4 guitar tricks you can learn from Gary Clark Jr.

Gary Clark Jr.
(Image credit: Stephen J. Cohen/Getty Images)

Here, we focus on how the blues lives on in today’s music, with the torch being carried by players such as Gary Clark Jr, whose track When My Train Pulls In was one of the main inspirations behind my solo. 

It’s not too hard to trace the blues lineage, with the riff-based beginning including some open strings for a particularly old-school/John Lee Hooker feel, leading to some melodic pentatonic phrasing. A notable feature here is the inclusion of notes from outside the usual pentatonic remit, something Gary is very fond of doing. 

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Richard Barrett

As well as a longtime contributor to Guitarist and Guitar Techniques, Richard is Tony Hadley’s longstanding guitarist, and has worked with everyone from Roger Daltrey to Ronan Keating.