Learn to play three fun and easy pentatonic licks in the style of ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons with Guitar Control instructor Darrin Goodman, aka Uncle D. In this lesson Uncle D takes some of the pentatonic sequence licks that he has been teaching recently and demonstrates the concepts in the style of Billy Gibbons. So be sure to get the free tabs and you will be rockin’ these classic pentatonic licks tonight.
Introduction
How’s it going everybody? This is Darrin with GuitarControl.com bringing this video lesson and today I’ve got three fun and easy licks for you and the style of Billy Gibbons.
So right now, Guitar Control is giving away this really awesome daily practice routine to improve your lead guitar chops. This was put together by our very own Silvio Gazquez, a two-time Guitar Idle finalist. This routine covers the four main concepts that are necessary for lead guitar; alternate picking, legato, sweep picking and tapping. All the tabs and exercises are all included in this free ebook and there’s a link in the description where you can get yours.
So be sure to click on the link in the description for the tabs and let’s get close up and take a look at these.
Billy Gibbons Lick-1
All right, so this first one here is the beginning of the solo on La Grange. So we’re going to start off here on the 12th fret of the B string and this is all based out of B minor pentatonic. So we’re going to bend this a full step and put some vibrato on it and this takes care of all of the first beat; so it’s like one, two, three, four… And then on the second measure it is completely made up of eighth note triplets. So we’ve got four sections of three notes so let’s break it down because it makes it easier to play. So we’re going to start off on the ninth fret of the high E string and we’re gonna go nine to the 12th fret of the B string and then to the ninth fret; so that’s like one yel-low… Then starting on beat number two we’re gonna go back to 12 so you wanna keep your first finger here on the ninth fret of the B string and we’re gonna go back to 12 and we’re gonna pick that and pull-off to nine… And then go to the 11th fret of the G string; so it’s like one yel-low, two yel-low. Then starting on beat three is where it gets a little bit kind of tricky, but this is a great example of that rolling finger technique that we’ve looked at lots of times. So starting on beat three we’re going to go back to the ninth fret on the B string. So instead of coming all the way up and grabbing it with the tip of my finger like that I’m actually going to grab it more on the pad part so that way I can roll my finger because the next note is on the ninth fret of the G string. And then from there to the 11th fret on the D string; so that’s like three yel-low… And then starting on beat four we’re on the 11th fret of the G string so we’re just going to roll our third finger up to pick up that 11 and then to the ninth fret on the G string and then back to the 11th fret on the D string… That right there I think is a really cool section and there’s all kinds of really great ideas in there that you could implement into your playing… All right so we hit that and that’s on the very end of four and then it’s tied to a 16th note, the first 16th note of the beat one of measure three. So then we hit it again so we’re hitting this again actually on the second 16th note of beat number one, but it’s a dotted quarter note. So this is like really weird to count, but you let that ring… Then we’re going to go to the ninth fret on the A string and we’re going to pick that and hammer-on to 11 and this is a triplet again. So nine hammer to eleven and then nine on the D string then we’re gonna go back to the 11th fret on the A string and slide to nine and then seven and then finally ending on the 11th fret of the D string and that’s another whole note and rings out with some vibrato.
Billy Gibbons Lick-2
All right and then the next we’re going to look at here, I believe this is from Under Pressure, but don’t quote me on that, I I can’t remember for sure. But anyway this one is using some dyads where we’re going to have to skip strings so this is a commonly used thing in the Blues and Country; lots of guys do this. So we’re going to start off we’re gonna we’re gonna start on the seventh fret of the D string and we’re going to slide to nine, but we’re going to treat it like a slide from nowhere. So you pick and slide simultaneously… Now while that’s still ringing I’m gonna put my first finger down here onto the eighth fret of the B string and I’m just holding the pick with my thumb and my first finger and I’m going to use my middle finger to pluck that B string; so hybrid picking… Then we’re going to come down here to the fifth fret of the D string and we’re going to hit pick that on the and of four and slide to seven… And then with our third finger we’re gonna grab the seventh fret of the B string and pluck it and it’s the same timing… Okay then this is where it changes and gets a little bit trickier. This is one that wouldn’t be as easy to move it around into a different key because it does use some open strings. I’m not saying it’s not possible, but any time you have open string the changes you have to do to be able to play it become really difficult or impossible depending upon what it is. But here what we’re going to do is we’re going to come up here to the B string I’m going to pick this and this is on the downbeat of four and then on the and of four we’re going to go to the second or excuse me the third fret and we’re going to do a half step bend; so four and, and then that is tied to the downbeat of one of the third measure.
And then on the and of one we hit the open high E string and again I’m using hybrid picking. Okay so after we hit that open E string and again we’re hitting that on the and of one, but since it’s a quarter note it’s taking care of the and of one plus the downbeat of two and then on the and of two I come up here to the fifth fret of the B string and let that ring with some vibrato and that takes care of the rest of the measure… Then on the last measure we’re going to go come back down here to the third fret… and that’s on the downbeat of one and then we’re going to go to the second fret of the G string and we’re going to bend that a half step and release it and follow that with the open G string… Then we’re going to do another slide from nowhere like we did earlier. We’re going to start here on the second fret of the G string and slide to four; so again we want one motion. So pick and slide together to the fourth fret and then finally ending on the second fret of the string and that’s a half note so it takes care of the rest of that measure with some vibrato…
Billy Gibbons Lick-3
All right, then the last one here this is arguably one of the most famous lick ideas riff ideas and again we’re going to be doing that same thing with we’re skipping strings and we’re doing the hybrid picking. So on this one here we’re going to start off by going to put your third finger onto the 10th fret of the B string and then your second finger onto the tenth fret of the A string and we’re gonna pick A and then the B string. So I’m using my pick on the A string and my middle finger to pluck the B string. So we hit that and now this is like a strange grouping of notes. We’ve got quarter notes, but they’re tuplets, so you we’re actually playing six notes; one, two, three, four, five, six, but we just want this… and that’s our first measure. And then for the second measure our third finger just stays here on the tenth fret of the B string, but the note on the A string is going to move down a half step and we’re just going to move that down chromatically. So we’re going to go from the 10th fret to the ninth fret so I’m going to switch and use my first finger and it’s the same timing and picking. Then we’re going to move that note on the A string down to the eight fret, same thing… And then on the last measure we’re going to hit the A string open twice, one and. Then we’re gonna go to the third fret and we’re going to slide to the fourth fret and this is quick and then and on the second fret of the G string and the whole sequence…
Conclusion
All right, so there you have it, three fun, not too terribly difficult licks to play, in the style of Billy Gibbons. So if you like this lesson be sure to give me a thumbs up and leave a comment down below if you have any questions about this or other guitar related topics. If you’ve not already done so please subscribe to the channel and hit that notification bell so you don’t miss any of the content we upload throughout the week. Well that is all I have for you today. Thanks for watching and have a great day.
