@lindseyblair Maybe if you actually listen to what he says you would understand...This an advanced lesson so hes not trying to teach you the basics...
eric johnson is undoubtadely my favorite guitar player ever, but he's a sucky teacher,"now play this (eric johnson type shred) and thats how you play it!"
Man when I watch this I wish so badly that I was better with chords, I know lots of basic ones, but if anyone can help me with where to go after that, please help!
I don't have a guitar teacher and can't get one, so it'd be nice to have some youtuber's help :D
Do you know the CAGED system? Do you know how scales are formed, what intervals are, how to extend and alter chords by changing the intervals they are formed from? Do you know about chord melodies, walking base lines, how to create a baseline that suits a chord progression? Do you know about chord substitution and how it is based on common tones? Do you know about inside and outside playing? Do you know about if it sounds good it is good? All this stuff is on the internet. Look it up. Good luck.
@Likui Absolutely true and a great point. Knowing just a little something that is practical is better than being a walking encyclopedia on guitar playing. I was trying to outline territory to explore. If I had to give a beginner only one instruction before he went off to a desert island (with a radio station) with his guitar it would be , "listen carefully and try to get things by ear".
@Fendershred50 The CAGED system is based on five first position chord shapes. If you know that system you can move those chords all over the fret board. If you know the Major, Minor and Dominent 7th versions of those chords, and where the Root Notes in each chord is, a wonderful thing is ready to happen. Play ANY one of those chords. Strum it. Play it althogether, fingerstyle. LISTEN. LISTEN. According to YOUR mood, ONE note will speak to you. It will want to move up or down to a nearby note.
@Fendershred50 YOU will want to hear a note one fret up or down or maybe two frets up or down. Play that note. Play the CHORD of which that note is the ROOT. You can play it as a Major, Minor or Dominent 7th chord, according to your taste. You will have played your first CHORD PROGRESSION, and it will be a special progression, because it will have come from your heart, according to your mood. Proceed to the next note that calls to you. Play that root chord. You are improvising, like the greats.
@Fendershred50 My pleasure. It's great when things start coming together. As the ear gets more sophisticated you may decide that you want to hear that next note at a wider distance from the last one or as the fifth or third of the next chord. The CAGED system puts a lot of options within easy reach. Keep listening for the next note!
If you play a wrong note on the guitar, PLAY IT AGAIN, then move over one fret to get back on track. That's from Stevie Ray Vaughn.
This is the way the guitar was meant to be played. No one intended for musicians to have a massive library of letters and symbols in their heads. Concepts serve the sound, not the other way around.
Omg at 4:38. Lol "I wish I knew more of the theory behind it." Dude you've raped the theory. We need theory to explain what your doing XD. EJ is so awesome.
Eric a chord is 2 seperate intervals stacked on top of each other within a scale your playing in or key,instead of harmoizing with scales ,your doing it with groups of intervals and melodically colorizing the key your in.Great vid on chords,guitarist should spend more time on intervals and chords,the true art form of guitar..
@flatop59- I'm guessing he knows that.... He's also not going to read your comment :P And how are chords the "true art form of guitar," who are you to judge that?
"someone that played all these beautiful chords once told me....". It must have been god or something, cause i doubt that someone could chord better than Eric.
Perhaps Allan Holdsworth. He and EJ have somewhat similar ideas about chording. You'd have to go back to people like Tal Farlow or Joe Pass for even more mind-blowing chordal work.
Then you must not have ever heard of Allan Holdsworth. When he said that I thought immediately of Allan. I guarantee you that Allan is this dudes inspiration.
@Alekzbizkit Totally right haha. You should check out the chords Shawn Lane or Allan Holdsworth play. These three are definetly tied for 1st in the chord world.
Yeah, I know what you mean. I was trying this material out on my guitar yesterday and I was making mistakes, and I realized, I never heard EJ make a mistake before.
I have a jazz and fusion background, but the thing I love about Eric is that he is rock, jazz, country, and classical at the same time. "Musician" doesn't really do him justice...let's say "Artist"!
This guy's a jazzman's rock guitarist. Bar none. Holdsworth can be a little bit much for most listeners, but this guy just creates the most eloquent harmonies.
I give Eric piles of credit. Here's a guy with the chord melody talents of the finest jazz guitarist, and yet rather than snootily ride a "screw rock" high horse, he goes with his heart and in doing so elevates the whole genre. Guys like EJ are the reason why Wynton Marsalis is just as loathed as he is loved.
man, he just doesn't know how gifted he really is lol. such a humble player and sensitive soul. Why can't more guitar players out today be like him? i am probably preaching to the choir but, its the truth. to many kids wanting to learn freaking heavy metal stuff and not learning the "fine art of guitar." LONG LIVER ERIC JOHNSON'S TONE!
His setup and fingers......even when he plays the ordinary C major it sounds sexy
mexistratman1 1 month ago
He himself doesn't know much about theory!!!
WTF!! <:(
Jamsessionroom1337 2 months ago
1:47 is just sublime
slaQ83 6 months ago
"I wish I knew more of the theory about it."
kiaranjay 6 months ago 4
anyone has got tabs or would tab it? Pleeeeaassse!
Elimnio 6 months ago
His chording is so utterly beautiful. Wish I could do that
sebwest11 7 months ago
Chord of 2:46 is awesome beautiful
patolostie 7 months ago
What a Musician!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JoeChapas 8 months ago
@cellmishima im just watchin this cuz you watched it
caxco93 8 months ago
IDK what he was talking about, but it sure sounded purty (the chords, that is..)
monkymonk6 9 months ago
IDK what he was talking about, but it sure sounded purty!
monkymonk6 9 months ago
Beyond--------
brentmann 10 months ago
I have no idea how he's coming up w/ all these great inversion? Can anyone explain in a post or message me about it?
TheFigueroa007 10 months ago
why not me?
jz726 10 months ago
Thanks for posting this.. such amazing breakdown of how he builds chords and the melodies surrounding them.
smkonwater23 10 months ago
wow , he REALLY knows chords , i mean i just was looking around for some new intresting chord progressions , and these is masterclass !
ThrashRoC 10 months ago
Absolutely great guitar player but the worst teacher on the planet. This is a tutorial for advanced players.
trampman15 11 months ago
he plays beautiful stuff, but doesn't explain what he's doing very well
lindseyblair 11 months ago
@lindseyblair Maybe if you actually listen to what he says you would understand...This an advanced lesson so hes not trying to teach you the basics...
zbarneyz 11 months ago
I love his explanation. I'm starting to love him. No homo.
rickariche 1 year ago
eric johnson is undoubtadely my favorite guitar player ever, but he's a sucky teacher,"now play this (eric johnson type shred) and thats how you play it!"
HartsChannel 1 year ago
to be completely honest, i own close to everything he's ever recorded but i'd rather listen to these little tidbits.
lralbrecht 1 year ago
TED GREENE STYLE IS ERIC
viniguitarjazz 1 year ago
A beautiful rendition of "Venus Isle"....
bartolemeo 1 year ago
Eric sounds likie Jon Heder sometimes.(Napoleon Dynamite).
dawson8675309 1 year ago
Even when he seems to just fuck around he's amazing...
MaggotBrain123 1 year ago
Anyone who has these tabs?
JensKolonD 1 year ago
"I wish I knew more theory about it" followed by excellent chord improvising...
Barcslay 1 year ago
his middle pickup is like almost flat to the pickguard! wtf he's still a genious
hiphopsucks96 1 year ago
check out eric's tight pants, damn is he an icon or fucking what!
lucadepu 1 year ago
One of the better lessons on youtube, but I don't like all the crappy reverb.
vegetasrevenge 1 year ago
i got his guitar picks, best fucking picks ever! buy em!
ravenrage07 1 year ago
1:49-2:00 lush
benj2101 1 year ago
Man when I watch this I wish so badly that I was better with chords, I know lots of basic ones, but if anyone can help me with where to go after that, please help!
I don't have a guitar teacher and can't get one, so it'd be nice to have some youtuber's help :D
Fendershred50 1 year ago
Do you know the CAGED system? Do you know how scales are formed, what intervals are, how to extend and alter chords by changing the intervals they are formed from? Do you know about chord melodies, walking base lines, how to create a baseline that suits a chord progression? Do you know about chord substitution and how it is based on common tones? Do you know about inside and outside playing? Do you know about if it sounds good it is good? All this stuff is on the internet. Look it up. Good luck.
ironpirites 1 year ago
@ironpirites i think the last one would be do u know how to apply all these stuff into practical playing?
Likui 1 year ago
@Likui Absolutely true and a great point. Knowing just a little something that is practical is better than being a walking encyclopedia on guitar playing. I was trying to outline territory to explore. If I had to give a beginner only one instruction before he went off to a desert island (with a radio station) with his guitar it would be , "listen carefully and try to get things by ear".
ironpirites 1 year ago
@Fendershred50 The CAGED system is based on five first position chord shapes. If you know that system you can move those chords all over the fret board. If you know the Major, Minor and Dominent 7th versions of those chords, and where the Root Notes in each chord is, a wonderful thing is ready to happen. Play ANY one of those chords. Strum it. Play it althogether, fingerstyle. LISTEN. LISTEN. According to YOUR mood, ONE note will speak to you. It will want to move up or down to a nearby note.
ironpirites 1 year ago
@Fendershred50 YOU will want to hear a note one fret up or down or maybe two frets up or down. Play that note. Play the CHORD of which that note is the ROOT. You can play it as a Major, Minor or Dominent 7th chord, according to your taste. You will have played your first CHORD PROGRESSION, and it will be a special progression, because it will have come from your heart, according to your mood. Proceed to the next note that calls to you. Play that root chord. You are improvising, like the greats.
ironpirites 1 year ago
@Fendershred50 That lesson is worth a lot of money to the person who knows how to use it and to expand on it.
ironpirites 1 year ago
@ironpirites Thanks a ton man, you don't know how much you just helped me
Fendershred50 1 year ago
@Fendershred50 My pleasure. It's great when things start coming together. As the ear gets more sophisticated you may decide that you want to hear that next note at a wider distance from the last one or as the fifth or third of the next chord. The CAGED system puts a lot of options within easy reach. Keep listening for the next note!
If you play a wrong note on the guitar, PLAY IT AGAIN, then move over one fret to get back on track. That's from Stevie Ray Vaughn.
ironpirites 1 year ago
this is a big part of his style..
jhuffguitarist7 1 year ago
it's always such a pleasure to listen to Eric's chord progressions.
ldog1991 1 year ago
This is the way the guitar was meant to be played. No one intended for musicians to have a massive library of letters and symbols in their heads. Concepts serve the sound, not the other way around.
blownglasslide 1 year ago
this is beautiful
rocknrolllives 1 year ago
Omg at 4:38. Lol "I wish I knew more of the theory behind it." Dude you've raped the theory. We need theory to explain what your doing XD. EJ is so awesome.
Usinji 1 year ago
Eric a chord is 2 seperate intervals stacked on top of each other within a scale your playing in or key,instead of harmoizing with scales ,your doing it with groups of intervals and melodically colorizing the key your in.Great vid on chords,guitarist should spend more time on intervals and chords,the true art form of guitar..
flatop59 1 year ago
@flatop59- I'm guessing he knows that.... He's also not going to read your comment :P And how are chords the "true art form of guitar," who are you to judge that?
superlou1s 1 year ago
god or something...
you are correct!
MrCampy123 1 year ago
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
dankgeetar 1 year ago
At 1.47 he plays the first two chords of Uniquity Road, a Pat Metheny tune :-)
FastBebop 2 years ago
man i love this guys playing theres no one that can play like him
12345678ix 2 years ago
What a genius....
christiananitysaurus 2 years ago 2
Comment removed
yootesa1515 2 years ago
thats amazing , what an amazing guitar player. gona go practice.
89fenderplayer 2 years ago
I remember this video enlightened my mind half a year ago... Suddenly I understood it all. Thank you, EJ! :D
RealMusicTouchesYou 2 years ago
check out allan holdsworths book reaching for the uncommon chord
davtones 2 years ago 2
amazing!
minesdecarli 2 years ago
you see a lot of little chinese guys playing super fast metal licks etc but you wont see anybody trying to cover EJ`s stuff
dakteriic 2 years ago 10
This has been flagged as spam show
totaly agree with you
guiguicyd 2 years ago
a 'little' asian guy named Jack Thammarat does a pretty smokin version of Cliffs of Dover on Youtube. Check it out!
12inchvertical 2 years ago 7
eric johnson is so good, one of the best guitarists to ever live
Lemke68 2 years ago 37
eric's picking is amazing.
cheesebowls 2 years ago 3
no mames este wy esta fuera de mundo¡¡¡ diablos
brunoloko21 2 years ago
"someone that played all these beautiful chords once told me....". It must have been god or something, cause i doubt that someone could chord better than Eric.
Alekzbizkit 2 years ago 43
Some of the jazz guys are insane.
Wes Montgomery was a real master at chording.
SpawnofHastur 2 years ago
Haha you said it. You need only look once at a jazz music sheet to go "What the... Are those actual chords?"
Demoras 2 years ago
Perhaps Allan Holdsworth. He and EJ have somewhat similar ideas about chording. You'd have to go back to people like Tal Farlow or Joe Pass for even more mind-blowing chordal work.
xpaddy01 2 years ago
@Alekzbizkit Must have been Ted Greene ;-)
FastBebop 2 years ago
@Alekzbizkit
Then you must not have ever heard of Allan Holdsworth. When he said that I thought immediately of Allan. I guarantee you that Allan is this dudes inspiration.
tecnolover2642 1 year ago
@Alekzbizkit you should check out Allan Holdsworth
MaTtmAn11276 1 year ago
@Alekzbizkit I don't know about better, but Allan Holdsworth is up there.
rockin982 1 year ago
@Alekzbizkit im pretty sure Allan Holdsworth was who he was talking about.
jamesmanortiz 1 year ago 3
@Alekzbizkit I'm guessing Allan Holdsworth...so you're right...it was God
inkomododragon 1 year ago
@Alekzbizkit I'm sure Eric probably worked with that idea and surpassed him fairly quickly!
EmphaticItalic 1 year ago
@Alekzbizkit Heh, try Pat Metheny!
I love Eric Johnson, but I doubt he knows more chords than Pat Metheny.
vampiroangelico 1 year ago
@Alekzbizkit Check out Ted Greene;)
Stratozenfan 8 months ago
@Alekzbizkit Totally right haha. You should check out the chords Shawn Lane or Allan Holdsworth play. These three are definetly tied for 1st in the chord world.
jmulma 7 months ago
@Alekzbizkit well i guess good jazz guitarists are certainly able to chord like that
chibimaru8 5 months ago
@Alekzbizkit Try Teed Greene
mahabang 5 months ago
@mahabang Ted Greene I mean
mahabang 5 months ago
6:20 - 6:50 is insane
stan188 2 years ago
min 2:46, amazing and beatiful chord
patolostie 2 years ago
whoa dude, this is just what i need! cant wait to go an play around with a new ear!
i love his sound, so smooth and original. only ej :)
dankgeetar 2 years ago
Venus Isle!!
chacojepas 2 years ago
The only thing I did similarly beforehand was think of the chord as a little "melody" line instead of a chord
Everything else, however, is extremely beyond anything I could've ever thought of, EJ is a god
chickenyogurt 2 years ago
is he improvising this or is this a song...cuz if its improv i might actually throw away my guitar, maybe ill burn it for warmth
tremalow 2 years ago
That is improv, i try to do that kind of chord improvisation but i dont even sound 1/100th as good a EJ
It takes decades of playing and theory to do that.
kyleChall 2 years ago 2
Yeah, I know what you mean. I was trying this material out on my guitar yesterday and I was making mistakes, and I realized, I never heard EJ make a mistake before.
EmphaticItalic 3 years ago
I dont play video games =D
wige23 2 years ago
THIS MAN IS A gOd!!!!!!!!..
Jhey172 3 years ago
He's mine too.
sweetbilly 3 years ago
I have a jazz and fusion background, but the thing I love about Eric is that he is rock, jazz, country, and classical at the same time. "Musician" doesn't really do him justice...let's say "Artist"!
Modes9 3 years ago
I´d say genius is more appropiate
AstorSkywalker 3 years ago
Genius probably applies more to Lenny Breau, Allan Holdsworth, and Frank Gambale.
Modes9 3 years ago
This guy's a jazzman's rock guitarist. Bar none. Holdsworth can be a little bit much for most listeners, but this guy just creates the most eloquent harmonies.
I give Eric piles of credit. Here's a guy with the chord melody talents of the finest jazz guitarist, and yet rather than snootily ride a "screw rock" high horse, he goes with his heart and in doing so elevates the whole genre. Guys like EJ are the reason why Wynton Marsalis is just as loathed as he is loved.
yagamei 3 years ago 9
My favourite part is where takes a melody and puts the harmonies around it - 6:20 through 6:40, he pretty much wrote a great song in 20 seconds!
EmphaticItalic 3 years ago
Exempt from one of the very best guitar instructional video ever.
EmphaticItalic 3 years ago
what?
ejfan 3 years ago
venus isle!! =]
ejfan 3 years ago
This is a great tip for guitarists unlike most "lessons" here on youtube!
Thank you Mr. Johnson!
Zebarbas 3 years ago
i love venus isle and want to hear it live
tommorellorules 3 years ago
Why hasn't he take this sequence and recorded it with an awesome improvisation through those changes?
Chromatype 3 years ago
man, he just doesn't know how gifted he really is lol. such a humble player and sensitive soul. Why can't more guitar players out today be like him? i am probably preaching to the choir but, its the truth. to many kids wanting to learn freaking heavy metal stuff and not learning the "fine art of guitar." LONG LIVER ERIC JOHNSON'S TONE!
ejfan1 3 years ago
Oh man.
He is too good.
Thanks for the video.
tractorKing 4 years ago 2