How to Play Like Eric Johnson | 5 Easy Tips and Tricks

Definitely one of the best guitarists out there, a legend of the axe and the guy with one of the best tones in the game; Mr. Eric Johnson. I'd been thinking about making this video for a while now and just didn't have the time to put into studying his playing.
I couldn't be happier with the amazing things I learned in the process and this is my attempt to share this information with you guys. Enjoy!
Notation/Tabs/Diagrams:
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[@jhaberly]

This is a great presentation of Eric Johnson's playing and music style. Well done!

[@garylimby]

Thank you. An excellent summary of EJ's basic style.

[@AlfredoCalixto]

Amazing. Thanks for this video bro!!!

[@jimmydriveway]

Great explanation. I’ve been playing for about 40 years and am just now backward engineering my playing… knowing the modes helps me remember how to throw in some EJ licks here and there in my own solos. I switch between pentatonic and Dorian all the time, just never knew what it was called.

[@WorshipGuitarTheory]

You explained it so well. Thanks. I love how Eric Johnson creates a more unique arpeggio sound from just switching the 3rd and 5th around in order.

[@jimmydriveway]

Very “Bach.”

[@stephen0793]

Thanks so much for the video bro. I knew most of those things but the mixolydian pentatonic thing is like a revelation- now I understand where he gets so many licks from

[@juanantoniomusic]

+stephen0793 Coolness!! Im glad you got something from the vid. I felt exactly the same way when I found it!

[@wishiwassungha]

You nailed it man. Thanks so much, very helpful!

[@Jmilillo]

Steve Vai and Eric Johnson. My two favorite guitarists!

[@kentinspacetime5378]

Great lesson. You are a very articulate and clear speaker. No mushy, stumbling, thought, which is the norm for most guitar players. Thanks. I learned a lot.

[@tomfoolery2082]

U hav saved me tons of time tryin to figure out what u hav just shown. Thx !

[@juanantoniomusic]

Glad the video helped out man!

[@martintuppurainen7059]

Step one: Be Eric Johnson

[@MGWGuitars]

Step 2. Don't play on the neck pick up for Eric Johnson licks (he doesn't).

[@MGWGuitars]

I will add clarity to my comment here. I mean for the pentatonic runs. Eric's tone is dark enough that his bridge pick up is his primary pick up for his pentatonic leads. Yes, he uses the neck pick up all the time, but watch him whenever he plays cliffs of dover or any run like that. Read the studio notes on the cliffs of dover lead tone (Gibson ES-335 Bridge Pick up).

[@davidallen346]

Step two Be Joe Bonamassa

[@philbluesjamtracks7184]

Many thanks for sharing your inspired experience. Excellent explanations :-)

[@HarryStoneDotCom]

Thank you for this, really great tutorial.

[@subhrajyotiroy6042]

The dominant 11 sounds so awesome. I've been looking for it all over the Internet

[@kingsxkids]

that first descending 6 pentatonic is old school Zakk Wylde- just add a few pinch harmonics, as you see fit. Eric runs the fives a lot. Jonny sums it up well. Meanwhile... Juan you are brilliant

[@andrulin1]

Another great vid!! Thanks a lot for sharing...

[@juanantoniomusic]

andrulin1 Thanks man!!!

[@aryandeka4921]

There are lots of guitar teacher but u are the suitable for my learning process

[@v2vroth]

awesome lesson thanks so much for sharing!

[@lrmars]

Excellent playing and instruction!

[@sugumarankumareson176]

Fantastic lesson... Thanks!🤘

[@normcote270]

WP WOW, BEST Eric Johnson breakdown on KZbin without doubt!!! Thanks so much!

[@juanantoniomusic]

Thanks a ton for the kind words!!! :) Glad you enjoyed it!

[@normcote270]

Thankyou Juan!!!

[@jackmeginniss6327]

Great stuff. I like playing pentatonics using string skipping.

[@tomjackpaul8566]

Great lesson, thank you!

[@admtech69]

Good, it's nearly impossible to duplicate Ej's tone though.

[@fredericadda]

What an amazing video! I just learnt so much in such a short time ❤

[@juanantoniomusic]

Thanks man! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@vikram_khade]

Vaaaaughn! beautiful! i am learning this!

[@phillipmarshall8125]

excellent video, exactly what i was hoping for

[@juanantoniomusic]

Awesomeness, glad you liked it!!!

[@thedudeaars8527]

this is great stuff

[@HankMarquardt]

I've noticed he does some of the dom 11 type structures/licks but in Dorian context ... 1 b3 4 6 b7 ... throwing the 5 in as well, giving your weaving element as well. Really well done video. Thanks!

[@carlosmontoyamusic]

Very well explained, thanks, bro!

[@juanantoniomusic]

Carlos Montoya Thanks man! Good to hear that these are helping!

[@richardbruno17]

Juan, thank you man!

[@stevesuv]

When I was a kid and I was watching EJ on 1000th generation VHS tapes I did not think there was any human who could make this understandable. It was magic and very exciting.. You have done a wonderful job of explaining some of his magic. God bless you for putting in the time to transpose some of this stuff to us mere mortals. I know it took hours of work, and you have done a great job.

[@juanantoniomusic]

Thanks a ton for the wonderfully kind words! I truly appreciate these types of comments and they inspire and motivate me to keep pumping out as best content I can as fast as I can. Thanks again! :)

[@tedybear335]

Great lesson!!

[@dikhukpa10]

You deserve so much more subscribers. Love your videos :)

[@AndoniDiazPuerta]

thank you! Waiting for a lesson like this!

[@juanantoniomusic]

Andoni Diaz Awesomeness! Glad to know you liked it!

[@lousekoya1803]

Love your demo and playing !!...............will practice !!...............Subscribed !

[@corv2731]

This is a phenomenal breakdown of Eric's style, and this has given me a ton of things to practice. You're a remarkable guitarist and a great teacher! Thanks for sharing, I subscribed!

[@corv2731]

Also - MAD RESPECT for you for giving a shoutout to Troy Grady- it was actually after watching his videos that I found yours because I wanted to learn more about Johnson's style. You are clearly a very humble and awesome dude. Cheers man.

[@juanantoniomusic]

Thanks a ton for the lovely words man! I am actually working on a revisited version of this video. I'll hopefully have it ready in about 2 weeks. Thanks for the sub!!! :)

[@corv2731]

@@juanantoniomusic Oh man, please do!!! This video was already fantastic, and I started practicing those beautiful arpeggios right away, so any other info you got, I'm sure all of us will really benefit from it. Thanks again for the awesome lessons man! Can't wait to see more.

[@alanscott7798]

Played cleanly and slowly, so you can keep up, thanks so much.

[@haydonph]

Super lesson, Beautifully explained. Thank you very much

[@sthabipin]

brother u r doing a really good thing...greetings from the top of the world

[@Guitartomguitar]

Excellent, thanks!

[@twoamps]

Great playing well articulated. Real gentlemanly giving props to grady his stuff is great. You're video great too, no bullshit you just get right to it. Bonamassa,,,,great great,,,,,,,stole a lot of Johnson stuff also from other people, When you been around 50 years like me, you can notice this stuff. Love to see you do a demo for the solo in Johnson tunes Desert Rose and Trademark

[@NickBright6]

Excellent tuition man.

[@elmundodelcacticactusworld1388]

I liked this vid a lot. Thank you Juan.

[@juanantoniomusic]

Glad to know you liked it! Thanks for the constant support! :)

[@HofiAgilAghov]

such a great video man

[@megnadh]

You are awesome..nice stuff..watched Guthrie and few other videos, really informative....you earned a sub..I earned lot of knowledge..thanks

[@juanantoniomusic]

+megnadh Thanks for the kind words! I'm glad the videos have helped! Also thanks for the sub!

[@bibilima6891]

Awesome lesson

[@redghost3170]

Brilliant, brilliant, sir.

[@butterflywing61]

Awesome Thanks !

Man! youre videos are amazing! it´s just what i want to do with my videos to! (but i dont have much equipment and the level of your knowledge) I really like the way that you teach because you are not afraid to share your knowledge! maybe in the future i have online lessons with you bro!

[@juanantoniomusic]

+Rolando López Thanks man! I suggest that you begin working with whatever equipment you have. I run a pretty low budget operation at the moment using my phone and looper (although I have some lights). But I started out with just the camera on the phone. Same thing as for the software on the computer which is moviemaker and audacity which are both free.

Juan Antonio thank you for your advice! You are really great guitar player and teacher

[@danielralec2829]

Never knew I could get close to sounding like him but with this I definitely did!!

[@juanantoniomusic]

That’s awesome man! Glad to hear the video helped!

[@ArtieDillon]

Nicely done bro!

[@christianboutot]

Also, Eric has a big big big sense of melody ( c.f: " cliffs of Dover ", " Manatthan " etc....) Good video...thanks

[@masterturek]

Muy buena lección. He aprendido mucho con tus videos. Éxito.

[@juanantoniomusic]

Luis Couret Gracias a ti por seguir los videos!

[@locky828]

Hi Juan what a video! It’s given me a lot of things to try out so thank you for that! Would you be able to do an Ian Thornley video? He’s a pretty unknown guitar player sadly but he’s definitely one of the best I’ve heard. A similar style to EJ but he’s definitely got his own style. Again great work!

[@JayAskey]

great job thanks

[@marianobrascich]

AWESOME !!! GRERAT VIDEO ANTONIO!!!

[@juanantoniomusic]

Gracias Mariano! Nos mantenemos en comunicación!

[@gregorybeavins4182]

Juan, you play and teach very well. Your guitar is very handsome.

[@AlejandroGonzalez-wo5fk]

Really REALLY good lesson! Your channel is underrated. Subscribed

[@juanantoniomusic]

Thanks a ton man. Really glad you liked it! :)

[@GDIEternal]

On the harmonized 7th chord technique: The scale degrees are 1, 5, 3, then 7. 1 and 5 are a perfect 5th apart from one another, as are 3 and 7. So it's just 5ths a diatonic 3rd apart. Playing 5ths separated by major seconds, minor thirds, major thirds, etc. will create different sounds. Eric Johnson simply found part of his voice by playing perfect 5ths separated by a third within the key. Don't be afraid to mess around with these things. You might come up with something unique.

[@Jadakra]

Sound advice.

[@dmaninla]

Excellent video! Great playing and no filler. Thx.

[@stephanstrandheim3117]

Love this :)

[@carlthetruthwilliams9447]

Most excellent out there on EJ on YT. Your teaching style is much better than Troys.Thanks :)

[@juanantoniomusic]

Wow! Those are some very very kind words! Thanks a bunch man!

[@darylclouse8624]

You got a killer tone..any chance that you can explain how to get it..thx for the videos

[@IsraelRomeroGuitar]

Acho me gusto mucho mano ! Duro duro!!

[@juanantoniomusic]

Fuck yeah! Que bueno bro! Significa mucho viviendo de ti!

[@DannyGatton94]

I found a great channel 🤩

[@EricBourassa]

dig it, thanks!

[@juanantoniomusic]

Glad you like it!!! :)

[@omargonzalez3322]

Meraaaa mister saludos

[@Migler1]

Eric actually plays 5 notes and at the end of the 5th note he does a down stroke on both strings from the 5th to the 1st, restarting the note sequence. He also uses downward pickslanting which makes it easier to play smooth without getting stuck between the strings. So the pattern Eric does is "1 2 3 4 5 - 1 2 3 4 5" and then he keeps doing that for different patterns. Eric always picks the two last notes in one sweep before restarting the note sequence.

[@richardbruno17]

I see what you did there sir (Troy Grady Jargon?)

[@MrJackrockerman]

+Richard Diaz haha agreed 😁👍

[@Migler1]

Thanks for noticing ;) Regards

[@joesprunt585]

he uses groups of 5, 6, 4, etc...

[@Migler1]

Yes he sure does that as well. Thank you for putting it out there! ;)

[@andreasalustri9703]

great lesson. But now, how to increase the speed of those licks like E Johnson ???

[@williamaboukhalil3954]

You should use downward pickslanting watch cracking the code ep9 to 11 its very helpfull

[@pau.c_himself]

Try the troy grady method

[@juankmarte4046]

To increase speed follow Jon Bjork. Best explaining for techniques

[@apri13hernandez94]

🥰🤟🇵🇭 thanks for sharing

[@SonTran-gc6hz]

Good

[@andrewcompton3366]

Great video,Really enjoyed it.What amp and cab are you running through?.

[@juanantoniomusic]

+ANDREW COMPTON I'm actually playing directly into a Line 6 JM4 Looper so no amps were involved in the recording process. Thanks for the support!

[@toddanthony5032]

Juan,k love your tone! Can you tell me what your rig setup is?

[@juanantoniomusic]

Thanks man! I have a Suhr Standard Custom guitar, a pedalboard with a Dunlop Mini Volume, Dunlop Mini Wah, ProCo Rat, Andy Timmos Signature BB Preamp, MXR Carbon Copy Delay, TC Electronics Hall of fame and Polytune. Lastly I record everything on a Line 6 JM4 looper. For this video I used the Rat, and the Hall of Fame. I am planning a Demo vid on how to get the tone on this video since a lot of guys have been asking for it so stay tuned! :)

[@JackBlack66666]

I really love your mellow sound! What neck pickup is in that guitar? Tone pot on full or rolled down?

[@juanantoniomusic]

Thanks man! I have a Suhr JST DSV Humbucker on the neck. And I can't exactly remember if I had it rolled down but I think I do. I did a couple of tone tests before recording the vid and did some with the tone rolled down that sounded awesome so I probably rolled it down a bit.

[@MJCGuitar]

That dom11 arpeggio is sick👍

[@juanantoniomusic]

I love it as well!!! :)

[@MJCGuitar]

@@juanantoniomusic Keep up the great work!

[@pauloricardobranchi4546]

Muito top lindo

[@alexisrosalesruiz7334]

Just practice that's all, seriously, you will be as good as YOU want to be or your time allows. It's a proven fact, the brain will adapt to challenges and will overcome those challenges to facilitate you being a great musician.

[@juanantoniomusic]

So true! Thanks for the inspiring words!

[@TroyDawes43]

Thats ah fact jack....

[@kimhansen6384]

How did you get that phasing on the talking?

[@surveyordave]

what kind of guitar are you playing??

[@icymars]

another great tutorial, thx a lot!

[@juanantoniomusic]

Glad you liked it! :)

[@kuyakoi3469]

is there a video that could help me understand these terms like flat 5,third, root.. I know pentatonic scale but that's it. I need help

[@juanantoniomusic]

I don't any videos on straight up theory out but I have them planned in the future. I'll let you know once they are out. For now look up scale construction and or intervals in the search bar and you'll probably find something that helps.

[@lpgoog]

How important is the picking(up or down) stroke? It's not outlined in the tabs. Great instruction regardless 🎸👍

[@juanantoniomusic]

+lpgoog Thanks man! The picking is very important for some of the faster examples and not so much for others. You can check out Troy Grady's Eric Johnson videos to see some fine detail on the picking patterns used. I would record a lesson of my own on the topic but sadly I am without services(water, power, internet, etc) because of hurricane Maria (I live in Puerto Rico). I'll get back to work on the videos as soon as I get some services back. Thanks for you comment!

[@lpgoog]

Juan Antonio Thx for taking the time to get back to me /I wish you and your family the best in this tragic year for many🙏

[@allenbrininstool7558]

A friend of mine is Eric's manager in Austin.

[@juanantoniomusic]

Super nice man!!!

[@ISirLex]

Which Mixolydian Scale do you think of in Ex.4? Its D Mixolydian aye?

[@juanantoniomusic]

Yup, I'm playing a D Dominant 11th arpeggio.

[@BlurryFaces]

Could you tell us what effects are you using here, especially in regards to distortion? Sounds very close to Eric's sound indeed.

[@juanantoniomusic]

BlurryFaces Thanks! I am using a ProCo Rat and a TC Hall of Fame Reverb (on the hall setting). I always record with a Line 6 JM4 looper which takes headphones so I got around to playing with the settings a bit. I also rolled the tone down on my guitar a bit to kill some of the grittiness and percussive aspects of the guitar. Hope that helps!

[@BlurryFaces]

Yes, it helps! Thank you very much, man!

[@beeastman1235]

You should do an Oz Noy vid!

[@juanantoniomusic]

+Beeastman123 Very very nice! I added him to the waiting list. That one is going to be fun to work on. Thanks for the suggestion and the constant support!

[@BasBach]

Sounds like I have some practicing to do hehe

[@tomazvital1986]

What string do you use 010, 09?

[@juanantoniomusic]

+Trilha Vital I tend to prefer the sound 10's but I tend to get hand problems so I usually go for 9's.

[@zahinrashidofficial1768]

Shawn Lane and Jason Becker plz plz plz :)

[@juanantoniomusic]

I've actually done videos on the both them! :) You can find them by scrolling in my channel or in the search bar. Thanks for the suggestions!!!

[@mijit.859]

EJ should go down in the Musical hall of Fame ! As well as being one of the Greatest guitar players ! 😨

[@shamzamri3442]

May I know your suhr's model and color?

[@juanantoniomusic]

Sure thing, it’s a Suhr Standard (I think they don’t make this specific model anymore tho) and it’s a Rootbeer stain over a Quilted Maple top.

[@shamzamri3442]

@@juanantoniomusic oh I see... now they came out with bengal something with two pcs quilted top. Any way thanks for the replied man.

[@alibatal7284]

What pickups you are using ?

[@juanantoniomusic]

I actually had to check the Order Form for the guitar to find out :D On the neck I have a Suhr JST DSV Humbucker and a Suhr JST DSH+ on the Bridge. I believe I am using the neck pickup for the video.

[@alexschultze9725]

Can you do a Mateus Asato one too plz?

[@juanantoniomusic]

I actually got 2 requests for a Mateus Asato style video on the same day! I already had it planned and will be getting to work on it soon so stay tuned! :)

[@alexschultze9725]

Awesome, thanks!

[@juanantoniomusic]

Video is up! Thanks for the suggestion! :)

[@irena7777777]

Juan Antonio Who do you prefer out of Eric Johnson and Joe Bonamassa? You're a great player. Do you have any of your own albums?

[@juanantoniomusic]

fredo gumbo To be honest I haven't heard enough Joe Bonamassa to be able to fairly compare them. I do not have an album of my own but I am beginning to write my own music so that I can get the album production process under way hopefulyy by next year. Thanks for the kind words!

[@guillotinedeath]

7 chordharmony scale has great sound

[@juanantoniomusic]

Yeah! I found out about that by accident actually. I was watching an episode of "That Pedal Show" and saw one of the guys playing around with that. I then found a Guitar One article on Eric Johnson and it mentioned something similar. I then finally got around to practicing it and I love it!

[@itskylepaul]

0:06

[@pauloricardobranchi4546]

Tem a tablatura pra me passar

[@juanantoniomusic]

Yes, you can find it on my Patreon account

[@slidersson]

Why drench it in reverb?

[@user-zh9yg6fn3p]

7:56

[@nethbt]

Do a Kerry King please

[@juanantoniomusic]

It's a bit out of my element but I never say no to a challenge! I added it to the waiting list and I'll get to it as soon as I tackle some of the other vids. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@elliotignasiak5152]

Kerry King: use your whammy bar and have no concept of key or scale :D