Life By The Drop- Stevie Ray Vaughan
“Life By The Drop” Song Facts
The song’s tempo is at about 98 beats per minute. It’s in standard 4/4 time and the rhythm uses a shuffle pattern. Stevie Ray Vaughan recorded the song using a 12 string acoustic guitar. If you don’t have a 12 string, that’s okay. It sounds great on a six-string acoustic, too. It’s one of those rare SRV songs in standard tuning.
In this lesson, we’ll be looking at the intro lick to the song which takes place in the measures 1 and 2.
Intro Lick
Wouldn’t you know it! The hardest part to play of Life By The Drop is the very first part. Stevie sets things up nicely with a tasteful two measure lick.
This lick seems straightforward but it is deceptively difficult. It’s not real fast, but that’s not the problem. It’s got a certain swing to it and accents that give it character.
The main thing to keep in mind when learning it is to maintain the steady triplet pattern. That’s what gives it that swing.
Dust In The Wind Part 7
Back In Black- ACDC- Main Riff Part 2
Midnight Rider- Allman Brothers Band
This is a pretty easy song to play. The main riff being the verse riff below. Just form a D chord and use your pinky for the note on the third fret of the A string.
Smoke On The Water- Main Riff w/Backing Track
Come Together- Verse And Chorus
Dust In The Wind Part 9
Below is the tab for the full chorus, but we’ll be dealing primarily with measures 3 and 4 in this lesson:
Cheap Sunglasses – Chorus
Chorus
Tush 1
For this riff, you may want to use your thumb for the “low E” string notes, as it will provide much more ease in playing the riff. The option is still totally up to you though. In this riff, you will be focusing on some palm mutes and a slide, as well as some “vibrato.” Vibrato is when you rapidly shake the string being played with your fret hand as much as possible to produce a wah-like effect. This riff is set to 144 bpm (beats per minute).
Below is the riff slowed down a little to give you some practice:
Here is the riff at normal speed: