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From Yes to Zep to Steely Dan to Pink Floyd, Jimmy Brown — Guitar World magazine's longtime senior music editor — plays and discusses some of the now-classic guitar riffs that changed his life.
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00:12Hey there, Jimmy Brown from Guitar World here, and today I would like to share with you some of
00:17the riffs that really changed my life and had a big impact on me when I was growing up in
00:23the
00:2370s as a teenager playing a guitar. I had six older siblings who turned around a lot of great
00:28music in the 60s and 70s, and the things I really gravitated towards, not so much riffs per se,
00:35I did learn a lot of single note riffs and stuff early on, but the stuff with really interesting
00:39chord changes. Anybody who knows me musically knows I'm all about playing interesting chord
00:45changes and soloing over interesting chord changes. So I'd like to start out with one of my favorites
00:50of all time, Led Zeppelin, Since I've Been Loving You. Slow blues, super dramatic, I mean what they
00:57did with the dynamics in the song is amazing, but most amazingly is what they did on the chorus or
01:04when it goes to the turnaround or whatever. So let me just play it for context a little bit of
01:08the
01:08intro and I'll get to the part I'm talking about.
01:27That's not the part I'm talking about, that's just like Jimmy Page soloing over the intro,
01:33over C minor, then it goes to F minor. John Paul Jones is playing the organ and the bass and
01:40bottoms on the drums and back to C minor, and then this part.
01:58And then...
02:05Yeah, that move right there, that is so unlike any other minor blues I've ever encountered, where it goes to
02:11the...
02:12So it goes to D7...
02:17Page is actually playing...
02:19Okay, let me back up a little bit. So...
02:27It's C minor over E flat, then G over D, Jones is playing D in the bass, and then C
02:36minor, E flat.
02:38Then we have the 2 chord, like a 2 dominant 7, but Jimmy's not playing the root.
02:45He could be going...
02:50I know why he didn't do that, because if he bends up...
02:56That totally clashes, right? It's a minor 9 interval over...
03:00Doesn't work with a major 7 chord, but he plays...
03:04He plays the 5th of the chord on the bottom there. That's so cool.
03:09And he's doing it like as if he had a G string bender, like on a Telecaster you can get
03:14a G bender, almost like a pedal steel effect, where you can pretend to do it like this.
03:25So he's bending up from C to D, and that works amazingly.
03:34Who would think that bending up to the flat 9 would work, but...
03:51That's so unlike any other minor blues.
03:54Typically, you go to the 5 chord...
04:00Or the 4 chord minor, all minor...
04:04Turn around...
04:10Or, say, like the thrills gone, B.B. King, B minor.
04:15But if it were in C minor...
04:17You go to C minor...
04:19And then F minor...
04:20The thrills gone, baby...
04:22And then it goes to Ab major 7...
04:26G sus to G...
04:29And that's more like a jazz blues, where you would...
04:37Like a Coltrane minor blues or something.
04:40So, um...
04:41Doing that 2 chord...
04:43It's kind of...
04:43Actually that...
04:46A flat 7...
04:47The flat 6 dominant 7 chord...
04:50Or you can do...
04:50The 2...
04:51And then...
04:53It's kind of like...
04:56Sort of...
04:57But, uh...
04:58Every time I hear it, it just gives me goosebumps.
05:00You know?
05:01And what Jimmy played in the beginning of that, when he did that...
05:09In the background, you got...
05:15Instead of going to F minor, they go...
05:22Make like a nice melodic bass line out of it.
05:24And then...
05:25C minor over E flat...
05:28C minor over E flat...
05:29G over D...
05:30And then the bass plays C minor...
05:32E flat...
05:35The lick he plays in the beginning is really cool too.
05:37It's worth checking out because he does this...
05:40Big 2-step over bend...
05:53Now Jimmy Page plays with 8s...
05:56These are 10s...
05:57You gotta fight for it a little more...
05:58But, um...
05:59I used to think it was...
06:02Nope, nope, he's bending up...
06:07Then you have a whole step pre-bend...
06:18That sounds like BB King, right?
06:19You know, doing those big over bends...
06:21And then...
06:29Beautiful stuff...
06:30Next up, while we're on Zeppelin...
06:32The Rain Song...
06:33I tell you, I love Jimmy Page...
06:35All the things about his blues rock playing and riff writing...
06:38He's the king of the riff...
06:40But one of the things I love most about Jimmy's work is...
06:43His acoustic stuff...
06:44And his use of open tunings...
06:47You know, he used Dadgad, famously, on White Summer...
06:49And then Black Mountainside and Cashmere, most famously...
06:52And, uh...
06:53C6 tuning on Bron Uroar and Friends...
06:56Which recorded in the same session, interestingly, on different albums...
07:00But, the one I love the most is the Rain Song tuning...
07:03Which is...
07:04I don't know what you'd call it...
07:06It's a D-G-C...
07:07G-C-D...
07:09And, uh...
07:10They did a whole step higher...
07:12Live...
07:12On the song we're in the same...
07:13Which was...
07:14Interesting...
07:14Because Robert Plant had to sing it...
07:15Up a whole step...
07:17But, what's really cool is that...
07:19Jimmy just...
07:20Took these little...
07:21Simple two-note shapes...
07:22And moved them around...
07:23Started out with this...
07:25This is a G-5...
07:27And then a G-major-7...
07:29So he's octave doubling the melody here...
07:32On his second and fourth strings...
07:37Where's that chord come from?
07:38That doesn't live in the key of G-major...
07:41It lives in the parallel key of G-minor...
07:44So...
07:46And you have these open droning strings...
07:48Open unisons...
07:53Ah...
07:55Sublime...
07:57And this is the best part...
08:04Oh, so beautiful...
08:05G-major...
08:07G-sus-2...
08:08G-sus-4...
08:10G-major...
08:10G-6...
08:13Wow...
08:14E-flat...
08:16Major...
08:17Uh...
08:18E-flat...
08:19Flat-6...
08:20Over G...
08:21Or...
08:21Yeah...
08:22And then...
08:23The money chord...
08:25Ah...
08:26G-9...
08:27But it looks like an A-shape, right?
08:31C-sus-3...
08:31And then G-minor-9...
08:36And then C-sus...
08:38C-sus-4...
08:39C...
08:52That really perked my ears up...
08:55Thinking...
08:55I'm learning about ninth chords...
08:56Got me thinking early on...
08:59That...
09:00major and minor chords and cowboy chords dominant sevens bluesy stuff what is this
09:06that was my first encounter with a ninth chord and then a minor nine chord that's
09:10real jazzy that really intrigued me and got me exploring more music that had that kind of
09:16harmonic depth and richness and ultimately made me want to go to music school and study
09:20and learn more about harmony again the open strings in there that's what makes it great
09:27it's the timbre the sparkly timbre
09:36he does this line cliche thing where he walks up
09:43go to the five to the flat six
09:49major six
09:55what's that that's a dominant seven thirteen chord i'm like what
10:05major sevens and minor sevens
10:09b minor 11 i think and then a big majestic e9 sus4 but it's just timber of all those open
10:16strings that
10:17combined with the sophisticated harmony that really got me thinking you know and later in the song he goes
10:48still one of the most beautiful songs i think ever written legend has it that was kind of done on
10:52a dare
10:53george harrison was hanging out with jimmy page one day he said you guys need a song like something
10:57in your repertoire so page is like hmm okay so he took the first two chords
11:05something in the way she moves
11:08packs me like no other i love it then it's completely different from that point on but good stuff another
11:14one that inspired me early on from the early 70s is classic song dream on by aerosmith from their first
11:21album now steven tyler wrote this on the piano which is amazing because it's so beautiful and
11:27sophisticated it's like these chopin-esque type chord changes and i've never really heard him other stuff
11:34that he's done on the piano and still to this day these chord changes this it melts my heart in
11:40a good
11:40way joe perry doubled the chords on the guitar i guess tyler showed him the chords and said here just
11:45play this and then play this and then maybe didn't even know what chords are called it's f minor
11:57the f minor
11:59c minor and then d minor d minor 7 flat 5
12:07d flat major 7 flat 5. let me just play it through
12:13so
12:23do
12:24do
12:49What I like to do, I've been doing this for years, is I put a capo at the first fret.
12:53You may have noticed that, and I just think E minor get to use some of these open strings.
12:59So check this out.
13:24And then I'm using my open fifth string.
13:30And then...
13:38See how that works out?
13:39The open strings make it really nice.
13:41So I'm kind of thinking E minor.
13:43You know, when you play with a capo, when you're within the first five frets, you think as if this
13:49didn't exist and that was a nut and this was the first fret, second fret.
13:51But as soon as you get past five frets away from the capo, you revert back to thinking in terms
13:56of the absolute concert pitch.
13:57But let's stick with F minor.
13:59So F minor and then C minor over F, which is really kind of like an F minor nine sound.
14:06And then it's kind of like an F minor six sound.
14:10And then D flat major seven flat five over F.
14:16And these cluster voicings.
14:19So pretty.
14:45Perry would do that playing the song live.
14:47And one thing I do a little different than what Joe Perry plays.
14:49He strums with the pick.
14:51I do picking fingers.
14:53I use hybrid picking.
14:54It sounds more like the piano part.
14:56More of that pianistic type of note attack.
14:59And another thing that I put my own stamp on the song is in the interlude part where it goes...
15:09Well, I go...
15:11I do like a minor drop.
15:17Ahhhh, it's that blissful...
15:21A9 chord. It's actually a Bb9 in this case. So you have...
15:35And then this works out great with the capo.
15:41And then...
16:14That's how I like to play it. Still to this day, it's one of my favorite songs.
16:18Another song that really changed my life early on was Long Distance Runaround by Yes.
16:22Actually, the whole album, the Fragile album with Roundabout and Heart of the Sunrise, all these great songs.
16:27And the Yes album before that and Close to the Edge blew my mind.
16:31Steve Howe, my man, Steve Howe. I had the great honor and privilege of interviewing Steve a couple of times
16:36for Guitar World over the years.
16:37But long before that, I, as a young guitar player, I heard the song and I'm like, what the heck
16:43is he doing?
16:43Playing these arpeggios across strings...
16:47I mean, I was just thinking like pentatonic at the time, you know, like power chords pentatonic.
16:51So let me play a little bit of Long Distance Runaround for you.
16:54Thank you for the time.
16:55But...
17:22See the next as well.
17:46yeah that part's great too but uh man so amazing rick wickman's playing a
17:53harmony line on keyboard and between the two of them they're kind of outlining it like an e minor
17:58seven flat five out of context that would be that or it could be c9 right and then just like
18:10a c sus to
18:10c so the underlying feeling is kind of like you know going
18:24like g minor over c to c and it's really hard to pick you know i guess you call it
18:32cross picking
18:32where there's only one note per string and you have to change strings every stroke
18:39couple of pull-offs you know steve is very tasteful with combining a little legato with his picking
18:44stuff and then finger slides
18:54this is the hardest part you have a similar move here
18:59and then
19:03that taught me wow geez you can take arpeggios and do things like that like
19:08it got me into learning about chord scales you know harmonizing
19:17arpeggios and scales up and down strings and maybe want to study that but it was so intriguing
19:38so elegant right it's like classical
19:43yeah great stuff later on i started getting into stilly dan some buddies of mine turned me on
19:48to this wonderful music written by donald fagan and walter becker i mean what they did they took
19:54jazz harmony and made it accessible in a pop way pop songs the only other person who i've ever really
20:01known to appreciate to do that is stevie wonder right taking these great chords and making top 10 radio
20:07hits out of them so uh the song josie is one of my favorites and uh that features becker on
20:14guitar
20:15on that and also larry calton plays a great solo but that intro that hauntingly beautiful intro
20:20that's dean parks playing that and it's these interesting intervals
20:47and then the chords that come out to that are really cool
20:49we're gonna rip up and blow the stars
20:52until she comes home
20:54and the chorus
21:28yeah so much going on there right but that beginning part you have
21:33minor seven interval i didn't know what that was until i learned the song and then it's parallel fifths
21:45sounds very medieval right or very uh ancient you know like
21:52hail caesar right parallel fifths kind of like a primitive modern sound and it's hybrid picked too
22:01so that got me into hybrid picking i assume that you had to play everything with a pick before that
22:12then it's really interesting well it's already interesting but more interesting
22:19wow
22:22you have a minor second there a little cluster
22:26and then these chords
22:28what is that that's uh it's an f major seven without the third
22:31that would be a regular attain f major seven but then you have this
22:35and then this
22:38that that's that's f sharp seven sharp nine sharp five
22:44and then a uh g major seven note three
22:47you think that as d over g like a so-called slash chord
22:51and then
22:52a flat major seven six
22:55really intriguing stuff that really made my ears perk up
22:57and my brain want to learn more about those kind of interesting chord changes
23:02and then um in the verse
23:06this is an e minor seven and it goes
23:11those are major sevens without the third again
23:14it's like you think of it as a over d
23:17or d major nine note three
23:20t major nine note three
23:22g major nine note three
23:24or like a d chord over g i'm making this big stretch
23:28c over f or f major nine note three
23:31and uh
23:32you know those chords
23:34are so cool they're like fusion-y chords
23:36but the way steeway dan made these chords work
23:39and in very catchy pop songs is this absolutely brilliant
23:43and it had a huge impact on me
23:45another song that changed my life
23:47is dogs by pink floyd
23:48that epic 20 plus minute piece from their 1977 album animals
23:54and it's a masterpiece i think of a songwriting composition
23:59david gilmore and roger waters
24:00at their finest collaborating with
24:03rick wright and nick mason
24:04that
24:06opening chord sequence is so intriguing to me
24:09now they were tuned down
24:10gilmore tuned his guitar down a whole step
24:13so he was in d standard
24:14i'm just in e standard here
24:16i'm just gonna play it for you
24:17it's e minor nine
24:20which is really a nice voicing
24:21i mean you could play
24:23like that
24:23it's more of the jazz way to play
24:25but he's playing
24:42and it just loops around for the verses
24:45that is so cool
24:47e minor nine
24:48you know i mentioned earlier that the rain song
24:50i'm like oh what's this ninth chord dominant nine
24:52and then minor nine wow i want more of that
24:56i want to learn more songs
24:57that have that
24:58that's what really does it for me
25:00it says chord changes
25:01interesting chord changes and voicings
25:03so then it goes to that
25:05that's like the steward and chord right
25:11so now we're going
25:12e minor nine to
25:14f major nine note three
25:16or think of it as c over f
25:24and this is pretty cool
25:25this looks like out of context
25:27you think okay what is that
25:28is that like a
25:30f sharp seven sus four
25:31because this would be f sharp seven
25:33right
25:35but when the bass comes in
25:37it actually plays b
25:41so that makes it i guess b sus two
25:44sus four
25:45you can call it b sus two four
25:47and then this chord
25:48same shape
25:51that's like a lydian sound
25:53by itself without the bass note
25:55you're thinking okay
25:55what is it
25:56f
25:58f major seven sus four
26:00which is something you never hear
26:01like
26:03usually you hear a
26:06on a major seven you hear
26:07a sharp four
26:09or a sharp eleven
26:10so
26:10but when the bass goes
26:13from b
26:14i'm going to try to get that bass under
26:22now in full context
26:24you have b flat
26:26root fifth octave right
26:27nine
26:29sharp eleven
26:30or it's like a
26:33c7 over b flat
26:35really intriguing
26:36sound you know
26:37and with the open strings
26:38that adds to the timbre
26:39the shimmer
26:40so
26:44by the way
26:44you could fret
26:46do the shared fingertip fretting technique
26:48where you hold down two strings
26:50with the tip of the finger
26:51it's not like you're barring
26:57and then if you want to do the f
26:58get the thumb over there
27:03i mean
27:03gilmore didn't do that
27:04i'm just doing it now
27:05you know
27:05and then this
27:14i guess he could trade fingers
27:16there's no easy way to do it
27:19or let the bass player do it
27:20but um
27:21boy what a
27:22spooky
27:23hauntingly beautiful
27:24chord progression
27:25you know
27:25that
27:26that
27:26taught me that
27:27you don't have to play by the rules all the time
27:29you know
27:29you learn your diatonic chords
27:31and
27:31the key of c
27:33g
27:33all the major scales
27:35and your minor scales
27:35harmonic minor scales
27:37and melodic minor
27:38and
27:39then break the rules
27:40like learn all these guidelines
27:41and then just
27:41do whatever the hell you want
27:43you know
27:43you want to move chromatically
27:44and have a common tone
27:49if it sounds good
27:50it is good
27:51so those are a few of the riffs
27:53that really changed my life
27:54as a guitar player
27:55in my formative years
27:57as a late teenager
27:58early 20s
28:00totally got me thinking about
28:02new ways to look at music
28:03other than just your standard
28:05one four five progressions
28:06and whatnot
28:07and i hope you've enjoyed it
28:09my name is jimmy brown
28:10see you around
28:16and i hope you've enjoyed it
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