JJ Cale Licks in E

The ActiveMelody.com August 2016 Lesson Challenge was on Lesson EP103 "JJ Cale Style". In preparation for that challenge, I harvested some JJ Cale licks from some of his songs and transposed them to E and adapted them to the lesson. Since it took a while to do that, I thought it would be good to share them with other guitar students.

[@sunjamrblues]

Now (May 2019) I have harvested some minor key licks from JJ's songs and transcribed them all into Am key. You can find them here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5ykiGqemr6Srq8

[@loontil]

"harvested".....like that..

[@villek6639]

Actually, Cajun Moon was not played by JJ, but the legendary Reggie Young! With a volume pedal to enhance the eerie effect of the vocal bends.

[@sunjamrblues]

That makes sense. In all the live versions I've heard, JJ plays it using a simple Travis picking strum.

[@MrTazacolumbia]

I’m glad not the only one who’s crazy about JJ. Only the artist I cried when he died 🙏🎶

[@damienomusic]

Great job! Not so much lessons on Cale on KZbin, yours really reflects the mood of the maestro)

[@markhorton3041]

Thank you for bringing JJ Cale’s music to us other fans and guitar players. Anything by JJ seems hard to find. R. I.P JJ.

[@sunjamrblues]

Some people say JJ was a bit reclusive, but I think he was just enjoying a relaxed life. The rumor is that Eric Clapton tracked him down and brought him out of semi-retirement for his Guitar Festival and to make their joint album, so we owe Eric.

[@tnokeefe]

Never did get any reply so I went on an analyzing quest and I found that what fits is E Dorian I listened to that jj tribute playing the Breeze 10 or 12 guitar players on stage all having a go and to me, none of them were even close anybody wants to throw their hat in the ring, have a listen to the notes some of them sound odd but good and that's where I think they come from, cheers to all, Terry.

[@kompst]

Love his playing and your teaching

[@ambroseharper8316]

Good job, thank-you 😊

[@rogertinker1813]

I know this is an old video , but i had to comment , my playing style is 1 part me 1 part JJ cale, and a dash of BB king

[@JKFlaker]

Hah! I recognize you from Active Melody! Was looking to play some JJ Cale style stuff and was searching KZbin and found this. Haven't had a chance to fully watch your video yet but it's on my to do list. Looking forward to sitting down with this and my guitar (I'm at work now :( Thanks for posting and see you over at AM sometime!

[@sunjamrblues]

No problem. We in the Active Melody community are really into sharing stuff we've learned, and helping each other out.

[@merldesoisa2287]

Excellent God bless you ❤❤

[@gavankinna9002]

Congratulations and thank you for sharing, kind sir.

[@vasilismaroulis1432]

Great playing sir!! and amazing sound!! What model is this Strat and what pickup's does it have? Do you use any effect?

[@2ndbar]

Thanks!

[@GreatWaterCircus]

Thank you... very cool

[@hinspect]

I realize this is an old Video but Great Job! I was fortunate to be close to jj live twice in Knoxville and once in Asheville

[@sunjamrblues]

Thanks! You were indeed lucky.

[@ieldepiel]

Nice sounds,love JJ

[@MegaGuitarpicker]

Good job!

[@v4ngeloz]

well done sir!!!

[@walterpaskevicius9373]

good job

[@GreatWaterCircus]

Thank you, learned heaps.

[@geraldwest3428]

Excellent, thank you! Nice guitar also...is that an American Standard, what year? Thanks again!

[@sunjamrblues]

American Standard Strat, 2017. I like the newer Strats better than the older ones, because they seem to be lighter... or at least lighter than most of the older ones I've handled.

[@DoubleLLL]

Great lesson, thanks!

[@jimsliverootsculturemusic]

J.J. Cale was a lazy bender and it was a very good thing.

[@tnokeefe]

WHAT HAVE YOU GOT ON "they call me the breeze" please be specific on the scale is it major or minor pentatonic thanks Terry

[@sunjamrblues]

Funny you mention that. I've just been extracting some more of his licks, including Call Me the Breeze. My theory: He plays the song with a capo on the 2nd fret, then using the E chord structures. His solo part towards the end is played in 1st position minor pentatonic scale rooted on the 14th fret. His guitar is tuned 0.3 semitone sharp, so if you want to play along, you have to tune the song down by -0.3 semitone. I do it using an app called Anytune. Good luck!

[@sunjamrblues]

Also - search KZbin for "Eric Clapton & JJ Cale - Call Me breeze HD". It was played at the Crossroads Guitar Festival. There he plays it in E with a properly tuned guitar, and he and Eric have some excellent licks - much better than the original recording.

[@MrFrampo56]

Forget trying to play like Cale did. Nobody can. You just did some basic pentatonic stuff. Not unique to JJ.

[@silviorcr]

Can i have the link of the backing track of the firts lick please?

[@sunjamrblues]

The jamtrack came from lesson EP103 on the ActiveMelody.com website: www.activemelody.com/lesson/j-j-cale-style-simple-blues-guitar-lesson-ep103/ You can't download the jamtrack unless you're a member, which costs about US $60/year. If you are into learning guitar, you might want to consider joining. The teacher - Brian - has nearly 400 excellent lessons in many styles, and I have learned almost everything I know about guitar from his lessons. There's also an excellent forum for sharing ideas and posting videos of your playing.

[@silviorcr]

@@sunjamrblues Really interesting, thanks for the information!

[@pgadam5301]

That’s a good looking guitar… What is it?

[@sunjamrblues]

Fender Strat, made in America. I highly recommend it.

[@phinishman]

very nice

[@GreatWaterCircus]

Hey thanks for that...

[@a6t8b6s1]

What is the name of the program you use?

[@sunjamrblues]

I'm using Logic Pro X, which is an Apple product - kind of like Garageband on steroids. I'm only a beginner at Logic Pro, and I can see that it will take a lot of time and effort to get good at it. KZbin has lots of Logic Pro tutorials, and I've learned a lot from them. I also have Cubase, which is similar to Logic Pro, but I've never actually used it.

[@juanmanuelsorrentino3326]

Buena clase amigo!!!!

[@starke2908]

Jailer, Tijuana, lonesome train, people lie , my gal

[@chrisb8075]

You might want to invest in a tuner

[@ulpana]

You'll lose the feel of blues if you invest in a tuner. "Flat is where it's at..." Mitch Ritter\Paradigm Shifters & Sifters Lay-Low Studios, Ore-Wa Media Disc-US-sion List

[@gabrielmartir3289]

Hey this is gabe did we not meet at your cousins house Marilyn Welch my friend thinks that we are not family and I want to proof him wrong just coment back YES OR NO

[@sunjamrblues]

Yes, you win!

[@normsky5504]

Pity about the tuning being slightly adrift.

[@sunjamrblues]

Well, it's not meant to be a concert, just a sharing of information. The tuning was spot on, according to my tuner, but many of the bends are not bent quite far enough. I'm only a beginner, so I'm still working on that. But you get the idea of how the licks go, and that's the important part.