Chords for Gary Clark Jr. - Numb Rhythm

[D] _ _ _ _ [F] _ [C] _ [D] _ [F] _
_ [Bb] _ [D] _ [F] _ _ [G] _ [D] _ [F] _
_ [D] _ Hey Blues fans, this is Anthony from Texas Blues Alley.
It's Free Lesson Friday.
This week we're going to be looking at Gary Clark Jr.
And we're going to be going back to his first album and looking at the song Numb.
And I love the rhythm off this track.
It's heavy, it's bluesy, and we're going to use a different tuning than we're used to.
And I'll take you through all the notes.
It's real simple, but it's fun to repeat over and over again.
If you are a member of the TXBA Locals program, then you can get a little backing track and
some tablature with this lesson over at the site.
Just go to the Explore section of Locals and you'll find it under Free Lesson Friday.
And all right, so let's take a look at the demonstration, and we'll get into the breakdown.
[F] _ [N] _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ [F] _ [C] _ [D] _ _ [F] _ [Bb] _
[D] _ [Ab] _ [F] _ [Db] _ [D] _ _ [F] _ [G] _
[D] _ _ [F] _ [C] _ [D] _ _ [F] _ [Bbm] _
[D] _ [Ab] _ [F] _ [Cm] _ [D] _ _ [F] _ [G] _
[D] _ [Ab] _ [F] _ [G] _ [D] _ [A] _ [F] _ [Bb] _
[D] _ [F] _ _ [C] _ [D] _ [Ab] _ [F] _ [Gm] _
[D] _ _ [F] _ _ _ All right, the first thing you're going to realize if you try and play this like I just
showed [E] it is that it's not going to sound quite right.
_ [F] And you're going to think that you're doing something wrong, but you're not.
The problem is [E] that he's using drop D tuning here, where you take your E string and [D] _ _ _ you
tune it down to the octave below your D string.
And then all of a sudden, _ [Dm] _ [Bb] _ [D] _
okay, so you don't even need your tuner.
Just tune it to that octave.
Then get your fuzz pedal ready.
_ [F] _ _ [D] _ All right, so what we're going to [G] be doing here, [A] two hits on the low E string, now tuned
[D] to D.
_ _ [G]
Slide [Fm] to five, [D] and then up to the third fret of the D string.
[F] _ _
_ [Ebm] And you're going to go into a really slow [D] bend there.
[F] _
_ _ [N] First time you're [C] going to go [D] [G] hammer on from three to five on the D string, then [D] on the A string.
_ _ _ [F] _
_ [D] _ _ [B] [D] And make sure that they're quick, not_ _
_ [G] Okay, it's got to be quick.
_ [D] _ _ [F] _ [G] _
[D] Because [G] we want this note [D] and this note [G] to be the focus.
[D] _
[Gm] _ [F] Second time around, [D] repeat everything up to that point.
[F] _ _
[D] _ [G] And you can either just go [D] _ [A] five to three on D, [Ab] down to five on [Gb] A, or you can do a [G] hammer on first.
[D] _ [G] _ [D] _ [N] Okay?
And you're just going to repeat those two things back.
[D] All [F] _ _ [D] _ _ [Fm] _ _
[D] _ _ [F] _ _ [D] _ _ [F] _ _
[D] _ [Eb] right, now, even though I'm teaching [N] you two distinct parts and repeating them in that
order over and over again, if you actually listen to the song, I don't think it's something
that he does consistently.
This [Eb] could be something that he just changed, you know, [N] is when you get to a certain level,
like he's playing at, you do some of these things without even thinking.
So it's not like you're always going [Gb] to hear this [C] [D] back to back with him.
[Eb] Okay?
So just two different options, two different ways of playing it.
And it's just fun to kind of groove over that rhythm, just playing those two things [D] back to back.
A couple of notes about style.
If you want to get a fatter, chunkier sound, _ hum the first note.
_ Whereas if you let them ring, [Ab] _ [F] [Bb] then you get more of a wide open ringing sound.
So [D] just a couple of different [Bb] options.
This bend right here [F] _ [Gbm] [N] is pretty important.
You don't want to [D] bend it too far.
_ [Abm] _ [Gbm]
[D] It's going to take away from the sound that you're going for.
[Ab] [F] You [E] want a nice, slow [F] kind of a wah.
[B] _ [C] _ [D] _ [G] _
[D] _ _ [F] _ [Gb] _ [D] _ [Db] Okay?
Because you're building [G] tension [F] into that note.
_ [G] _ [D] Okay?
[Abm] So it's kind of like building up and then [D] releasing there.
_ [F] _ _ [D] _ _ [F] _ _
[D] _ [F] Okay?
So ideally, _ [A] you're going to [F] be just shy of that note.
_ [Gm] _ [D] _ _ _ _ [F]
That's really all there is to it.
The rhythm is actually pretty simple.
[D] What's kind of fun to do is to lay that loop down with a looper and then to solo [N] over it.
And if you solo over it, you're going to be up here at the [G] tenth fret _
[F] _ [N] because we're in
the key [D] of D.
[G] One thing you're going to have to [D] keep in mind though _ [Dm] is that usually in box one, _ [G] _ [Eb] we're
used to going [A]
to [D] get to our root note.
But because we're tuned down, the root note's going to be there.
[G] _ [Dm] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Em] _ [Dm] _
[Eb] Everything's [Gm] shifted by two fret.
[Dm] _ _ [D] _ [Fm] _
[D] _ _ _ [Fm] _ _ [D] _ _ [Fm] _
[Dm] _ _ _ _ _ [D] _ [Fm] _ [D] _
[Db] _ [D] _ [Fm] _ [G] _ [D] _ [G] _ [F] _ _
[D] _ [Ab] _ [F] _ [D] _ So a little bit more fun if you have a looper pedal.
But anyway, [Gm] that's the very simple but very thick, aggressive sounding rhythm to the song
Numb by Gary Clark Jr.
Hope you enjoyed the lesson and I'll see you again [D] next week.
Thanks for watching.
_ _ [F] _ [C] _ [D] _ _ [F] _ [Gm] _ [D] _ _ [F] _ [A] _
[D] _ _ [N] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _