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Call Me The Breeze Lynyrd Skynyrd Guitar Lesson + Tutorial
In this post, I'll share with you a guitar lesson on how to play "Call Me The Breeze," as recorded by Lynyrd Skynyrd. You may be wondering who originally wrote "Call Me the Breeze?" The original writer of this classic blues jam was American guitarist and singer-songwriter J.J. Cale.
"Call Me The Breeze" first appeared on Cale's 1972 debut album, Naturally, as the opening track. Cale's version has a soulful rhythm and blues-style guitar groove to it, and also features a lo-fi sounding drum machine.
Lynyrd Skynyrd's version takes the energy up a couple of notches with more driving guitar tones and horns. I'll break down some key points to understanding the guitar groove and style used in this classic blues jam.
To start off this "Call Me The Breeze" guitar lesson, you'll only need to know three chords to be able to play along to the entire song.
Now keep in mind, these three chords are the foundation and a level 1 approach, while the actual guitar playing on the song is more of a level 10 in a blues rock guitar style.
To get started, you'll need to know the chords A, D, and E.
These three chords (A, D, and E) make up the primary chords in the key of A major. So if you're wondering what key is "Call Me The Breeze" in by Lynyrd Skynyrd, the answer would be A major.
Cale's version is actually in a lower key than Lynyrd Skynyrd's. Cale plays it down in the key of F#, which gives his version a completely different sound. Overall, Cale had a much more easy-going and mellower sound in contrast to the hi-energy Lynyrd Skynyrd version.
"Call Me The Breeze" is based on a typical 12-bar blues chord structure and progression; however, there is a little twist.
I talk about blues progressions so much here on my site, and that is also why I recommend my students who are serious about leveling up their guitar skills fast to join my programs. Once you start applying the systems and frameworks that I've created over the past 25+ years of learning songs and teaching them, you'll immediately see MASSIVE progress in your guitar playing. I point out all the crucial information you need to know to learn to play millions of songs.
So now that you have the basic chords down, you'll want to drop them into a 12-bar blues progression. To do this, you'll need to spend a specific amount of time on each chord. This is what separates the noobs from the pros. However, with this song and the way the groove feels, you actually double the length of each chord. So it's essentially like a stretched-out 12-bar blues progression, so in this case, it's actually a 24-bar blues. A basic outline of this structure might look something like this:
A (8 bars)
D (4 bars)
A (4 bars)
E (2 bars)
D (2 bars)
A (4 bars)
So in comparison to a 12-bar blues you are basically doubling the amount of time spent on each chord in comparison to the 12-bar blues progression. The long term goal would be to just feel and hear it the same as a 12-bar.
How do you get a Lynyrd Skynyrd tone?
The next step you'll want to try once you are starting to feel comfortable with the riffs and grooves is to achieve a similar guitar tone. Here is a quick guide to some Lynyrd Skynyrd style amp settings:
Gain: 3
Bass: 4
Mids: 6
Treble: 7
Reverb: 3
You could also try experimenting with some effects. Now you won't need many but here are a few:
Overdrive: This gives you that pushed tube amp sound.
Phaser: this was an effect that Lynyrd Skynyrd used on a lot of their hit songs.
Reverb: this will add a sense of space to the sound, and keep it from sounding too dry.
Overall, "Call Me the Breeze" is a classic blues rock hit that will continue to captivate listeners for generations. Whether you're playing the original Cale version or Lynyrd Skynyrd's it's a must-know tune for any blues rock player. Happy blues jamming!
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