Chords for Tennessee Whiskey - easy lead guitar intro lesson

Hey everybody, it's Dave Isaacs back with you from the guitar studio on Music Row
and this is part two of a two-part series on Chris Stapleton's Tennessee Whiskey.
_ And in this lesson, we're gonna focus on the electric guitar intro.
And I love this because it's great, beautifully played, and so simple.
_ We're working off the notes of an A major pentatonic scale.
I'm gonna play the part first. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [Bm] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [C#] _ _ [Bm] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[A] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Bm] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [A] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [A#m] _ _ So check this out.
[E] The notes we're using are the open E string, _ _ the second fret [F#] of that E string, the open
[A] A string, _ _ the [B] second fret of the A string, and the [C#m] fourth fret of the A string.
So just [E] five notes.
_ _ [F#] _ [A] _ _ _ _ [C#m] _
_ _ That's why it's a pentatonic scale.
_ Pentatonic, five tones.
_ [F] We happen to be starting not from the root [A] of the scale, A. _ _ _
_ _ [D#] The full pentatonic scale starting from the root would give us [A] this.
_ _ [B] _ _ [C#] _ _
[E] _ _ [F#] _ _ [A] _ _ _ _
Which you [F#m] might recognize as being very [E] similar _
[A] _ _ to_
[C#m] _ _ _ [A] _
_ _ _ [E] _ _ _ _ [A] _
_ [Em] Because it's the same scale.
I'm not playing [F] in the same key [C] as my girl.
But [A] _ _
[B] _ _ [E] _ _ _ [F#] that [A] major pentatonic sound _ [D] is what you're hearing in the intro to [G] that very, very famous song.
_ And [E] the major pentatonic is a very, very familiar sound.
It goes way back to folk music of all kinds of places.
And it's very common in country music.
Now, _ like I said, here's the fingering.
One finger.
I'm using the index for everything.
_ First phrase is to play the open E string.
Grab the [F#] second fret, _ open [A] A string, and then place the index finger on the second fret
of the A string and [C#m] slide _ _ from fret two to fret four.
_ Here's the timing.
One, [E] two, three, four, five, six.
One, two, three, four, [A] five, six.
[C#m] Slide. _ _ _ _
[C] If you're not comfortable with the slide, here's what you need to think about.
[E] _ You want to be more or less on the pad of the finger.
Don't try to get way up on the fingertip.
This is not a very strong position right here.
You want to be able to make that thicker bass [F] string ring out nicely.
And the additional leverage you get from a more extended finger and sitting on the pad
rather than the tip is really useful.
_ _ So what I'm doing is striking that second fret note and immediately [F#] using my [C#m] arm _ to
glide up two frets.
And then I can get a little bit of [F#] vibrato by kind of wiggling [C#] my hand back [E] and forth.
It's not essential to do that, but it makes the note sing and sustain a little better.
_ _ [A] _
_ [C#m] _ _ _ That's the first lick.
Second [B] lick.
_ _ _ Third lick.
_ _ _ [F#] _ _ _ _
_ Now notice this [C#] slide.
Up and [B] back [A] and then pull off, which is not essential.
You can [B] pick it.
_ [A] _ _ [C] You can pick them all, really.
_ [A] _ _ [B] _ _
_ _ _ But it's nice to have that little additional bit of greasiness that comes from the slides.
_ _ [C#] _ [B] _ _ _ So it may take [C#] some time for you to practice this _ [B] _
_ to [F] be able to maintain the pressure on
the string and have everything ring out, especially if you're trying to play this on an acoustic guitar.
You're probably going to find that more challenging.
_ But it's worth the effort.
And the fact is you don't lose much if you don't play that.
Just recognize [E] that if you do it like this, _ [A] _ _ _ [B] _
_ _ that you're missing some of the [C]
articulation,
some of the details that make it sound the way that it really sounds.
So just be aware of that.
Now there's a very softly played F sharp at the end of that second lick, second fret of
the E string.
So here's the first two licks. _
One two three four five six one two [E] three.
_ [A] _ _ [C#] _ _
Four five six one two three.
[B] _ _ [C#] _ [B] _ _ _ _ _
[F#] _ _ [C#] And then, _ _ _
[B] _ _ _ which is once again just doing [E] that glide, second fret to fourth fret.
_ [C#m] _ _
_ _ But notice it's [E] a quick slide, right?
There's two different kinds [C] of slides.
There are slides that have no real time value of their own, where the note you're sliding
from is simply the starting point and the note you land on is the target, [D#] the note we
really want to [C#] hear. _ _ _
And then there are slides [C#] that are in time. _
_ _ [B] _ _ _ First one was a quick slide, the second one was in time.
[A] This is a good example.
_ [C#m] _ Bwaa Bwaa Bwaa Bwaa.
[B] _ _ _ _ _ _
Look at the sun shining in right there.
[C#m] _ So the first two have no time of their own. _
The third one doesn't either, but the fourth [B] one _ fits the beat like this.
One two three [C#] four five six one [B]
two.
_ _ _ _ [D#] See what I mean about the difference?
[C#] _ _ Five six. _
[E] Really just one count for both notes [F] because this note, the note we slide from, doesn't
really count for much.
It's just again the approach point below the [E] note we want to land on.
[C#] _ _
_ But one [B] two. _
That [D#] slide encompasses two beats, so that one's timed. _
And then the last lick is once again, _ index finger, [C#] slide up, and that's one of those
quick slides, _ and then slide [B] in time, _ [A] _ and the open string. _
_ _ _ Bwaa Bwaa Bwaa _ _ _ _ Bwaa.
You [D#] could do a pull off on there too if you wanted [C#] to.
_ [A] _ _ _ _
_ _ [N] Adds a little more subtlety to it.
So here's the whole thing.
_ _ One two three four five six one two [E] three. _
_ _ [C#m] One two three four five six one two three four [A] five six [B] one two three four five six
[F#] one two three four [C#] five six [B] one two three four five six. _
_ _ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
[E] Really pretty simple.
If you're interested in getting into lead guitar, or not even so much for the purpose
of playing solos, but [G#] just to be able to play some [F] figures, some melody, in addition
to strumming chords, this is a great place to start.
And it should be a good illustration [F#] of how things don't have to be complicated to be
cool and musical and memorable and hooky, which this riff certainly is.
In the description you'll find links to a backing track you can practice to, and also
a tab of the lick itself.
So check [D#] those out if you want those additional materials. _
Again, it's a really cool song.
It's an easy part to play.
Have fun with it.
Hope you enjoyed this lesson.
I'm Dave Isaacs, and I'll see you again [E] real soon.
_ _ _ _ _ [N] _ _