The intro to the Elmore James classic, The Sky Is Crying, is a really good one to look at in terms of phrasing as it is all based around the same lick that gets phrased slightly differently as the chords change.
Here is the tab:
This cool intro takes place over the last 4 bars of the progression and features three very similar licks each with its own bit of phrasing magic.
For the Slide Success group I played the Elmore James recording then dissected each phrase.
Youtube isn’t too happy with me playing the original recording in my video so I'm just going to pull out a few little samples for you today.
I would urge you to listen to the original and try to imitate the great man himself using these little lesson samples as a way in. Here it is on Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/track/0qRz3AYteD6VX65GkBqcel?si=47ef33183407435a
So here we have the first phrase:
This has more going on from a phrasing point of view than first meets the eye with some subtle string muting. Check out the lesson here: https://youtu.be/MxRlr1ZvoeE
Now onto the next Phrase:
This one is a great example of some staccato phrasing that I talked about on the blog a couple of weeks ago.
Basically shortening the notes to create rhythmic interest and funk. Check out the lesson here to see this in action: https://youtu.be/3zmlgzKzFPc
Now the third phrase:
This one again has a bit of staccato phrasing in it albeit a bit more subtle and some really cool timing things.
Check out the lesson here: https://youtu.be/OocVc_uX6w8
Now finally here is the last phrase:
This simple but effective little phrase neatly takes you to the 5 chord to mark the end of the intro.
Check out the lesson here which also has a playthrough of the whole intro:
So have some fun with this and enjoy adding some Elmore James magic to your playing.
If there are particular techniques you'd like to brush up on, you can check out my slide courses here, or pick up your FREE Get Going with Slide Guide to get started, even if you've never picked up a guitar before.
Happy sliding!