For us here at YGA, this song is the stand out track from the album Continuum by John Mayer. It simply has everything. Great melodic riffs, cool chords, the Hendrix style approach and a fantastic guitar solo. Thomas walks you through the whole thing bit by bit!
Most of the song is based around the three chords of C#m, A and E major... However there is also a B major chord in the pre chorus. Live, John Mayer will play these chords all over the neck, but here is a good guide for where he's plays them the most:
The main thing to remember when you learn the licks within the chords is that they are all based around the pentatonic shapes within the chord. This is a very cool idea and one that Hendrix mastered back in the 60's. To give you a better idea of the theory behind them, here are the chords coupled with the pentatonic shapes. If you love this style but don't fully understand it, try this course: Hendrix Style Guitar Course.
For the majority of the solo in this song, John is using the C#minor pentatonic scale in the first and second positions. He is also using the C#minor scale (adding the extra 2 notes to the minor pentatonic). Below you can see the scale shapes we are using nice and clearly. Remember to always be reminding yourself what shape you are in when playing these licks!
As you can hear from the video, there are a lot of bends in this solo! If you struggle with bending up to the correct notes or don't feel your bending is as solid as Thomas's in the video, we would recommend taking a look at this beginners lead session where we talk all about bends: How To Bend Properly (When on the page, click on the second tab entitled 'Bends').
Ready to move on? Remember to check out every lesson in this unit first – then try the next unit...
This classic John Mayer track from the album Continuum has an awesome guitar riff that is a must learn for any Mayer fans. Simone takes you through the main section, the groove and guitar solo for the track to ensure you have every part learnt!