Chords for Riffs in the Key of Robert Johnson | Reverb Learn To Play
Tempo:
84.25 bpm
Chords used:
E
A
D
B
Ab
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[D] [E]
[A]
[D]
[D] [A] Hey everybody, Joe here at Reverb.
Thanks for joining us today.
We are going to learn three licks in the style of Robert Johnson.
Now before we begin, I'd like to unveil a little theory here upon you, if you stay with me.
See, back in the 1600s, when all music was written for sacred purposes, it was written
for the [B] church, there was a specific interval in the scale, a note in the scale, an augmented fourth.
And that note was known as the devil's tone.
It sounded something like this.
That's the [Ab] interval that they decided was the devil's tone.
They would literally have people proofreading sheets of music that had been written, and
if they found that interval in there, anywhere, they would just take that note out.
They believed that it was that demonic, and it was the devil's tone.
Fair enough, that was a long time ago.
Now, fast forward about 250 [Db] years.
Robert Johnson, so-called father of the blues.
Legend has it he went to the crossroads and sold his soul to the devil.
And he came back with a style of music that we call the blues, and there was something
very particular in that blues scale that kind of defined the blues tone.
And that note was the devil's note.
[Em] [E]
[B] That note became known as the blue note, literally.
Today, scholars call that note the blue note.
So that same note that used to be the devil's tone was transformed into the blue note by
the father of the blues who sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads.
Are those connected?
Who's to say?
Something to keep you up at night.
Anyways, let's learn some licks.
Robert Johnson, obviously in the [Eb] 1920s and 30s, used very old guitars.
We found this old beat-up parlor guitar here, so old that it doesn't have a name.
The cool thing about old beat-up guitars like this is that there's mystery in the story of it.
There's also mystery in the [A] tones of these guitars.
There was a [Ab] time where you could only find these types of guitars in thrift stores or
your southern grandma's basement.
Now you can find them on reverb, usually for pretty cheap as well.
So let's take this old guitar and learn some Robert Johnson licks.
These riffs are all fingerstyle riffs that can be used in so many different ways in any
blues format and beyond.
First, let's take a look at the way that Robert Johnson opened a lot of his tunes, a turnaround
that he started a lot of his songs with.
We'll do it in the key of A.
Let's start here with [G] ring finger on the D string fifth fret
and pinky on the E string [A] fifth fret, the high E string.
Now with our thumb, we're going to hit the open A, then we're going to hit the high E
on the fifth fret, then we're going to hit that fifth string on the D and the fifth string
on the E again at the same time.
I like to use my thumb and my middle finger.
So again we've got
Now we hit those again and then we move the [B] D string down to the fourth fret and hit those
again and [F] then move that down to the third fret D string and then hit those again down
to the second fret [A] on the D string.
So we've got this so far.
[Bm] [Dm] [A]
[D] [Dm] [Am]
And then we play an E7.
[E]
[A] Again [D]
[E]
you've heard that riff plenty of times.
Robert Johnson was maybe one of the first guys to use it and you can use it in any format.
You can use it to start one of your own tunes.
Let's learn another one.
Again we'll stay in the key of A.
We're going to have another riff that you've probably
heard many times.
Robert Johnson did something a little more special with it.
So it's based off of this [A] rhythm.
So you've heard that plenty of times.
Now what Robert Johnson did is he put this high A up here on top of that and gave it
a little more of a squeal.
Made it a little more lonely somehow.
He also did something else with that.
Third fret of the A string to the fourth fret and then back.
And where he put it was right here.
Great.
Simple enough.
Let's learn one more.
This time let's do a key of E.
[E]
So if we're doing that same rhythm, Johnson liked to separate from that and [Ab] go all the
way up here and do something like [E] this.
[E] So basically what that is is an E7.
And the voicing [Eb] is just taking your index finger on the ninth fret, strings D, [Dbm] G, and B.
[Db] And then middle finger up here on the tenth fret of the E [E] string.
And that's that bluesy tone, that seventh.
Now moving that a fret down and then back up has an extra bit of coolness to it.
Now to put that in a little bit of context where it sounds really nice and where Robert
Johnson did it often is to pivot from the I chord to the IV chord.
So in a 12 bar blues you're on the I chord and then you go to the IV chord.
Those last couple measures he liked to go up here and make that I chord dominant which
really pointed towards that IV chord really nicely.
Let's try it.
[B] [E]
[G] [Abm] [E]
[A]
[C] [E] And so on.
So there you have three very simple ideas that Robert Johnson may [Eb] have created, may
have stolen from somebody else, may have taken from the devil himself.
Regardless, they're yours to use.
You should apply them in any key, [C] any tune, any tempo, wherever you want in your own songs
or somebody else's.
Thanks so much everybody.
I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit more about Robert Johnson.
I hope I didn't scare you with the devil tone stuff.
And thanks for tuning in to Reverb.
Check out more of our
[A]
[D]
[D] [A] Hey everybody, Joe here at Reverb.
Thanks for joining us today.
We are going to learn three licks in the style of Robert Johnson.
Now before we begin, I'd like to unveil a little theory here upon you, if you stay with me.
See, back in the 1600s, when all music was written for sacred purposes, it was written
for the [B] church, there was a specific interval in the scale, a note in the scale, an augmented fourth.
And that note was known as the devil's tone.
It sounded something like this.
That's the [Ab] interval that they decided was the devil's tone.
They would literally have people proofreading sheets of music that had been written, and
if they found that interval in there, anywhere, they would just take that note out.
They believed that it was that demonic, and it was the devil's tone.
Fair enough, that was a long time ago.
Now, fast forward about 250 [Db] years.
Robert Johnson, so-called father of the blues.
Legend has it he went to the crossroads and sold his soul to the devil.
And he came back with a style of music that we call the blues, and there was something
very particular in that blues scale that kind of defined the blues tone.
And that note was the devil's note.
[Em] [E]
[B] That note became known as the blue note, literally.
Today, scholars call that note the blue note.
So that same note that used to be the devil's tone was transformed into the blue note by
the father of the blues who sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads.
Are those connected?
Who's to say?
Something to keep you up at night.
Anyways, let's learn some licks.
Robert Johnson, obviously in the [Eb] 1920s and 30s, used very old guitars.
We found this old beat-up parlor guitar here, so old that it doesn't have a name.
The cool thing about old beat-up guitars like this is that there's mystery in the story of it.
There's also mystery in the [A] tones of these guitars.
There was a [Ab] time where you could only find these types of guitars in thrift stores or
your southern grandma's basement.
Now you can find them on reverb, usually for pretty cheap as well.
So let's take this old guitar and learn some Robert Johnson licks.
These riffs are all fingerstyle riffs that can be used in so many different ways in any
blues format and beyond.
First, let's take a look at the way that Robert Johnson opened a lot of his tunes, a turnaround
that he started a lot of his songs with.
We'll do it in the key of A.
Let's start here with [G] ring finger on the D string fifth fret
and pinky on the E string [A] fifth fret, the high E string.
Now with our thumb, we're going to hit the open A, then we're going to hit the high E
on the fifth fret, then we're going to hit that fifth string on the D and the fifth string
on the E again at the same time.
I like to use my thumb and my middle finger.
So again we've got
Now we hit those again and then we move the [B] D string down to the fourth fret and hit those
again and [F] then move that down to the third fret D string and then hit those again down
to the second fret [A] on the D string.
So we've got this so far.
[Bm] [Dm] [A]
[D] [Dm] [Am]
And then we play an E7.
[E]
[A] Again [D]
[E]
you've heard that riff plenty of times.
Robert Johnson was maybe one of the first guys to use it and you can use it in any format.
You can use it to start one of your own tunes.
Let's learn another one.
Again we'll stay in the key of A.
We're going to have another riff that you've probably
heard many times.
Robert Johnson did something a little more special with it.
So it's based off of this [A] rhythm.
So you've heard that plenty of times.
Now what Robert Johnson did is he put this high A up here on top of that and gave it
a little more of a squeal.
Made it a little more lonely somehow.
He also did something else with that.
Third fret of the A string to the fourth fret and then back.
And where he put it was right here.
Great.
Simple enough.
Let's learn one more.
This time let's do a key of E.
[E]
So if we're doing that same rhythm, Johnson liked to separate from that and [Ab] go all the
way up here and do something like [E] this.
[E] So basically what that is is an E7.
And the voicing [Eb] is just taking your index finger on the ninth fret, strings D, [Dbm] G, and B.
[Db] And then middle finger up here on the tenth fret of the E [E] string.
And that's that bluesy tone, that seventh.
Now moving that a fret down and then back up has an extra bit of coolness to it.
Now to put that in a little bit of context where it sounds really nice and where Robert
Johnson did it often is to pivot from the I chord to the IV chord.
So in a 12 bar blues you're on the I chord and then you go to the IV chord.
Those last couple measures he liked to go up here and make that I chord dominant which
really pointed towards that IV chord really nicely.
Let's try it.
[B] [E]
[G] [Abm] [E]
[A]
[C] [E] And so on.
So there you have three very simple ideas that Robert Johnson may [Eb] have created, may
have stolen from somebody else, may have taken from the devil himself.
Regardless, they're yours to use.
You should apply them in any key, [C] any tune, any tempo, wherever you want in your own songs
or somebody else's.
Thanks so much everybody.
I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit more about Robert Johnson.
I hope I didn't scare you with the devil tone stuff.
And thanks for tuning in to Reverb.
Check out more of our
Key:
E
A
D
B
Ab
E
A
D
_ _ _ [D] _ [E] _ _ _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
[D] _ _ _ [A] _ _ Hey everybody, Joe here at Reverb.
Thanks for joining us today.
We are going to learn three licks in the style of Robert Johnson.
Now before we begin, I'd like to unveil a little theory here upon you, if you stay with me.
See, back in the 1600s, when all music was written for sacred purposes, it was written
for the [B] church, there was a specific interval in the scale, a note in the scale, an augmented fourth.
And that note was known as the devil's tone.
It sounded something like this. _ _ _ _
That's the [Ab] interval that they decided was the devil's tone.
They would literally have people proofreading sheets of music that had been written, and
if they found that interval in there, anywhere, they would just take that note out.
They believed that it was that demonic, and it was the devil's tone.
Fair enough, that was a long time ago.
Now, fast forward about 250 [Db] years.
Robert Johnson, so-called father of the blues.
Legend has it he went to the crossroads and sold his soul to the devil.
And he came back with a style of music that we call the blues, and there was something
very particular in that blues scale that kind of defined the blues tone.
And that note was the devil's note.
_ _ [Em] _ [E] _ _ _ _ _
_ [B] That note became known as the blue note, literally.
Today, scholars call that note the blue note.
So that same note that used to be the devil's tone was transformed into the blue note by
the father of the blues who sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads.
Are those connected?
_ _ Who's to say?
Something to keep you up at night.
Anyways, let's learn some licks.
Robert Johnson, obviously in the [Eb] 1920s and 30s, used very old guitars.
_ We found this old beat-up parlor guitar here, so old that it doesn't have a name.
The cool thing about old beat-up guitars like this is that there's mystery in the story of it.
There's also mystery in the [A] tones of these guitars.
_ _ _ _ _ _ There was a [Ab] time where you could only find these types of guitars in thrift stores or
your southern grandma's basement.
Now you can find them on reverb, usually for pretty cheap as well.
So let's take this old guitar and learn some Robert Johnson licks.
These riffs are all fingerstyle riffs that can be used in so many different ways in any
blues format and beyond.
First, let's take a look at the way that Robert Johnson opened a lot of his tunes, a turnaround
that he started a lot of his songs with.
We'll do it in the key of A.
Let's start here with [G] ring finger on the D string fifth fret
and pinky on the E string [A] fifth fret, the high E string.
Now with our thumb, we're going to hit the open A, _ then we're going to hit the high E
on the fifth fret, _ then we're going to hit that fifth string on the D and the fifth string
on the E again at the same time.
I like to use my thumb and my middle finger.
_ So again we've got_ _ _ _
Now we hit those again and then we move the [B] D string down to the fourth fret and hit those
again and [F] then move that down to the third fret D string and then hit those again down
to the second fret [A] on the D string.
_ So we've got this so far. _
_ _ [Bm] _ _ [Dm] _ [A] _ _ _
_ _ _ [D] _ _ [Dm] _ _ [Am]
And then we play an E7.
[E] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [A] Again _ _ [D] _ _
[E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
you've heard that riff plenty of times.
Robert Johnson was maybe one of the first guys to use it and you can use it in any format.
You can use it to start one of your own tunes.
Let's learn another one.
Again we'll stay in the key of A.
We're going to have another riff that you've probably
heard many times.
Robert Johnson did something a little more special with it.
So it's based off of this [A] rhythm. _ _
_ _ So you've heard that plenty of times.
Now what Robert Johnson did is he put this high A up here on top of that and gave it
a little more of a squeal. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
Made it a little more lonely somehow.
He also did something else with that.
Third fret of the A string to the fourth fret and then back.
And where he put it was right here. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ Great.
Simple enough.
Let's learn one more.
This time let's do a key of E.
[E] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
So if we're doing that same rhythm, _ _ _ Johnson liked to separate from that and [Ab] go all the
way up here and do something like [E] this.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[E] So basically what that is is an E7.
And the voicing [Eb] is just taking your index finger on the ninth fret, _ strings D, [Dbm] G, and B.
[Db] And then middle finger up here on the tenth fret of the E [E] string.
And that's that bluesy tone, that seventh. _
_ _ _ Now moving that a fret down and then back up has an extra bit of coolness to it. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ Now to put that in a little bit of context where it sounds really nice and where Robert
Johnson did it often is to pivot from the I chord to the IV chord.
So in a 12 bar blues you're on the I chord and then you go to the IV chord.
Those last couple measures he liked to go up here and make that I chord dominant which
really pointed towards that IV chord really nicely.
Let's try it. _ _ _
_ _ [B] _ [E] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [G] _ [Abm] _ [E] _ _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [C] _ [E] _ _ And so on.
So there you have three very simple ideas that Robert Johnson may [Eb] have created, may
have stolen from somebody else, may have taken from the devil himself.
Regardless, they're yours to use.
You should apply them in any key, [C] any tune, any tempo, wherever you want in your own songs
or somebody else's.
Thanks so much everybody.
I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit more about Robert Johnson.
I hope I didn't scare you with the devil tone stuff.
And thanks for tuning in to Reverb.
Check out more of our
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
[D] _ _ _ [A] _ _ Hey everybody, Joe here at Reverb.
Thanks for joining us today.
We are going to learn three licks in the style of Robert Johnson.
Now before we begin, I'd like to unveil a little theory here upon you, if you stay with me.
See, back in the 1600s, when all music was written for sacred purposes, it was written
for the [B] church, there was a specific interval in the scale, a note in the scale, an augmented fourth.
And that note was known as the devil's tone.
It sounded something like this. _ _ _ _
That's the [Ab] interval that they decided was the devil's tone.
They would literally have people proofreading sheets of music that had been written, and
if they found that interval in there, anywhere, they would just take that note out.
They believed that it was that demonic, and it was the devil's tone.
Fair enough, that was a long time ago.
Now, fast forward about 250 [Db] years.
Robert Johnson, so-called father of the blues.
Legend has it he went to the crossroads and sold his soul to the devil.
And he came back with a style of music that we call the blues, and there was something
very particular in that blues scale that kind of defined the blues tone.
And that note was the devil's note.
_ _ [Em] _ [E] _ _ _ _ _
_ [B] That note became known as the blue note, literally.
Today, scholars call that note the blue note.
So that same note that used to be the devil's tone was transformed into the blue note by
the father of the blues who sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads.
Are those connected?
_ _ Who's to say?
Something to keep you up at night.
Anyways, let's learn some licks.
Robert Johnson, obviously in the [Eb] 1920s and 30s, used very old guitars.
_ We found this old beat-up parlor guitar here, so old that it doesn't have a name.
The cool thing about old beat-up guitars like this is that there's mystery in the story of it.
There's also mystery in the [A] tones of these guitars.
_ _ _ _ _ _ There was a [Ab] time where you could only find these types of guitars in thrift stores or
your southern grandma's basement.
Now you can find them on reverb, usually for pretty cheap as well.
So let's take this old guitar and learn some Robert Johnson licks.
These riffs are all fingerstyle riffs that can be used in so many different ways in any
blues format and beyond.
First, let's take a look at the way that Robert Johnson opened a lot of his tunes, a turnaround
that he started a lot of his songs with.
We'll do it in the key of A.
Let's start here with [G] ring finger on the D string fifth fret
and pinky on the E string [A] fifth fret, the high E string.
Now with our thumb, we're going to hit the open A, _ then we're going to hit the high E
on the fifth fret, _ then we're going to hit that fifth string on the D and the fifth string
on the E again at the same time.
I like to use my thumb and my middle finger.
_ So again we've got_ _ _ _
Now we hit those again and then we move the [B] D string down to the fourth fret and hit those
again and [F] then move that down to the third fret D string and then hit those again down
to the second fret [A] on the D string.
_ So we've got this so far. _
_ _ [Bm] _ _ [Dm] _ [A] _ _ _
_ _ _ [D] _ _ [Dm] _ _ [Am]
And then we play an E7.
[E] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [A] Again _ _ [D] _ _
[E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
you've heard that riff plenty of times.
Robert Johnson was maybe one of the first guys to use it and you can use it in any format.
You can use it to start one of your own tunes.
Let's learn another one.
Again we'll stay in the key of A.
We're going to have another riff that you've probably
heard many times.
Robert Johnson did something a little more special with it.
So it's based off of this [A] rhythm. _ _
_ _ So you've heard that plenty of times.
Now what Robert Johnson did is he put this high A up here on top of that and gave it
a little more of a squeal. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
Made it a little more lonely somehow.
He also did something else with that.
Third fret of the A string to the fourth fret and then back.
And where he put it was right here. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ Great.
Simple enough.
Let's learn one more.
This time let's do a key of E.
[E] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
So if we're doing that same rhythm, _ _ _ Johnson liked to separate from that and [Ab] go all the
way up here and do something like [E] this.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[E] So basically what that is is an E7.
And the voicing [Eb] is just taking your index finger on the ninth fret, _ strings D, [Dbm] G, and B.
[Db] And then middle finger up here on the tenth fret of the E [E] string.
And that's that bluesy tone, that seventh. _
_ _ _ Now moving that a fret down and then back up has an extra bit of coolness to it. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ Now to put that in a little bit of context where it sounds really nice and where Robert
Johnson did it often is to pivot from the I chord to the IV chord.
So in a 12 bar blues you're on the I chord and then you go to the IV chord.
Those last couple measures he liked to go up here and make that I chord dominant which
really pointed towards that IV chord really nicely.
Let's try it. _ _ _
_ _ [B] _ [E] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [G] _ [Abm] _ [E] _ _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [C] _ [E] _ _ And so on.
So there you have three very simple ideas that Robert Johnson may [Eb] have created, may
have stolen from somebody else, may have taken from the devil himself.
Regardless, they're yours to use.
You should apply them in any key, [C] any tune, any tempo, wherever you want in your own songs
or somebody else's.
Thanks so much everybody.
I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit more about Robert Johnson.
I hope I didn't scare you with the devil tone stuff.
And thanks for tuning in to Reverb.
Check out more of our