VIDEO MASTERCLASS Eric Gales

This month GT is thrilled to present an exclusive video lesson from blues-rock rock phenomenon Eric Gales, with nine fully transcribed musical examples that showcase his broad range of styles, techniques and approaches.

Gales is one of the most exciting bluesrock guitarists from today’s burgeoning scene. Just like his contemporaries such as Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith, who both incidentally produced his most recent album, Eric’s playing is both bang up to date and equally steeped in history, with a sound that is vibrant, energetic and full of life. Eric was raised in musical family, starting at the age of four and with both of his elder brothers to teach him. By 15, Eric was signed to Electra records and from that point to this he has released a steady stream of critically acclaimed albums, toured relentlessly, both as a bandleader and also as a member of the Jimi Hendrix tribute, Experience Hendrix, building up a loyal and devoted following of fans from all four corners of the world. Eric’s playing is based on blues foundations, but as you’ll see, there are definitely heavy traces of rock, funk, jazz, and country to be found bubbling away not too far from the surface. His tone is on the fiery side, with considerable technical prowess and speedy runs in abundance. But Eric can also be lyrical and beautifully sensitive, with a gorgeous clean tone and a harmonic awareness that nods back to his early roots playing gospel music in church.

Take a close look at Eric’s guitar and see if you can see anything unusual. That’s right, like Hendrix he plays left-handed, but unlike Jimi, who restrung the guitar so that the strings align in the conventional way, Gales leaves his guitar as it would be for a conventional right-handed player and subsequently his strings are upside down. This is a time honoured tradition for blues guitarists, with artists such as Albert King and Otis Rush choosing this route and also contemporary players such as Doyle Bramall and, interestingly, all three Gales brothers, Eric, Eugene and Manuel (aka Little Jimmy King). The good news is that these examples are all layable on a regularly tuned guitar, although you might have also spotted that Eric is tuned down a semitone to Eb, so for you to duplicate his playing exactly, you’ll need to tune down too. Our standard tuning and tab allows everyone to tackle his licks even if they don’t want to tune down and, as the examples are mostly unaccompanied, this shouldn’t present any problems.

There’s tons of new techniques, concepts, phrases, licks and lines for you to learn here. Don’t be put off if at first these ideas look too involved. Building technical facility doesn’t happen overnight, so be patient and perserverve. As always, enjoy…

NEXT MONTH US session legend, Carl Verheyen solos on Jason’s track, Good To Go.

EXAMPLE 1 COLOURFUL PENTATONIC RHYTHMIC SEQUENCES

Here’s a Minor Pentatonic phrase in B Minor (B-D-E-F#-A); remember Eric is tuned down a semitone so this will sound in Bb Minor while it looks like he’s in B Minor on the fretboard. While it’s good to attempt all Eric’s nuances, feel free to mix up your patterns to create your own versions of them.

EXAMPLE 2 BLUESY PENTATONIC PHRASING

More B Minor Pentatonic action here (R-b3-4-5-b7), but moving through the scale in more of a straight line. Take the opportunity to closely explore Eric’s use of vibrato, micro bends and slides to add expression and articulation to this otherwise dry and academic scale structure.

TRACK RECORD Eric’s playing is absolutely burning on his most recent release, Crown (Provogue 2022). Produced by Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith, this album is full of staggering playing and comes highly recommended by everyone at GT. Other high lights from his extensive recorded portfolio include Story Of My Life (Phantom 2008) and The Bookends (Provogue 2019).

We’re turning the heat up, again using B Minor Pentatonic as the source. In keeping with the change of tone, Eric ups the intensity. Watch for pickup selection, the use of slides and hammer-ons and the variety of rhythmic subdivisions. Eric uses slides a great deal which add a different colour next to hammer-ons and pull-offs.

We’re moving to F# minor for our next Pentatonic excursion (F#-A-B-C#-E). Eric pushes and pulls the tempo organically, so feel free to incorporate some of this rubato feel in your own playing, particularly when playing unaccompanied. Again, pay close attention to the micro bends, adding an idiomatic bluesy feel to the lines.

Next up we experience Eric’s considerable county chops, with a definite trace of Jerry Reed to the note selection and phrasing. It’s remarkable just how orthodox this sounds, when we consider Eric’s technique is completely flipped upside down. Of course, don’t forget to turn the overdrive off as you want a clean tone here.

EXAMPLE 5 COUNTRY-BLUES CHICKEN PICKING CONTINUED…

While it’s understandable to concentrate on Eric’s incredible soloing skills, he’s also a wonderful rhythm player. Here he’s demonstrating a funky groove against a B7 tonality, also encompassing Em9, G9 and F#7(#5#9) before making it home to B7. Pay attention to how Gales switches effortlessly from rhythm to lead without missing a beat, and manages to combine chord fragments, complete voicings and single notes to create a cohesive whole.

EXAMPLE 6 FUNKY-SOUL GROOVE CONTINUED…

EXAMPLE 7 BLUESY TRIPLET-BASED GROOVE

There’s a underlying triplet feel to this example, so we’ve shifted time signature in the accompanying notation to 12/8 (1-&-a, 2-&-a, etc). Eric’s playing stays locked into this new rhythmic grid perfectly and once again we’re staying around a B7 tonality, although the harmony ultimately shifts to the bII7 (C7), IV7 (E7) and V7 (F#7). Again, there’s a health spread of single notes, double stops, chord fragments and complete chords on offer.

7 BLUESY TRIPLET-BASED GROOVE CONTINUED…

Example 8 Combining Lead And Chords

Gales starts with some brooding root-5th powerchords, swelling in by using his guitar’s volume pot. After some mean and vibey overdriven single-note lines he turns the pedal off and delivers a selection of beautifully delicate clean ideas that blend single-note ideas with chords. Again, the tempo is quite fluid, relaxed and free here, so aim to incorporate some of this natural rubato feel in your own unaccompanied playing.

Example 9 Soloing Over A John Mayer Style Soul Groove

We’ve tabbed this in Eb tuning because of the backing track (which is provided for you); play all fret numbers up a tone if you want to play in standard E tuning. Here’s a solo against a John Mayer style two-bar backing loop based around B

Aeolian (B-C#-D-E-F#-G-A). The extra space afforded by this extended groove allows Eric to develop his phrasing. Notice how he states a theme and then expands upon it with repetition, variation and development. It’s clear that he

©»¡ºº B Aeolian groove/loop

Chords and notes are literal, tab is in E b tuning