Fleetwood Mac - Oh Well - Intro lesson

[MrHollydaye]

i cant help about the shape im in

i cant sing, i aint pretty, and my legs are thin

[LeBorisPebble]

Its a good version, but either drop the distortion pedal or get a better amp.

[custom944]

i have to admit, this sounds really badass with the extra gain



[pieroandaluz]

Thanks for the lesson man!

[Poptartarsauce]

whoa man! easy on the distortion!

[pistolp01]

thanx dude that was really cool....peace...

[ss180jay]

Christ,

He's showing people how to play it on guitar.

Great work.....

[EasyBreather000]

Don't forget when playing the descending part after the E7 double stop to hit the Bb, not a B natural. Its the Blue scale with a flattened 5th remember ?

[jimmydanpage]

the distortion was fleetwood macs signature sound so the distortion is lovely. though i think itd sound better with a bit of vibrato on that riff if thats possible :D

[Justbrazils]

Whats with the distortion? Why dont you give it some palm muting to really bring it in to this century. ARGHHHH!!!

[classicrockriffs]

@Justbrazils It's a free country, and I like it, so there!

[thebluesrockers]

@classicrockriffs that's right man, play it like you feel it. they can either learn it and play it how they want, we all need to do that. if you feel it like the original, then play it that way, but if you don't then just work on making sound good. I feel you made that happen.good job. thanks for posting it.

[equinoxdbz]

@Justbrazils get the f**k out, If you don't like it, don't watch it or comment on it damn it...

[metalupyourass20]

@Justbrazils this song wasnt written in this century dumbass!!!!

[reggaemash]

Good one!

Thanks

[pieroandaluz]

Thank you for all the awesome lessons man. I ran across your videos and I can no longer get any work done, but boy am I learning a lot of new stuff.

[mystro810]

"I cant sing I aint pretty and my legs are thin." .... maybe the greatest line in rock n roll history

[MrJohnson1045]

well gd song jimmy page and the black crows did an ace version of

[KILLEMALL69888]

playing it wrong... + way too much distortion (constructive criticism)

[Hellrazer12]

Actully I like it. It makes it sound fresh.

[amriirma]

first part>great!!!

after that>hmmmmm

[JonnyRake]

thanks, i love this song, awesome lesson

[droogless]

yeah, a fleetwood mac covers band.. a pious bird with a bad triangle?

[droogless]

wow.. its not any easy riff to play.. but you make it look so easy, you swine.

I have been trying to play for twenty years and still struggle with it. maybe should have stuck to the triangle.

[classicrockriffs]

Ha Ha, you made me laugh - keep at it, but don't sell your triangle just yet!

[kirbygene]

I can play the trianle too. Maybe we can have an all-star triangle band.

seriously though, great chops man. Love that song!

[g8rb8sfender]

@droogless After a year.. your post about "o well" is still funny. ; )

[stevemacdougall]

Yeah, I'm sure "utilises this approach" wasn't in Pete's lexicon. I think he just wanted to make a rock statement and have it tied to a classical piece (i.e. the second part of the song).

[cloud1strife]

The second song i ever learned to play, after smoke of the water :D Rofl

[benmols]

Wow, why is there so many people talking about notes and scales n shit, this is a blues rock and roll riff! Who gives a damn!!!

[Ted953]

Too much distorion, look at the version of The Bluesfuse

[Projoiner1]

Well how fuckin cool is that....thank you.

[skirmish703]

I've never seen that Peter Green plays a Bb. (in the E-scale it's the 5th-dim)

But it's possible to play it.

When I play this intro I play a Bb, because it's an enrichment.

[Guitarsthatkill]

(By that I mean, the scale of Em. of E Aeolian)

The only note from that scale that this intro riff missing is a 'C'.

[Guitarsthatkill]

Im sure theres a Bb on the run up bit, the bit the bit immediately preceeding the start of the vocal. But its not in the opening riff...

Sven, you still need the B in there for full blues scale, other wise that could be Locrian mode. :p And what would a blues player then do on the turnaround, with no B...? lolz

E, G, A, A#,B, D, D# (minor version).

E, G#, A, A#, B, D, D# (major feel version)

Green plays outside of Pentatonics here, anyway. His F# on the last phrase makes it a minor scale.

[skirmish703]

Hä?

A F# in an E-scale is the second tone and is not responsible for major or minor!

[Guitarsthatkill]

Aeolian -natural minor..=has a regular second or f sharp.

Ionian -Major =also has fsharp as second.

A second or flattened second is used to seperate modes like Phrygian and Locrian from other minor key modes like Dorian and Aeolian.

[skirmish703]

I think about it!

[SvenSlowfinger]

Guitarsthatkill:

E G A Bb D is called the pentatonic blues scale.

E G A B D is called the minor pentatonic scale, this is of coz the one we commonly use.

Peter plays the following notes in the intro (as this video):

E-string: E F# G

A-string: A B

D-string: D E.

If he plays any other notes in some live recording I don't know.

Tricky to play even for Peter himself, he may repair minor live errors by "sluring some". The original COULD BE a studio cut together, we dont know really.

[Guitarsthatkill]

It sounds like we are largely reading from the same page, With the Bb substituted for B that keeps it pentatonic, I agree, but for a more complete scale (one that can follow chromaticism in walking basslines etc) the ultimate minor, non pentatonic E blues scale would be

(E, G(or Ab in major feel) A,Bb,B,D,Eb,E) will not let you down in any blues jamming situation.

Have a look at slash's soloing. It a utilises this approach heavily.

S'all I was saying.

[meatspinnage]

Do you think Peter Green was thinking theory when he came up with this bad-ass riff? Shit no! Stop overanalyzing the music and just feel it, bruh.

[Guitarsthatkill]

LOL I know what youre saying dude, but feel has never been a problem for me.

You are only over analysing things if its screwing with your playing.

And I agree: it was probably the ACID going through his head when he wrote that.. :p

[Espoacdc]

dude thats a really good rock sound who cares if he is useing more distortion then the orginal as long as it sounds like it thats all that should count

[EricDMyers]

Although you can come up with some cool variants using the Bb (and Peter varies the lick from phrase to phrase in timing etc), I don't beieive he slurs or whatever through Bb. Man I can play this lick for hours. Dreamy

[Espoacdc]

who cares if he does or dosent still sounds the same

[skirmish703]

No it doesn't!

Perhaps for a soulless metal player?

[JimmyBurt]

Besides...How do you play blues in E minor without using a b flat?...Riddle me that batman....

[SvenSlowfinger]

I couldn't see any Bb in the BBC video. Maybe I'm blind...

[drunkensausage]

Yeh you must be blind indeed....If you find the channel DopeFiend13 Watch it there you'll see it (and now (hopefully) hear it....At 1 min 6 seconds and at 2 mins 3 seconds Peter Green CLEARLY plays the the first fret on the a string,which I'm 'pretty' sure is a b flat..So back to your original argument.....Go watch it mate.

[JimmyBurt]

Wow! What's the problem?

drunkensausage is right,I watched it and yep there it is......Why do you mark the comments as spam? He's right! ?

Wouldn't you welcome the knowledge?...Surely?!

[SvenSlowfinger]

Definition (quote from Encyclopedia):

"The pentatonic blues scale is the minor pentatonic with a lowered fifth"

For E it goes....

E G A Bb D.

(Not to be confused with the Hexatonic blues scale)

[jtcfc]

hwar a great tone!!!

this vid really helped me put the finishing touches on this riff, i would love to know what gear you are using!

[p3rs0n42]

Definitive song of the dawn of a new music era. Shame we don't hear of Peter Green anymore, but this is difinately a great testimony to his time spend in Fleetwood mac, and this riff will be remembered for many, many years to come.

thankyou for putting this up. However that guy IS right, you did miss the b flat. No matter, I found the missing note by accident, caught it on a pull off i wasn't meant to do and realised it worked :D

[Chaser53pin]

Great post love this song now I'll learn it! Thanks.

[drunkensausage]

You forgot the b flat....

[classicrockriffs]

Well spotted!

[drunkensausage]

Haha,sorry for being picky!....All good otherwise though!.....

[SvenSlowfinger]

What b-flat? There should be no b-flat in this riff, or?

[drunkensausage]

It's based on the E pentatonic blues scale -E G A Bflat B D -.

Don't be a mug.

OK

[SvenSlowfinger]

That's some kinda unknown hexatonic scale.

E pentatonic blues scale is E G A B D

[drunkensausage]

No,no,no....So where's the 'blue' note then???

That is just the E pentatonic scale.

The E pentatonic 'blues' scale has a Bflat aswell....That's the 'blue' note.

Don't be a silly Billy.

[SvenSlowfinger]

Boy, why do you call people names?

The Hexatonic E blues scale is E G A Bflat B D. Hexa means six, penta means five, back to school boy.

And, bottom line again; Peter Green plays no Bflat in this riff. There are only hammer-ons between A and B, which can resemble of the Bflat sound.

[drunkensausage]

Oh dear,oh dear.

Firstly.I call people names when they deserve it.

What's the difference between a pentatonic scale and a blues scale?.....If you say they're the same thing I'm gonna call you a special name.

I've just watched your rendition of it and clearly you have no idea.Watch Peter play it,you can CLEARLY see him play the first fret on the A string....What note is that?

(very) Silly Billy.

[SvenSlowfinger]

Friend, you are wrong. (Not a big deal however)

The scale you metion is the hexatonic blues scale, not pentatonic.

The pentatonic scale is E G A B D.

Now, I'm only a very simple amateur player so I might be wrong, but I have slowed down the original track and studied it carefully. I can't hear any Bflat there. If he plays a Bflat in some live recording I don't know.

[drunkensausage]

Yes!! For fuck sake I know what a pentatonic scale is!...If You add a b flat to an E pentatonic scale it becomes (what is commonly known as) an E 'blues' pentatonic scale..

You're a novice....

As for 'Oh Well'....Well oh well,if you can't hear or even see the b flat it's impossible to debate you.........

Your ears (and your eyes) it seems haven't developed yet..

Somebody help me for fuck's sake...

[SvenSlowfinger]

Where can I "see" that Bb note?

Is there any video on it?

It is incorrect to call a hexatonic scale pentatonic, but I have seen it occurs, not a big deal.

[drunkensausage]

Just search for it... watch the bbc one.......First fret A string....= bflat......pfft

[Briongloid23]

@SvenSlowfinger i don't think, that peter green cared about things like that at all!

[JoeChrisMorris]

You only play the top 3 strings!!

I don't worry about alternate picking, sounds great with all the hammer ons and the like!

[anterokan]

Well done Pal!! It sounds like U understand something about sounds & r&b. Love to hear P G finger touch. Regards from north pole (finland)

[classicrockriffs]

Cheers - always good to hear from the North Pole!

[BeauJames59]

tanks a ton!

[kingm56]

great lesson it took me a while to get all the notes but it was worth it i still can't get it just right but i'm a beginner hopefully i'll have it in a couple of days

[StageHolder]

Hey, how's about a detailed walkthrough of the entire second part? :D

[woodjoewood]

thats cool mate

[Wolf4u2]

Great lesson, any chance you know the chords that follow. Or will thier be a part two of this lesson?