How London Calling is REALLY played | Clash Guitar Lesson

My attempt to get to the bottom of how to play the Clash classic. See also this update video, where I give you an extra intro possibility. • How London Calling Is ...
Performance: 00:23
Introduction: 02:25
Teaching intro: 03:31
Mick Jones rhythm: 06:49
Joe Strummer rhythm: 11:47
Lead guitar bits: 15:13
The backwards guitar solo: 17:49
Gear used in this video: 18:44
Bye: 19:49
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[@dbmorton1114]

If there's such a thing as a Grammy Award for guitar teaching, you absolutely deserve it. Brilliant!

[@draganrokvic7971]

Totally! Makes me want play guitar again after watching his tutorials.

[@Gonzo2707]

„A little bit nerdy“... Good Lord, YES, that IS exactly what we‘re expecting😁. Great job, thanks for all the work that must have gone into this!

[@cskueny]

Amen!

[@stephennnnnnnnnnnn]

Oh mate that feedback gave me goosebumps

[@glennlilley8608]

Are we running a sweepstake on how many takes it took?

[@jeffreysims3831]

@@glennlilley8608 He probably spent more time on it than the Clash did!

[@glennlilley8608]

@@jeffreysims3831 bless him though

[@alestev24]

I am so happy to see someone of your generation like this music and give it so much thought. I am 55, I loved and saw The Clash live, when I was 15, and I wish my son would not only listen exclusively to Rap. Keep up the great work.

[@finnmoore4192]

I'm 15 now and the clash is my favourite band ever

[@johnb5482]

Ask him to give Magnificent 7 and (This is) Radio Clash a listen. Just a suggestion.

[@alestev24]

@@johnb5482 I did. Junco Partner as well. To no avail....

[@epichalocat2887]

Let your kid listen to what he listens to. Rap has taken on the roll for rebellious youth this generation

[@andyglamrock]

he'll grow out of it hopefully by 19-21 when your tastes grow more personal and sophisticated

[@lordclancharlie1325]

The first correct tutorial of LC, the very first one and I've been looking for decades... Thank you, you're my hero of 2020

[@GildedEntries]

You just brought back memories of my trying to figure out the album by playing the lp’s over and over on my cheap turntable that was a little fast, so I was about a quarter step off. Made it tricky... I was never happy with my playing on Track 1, LP 1, never did get it right. My thanks for your deep dive and research, I’ve never seen tab or videos as thorough and correct. On top of being a guitar monster, you are a damn fine scholar and instructor. 👍

[@Dreyno]

This is amazing. I’ve never been able to pull it apart. Other lessons seem to try and play some of the bass notes on guitar to fill out the sound. Never sounded right. You’ve nailed (as usual). Chapeau 🙂

[@Seanodemo]

Another great lesson. Maybe think about doing Ghost Town- given the times.

[@jordilola]

Congrats for such a nice piece of work! Amazing to see how many lines are going on behind the scenes of what could be easily mistaken for a simple Em, F, G song!

[@MikeBurgerChef]

Mick Jones is a fantastic arranger, I commend you for mastering what so many other guitarists have failed at understanding

[@boomerdell]

YES!! The nerdier the better, Adrian. I learn SO much from you, thank you. Great song, great lesson. You are the best at this.

[@connorgill8743]

Finally, someone who watches live videos, to get the right sound

[@757flyer]

Wonderful performance, beautiful instruments.

[@acpg]

Cheers!

[@RAMONESSSS]

Great video Adrian, one of the bests, and one of my favourites songs and band The Clash........cheers from Chile !!!!

[@Fillavoid]

Man, I love your attention to detail...you even nailed the guitar feedback! Thanks for the effort you put into your lessons.

[@modernchair7692]

That performance gave me such pleasure - always loved the song. What fantastic parts and combinations of chord voicings. Thanks Adrian, you've done it again. All the best from NZ.

[@cskueny]

Great song choice in so many ways. And yes, your obsessive pursuit of getting things right is a blessing for all of us.

[@mrsoul4231]

I was looking through vids a few weeks back trying to learn this one and I noticed no one seemed to get it quite right.Thanks so much for spending the time to wade through all these overdubs:your video is by far the best.

[@JoseJRamos-dh2cn]

Your video made me re-visit this song, pick up my guitar and re-learn it! Great job!

[@104ist]

Never a better time to slow things down and spend some time digging deep into classic tracks like this, as you said for such a well known song it’s very rare to hear it done in a way that sounds just like the record. Used to listen to this album a lot in the mid 00s and have also recently spent a long time relistening ever since it’s anniversary. Looking forward to future videos, whatever bands they might be for (🤞 for smiths, radiohead, stone roses, blur, new order, clash, cure, etc etc), and as the other comments agree, the more detail the better as far as I’m concerned! 🎶🎸

[@seanlowe6092]

man, well done, again. Your lessons are so thorough, what joy when I too often go shallow on learning a song, to do your songs properly

[@DimDonut23]

Brilliant dissection of the multiple guitar parts! Thank you!

[@MarkJames61]

Great editing Adrian and you lay out this "desert island disc" perfectly. Ty

[@peterhaswell8492]

One of the greatest songs of all time. Thanks for this, as usual top notch.

[@jcw6574]

Adrian, how in the world do you expect me to be productive working from home when you put out gems like these? How?

[@marklewis7484]

Thank you so much for this Adrian, I really love the detail in this lesson and I’m enjoying learning each element. The calm and considered explanation of the parts is excellent as is the breakdown of gear used... thanks again!

[@richardharris5481]

Thanks Adrian. I've been waiting for someone to do a proper version of this for years.

[@spivvo]

I’ve been playing this wrong since we did it in my school band in 1989... that second chord where one guitar plays F whilst the other a “C shape” G..... I’ve always played an “a shape” F major 7... sort of works but it never sounded toally right! Great lesson that man... and I loved the bit where you go into Swedish at 18:15. I went to an exhibition in London where somebody had compliled lots of memerobilia and scribblings from Strummer ncluding chord box shaped scribbles...and in there he had the usual cowboy chords but also the major7 shapes .... I think he had the same chord book as yer man from the Jam.

[@iBLAP]

Best breakdown of a guitar based song in my fifty years on this planet! Haven't picked up a guitar in over a year but stumbling across this lesson of my all time favourite song ever, I now seem to be missing the protection of those callouses I used to have on my fingertips, I even managed the barre chords which is a novelty for me. I will watch this on repeat, play through the pain and thank you for it!

[@RayzaEFC]

Awesome mate, One of my all time favourite tunes, thanks

[@markrodgers2976]

Yeah, that was pretty groovy, bro! That subtle 'lead' riff was very tasty!

[@tuskedbeast]

That was exceptionally well produced. Cheers! Good distraction.

[@capitaldharma]

Great song choice this week! Your nerdiest lessons are often the best, like when you did This Charming Man.

[@j-d4707]

Great lesson for in quarantaine! Finally something to do :)

[@ReizokoRyu]

HOLY shit this is a great sounding cover ! Amazing lesson. Thank you.

[@DESX05]

As always, a very good, detailed breakdown of the song .

[@martynspooner5822]

I truly love guitar nerds that was brilliant thanks for sharing.

[@davidkerr1971]

Great Lesson man, love the breakdown, love the clash, fantastic song. Made my day, many thanks, stay safe. Thanks again..

[@PevsnerOG]

Brilliant performance, brilliant editing! Great stuff!

[@jagercaster]

Great as usual. Love the call here in my Spanish calling. Thanks mate 😎

[@motioninmind6015]

Maybe not intentional but I had just finished watching Markus Söder's announcement of strict travel restrictions in Bavaria when the notification popped up! And my first thought was, well-played, Adrian! The anthem of the apocalypse is exactly what we need now. Btw, well-played, Adrian, and with that I mean your playing but also your video editing skills, wow! Thank you 👍🏻❤️

[@SD_UK]

01:31 = the best thing I have seen on YT for many a while :D Great lesson. I _thought_ I had this pretty nailed - turns out ... I didn't . But now I will . Thanks Adrian! - stay safe .

[@jovailferreira52]

Adrian, amazing! Thank you very much to share this with us. I always use to share your videos with guitarrista friends cos of your musical taste! Keep going bro! Cheers from Brazil . Joey

[@MoStBlEsSeD]

Adrian is awesome ....love that he gets up for the feedback man that was great

[@xiscogg]

My favourite album. You've done a really impressive work.

[@anthonyderosa5181]

One of my favorite Clash songs. Thanks so much for doing this one. Peace.

[@WyattScott]

great work Mate, always have had a hard time with fighting this one out, why i’ve not done a cover of it yet. Now I will thanks to you and this vid . Thanks for doing the hard work for us on this classic!

[@rrrayrrray]

For some reason the bass groove always reminds me of pirates! A brilliant song and lesson! Thanks!

[@andrewparfitt5899]

Adrian this is a really entertaining lesson. The video is superb and so funny at the start. Top Class editing

[@johan2174]

Can't wait to try out that feedback thing at home. Great song, great teacher!

[@anthonysclafani3963]

check out the digitech freqout

[@turntablesrockmyworld9315]

I didn't realise the Em to F was a "revelation" as I been playing it that way since about 1986 and it can be clearly heard in the song? Great lesson!

[@daacrusher2001]

Very cool lesson, thanks - perfect timing as we just decided to add this to our setlist for an upcoming gig!

[@thehartkrusher]

by far the best guitar teacher on youtube because you actually teach stuff i listen too lol And please be as nerdy as possible i love hearing analysis on the music theory aspect.

[@uselessoldman7964]

The multi track is available from the old game Rock Band so you will need to put it into Audacity to split the stems off into individual wav tracks as it comes in an unusual audio ogg format. There are 4 guitar parts, 3 main and one room, the room one is interesting due to it not strictly following the rest of the other parts and its mic overhead room reverb tone.

[@stainedrosemusic]

Excelent work have wanted to learn this for years sounded too complicated, You just made it so easy 👏👏👏👏👏

[@garyyuhas1903]

Thank you so much. I’m really impressed with your teaching skillz. Very helpful.

[@charlie-obrien]

London Calling and The Clash was the rebirth of rock and roll for the 80's The sound was so fresh and guttural it spawned a lot of followers and still sets us on edge.

[@trschin]

Your vids are the best, love me some Joe Strummer, Thanks for breakin’ it down!

[@SSRT_JubyDuby8742]

Quality deep dive Adrian, very informative, helpful and enjoyable, I can't believe it's been 40yrs! Three guitarists or a looper to play, or as I'm going to do, cherry pick the parts that best suit. Many thanks 😎🎸✅

[@narta11]

Well done on the feedback portion. I wasn’t expecting that.

[@The_Macaroon]

Wow. So so good! Great stuff Adrian quality guitar geekery! Love it

[@dylanevans2498]

This videos are extremely well put together. Fantastic work! Thank you.

[@apbach9787]

Backwards guitar instructional has cracked the code: That background English sounds like Swedish...!!! Great work on all your vids, thanks much!!

[@goport]

Interesting. I always thought Mick played that intro (and outro) as a rolling bar of Em then a bar of Em (b6). The american tour vids, grainy as they are, show him concentrating on the apparent changes. Strummer definitely played Em, F live but I always suspected it was because he didn't worry too much about the right chords, just the passion. Great video

[@XLBiker13]

THANK YOU for this!! The only band that matters!! The Clash are still my favorite band of all time (well, there was that band The Beatles). Actually saw them live a few times back when I was but a lad. Rather rare in the U.S.

[@Micky-yo3ng]

Great analysis. Always more going on with The Clash than you think. More backwards nerdiness please.

[@alonzomart7873]

You really did a super job of learning this song a big thank you for that, you explain it very good, you made it simple, just straight talk about the song your not trying to be funny, very good very professional, once again thank you. All other music videos should see this and learn on how play a song.

[@chuckt4558]

Thank you!! I had a feeling there was some seriously layered guitars on that track. Learning it up til now was a pain. Great job.

[@dontassumemyfender9866]

Brilliant! Very good lesson. Very informative. Thank you and happy new year.

[@stephanvenner2939]

Thanks for this great lesson. I never thought that this song is that "nerdy". They probably had a lot of time at the studio to try out new things like backwards guitar solos to get away from the usual three chords Punkrock. With Guy Stevens as a producer there were also a lot of ideas. He threw around chairs and put water into a piano,etc. Crazy. Yeah, and you even brought in Joe Strummers pumping leg while playing. Your explanation is very good, thanks again 👍🏻😁

[@stivbators4920]

man, you're so a determined guy. great attitude! keep playing these tunes from u.k punk legends👊🏻

[@zay4756]

Love your vids mate, absolutely amazing every time. The best online bar none!! Thanks so much!!

[@WillieD7]

I went to a tribute show last year with different bands doing different sides of London Calling (with a few standout performances). One takeaway I got was how crucial the bass was to the sound. On the record you don't process it as "the bass" but listen closely and the bass is often carrying the melody at times when the guitars play around it. Great job on this, BTW.

[@dominiclloyd6651]

It's probably the most famous bass line in punk. The song was written by the bassist

[@littleninpo]

Very cool sir. The play through section was so well done. Bravo 👏

[@jakeriot69]

Awesome nerdy guitar lesson! Great job mate!

[@twentyonetwentyguitars9344]

Great lesson Adrian! Excellent song choice as always! 😎👍

[@jasonbrown1987]

Very very good ...top stuff again cheers

[@garymanning9040]

Taking Awalk on the wild side Ilove it. Thnx Dude😎

[@aladdinsane3523]

Another classic. Awesome job as usual! Thanks so much.

[@curtisphilumalee1447]

Good Gawd, can't believe that the forty anniversary is coming up for this album. As an American kid growing up in the midwest my friends thought I was crazy for buying this kick ass album. It has definitely stood the test of time. I laugh cause as I watched your download I couldn't help but notice the cat in the background waving his paw back and forth. You should have put an index and pinky digit on his paw pointing up.Thanks, throughly enjoyed watching this vid.

[@Bathguitarschool]

Excellent! Great work, Adrian!

[@davexjs5889]

BRILLIANT And Very Very Helpful Thanks. Love Your Work.

[@girlrutherford]

I feel only joy watching this and playing.

[@TomClarkSouthLondon]

Superb tutorial Massive Big Thumb 👍🆙

[@rolandskilton7410]

Brilliant mate Bang on You know your stuff and put it across really well .

[@alanmcgowan8767]

Cheers Adrian superb as always mate.

[@davidgerrard8661]

Superb as ever, lock down heaven

[@tigerspuds]

LC was actually released in December 79. ;)

[@acpg]

Yep, I stand corrected...

[@XLBiker13]

I was just about to say that! Beat me to it.

[@JammyGit]

I was 9 at the time, now I'll be 50 in about a weeks time. Where the hell has my life gone? 😳😮 Life is too short fellas.

[@ndweaf]

just watched this one Adrian,....feckin great, jumping up out of the chair to get feedback !

[@gabrielmorton8054]

The play through is so fire

[@What3v3a]

Nailed it buddy, that sounded awesome!

[@jamesdoctor8079]

Best cover of this song on KZbin, spot on

[@collyboy1]

Fantastic work Adrian thanks again

[@mirllewist3086]

Thank you!!! Many mysteries solved. I had always played that second "mystery" chord in the opening vamp as an Fmaj7, which, after much trial-and-error, ended up being my best guess at what was going on there. I suppose the Fmaj7 has elements of the Em and F, especially with the low E-string open and ringing (due to my own sloppy technique...). Leaving off the index finger on the Fmaj7 turns the A into an E which further mashes up the two chords. A poor substitute for the real thing, but at least now I have a better idea of why an Fmaj7 sounded somehow both right and wrong. And hats off to The Clash for this gem of a song and album.

[@carltaylor4942]

I was once in a situation where this was the only record - vinyl 12" - that me and my friends had between us. That and a small, tinny portable record player. Heard it hundreds of times!

[@mattayers3794]

As always a great video of a great song!! Maybe sometime if you could I would love to see you cover The Damned - Wait For The Blackout.

[@PaulJonesy]

It’s a great song, and a fun one to work out for yourself, main riff is A/E/D, on each chord it moves up through the 4th to the 5th.

[@jazwiseman]

Superb! There's so much more to a lot of The Clash's music. How about some Ruts songs?

[@sagrado5]

You did a great job. Thanks Adrian

[@michaeld.mahoney9106]

Outstanding lesson, thanks so much.

[@Blue_3rd]

Excellently done and great fun! Cheers 👍