Skip to main content
MusicRadar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
UK EditionUK US EditionUS AU EditionAustralia SG EditionSingapore
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Black Friday
  • Artist news
  • Music Gear Reviews
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Controllers
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Guitar Amps
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About us
Don't miss these
Man holding acoustic guitar in front of a silver laptop
Guitar Lessons & Tutorials What are the best online guitar lessons in 2025? I review guitar gear for a living and these are my favourite lessons platforms
Side profile of a person playing a drum kit
Drum Lessons & Tutorials 13 easy drum songs every beginner should learn
Derek Trucks takes a slide solo on his Gibson SG as Tedeschi Trucks Band performs live at Madison Square Garden.
Artists Derek Trucks is one of the greatest slide players of all time – here’s how he decides when to use it
Paul Gilbert
Recording Four big-name guitarists spill their recording secrets
John McLaughlin
Artists “I don’t have many guitar players’ albums on my iPhone, but Jeff is there”: John McLaughlin on the magic of Jeff Beck
Greg Mackintosh of Paradise Lost plays his custom 7-string V live onstage with red and white stagelights behind him.
Artists Greg Mackintosh on the secrets behind the Paradise Lost sound and why he is still trying to learn Trouble’s tone tricks
Jimi and Billy in 1968
Artists “I was playing the Fender Strat that Jimi Hendrix gave me”: Billy Gibbons on the making of ZZ Top's greatest blues song
Ableton Live MIDI tools tutorial
Music Production Tutorials Stuck for ideas? Here's how to create fresh basslines and melodies with Ableton Live 12’s MIDI tools
David Gilmour plays a Black Stratocaster onstage in New York, on a moody stage lit in dark blue.
Artists David Gilmour shares an essential tone tip for guitarists using a whammy bar with a delay pedal
Rick Graham is photographed in a dark setting with a warm stagelight in the background; he holds his new signature electric guitar, a shell-pink S-style with a reverse headstock
Artists Charvel and Rick Graham team up for Pro-Mod signature model with relic'd nitro cult colour finish
Andy Fraser in 1971
Artists “The notes he didn’t play were more important than the notes he did play”: A salute from one great bassist to another
Steve Morse plays live with Deep Purple and takes a solo on on his signature Ernie Ball Music Man, with the band's logo visible in the background
Artists Steve Morse on the time he took power tools to his guitar so he could play a Deep Purple show with a broken wrist
Steve Morse plays his signature Ernie Ball Music Man electric guitar live with Dixie Dregs
Artists Steve Morse on playing through the pain barrier and how arthritis is forcing him to change the way he plays guitar
Jeff Porcaro
Artists Exploring the genius of Jeff Porcaro's Rosanna Shuffle
Gretsch Electromatic CVT Double-Cut in Wychwood greenburst finish
Electric Guitars "For garage, punk, and rock styles, it’s got the tonal firepower on offer": Gretsch Electromatic CVT Double-Cut review
More
  • Charlie XCX + John Cale
  • Lily Allen's songwriting camp
  • Fleetwood Mac for Glasto?
  • 95k+ free music samples
  • Simon Phillips
  1. Tutorials
  2. Guitar Lessons & Tutorials

Quick licks: intermediate #7

News
By Guitar Techniques ( Guitar Techniques ) published 26 October 2011

Merle Travis picking and Clapton lead

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Intermediate lick one: Merle Travis picking

Intermediate lick one: Merle Travis picking

A Merle Travis influenced fingerstyle exercise that requires palm muting the bass notes to make them stand out. You'll want to create as much independence as possible between the treble and bass strings and give this exercise a relaxed swing at 95 bpm.

Page 1 of 2
Page 1 of 2
Intermediate lick two: Cream/Clapton lead

Intermediate lick two: Cream/Clapton lead

A gem in the style of Eric Clapton's classic Cream era. The entire lick is played an octave above where it is written at the 17th fret position in the A blues scale (A, C, D, Eb, E, G, A). Be sure to apply a singing vibrato where indicated. Bridge humbucker and Marshall distortion are ideal.

Page 2 of 2
Page 2 of 2
Guitar Techniques
The worlds best high-quality guitar tuition from the UKs foremost teachers and players image
The worlds best high-quality guitar tuition from the UKs foremost teachers and players
Subscribe and save today!
More Info
Read more
Side profile of a person playing a drum kit
13 easy drum songs every beginner should learn
 
 
Derek Trucks takes a slide solo on his Gibson SG as Tedeschi Trucks Band performs live at Madison Square Garden.
Derek Trucks is one of the greatest slide players of all time – here’s how he decides when to use it
 
 
Paul Gilbert
Four big-name guitarists spill their recording secrets
 
 
John McLaughlin
“I don’t have many guitar players’ albums on my iPhone, but Jeff is there”: John McLaughlin on the magic of Jeff Beck
 
 
Greg Mackintosh of Paradise Lost plays his custom 7-string V live onstage with red and white stagelights behind him.
Greg Mackintosh on the secrets behind the Paradise Lost sound and why he is still trying to learn Trouble’s tone tricks
 
 
Jimi and Billy in 1968
“I was playing the Fender Strat that Jimi Hendrix gave me”: Billy Gibbons on the making of ZZ Top's greatest blues song
 
 
Latest in Guitar Lessons & Tutorials
Close up of a person holding an acoustic guitar bathed sunlight
Ignite your inner guitar god for just 27 cents a day with TrueFire’s July 4th sale - save 60% on online lessons
 
 
MusicNomad fret tuition
Can you fix your guitar's frets yourself? We try three innovative approaches from MusicNomad to investigate how they might conquer a major cause of fret buzz
 
 
George Harrison
How to play like George Harrison on The Beatles' Abbey Road
 
 
MusicNomad guitar fret cleaning
"You owe your guitar the chance to be its best": How to clean and polish your guitar frets a better way
 
 
Jimmy Page
Play like Jimmy Page! Exclusive video lesson
 
 
Music Theory
How learning and understanding chord symbols can prove a major benefit for sharing your musical ideas
 
 
Latest in News
Alex Skolnick of Testament shows off his signature ESP singlecut as he performs at Belgium's Alcatraz Festival in 2024. On the right, Kiko Loureiro and Dave Mustaine of Megadeth photographed in the corridors backstage at Wembley Arena in 2015.
Alex Skolnick on the time he was on standby for Megadeth – and what to do when you can’t match a player lick for lick
 
 
An Alesis Strata Core electronic drum set on a yellow background
I’ve seen a lot of Black Friday sales, but this one’s next level - Sweetwater just dropped thousands of discounts of up to 80% off guitars, drums, keys, and more
 
 
David Bowie and Damon Albarn sing together
“I nearly made a record with Ray Davies and David Bowie”: Damon Albarn on the dream collab that never happened
 
 
Coldplay Music of the Spheres tour
Coldplay’s live engineers reveal the lengths they go to to record every show on the band’s Music of the Spheres tour
 
 
Electro-Harmonix Pico Atomic Cluster: the new glitch/synth mini-pedal from the storied NYC pedal brand
EHX expands its Pico series with the Atomic Cluster Spectral Decomposer – a mini-pedal that sounds so wrong its right
 
 
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 28: Charli XCX attends the Los Angeles Red Carpet Premiere of HBO Original Comedy Series "I Love LA" at Paramount Theatre on October 28, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for HBO)
"I sort of felt like I was squeezing blood from a stone”: Charli XCX reveals her post-Brat creative comedown
 
 

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google
  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...