into B and downpick open B and E string. Call it economy picking more than sweeping.
And up is the same, pick the b flat on G pull off to a and open g, hit E on the D string and open E. Again all upwards economy picking. So the entire lick is just 3 downstrokes followed by 3 upstrokes and the rest is legato. The hard part is skipping the A string and no hitting it on the wad from e on D to E on E. The rest is just three chords E7#9, bottom for strings, e, a flat, d and g and then A7 and B7. That's it, lick followed by one of three chords for three minutes plus a simple solo for Stevie, which you wouldn't play anyway I think a song like that calls for an improvised solo anyway... his Hendrix-y riffs are way harder.
The album version is impossible though. He doesn't open the lick with a slide from a to b on G he BENDS the a into a b... with 12 gauge strings. I play 9 and 8 gauge and that's impossible for me. And I have big hands but not Stevie big. Just compare the size of his hands to a Strat and you'll realise why he play heavy gauge. 12 gauge to Stevie is like 9 gauge to normal people. Good, not too thick not too thin...
@@stickmanmusic5840 Usually aptitude like that comes with a huge price. Squandering talent for one. If he's skippin' around not finding fulfillment in anything before boredom sets in then it's not worth it. I'd rather be bad ass but "normal" like Holdsworth, Atkins, Mancuso or even an Iommi or Gibbons any day. 🎸
Aw, I love when people give my buddy love! I wish you could have met him. He was as humble as he was talented.❤
O really.i was his best friend and he told me he never met you
@@Jeremya74 🤣
Finally some validation of using the shoulder of the pick. I have been told by so many people I do it wrong. I am a lefty that plays righty so up strums get caught up. But my dad told me years ago to try it that way (he loved srv). And it’s just natural.
Left hand muting is one of the toughest (and coolest) techniques to master…Well done, man!
This stuff is super hard for people that learned guitar playing shred with a right hand locked to the bridge. This all was natural to me when I got into SRV because I was playing more funky with a wild right hand and muting with my left hand. So learning this 25+ years ago was super easy because I played like this already. Couldn’t sweep an arpeggio ever though.
You aren’t wrong. I grew up on Metallica so picking up SRV in my 40’s has been one hell of a journey.
@@indifferentuniverse3991 I've had to relearn a bunch of shit: found that if you slow it down with a metronome and only move faster once you get it perfect 3 or 4 times in a row, it'll be WAY easier to keep it perfect as you speed up.
@@indifferentuniverse3991 I actually think I played this almost perfect the first time I even tried. It’s all right hand, I watch someone like Cory Wong and have no idea why people think he is good on guitar but I’ll never be able to sweep. It’s just completely unnatural to me.
Yes I am a wannabe shredder who recently thought hmm, SRV, how hard can it be? Hard! But now I can play Scuttle Buttin. Kind of an easy way to show off lol. Someone hands you an acoustic and you play the lick and hit the Hendrix chord and people think you're performing magic with those 3 down and 3 upstrokes through the blues scale. People say its his hardest but if you can pick even somewhat fast and have a quick legato it's his easiest song to learn for an 80s shredder. Pride and Joy is for me 100 times harder and people who are unable to play Scuttle Buttin at speed laugh at me for failing at that. But it's just a different kind of hard. Funky rythms on a single chord is a huge challenge if your that right hand locked to bridge shredder. Basically need to start from scratch. But it's helped my rythm guitar so much. I used to be aweful now I'm passable enough to not be "the problem" haha.... and I've definetly been the guy dragging a band down with aweful rythm guitar just waiting to shred. 80s riffs are great though, they make you do the fiddly bits and rhythmic chord stuff. Really fun to play. Like Whitesnake or Dokken riffs. I play that for 3 seconds and it's 1987 and I can almost hear the crowd roaring and feel the nostalgia high from the days when cocaine was affordable and didn't cost twice what gold does.
Yeah, I haven't tried this yet, but I'll sure do it when I get back home to my gee-tar.
This kinda thang is how I likes to play, I play music, no shreddin' crap.
Who cares if ya can't even hear the notes?! Why bother with that crap? I mean, there's playin' fast , then there's shreddin'. I like music that ppl can actually hear.
So, I'll work on it later when I gets home!
Can't wait. That, and Scuttle Buttin'.
SRV had years of Rhythm guitar playing with the CoBRAS in Texas, thru most of the 70's. My buddy from there saw them many times.
Good stuff brother and props for being in the 4th position. \m/
Stevie used this "muting" technique in several songs. I've been trying to nail it in Pride and Joy for no less than an year and I am still miles away. Of course, in Rude Mood it is extremely faster, so probably out of most of us mere mortals league. Well done, very good lesson.
I watched that video of Stevie playing it, and slowed it down, thinking "no way he is holding that shuffle tight that fast", lol boy was I wrong. at half speed every single note is clear and the shuffle is prominent
That left hand muting technique is key for SRV and other Strat players sounds. Great lesson
Great lesson Robert!!! Always glad to see new lessons. Hope all is well in Nashville. Keep up the great work
Didn't know the pick thing. Top tip. Thanks!!
Amazing song. Great lesson.
Gorgeous Strat 👍🏻
I don't think anyone will ever figure out exactly how Stevie played what he played. It all came from the heart and soul! If anyone knows how to even come close, it would be a kid I knew 40 years ago from Clarksdale Ms by the name of Daniel Karlish! Wish I could find you Daniel. Thomas Haley.
I remember skipping the record needle back a coupla' hundred times trying to learn this tune, yeah, I might be getting old. SRV continues to inspire guitar players, which is a tribute to his legacy.
Saw that interview when it first came out. Have been trying to play that ever since! Many thanks
Thanks for cracking the code for one of my bucket list “to learn” songs
That riff hits soooooo hard….
Thank ya. Followed that.
Stevie is the reason I picked up the guitar. He’s also the reason why I want to throw them in the wood chipper. Just a brilliant guitar master.
I’ll take them if you ever need to give it up lol.
Man, this video made me grab my guitar and practice. Feels good
That's what I'm talkin about!
@@RobertBakerGuitar I am dang near on top of this tune now, thanks for the inspiration! (I use the 2.0mm Dunlop Flow picks, on the pointy end, for what it’s worth)
Playing the basic riff with tremolo picking and with distortion is pretty cool too.
Fun lesson RB. \m/
I love Rude Mood because it has this almost 12th Street Rag Roy Clark vibe to it.
Good job, Robert. Sounds awesome.
thanks man! you are quite constantly bringing joyful practice challenges. I need this sunday to be a couple of hours longer...
Awesome-you’re the best!
Thanks homie
Good lesson, thank you
Working on it...I'll come back in 2-3 years, should have it down by then. SRV is still teaching us how it's done!
Awesome vid! Great job! Thanks so much!
Great lesson !! And I love your guitar tone!!
@7:45 HEY MA......BAKER HIT A BAD NOTE !!
Bad notes are always on the house here.
It's not obvious bc of the coat sleeves, but I think he's also using "*dart throwers" wrist motion as per Troy Grady's picking series (bent back, reverse version its bent forward like EVH trem-picking) which is a fast angle to pick if you can find a comfortable spot.
Pick angle - tried using the shoulder a while back, but another one to check out is what ended up working best for me - the shoulder between the thumb and forefinger and the tip angled only maybe 20-30 degrees away from the palm toward the strings so you get the widest point of contact. There's just a narrow, long taper showing, like half of one of those pop-out things that holds umbrellas open
Bonus for that pick attack is it makes it incredibly easy to squeal notes.
well done
Thanks, Robert! Great lesson!
Cool SRV lesson!!😊
keep going lol i want to hear the other higher riff melody section and see you do it lol I saw you show it off a bit at beginning! sounded great! Ive been working on it for decade here and there and I can play but when I lay off a few months Im having to re-polish it up for a week lol I initially learned it on acoustic fairly well ( Not SVR level and requires new strings) after watching him on a live performance. I think he had a guild?
Hey Robert,
What kind of pick are you using here? Medium Celluloid like Stevie?
Thanks!
Pride and joy is a walking step to this.
Great!
I never could quite get his shuffles down.
I'll never play but love learning about it :)
Been working on my boogie since the Sturgill Simpson Guitar moves that just came out. This will fit right into that endeavor.
Hi Robert, that is a tough riff to learn. not really dabbled with SRV, sorry. but this was fun to learn. Thanks.
John
Cornwall UK
What kind of pick do you use ? Can you make a vidéo about the différents pick you play ?
"Rude Mood" is my second favorite after "Pride and Joy."
Dirty Pool is the most difficult Stevie song for the right hand.
I’m pretty sure he doesn’t always just hit the third fret notes (G and C) twice. Sometimes he does but sometimes he hammers on from the 3rd to the 4th frets. But it’s a quick roll into it, so it’s hard to notice. It’s like a sped up version of how he plays the Pride and Joy riff.
"Cold Shot" was a formidable groove as well.
How's Nashville been treating you Robert? Hope all is well.
Yeah I do not remember if SRV did a Hot Licks type video in the 80's they were a great bunch of Videos. total electric guitar EJ was my favorite of Course. I used to own a Strat EXACTLY like the one in your video, 1979, was Quite heavy for a strat. It was like NORTHERN ASH body, weighed like a Les Paul.
I really like that Strat.
I use the shoulder of the pick always. I feel like my picking is more accurate that way.
I got to see a guy in winnipeg who could do this about 16 years ago. He was incredible. Not much older than me either. Maybe 22!
I find i need to move from my normal Jazz II or III* to a regular Fender medium if I want any chance of making it to the other side. Whaddya gonna do?🤷
Jazz I's can work too.
idk if you’ll see this but i love the new type of content learning is so fun
Lol I always use the shoulder of the pick. I just get more control of what I'm picking
If you play it with less Stevie blues style and more metal style with mostly palm muting what your playing I think it's easier than having to ring out the notes while trying to mute everything else out. He also used like 13 guage strings which would be really high tension maybe easier for playing his way picking really hard
Rob, have you checked out the PRS 15 watt DGT?
I'll give this a try, but the speed is so tough eh, I'll do my slowed down version 😂cheers Robert great content from you as usual
Dayum. Lol. Nice thnx...😊
SRV riff too hard for human mortal animals? I’m clicking. ❤
Killer tone man! Have you given up on the ridiculously small jazz iii then? You wouldn't be able to play that riff with it anyway.
Hot rod Lincoln?
Thanks for showing this. Hard but really fun once you get a feel for the insane techniques Stevie used. Stevie and Hendrix are underrated for their rhythm playing, probably the best ever.
Sky hop po lightnin
I've not found anything SRV played to be easy. You can replicate, sound, style, rig used. BUT you'll never replicate his heart. SRV was a conduit for electric blues, that flowed from within him.
awesome
SRV was seriously fantastic.....
Being the ONLY guitarist in a band is challenging. You have to fill in a lot of rhythmic space. Every power trio guitarist is amazing. EVH, SRV, Cream, Triumph, Rush, and so many more. Each of these guitarists had to fill lots of sonic space, and every one of them are considered great guitarists.
Very true
@RobertBakerGuitar God bless you and your family, sir. Keep on rocking 😎
"Youre going to see more of this 70's strat"
I have all my fingers and toes crossed for a sweetwater giveaway. But its making practicing the srv riff kinda hard 😂
Ha not this one I'm afraid this is a real 70s Strat. But I do have a giveaway planned for later this month on something else.
Hey Baker, hello from Cincinnati!! You still working hard brother,, it shows, peace Out Man maybe you and I will be working together some day and then again maybe not..... I'm working on an album all original Prog Shock Psychedelic Rock genres © my favorite genre and I have to be at work so later
"Rude Mood" is simple, but far from easy. Next super-hard, fast picking riff lesson: "Hot Rod Lincoln"!
Try to play that with Jazz III
The tab shown at 3:53 doesn't match what you're playing. The last fret 4 note is not played.
I remember seeing this clip on PBS, I think, sometime back in the mid-eighties and I remember thinking: "I can't do this, but I'm sure that playing bass will do the trick"
Me too and Eric Johnson in 80's ( maybe 86?) Austin City. I was like ... who the hell. Grab the VHS and still got it!😜
I grew up playing in a bluegrass band. Stuff like this is not really difficult for me. Bluegrass music has a lot of fast runs and quick alternate flat picking. People love to boast on rock players but listen to a guy like Larry Sparks or Ricky skaggs. They can play with the best of them.
You turn that pick around you’ll never go back, it’s the way.
I’ve been on the shoulder for years. The normal way feels like I’m picking with a ping pong paddle
Been holding my pick like that for 50 yrs now.
Do you smooth that edge? I like it when a pick is worn on that side from rhythm.
I agree 💯
That muting technique he used for upstrokes really takes getting used to. It's all over his playing.
👍👍
In my opinion if you want to learn how to mute like that learn how to play punk rock and it will help alot!
We called it playin' dirty..._
That's a beautiful strat!!
It’s hard yo
I've been trying to play it well since the 80's lol
I don't know if you'll see this...Robert, I CHALLENGE YOU to an old fashion blues head cuttin' duel!
For the muting..try flexing your fretting hand pressure.. to match the rhythm of the notes you’re playing…
It’s only difficult if you haven’t been playing Stevie’s stuff since the 1980’s 😉
Tune to 432hz
and he does this with 13 guage strings 😮
So basically pride amd joy but faster lol
It’s interesting to learn how many guitarists use the rounded shoulder of the pick 😎🎸🎶☮️
Common among mando players too.
I learned that from Guthrie Trapp, the monster of country Telecaster.
SRV had to be a master at string muting the way he just bashes the strings
So you're telling me that's not Sam Kinison playing guitar?
It’s because you don’t have a rosewood fretboard there. That’s it.
I knew it!!!
What if I slowed it way down. Be like a ni e slow blues. Speed it up every week till I'm dead. I'll get it
So just play Pride and Joy? 🤣
The good thing about this riff is it sounds great any any speed (fortunately for me lol). Its a different vibe slower, but it still works.
What the hell is that hat though?
rob rob robby rob robert rob
12:03 on a Sunday and already that boy aint right.
Close to Pride and Joy just played faster.
Literally all of Stevie's songs are in half step. I think it's because his strings were so thick. He needed a little leeway