
Do the same in your own lead playing and you will be amazed at the variety and depth you can add to your solos. Here Clapton mixes the G minor and G major pentatonic scales, and the sound is amazing. One of my favourite examples though is from his cover of Memphis Slim’s song ‘Steppin’ Out’. It is a huge part of his sound and is evident in almost all of his lead playing. Mixing these 2 scales is something that Clapton has done consistently throughout his career. It will give your soloing a completely new dimension and greatly increase your musical palette. Properly utilising the major pentatonic scale will transform your playing. Yet they totally miss out the major pentatonic scale. To get out of this musical rut, a lot of guitarists start looking at modes and more exotic scales at this point. Yet relying on the minor pentatonic can cause your playing to become repetitive and stale. It works so well, is easy to learn and implement in your playing and it just sounds so authentically bluesy. It is easy to become overly reliant on the minor pentatonic scale. Here are 10 key lessons you can learn from Eric Clapton that will make you a better blues guitarist: 1.) Mix & Match Pentatonics He is an iconic figure and one of the best blues guitarists of all time.įrom his technique, to his gear, to his approach to practice – there is a lot that we can learn from ‘Slowhand’. He was at the forefront of the British blues movement, which, when transported back to America, gave a new lease of life to the blues there too.

It is difficult to overstate the impact that Eric Clapton has had on the blues.
