Chords for The most VICIOUS Riff by John Lee Hooker!!

Today is a good day because we're gonna play some John Lee Hooker.
[Em] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [A] _ [E] _ _ _ [G] _
[A] _ [E] _ _ _ _ _ [A] _ [C] _
[D] _ [A] _ _ _ [E] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [Em] _ _ [D] _ _ _
[E] _ [A] _ _ _ [E] _ _ _ [G] _
[E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [Em] _
_ _ _ _ [E] _ _ _ [G] _
[A] _ [E] _ _ [G] _ [A] _ _ _ [D] _
_ [A] _ [C] _ [D] _ [E] _ _ _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ [A] _ [D] _ _ [Em] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [A#] _ _ _ [G] _
_ [D] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Em] _ _ _ And that was a small part from a song called [C#] Boom Boom by [Am] John Lee Hooker.
[E] And as you can [G] tell it has a phenomenal guitar riff.
And if you want to learn how to play it, it's actually not [A] too complex.
It's only a couple of [Bm] notes. _ _ _
[A] _ [G] _ _ [E] _ _ [D] _ _ [E] _
_ _ It couldn't be much simpler, right?
But of course you need to get the timing right, the rhythm.
[Gm] So it's a one, two, three, four, [D] one.
_ _ [Em] _ [E] _ _ _ _
[Em] That's more like it.
But there's more to it.
You're gonna have to play it like you just don't care.
_ [A] _ [E] _ _ _ _
John Lee Hooker is one of those guitarists who's not busy playing [G] the notes flawlessly,
very crispy and clean.
No, it's all about this primitive raw outburst of energy.
_ _ _ [D] _ _
Something [A] he would play.
From a technical point of view, it's very _ raunchy.
But he didn't care about that.
[D] So in order to get that sound, you don't want to just play the notes.
_ [E] _ _
You want to play accidentally, quote [Dm] unquote, the adjacent strings as well.
Regardless how it sounds.
[Em] _ _ _ _ You can make any mistake you want as long as the feel is there.
Now this opening lick is what we call a statement.
_ _ _ _ Which is followed by a _ response.
And [Am] the response [Em] [A] is_
_ [Em] _ _ _ _
Now those two riffs are basically all you need to know to get started.
So we start with this.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [Am] _ _ [Em] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [C] _ Well, blues is a thing _ anybody can have.
The blues, the whole work.
They have blues when you're feeling low _ and out.
That's the blues.
Now if you're able to play [E] that, then you want to add something extra to the mix.
Which _ [G] is_
[A] _ [E] _ _ It just sounds so badass and it's so incredibly simple.
And when you play it continuously, you get what's called the John Lee Hooker boogie.
_ [Em] _ _ _ _ _ [A] _ _
[E] _ [G] _ [A] _ [E] _ _ Now where do you start?
Well, as always, with the basic simple notes.
_ _ _ _ [G] _ [A] _
_ [E] _ _ _ It's always funny how simple things are when you narrow it down, right?
But of course, the devil is in the details.
And what you want to do is play power chords along with that bass line like this.
_ _ [G] _ _
[A] _ _ [E] _ _ If you can add the licks from [G] the beginning along with these chords,
then you get boom boom.
So grab your guitar and let's see if we can [A] do it.
_ [E] _ _ _ _
[G] _ [A] _ _ [Em] _ _ _ [E] _ _
_ [G] _ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [C] _ [D] _ [A] _ [Em] _ _
_ [E] _ _ _ [G] _ [A] _ _ [D] _
_ _ [E] _ _ [B] _ _ [D] _ [E] _
[A] _ [Em] _ _ _ [E] _ _ _ [G] _
[A] _ _ [E] _ _ _ _ All right, getting better each moment.
Now all that's left is to play that boogie continuously.
Like, _ [G] _ [A] _ [Em] _ _ [G] _ [Am] _ [E] _
_ [G] _ [A] _ [B] _ _ sounds so cool.
Now what we did before was [E] this.
[G] _ _ [Am] _ [E] And what we need to do to play continuously with that groove is to add two things.
Number one, one up strum just before the G power chord.
_ _ _ _ [Em] _
[G] _ _ _ And [E] on the A power chord, we're going to play a pull off like this. _
_ _ _ [G] _ _ [A] _ _ [D] _
_ _ It's a [E] bit weird when you play it slow.
But when you play it continuously, _ _ _ _
[G] _ [A] _ _ [E] _ _ [G] _ _ [A] _
_ [E] _ _ [Em] you start to get a real good groove.
And of course, when you play it a little bit faster, _ _ _ [A] _ [E] _ _ [G] _ [A] _
[E] _ _ _ that's what we need.
Okay, grab your guitar.
Here we go.
_ _ _ [G] _ [E] _ _ _ [G] _ _ [Em] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [A] _ _
_ [C] _ _ [D] _ [A] _ _ [C] _ [D] _
[E] _ _ _ [G] _ [A] _ [Em] _ _ _
[G] _ [A] _ [B] _ _ [D] _ [E] _ _ [A] _
_ [C] _ [D] _ [E] _ _ [G] _ _ [Am] _
[E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _