Through his work with the Allman Brothers Band, Gov’t Mule and his solo group, Warren Haynes has established himself as one of blues rock’s finest electric guitar greats, assembling a bevy of records – and, by extension, notable guitar riffs – along the way.
Taking a career-diving look into the finest riffs he’s penned for Gov’t Mule in an exclusive Guitar World interview, Haynes isn’t lying when he says “there's a lot of riffs to choose from.”
Playing his new P-90 equipped signature Les Paul for the spot, he’s leaned into techniques as a way of separating the best from the rest, showcasing that he is far more than a foot-to-the-floor blues player.
“I’m playing with my fingers and I’m only really using two strings at a time, getting the one and five combination,” he says of Mule from their 1995 debut LP. It’s also a little tricky to follow, as it takes in a 10-beat phrase.
“It’s not your common four-beat repeating pattern,” he develops, “but it’s just something that was sticking in my head and still does stick in my head. When we play it live, I play slide on it. So I have to play all the chord patterns with the slide on on my third finger, which provides yet another challenge.”
Live, it’s a song that requires plenty of sleight of hand as he traps his guitar pick with his third and fourth fingers for when it’s needed.
When the song modulates to Eb in the bridge, he was forced to relearn the chord shapes without the use of his third finger, which in itself is a lesson on Hayne’s adaptive, utilitarian playing style.
The opening riff of Blind Man in the Dark, from sophomore Dose, is also “a little tricky” as a walking bassline weaves around some strange chord movement choices.
“On the studio recording, the bass is in one side and the guitar is in the other side in the verse. In the pre-chorus and chorus, they both go into the middle,” he explains, which is why he needs to maneuver both parts simultaneously.
“It’s very weird,” he adds, “and the only song we ever did that on. We had talked about how it would be cool how on early Cream records the bass and guitar were on other sides of the mix.”
Rocking Horse, meanwhile, presides over a slinky, spacious groove in 7/4 that leaves lots of “space for the bass to do cool stuff,” showing Haynes’ ability to not always think guitar-first. He cites Jimi Hendrix for its “very different” chorus, which is fuelled by a staccato attack to “bring the riff out a little bit more”, with a major third tonality.
Peace I Need, from the band’s latest record, also creates some interesting chord voicings. Though the song is in the key of B, the riff hinges off the low E string, “which is kinda like putting a low 4th chord before the actual riff.” It also utilizes a lot of palm muting and dead string hits to drive its groove without overpopulating it.
Speaking of his pivot towards P-90 pickups for the latest signature, he says, “Being traditionally a humbucker guy, I’m really loving the hum-free P-90s. It’s a really cool tonal change, and the boost offers even more tonal options.”
He’s also revealed that another signature is in the works: a customized Gibson Firebird saddled with three P-90 pickups for even greater scope.
On his latest solo album, Million Voices Whisper, Haynes reunited with his former Allman Brothers Band bandmate Derek Trucks to revive an unfinished Gregg Allman track.
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