Per request, quick and dirty: Joe Higley
Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 8:26 am
Rob asked me to tab out the riffs from Joe Higley since that video of Brad giving the quick tutorial was taken down. I don't actually know all of the lyrics to this tune, but just listening to the form, it's a 12 bar blues in the key of A, so for the most part you'll see A7, D7, and E7, or some alternates/extensions of those chords. One thing that I will say, though, is that in the video, Brad played a D7 chord using a C shape, so (5)54520 (that open high E makes it a D7 with a 9). I put that low E in parentheses because he uses a travis picking technique to alternate the thumb between the E, A, and D strings (not in that order). If someone wants me to tab out that travis picking pattern, I will, but I'm just doing this quickly at work, at the moment 
Edit: Added one more riff that I forgot earlier. It really should just be two riffs, but if you read the final comment in the code you'll understand how I'm approaching it.
Code: Select all
Riff 1
E|-------------------
B|-------------------
G|-----5---7---5--6--
D|-----5---7---5--5--
A|--0------0---0-----
E|-------------------
This is loose. Most time I just pedal the open A string along with the D and G strings,
but you can syncopate them a little more if you like.
Riff 2
E|------------------
B|------------------
G|------------------
D|--7---7---7---7---
A|--5^--5---3---0---
E|-------------(5)--
The parenthetical refers to the enharmonic of open A; play which ever is more comfortable.
Riff 3
E|--5---5---5---5--
B|--3^--3----------
G|----------5---2--
D|-----------------
A|-----------------
E|-----------------
Riff 4
E|--5---5---5---5--
B|-----------------
G|-----------------
D|-----------------
A|--5^--5---3---0--
E|-----------------
Typically Riff 3 and Riff 4 are played sequentially, as are 1 and 2. I thought it was easier for everyone to learn the individual riffs isolated, though.