Johnny B Goode Intro

In this lesson, Charlie shows us how to play the intro to the classic tune Johnny B Goode.

The diagram below shows the position of the fingers on your left hand to play the A minor scale, some of which notes are used in this lesson.

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In case you missed it ...

Let's take a look at the classic guitar intro through the Chuck Berry tune, Johnny B Goode.

This solo is based around this A minor pentatonic scale. We played this scale many times. Although you will find some passing notes in here. We're going to start off with our second finger sliding from our fifth fret of the G string into the sixth fret of the G string. The first finger then hits the fifth fret of the B string and third finger seventh fret of the B string. Taking your first finger, place it over the B and the E string, that's the top two strings, sliding from the fourth fret into the fifth. And we get this triplet motion happening ...
Three sets of triplets. '1 & a', '2 & a', '3 & a'. Sliding both of those notes, in from four to five.

So the very first lick is ...

Ok, the second part, we are going to start with our fourth finger on the eight fret. Also you'll notice I have my third finger sitting down on the seventh fret. I am going to pull off from 4 to 3, ... and then landing on my first finger which is on the fifth fret. All on the B string...

I end up with my third finger here on the seventh fret, first finger on the fifth fret and hammering onto the sixth, and finally D string seventh fret with my third finger

So, lick one,... lick 2,... putting them together...

Ok, the third lick, pretty much what I ended up playing in lick 2 ...if I look at my last two notes it's going to form the shape here, which is my second finger on the G string sixth fret and my third finger on the D string seventh fret. I just take that down a fret, and I'm going to slide up another three sets of triplets...

So going from lick 2 into lick 3 ... a little slower...

So far ...

And now for the final section, take my second finger sliding from (again) 5 to 6 on the G string, basically what I did in the first lick. First finger on the fifth fret, third finger on the seventh ... back to the fifth,... hammer from the fifth to the sixth on the G string,... and finishing on my A note which is on the seventh fret of the D string.

The whole lick slowly ...

And at tempo ...

Whenever I'm learning any kind of solo, I like to break things down into sections. Practice the individual sections, make sure that your right and left hand are coordinated, are nice and confident. Play through them separately and then put them all together. Good luck with it. I hope you enjoyed the intro to Johnny B Goode.

 

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