How to Play "Cocaine" by Eric Clapton
"Cocaine", a JJ Cale original song, made famous by Eric Clapton is arguably one of Clapton's easiest and most fun songs to learn.
Consisting of only four repeated chords and room for improvised solos, follow this tutorial and soon you can impress others by playing a popular song from one of the world's greatest musicians.
- Difficulty:
- Moderate
Instructions
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1
Listen to the song. It is a very basic one, consisting of three three-line verses (one repeated twice), a solo, and an outro.
The third line in each of the verses is considered the chorus, and I will refer to it that way. Overall, a very simple song to learn.
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2
The Chorus, and Outro are all the same. They follow the same descending four-chord progression.
It goes: E-D-C-Bm. Much easier to play as power chords.
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3
The Intro and Verses also share a pattern. That sequence goes E-E-D-E...D. After the first four chords, pause for a couple seconds and play the D chord again.
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4
When it comes to the solo, there are official versions of how to play it, but, just like most blues songs, the solos are able to be improvised. Take the standard blues scale, at the 5th fret, and combine it with an octave higher at the 12th fret and compose a solo.
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5
When playing the solo, remember that blues songs do not need wickedly fast solos, but rather those which give out more meaning.
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6
Practice the structure. The song goes - Intro, Verse/Chorus 1, Verse/Chorus 2, Solo, Verse/Chorus 3, Outro.
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