Key to the Highway - Eric Clapton, Derek & the Dominoes (Guitar Lesson with TAB)

[@Tucky79]

Thank you sir for breaking this down so easily for the FNG here. I have been a lifelong Clapton fan especially Derek and the Dominoes, even named my daughter Layla. This song has always intimidated me and your lesson has taken the edge off and made it much less confusing to me.

[@MarkZabel]

Glad to help!

[@MattyBEightyThree]

One of the greatest jams, if not the greatest, of all time. Thanks Mark!

[@MarkZabel]

Super-fun to play certainly!

[@adrianschindlbeck9322]

Hi Mark, great job! I was really looking forward to this video since you announced it a few days ago. I wouldn't have thought that you will surprise us with this fantastic piece of music so soon. Thanks for all your videos, I really enjoy your work very much. Best greetings from Bavaria. Adrian

[@MarkZabel]

Thanks Adrian. I really appreciate the kind, supportive words. Greetings from Ithaca, NY USA!

[@5150show]

Outstanding.

[@MarkZabel]

Thank you!!

[@drutgat2]

You have great feel, Mark. And I always enjoy your teaching. Many thanks for this.

[@MarkZabel]

Thanks. Glad you liked it!

[@midrider335]

Another gem Mark! You nailed it, thanks!

[@MarkZabel]

Thanks so much!

[@3cardmonty602]

Oh Man, one of my favorites!!!

[@MarkZabel]

Thanks! Glad you liked it.

[@bobbyhill1005]

Awesome!

[@MarkZabel]

Thanks!

[@davidparry6251]

Good morning Mark. Very cool lesson. Have a great day :D

[@MarkZabel]

Thanks David. You have one too!

[@rpstrings]

THANKS MARK! GREAT JOB!

[@MarkZabel]

My pleasure. Thanks for watching!

[@thealgonquin1]

Fab lesson !!!!

[@MarkZabel]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@johnallwood]

great work , top class teaching !

[@MarkZabel]

Thanks Johniie! Really appreciate it.

[@Mr2006explorer]

I wore out my vinyl copy learning this & a few others on the same album. Thanks! P.S. "Anyday" reminder.

[@MarkZabel]

Thanks for the reminder! Hey, you sent me a comment a while back too. (Looking for a backing track maybe?) I replied, but KZbin is getting rid of messaging, so who knows what the situation is. If you're looking for a backing track let me know your email (you can email me and I'll reply if that works better for you - try my KZbin Account page or markzabel.com).

[@rickmoore7501]

greeting's from Vermont Mark,well done again,thanks.

[@MarkZabel]

Thanks Rick! Greetings from upstate NY. Maybe we'll cross paths this August. I'm going to be on Lake Champlain for a while this Summer. Still ironing out the details. Much needed vacation!

[@fredtortonesi2918]

Thanks Mark Great job

[@MarkZabel]

Thanks Fred!

[@dexgp4546]

Despite your anti-Strat comment Hahaha! I think you’re a great player and greater teacher! Thank you for this awesome lesson! I just liked and subscribed and look forward to digging into your channel.

[@MarkZabel]

Ha! I'm not really anti-strat, they just aren't the guitars for me - usually. I *love* the sound of a good Strat neck pickup! But I'm glad you can see past my (unreasonable) anti-Stratocaster prejudice to subscribe and still enjoy the channel!!

[@thiscorrosion900]

Will be studying this for sure. Was wondering what type of amp are you using here? Any overdrive, or is it all gain and volume?

[@MarkZabel]

I think it's a Blackstar HT-5. Probably just gain and volume back then. I've gotten a bit disillusioned with the gain channel of the amp though, so now I would probably use an overdrive pedal (very, very lightly) on the clean channel.

[@thiscorrosion900]

@@MarkZabel I cannot believe I typed anp, haha, but I was on my phone earlier. Anyway, Mark, great to hear from you! Enjoyed the hell out of this lesson. I did take a stab at Key earlier, using a small Orange amp I just grabbed. Well, it's starting to come along. However, I realized an important lesson about amps: if it's smaller, low wattage, unless it's a tube amp, you're NOT going to get any real power out of it. Usually that's the case. The Orange sounds good but it's mainly for rock and overdrive/distortion type crunch. I do own a Blackstar 10 watt IDCore amp, I find it's best also, for crunch and overdrive and not for clean settings. I've heard others complain that Blackstar amps are great for hard rock and metal but you cannot get away from the inherent grit in the sound of 'em. Lucky for me I still have my older Fender Mustang I v.2, I just tested that out again with the Fender Bassman "channel," and my Blues Driver pedal, at a decent volume, gain up not too high, maybe 4, and I had a good solid loud blues lead tone. I guess that's what I'm sticking with then, going forwards. That Blackstar you've got is the smaller tube version right? That amp should deliver a good cleaner blues tone I'm sure, even at a lower volume, than my smaller "modeling" amps will do. Honestly I was finding it very frustrating lately. For example, I got a Roland Micro Cube, which is phenomenal for practice and getting a clean chimey chorus sound, in particular, and maybe some basic Marshall type sounds, but it is not high power of course, in any way. It IS a good small amp, for sure, though. The quality of the overall tone is fantastic. However, why can't Roland deliver that amp in a good 25 watt version or 50? I don't understand the logic of some of these manufacturers. Fender at least seems to have covered all those bases. My Mustang is about 75 watts and thank God I got that version, it has some actual balls to it. I see now why you can't get a good blues lead sound out of a tiny practice amp, really. It's about some sheer volume and SOME gain, not overdrive, basically. Of course some good pedals will help. I have a Blues Driver and a TS7 Tubescreamer, I feel like, what else would I really need? I was reading that Freddie King used all gigantic Fender Showman, Quadraverb, or Super Reverb amps for his entire career, basically, at maximum freakin' volume half the time. That's nice for him, but for those of us playing at home or in an apt., etc., it's not very practical, and those amps cost a bloody fortune. I wouldn't mind owning a Blues Jr. but even those cost far too much for my taste. Just because it's tube? There are cheaper ways to go. Sorry to rant but I get pissed off because I'm so done with buying gear that doesn't deliver. Guitar stores are usually clueless, no help at all. At least that Fender Mustang does deliver some power, and it sounds decent. I even quizzed some Guitar Center salesman about what small amp is good for metal, they couldn't really tell me! There isn't one, in fact. The only good one is a Peavey Vypr, or maybe a Line6 with some decent power to it.

[@ferramirez4570]

Man this is my favourite song from Layla! Thank you! would you please do a second part for the rest of the song?

[@MarkZabel]

Thanks. I've done 2 videos on Key to the Highway so far. The one on Layla is pretty much a straight-up, 9 minute improvised blues jam. I could pick a lick or two, but not the whole song. That would be a 3 hour lesson! Thanks for watching and for the nice comment!!

[@purplecowideal]

Mark do you have a course with this lesson on it. Key to the highway. Thanks.

[@MarkZabel]

Hi John, thanks for asking. I don't have a course specifically with a Key To the Highway lesson in it. But it makes sense, because it's the most well-known 8-bar blues song ... at least most well known to me! Thanks for suggesting it!

[@jamesgretsch4894]

Mark where are you located? I’m in Los Angeles. Wondering if you do any shows? If you are from So Cal do you gig at any So Cal clubs?

[@MarkZabel]

Hi James. I'm from the opposite side of the country - Ithaca, NY. I travel so much for work I'm a horribly unreliable band-mate, so I don't play in a gigging band right now. Hopefully again soon!

[@1Keef]

Hey Mark. I am having problems loading the video. Please re-load when you can. cheers!

[@MarkZabel]

Hi Keef. It looks like it's a KZbin/YourLocalServerCache issue. I will re-upload when I return from this week's travels, but there's no guarantee it will be better ... I hope so though. BTW, I see none of this. Works fine on every device I use.

[@jameswingard4503]

I am having the same problem with this video only.

[@1Keef]

James, I switched my browser from Internet Explorer to Chrome and was able to open the video. For some reason I can still not load it with .Internet Explorer.

[@MarkZabel]

Keef Interesting. Well, now that the net neutrality laws have expired, we may see a lot more of this. I hope not

[@jameswingard4503]

Same for me, it loaded with Chrome, but not Explorer. Thanks

[@hammill444]

Just curious. This is kinda unrelated to the actual lesson, but I was wondering whether you use a compressor pedal at all--- if So, why, and if not, why not?

[@MarkZabel]

Hi. I use a compressor sometimes, sometimes not. A compressor can even out sound and provide additional sustain. So if I want all of my notes to be at roughly the same volume I would crank up the compression.

[@hammill444]

@@MarkZabel Thanks for the response

[@udoheinrichs3431]

Hi Mark, would you please do me the favor to load it again, may be there's something wrong with the videoclip!

[@MarkZabel]

Udo Heinrichs Hi. I can't reload it for a day or two, because I'm on the road. Could you tell me the problems you're having. I'm not seeing any issues on my end.

[@45zapatero]

Mark Zabel On my tablet the video loads very slowly and it stops regularly. Other videos don't seem to have this problem. Maybe Ufo is experiencing the same "problem"?

[@MarkZabel]

Denis Hermans Okay, thanks. I'll check the optimization when I get home in a few days. I'm fairly sure I rendered the video the same way I usually do, so I'm perplexed why it would be any different. Worst comes to worst you can email me and I'll give you a download link. I'm sorry you're having difficulties.

[@45zapatero]

Mark Zabel You don't have to apologise. Still a great video. Thanks for all your efforts. By the way maybe it is just a youtube problem or a problem for a few viewers and it has nothing to do with you!

[@MarkZabel]

Denis Hermans Yes, it could be just that the video isn't cached on the server that your device's algorithm is pulling from. On the other hand, it might be compressed incorrectly. I'll check when I get back.

[@josephsheridan6556]

If you play it in derek and the dominos style.its in open. E hence the title BLUES. IN. E (OPEN) PLAYED BOTH PARTS LEAD .SLIDE .WITH A GLASS SLIDE. .FINGER PICKED.WITH SOME SINGLE STRING SLIDE AND PICKING.J.P.

[@MarkZabel]

Clapton's 2 chorus lead in the beginning (which is what this is, basically) ... you believe that to be in open E? I don't think it is. The licks fit perfectly into standard tuning. Duane is in open E for sure.

[@ferramirez4570]

Or Why does love have be so sad, Have you ever loved a woman and n Nobody knows you when you are down and out

[@MarkZabel]

Okay, sounds good. I've got a few other requests for songs off of that album. More coming soon for sure!! Thanks!!