Eric Clapton’s solo on “Strange Brew” is one of his more concise efforts and makes an excellent study in British Blues via Chicago. EC more or less copied his solo from the first half of Albert King’s “Crosscut Saw” solo, and Slowhand nails the difficult first finger bend that is necessary to achieve the right phrasing at the climax. This bend (measures 9 and 10 in the tab below) is characteristic of Albert King’s style.
There are other tough bends, too. Right at the beginning, EC bends up a whole step (D to E on the B or second string) and almost in the same breath bends all the way up G, a combined distance of two and one half steps! It’s not absolutely necessary to do this giant bend. A whole step will work. Look in the tab below. You’ll see two curving bend arrows (pickup to measure 1). Start with the first whole step bend and work your way up to adding the second, step and a half band. The B string is the easiest string on the guitar to bend and all of the big bends in the solo are done on it.
The solo makes use of four blues scale positions: Forms I, II, III and IV. Look at the charts for these positions, which I have provided below. Form I is the one that everybody knows. Form II includes the “High Box” as the old-timers call it, or the B.B. King box. Form IV is a more advanced position but absolutely essential to learn if you want to really wail in A. It lies right at the 12th fret, prime real estate on the fretboard. Positions I and II are often combined in longer runs, with a sliding motion between them on the G string. This is accomplished with the second finger (measure 6 in the tab below). Positions III and IV are also combined for longer runs, and EC uses this combination to end the solo, in measures 11 and 12.
Another important technique in this piece is the ¼ or quarter-step bend. This is most often found on the third step of the scale, in this case the note C. Most of the time, these bends are pushed up, not pulled down. You don’t want to hear any “release.” Simply stop pressing on the string when the bend has reached its full height, which is really a very small amount. Just enough to sound different from the original note, but not enough to sound a complete half-step. Often, this note is followed by the tonic on a lower string, and the third finger will dampen any unintended release.
The little dot next to the 13th fret note with the ¼ step bend in measure 3 means staccato or “short” in Italian. The curving lines marked "Gliss." (short for Glissando) are long slides with no clear pitch. Don’t forget to add finger vibrato at or towards the ends of most phrases (the squiggly lines above the staff for example at the 7th fret in measure 7). Come to think of it, this solo is quite “greasy,” meaning there is plenty of bold articulation to keep the listener hanging on every note.
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