Check out this killer lesson from Guitar Control instructor Robert Baker on the classic tune All Right Now By Free. Be sure to get the free tabs to go along with this lesson.
How to Play All Right Now On Guitar
Today Guitar Control Instructor, Robert Baker, teaches you how to play All Right Now on guitar by the band, Free. He is going to go over the main riff and the first solo they do. The solo is a really cool, groovy A minor pentatonic solo. This entire song is pretty simple, so it’s great for beginners, but it’s also super cool and catchy so players of any level will enjoy learning it. There’s not a lot of parts to it and the only part we won’t be covering is the big long outro solo. This song is so catchy it’s impossible to not instantly bop your head or clap along.
Step 1: The Intro Riff
Step one of how to play All Right now on guitar is to play an open A5 chord. To play an open A5 place your pointer on the 4th and 3rd strings inside the 2nd fret and strum from the open A, the 5th string down through the 3rd. Then play the A5 again. Then we go to basically a D major chord but played a little differently than normal.
Bar your pointer from the 4th string down on the 2nd fret, your ring finger holds down the 4th fret 4th string, and your middle finger is going to go on the 3rd fret 2nd string. Strum this chord one and then go right back to the open A5 power chord.
This next part is a little bit trickier, Robert is just switching back and forth between the chords we just did and went over, but it’s the rhythm that is a little tricky. It’s kind of grouped in 2’s. We start on the A5 and hammer on to the D. once we hammer on we strum down up, this is our group of two, and we do that 4 times and then go back to the A5. Robert uses a hammer on each time in the group of 2’s, hammering on from the A5 to the D. Towards the beginning of this part Robert focuses on the lower strings in the chords and as it repeats he moves his focus to the higher strings. For another killer upbeat riff check out our Jimi Hendrix Guitar lesson, how to play Crosstown Traffic.
Step 2: The Chorus
The chorus comes in with the vocals singing “all right now” We start with a power chord holding down the 7th fret 4th string and the 9th fret 3rd string with your pinky or ring finger. Strum this 3 times. Then move your ring finger to the 9th fret 5th string and pick it once by itself to the 7th fret 5th string. Then go to the 5th fret 4th string and the 7th fret 3rd string. Moving from an A5 to a G5. Then simply move your pointer finger down one fret but keep your third finger down. So no you have your pointer on the 4th fret 4th string and your ring or pinky still holding down the 7th fret 3rd string, play this twice and then go back to that first power chord we did, the A5 moving to the 7th fret 4th string with your pointer and the 9th fret 3rd string with your pinky or ring.
Step 3: The Solo
This is the first solo, the outro solo is extremely long and we will not be covering it in today’s lesson. This entire solo is all based out of the A minor pentatonic scale, box 4. So a quick rundown string by string of box 4 is on the 6th and 5th strings he plays the 12th and 15th frets, on the 4th and 3rd strings he plays the 12th to 14th frets, on the 2nd string he plays the 13th to 15th frets, and on the 1st string he plays the 12th to 15th frets. We start by repeating this lick.
Picking the 14th fret 3rd string to the 13th fret on the 2nd string, repeat this 3 times. Then pick the 14th fret 3rd string one more time to the 15th fret 2nd string to the 13th fret 2nd string and end on the 14th fret 3rd string, picking it twice. Then bend the 13th fret 2nd string with your pointer finger, then bend the 15th fret 2nd string both up and down and then pull off to the 13th fret and hammer back onto the 15th fret, all on the 2nd string. Then pick the 13th fret 2nd string, and then the 14th fret 3rd string twice and kind of slide off to nowhere, towards the headstock off the neck.
Robert makes a quick note that some of the bends in his explanation of the solo are bends he added per his own taste. So he encourages you to add your own little quarter step bends in or anything to add more feel and make this solo your own. The bends are just a personal preference of his.
The second half of this solo starts off exactly the same, the only differences are when we bend the 15th fret 2nd string the first time it is a much quicker bend. So this time he bends the 15th fret up and down and then pulls off to the 13th fret, all on the 2nd string, then instead of picking the 15th fret 2nd string again like he did before, he now bends it again, and then bends the 17th fret 2nd string after. Then he picks the 13th fret 2nd string and then the 14th fret 3rd string. Then bend the 15th fret 1st string up a full step, it’s a slow bend with lots of vibrato while its bent up in the air still, it’s a little dramatic and over the top so feel free to milk that bend and put lots of emotion into that last bend.
Recap: How To Play All Right Now on Guitar
I hope you enjoyed learning how to play All Right Now on guitar by Free! This song is so catchy and fun to play, with a killer solo on top of that! Be sure to take a look at the scales used and to pay close attention to the slight variations, especially in the solo. And of course, have fun!
