How I Finally Learnt THAT Cliffs of Dover Intro

[@step-by-step-guitar]

I hope it's helpful! It was a very fun piece to learn. I coloured my hair for a project, I think its a temporary thing! I'm hoping to make many more videos this year.

[@CharlieKnolesPlus]

It's a good look. Thanks for the dope video too!

[@fivealive250]

thats awesome the end product was worth the time spent practicing

[@step-by-step-guitar]

Thanks, I really appreciate that

[@raedonkoyanagi9037]

Amazing video. Very useful. Edited great 👍 appreciate it

[@GuitarMechanics]

I play this song a lot, I still haven’t mastered it. I only play acoustic guitars these days, I’ve been practicing this song for 5 years. If I can get the intro and outro solo down, and clean up a couple little parts that I usually slip a little bit, I will consider it a true life accomplishment. It is my favorite song to play for people though, it always brings a great mood and people are amazed because nothing else sounds quite like it.

[@vocalinkproduction]

Respect for showing you can still achieve tis without some sort of custom shop Strat.

[@step-by-step-guitar]

Thanks. I have a US Strat, and I was originally going to do it on that, but because I had spent so long practicing it on the Squier (because that's the guitar I have laying around the most), I felt most comfortable playing it on that. Also to be honest the sound quality between both guitars wasn't at all significant.

[@Whiteyy191]

This really inspired me to never bother learning cliffs of Dover 😂

[@spctr3041]

Really inspiring !! Thanks for sharing this

[@step-by-step-guitar]

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@nomnom...]

Hey! Nice work! One thing that makes this song difficult is that EJ is extensively using very specific string switching techniques, for which his licks are specifically designed to work well with. I think you showed a Troy Grady video thumbnail in reference to the ending part descending 5s, so maybe you already are well aware of what is going on, but if you haven't yet, I would really recommend checking out Troy Grady's channel for more in depth analysis on picking technique than ANY other person. In terms of picking technique, string changes are uniquely difficult in that just simply practicing more will not lead to improvement. As shown in a lot of the interviews on Troy's Channel, very few of the best technical players fully understand their own string switching mechanics, just that they stumbled across something that works. If you practice without understanding the underlying mechanics you may get lucky and find something that works, but the chances are not in your favor. Eric Johnson's primary technique is the combination of "downward pickslanting (DWPS)", more recently renamed "upstroke escape motion (USX)", along with sweeping in the downward direction only. I highly highly recommend checking out Troy's channel as he does a great job explaining these topics. As a side note, I personally saw no improvement on my picking speed and accuracy over a roughly two-year period because I was (unknowingly) trying to play runs that were mismatched with my picking technique. Now that I understand the mechanics, I can play the same run smooth and fast in two different ways, by either intentionally altering the left hand fingerings to work properly with my original picking technique (downward pickslanting), or I can keep the original left hand fingerings and use a different picking technique (two way pickslanting). For the Cliffs of Dover intro, I initally tried to rework the fingerings to work with pure alternate picking, but there just isn't a good solution, and so I gave in and finally decided to learn downward sweeps. Now, with techniques that are correctly matched to EJ's licks, I can play the Cliffs of Dover intro with surprising smoothness.

[@step-by-step-guitar]

Troy Grady is amazing! How he has decoded speed picking is mastery. Great to hear about your journey, and really pleased to hear that you can play the intro so smoothly now.

[@kojam1]

Netscape?! Bro, you just blew my mind!!!

[@TheJackFlash]

lmao SO TRUE at 5:13!

[@burnnouts]

4:24 that tongue LMAO

[@step-by-step-guitar]

😂 that's my concentration face, I can't help it!

[@emmanuelmaterne5021]

I hear you on the finger rest time. Nice video. I try to pick most of the notes, as in the original studio album, but some of those string jumping alternate picking lines are tough. I do think that to get that awesome rolling cascade of notes you kinda have to sometimes. It is fun also trying to incorporate lines from the diverse ways he's played the song live over the years. Have you ckecked the miniseries he posted on Facebook during the pandemic? He talks a lot about the way he approches things.

[@step-by-step-guitar]

Hey Emmanuel, thanks for posting. I didn't know about the miniseries, but I will check it out!

[@victorwong9622]

YOU need a new hobby???! Legendary!! Thanks for the inspiring (and highly entertaining) post! And I’m sure it’ll take the rest of us much longer than seven months…

[@step-by-step-guitar]

thanks Victor, I'm really pleased you enjoyed it

[@Roscoe1279]

Good. I'm learning it, too. Don't agree with your descending run in 5, 3 and 2 frets on Intro. Anyway, good job. I've given myself 9 months, and 1 month has passed. Playing for 50 years. 👍

[@step-by-step-guitar]

Thanks for the feedback. Good luck learning it. Its still my favourite thing to play on guitar even a couple of months after making the video. I feel it will take me another year to perfect it.

[@andybaldman]

Needs more practice.

[@64bits.]

perdi casi 7 minutos de mi vida para saber que al final no lograste tocar igual a la version de Austin, TX 1988, pense que serias el primero en igualar pero nadie lo lograra ni el mismiso Erick Johnson creo que pueda volver a interpretarla igual como ese dia

[@zibifavaro]

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