Still probably too hard. The note placements make you have to move your fingers in whole new ways and an āok fingerpickerā by his own definition probably will struggle to learn this in 3 months. Itās like a whole new technique you have to learn.
So the hardest parts of the song IMO are:
1. that intro. It's a beast.
2. The arpeggio motif that repeats. The hand stretch required is tricky to play clean.
The main melody is pretty easy and fun to play.
I think you can do it. I am terrible finger picker but if you gave me four months to learn a song, I think I could do it.
Good luck!
The comedy club I frequent in Minneapolis always plays the intro to Cliffs when the show starts. Always reminds me of how tricky that song is and how great the guitar tone was.
Intro isnāt that bad once you get into the flow of. I learned that song probably 15 years ago and I can still rip the intro perfectly. (Probably because I fucked it up and practiced it about 700 times).
>So the hardest parts of the song IMO are:
>1. the whole song
FTFY.
Jokes aside, it's really not horrible but it's taken me far longer than 4 months to get anywhere remotely close to the level of polishing this song demands.
All depends on your current level of technique and how much time you can put towards it. I can tell you the intro and solo section are going to take a significant amount of focus. Did he say you have to use a pick? I went to college with an excellent player who does it this way:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl-3RTyFMrQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl-3RTyFMrQ)
We were in the guitar program together at the University of North Texas, it's been a long time since we hung out but I used to catch him now and then when he was gigging. He's actually retired from performing and became a doctor.
EDIT: It was a crazy time to be there, [Tim Miller](https://www.youtube.com/c/TimMillerGuitar) was a grad student and one of the instructors along with [Steve Cotter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=oLomvAHnZdI) and another guy named Julian who was more a rock guy, can't remember his last name. Fun times.
Well...that's a long story. I'm pretty sure he changed his major (I did too). Back then he was a killer 2 hand tapping player and they really frowned on that in that program. But he went into medicine years later as a result of the death of his brother from cancer.
EDIT: Oddly there was another guy named Justin in our class who already had a chemistry degree and was seeking a 2nd in guitar performance.
[Rhett even made a movie ](https://www.rhettbutler.org/documentary)about his fight to save his brother which eventually led to him seeking a medical degree, really an inspiring guy on many levels.
Now thereās a name I havenāt heard in a long timeā¦ Iām pretty sure he was doing all that guitar sorcery stuff thatās popular now 20 years ago.
Sure? Put it on Rocksmith... Also print the tab into sections and focus on one at a time until you can put it together. As far as technique development that depends entirely on you.
Never heard of rocksmith before but trying to get back into guitar a bit more than I have been recently. How do you like it?
Applicable for most styles or mainly electric stuff?
I've been playing even longer than you, and it would probably take me a month to get it down. Considering working 50 hours/week and other obligations, and band, and other new songs. If I took my guitar and tab on vacation with me, alone, I could get it down in a couple weeks as well. The point of my rambling? Not much, but there's lots to consider.
Enjoy the tatt, OP :)
If OP is asking whether it's possible in four months, there's a good chance he's been playing for far less than 25 years lol. Props to you for learning that piece in any amount of time!
All the wrong advice being given here OP. What you need to do is create a new Youtube account, upload a very simple and basic song to it called "Cliffs of Dover", and play that.
OP, is there a specific arrangement youāre supposed to learn? August 25th is a while away, Iām sure you can do it. If you post the audio/ vid of the arrangement Iāll try too so your not alone.
that should be enough time unless you are novice.
hope your finger stretching exercises are solid!
EJ is very adept, and I'm fairly certain he uses hybrid-picking... you can hear the pick attack and free fingers for faster runs.
most of the main song consists of open triad arpeggios while skipping strings, so the stretching is the toughest part.
he's great at shifting neck position quickly, but he also is fairly economic, in that he will use the pinch harmonics to help reposition the drastic shifts.
Tips.
1. Learning anything in music is a balance of knowledge and building proper muscle memory (myelination). Ensure that any practice you do is focused and slow enough to not make a single misstep along the way. Each mistake you make builds incorrect muscle memory.
2. Playing quickly is not about moving fast, but making your movements as efficient as possible. Think about how you can cut down on unneeded movements instead of tensing and trying to move your muscles quickly.
3. Doing this song finger style would be difficult, but not impossible, if you are good at tremolo fingering youāll have an edge. Taking a bit of time to get comfy with hybrid picking would be beneficial, but may eat up too much time.
4. Utilize good resources like Guitar Pro. It will help you stay focused on learning phrases instead of trying to blindly play through large sections.
But unless you can be diligent in this, enjoy your new tattoo and story to tell your future spouse.
Matteo Mancuso could play it fingerstyle at 19 years old. The problem is that heās Matteo Mancuso, and weāre not.
https://youtu.be/mQlY7jwl_Us?si=zRIr6ScIr0pjFggg
If you've *never* used a pick, you are basically going to be learning to play the guitar all over again. This is a difficult tune even for experienced players. You might be able to do it in four months if you are really dedicated. What other stuff do you usually play? I have been playing the guitar my whole life and there are still a couple of passages that give me trouble, but OTOH I have seen [high school kids play this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3yDRw1V0-Y).
Was totally expecting a shitty sloppy cover but that was tight! Live performance too, so a million times more impressive than a bedroom cover, where you can record as many takes as you like.
This guy plays Cliffs of Dover in 1000 different styles on a hello kitty guitar and he has tabs and lessons on his Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GuitrMagic?utm_campaign=creatorshare_fan
https://www.instagram.com/guitrmagic?igsh=MWUyY29jb3p4YndpMA==
Iām a fairly advanced/high intermediate guitar player and this song stumped me pretty hard, especially the intro.
However, if you worked at least 4 hours on it every day until August, itās definitely possible.
Itās fuckin hard man. Good luck
Semi permanent? You mean hennaā¦? Who cares if you lose, youāll have a shit tattoo for a few days/weeks. Just go practice now so you can win anyway, but if you lose itās not really a big dealio. Plus, playing cliffs is vague. You can play it note by note flawlessly orā¦ not really flawlessly, but where to draw the line between whatās acceptable or not? Just go practice!
If ur not a shred master then this is a tall order. My advice is, guitar pro 8. Use text annotations to break into sections. Use the incremtal speed tool to practice in looped parts and learn everything slow and then faster in increasingly larger sections. Also make exercises out of parts that give you trouble. Also find some youtube covers for seeing how people move sections and change hand positions or cheat certain sections.
90% chance he tattoos you though...
Cliffs of Dover is the song that made me decide to start playing guitar. I'm still really new to guitar and I hope to one day be able to at least play something that kinda resembles it lol, though I have no idea how long that will take, I'm not very good atm.
Deepends. How much does he know about guitars? You can learn it in like a week if it just needs to be good enough to impress someone that doesnt have a clue but if he has a metronome and also plays guitar... Good luck soldier.
It depends on how flexible the definition of success is. You could most likely work up a version that would be recognizable as Cliffs of Dover and feature lots of parts of the song. But to play it note for note at speed? Certainly nothing is impossible but, if you did that, you should document it because you'll become famous.
Check out Matteo mancuso for a ridiculous electric player not using a pick, also look into hybrid picking if you do fancy a pick! As for the playing, if your pentatonic chops are up to speed it shouldn't be awful, just need some dedicated practice to get it down!
When you're learning the intro, unless you know that you definitely need to work on your bends, just hold a whole step for a beat instead of doing the bend. You will practice it hundreds of times and it will destroy your fingertip.
yeah....good luck with that pal. There's a reason you don't see a lot of players playing this. It's really difficult even for seasoned professionals. Avoid face tattoos.
I was not familiar with the song but intrigued by the replies.
After reading the description of how seasoned you are as a player and then listening to the song I can say with all sincerity enjoy that tattoo my guy!
Absolutely possible.Ā
The main riffs are pretty simple, solos a bit more challenging.Ā Ā
Ā Use. A. Metronome. Eric Johnson is pretty tight on time.Ā Ā
Ā (Also, make sure you have the terms of success set down and clearly elucidated so you know what you need to focus on.)
Start slow, get every note right at half or even a quarter-speed and then increase speed slowly until you hit the right tempo.
FingerpickingĀ will be fine.
I can sort of play the melody (electric), but man, sliding around with my pinky is not a technique Iāve ever needed on any other song.
Also, was there any stipulation that you canāt just pick a single note at a time at whatever tempo you want? Make him sit there for a full 2-hour performance š„ø
As a benchmark, I was playing for 30 years (rock, metal, fingerstyle, folk, Iām generally regarded as a very good player) before I started it for real, and it took me 13 months to get a good take.
You have over 4 months. Break it up bit by bit and learn each section. Start at a suuuuper slow tempo. Learn a section at that super slow tempo and slowly build up speed. Once you can do a section at speed, move on to the next section. Repeat. You got this.
Lmfao this has to be BS. If legit it could be the most arrogant bet Iāve ever seen. Hope it pans out for you, but unless you are being extremely modest and your āokay fingerpickingā is actually Matteo Mancuso level, youāre going to have a bad time here. One does not just start playing with a pick and learn Eric Johnson licks š
Doubtful. Pinch harmonics bedevil players for \*years\*, LOL.
Even on a nylon, it's gonna be rough: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gbAbk6ES8A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gbAbk6ES8A)
At least you can finger pick the opening yāall know what Iām talking about. Eric uses a pick and his ring finger. Iāve been trying for years to do that and nope. Iāll alt pick tyvm
Only guitarist I know that can nail CoD flawlessly without a pick is Matteo Mancuso. So itās humanly possible. Bad news for you my friend, is that you are not Matteo Mancuso.
Do you have to play the whole song at full speed? If you can get away with just doing the chorus at like .75 speed, itās doable and might be convincing enough
It's possible you're about to have a peen on your face.
EJ's CoD is one of the hardest pieces for even the best guitarists. If you have to ask, there's no way you can do it.
Lot of naysayers in the comments, but I believe you can do it. You'll have to work on it every single day most likely, but there are plenty of online lessons that will show you, note by note, how to play the song. Just follow along, start slowly, play to a metronome, learn one section/measure/lick/note at a time, and incrementally increase the tempo. Spend a couple of hours on it every day, and who knows? You might surprise everyone. It would be really cool if you logged your progress in a series of YouTube videos, too.
Practice every single night. I dedicated myself to learning this over Covid (been playing nearly 40 years). Months of dedicated practice, got about 75% through, never really all the way up to speed, and definitely not clean enough.
Iāve actually been meaning to revisit it.
Good luck.
How is your sweep picking and arpeggios? What about your harmonics? And your, well fuck, this song uses every technique that exists. So practice those and youāll be fine.
1:30 a day and I can do it
People romanticize difficulty...
Don't be afraid to cheat a bit, a lot of times thinking how YOU prefer to play a passage will make it 3 - 4 times easier
I wish you mercy from your friend because unless your name is actually Mateo Mancuso, your never going to nail cliffs of dover with your fingers alone in 90 days.
Enjoy your new tattoo!
š¤£šš¤£šš¤£ idk why someone would make that bet
Enjoy that forehead boner š
came here to comment this lmfao
Seriously.. Dude chose arguably the hardest start to finish track on electric guitar.
Could have gone for any techdeath song to make it even harder. No way to learn efficient enough pick technique to play that shit in such a short time
Please follow up with a pic of the tattoo.
If he didn't specify tempo, play it at 1/10th speed.
Still probably too hard. The note placements make you have to move your fingers in whole new ways and an āok fingerpickerā by his own definition probably will struggle to learn this in 3 months. Itās like a whole new technique you have to learn.
It's like 10 new techniques they have to learn
I think learning pinch harmonics alone took my a few months to get down, but thatās probably one of my favorite techniques
Follow up, if he didn't specify you had to play it on guitar, try and master the instrument: VLC player
So the hardest parts of the song IMO are: 1. that intro. It's a beast. 2. The arpeggio motif that repeats. The hand stretch required is tricky to play clean. The main melody is pretty easy and fun to play. I think you can do it. I am terrible finger picker but if you gave me four months to learn a song, I think I could do it. Good luck!
The outro is also a bit of a doozy.
Yeah the only hard parts are really the intro, the verse, the chorus, the solo, the bridge, and the outro
Other than that how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln.
Other than that though it's pretty simple?
Yeah if you remove all those hard pieces you could definitely play it
The comedy club I frequent in Minneapolis always plays the intro to Cliffs when the show starts. Always reminds me of how tricky that song is and how great the guitar tone was.
The solo
Intro isnāt that bad once you get into the flow of. I learned that song probably 15 years ago and I can still rip the intro perfectly. (Probably because I fucked it up and practiced it about 700 times).
>So the hardest parts of the song IMO are: >1. the whole song FTFY. Jokes aside, it's really not horrible but it's taken me far longer than 4 months to get anywhere remotely close to the level of polishing this song demands.
Why are you on Reddit when you should be practicing? You wonāt know unless you try.
What is your tattoo gonna say?
āThose are the Cliffs of Insanity!ā
Inconceivable!
Anybody want a peanut?
"Robert's Johnson" with a down arrow below the navel.
Dammnn
**ITāS ALL** cliffs of d**OVER**
Always has been.
All depends on your current level of technique and how much time you can put towards it. I can tell you the intro and solo section are going to take a significant amount of focus. Did he say you have to use a pick? I went to college with an excellent player who does it this way: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl-3RTyFMrQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl-3RTyFMrQ)
open-tuned without tapping, that's pretty cool!
You know him in person? Wow. Can you ask him to share some of his prowess with us?
We were in the guitar program together at the University of North Texas, it's been a long time since we hung out but I used to catch him now and then when he was gigging. He's actually retired from performing and became a doctor. EDIT: It was a crazy time to be there, [Tim Miller](https://www.youtube.com/c/TimMillerGuitar) was a grad student and one of the instructors along with [Steve Cotter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=oLomvAHnZdI) and another guy named Julian who was more a rock guy, can't remember his last name. Fun times.
lmao man, to be in that program and play at that level and then go "you know what? that wasn't hard enough, let's go to medical school!"
Well...that's a long story. I'm pretty sure he changed his major (I did too). Back then he was a killer 2 hand tapping player and they really frowned on that in that program. But he went into medicine years later as a result of the death of his brother from cancer. EDIT: Oddly there was another guy named Justin in our class who already had a chemistry degree and was seeking a 2nd in guitar performance.
oh wow, what a noble reason to change his direction in life. makes me feel a little bad for making jokes about it.
[Rhett even made a movie ](https://www.rhettbutler.org/documentary)about his fight to save his brother which eventually led to him seeking a medical degree, really an inspiring guy on many levels.
>another guy named Julian who was more a rock guy, can't remember his last name. [Julian Lage](https://www.julianlage.com/)?
No I found him [Julien Kasper](https://college.berklee.edu/people/julien-kasper), teaches at Berklee now.
OP might be able to get a voided wager at worst out of this if he learns this
That is way cool!
Now thereās a name I havenāt heard in a long timeā¦ Iām pretty sure he was doing all that guitar sorcery stuff thatās popular now 20 years ago.
Sure? Put it on Rocksmith... Also print the tab into sections and focus on one at a time until you can put it together. As far as technique development that depends entirely on you.
I second this. Rocksmith helped me with a good 80% of the song
Never heard of rocksmith before but trying to get back into guitar a bit more than I have been recently. How do you like it? Applicable for most styles or mainly electric stuff?
I learned it in about two weeks but I've also been playing for 25 years. Worked on it a few hours every day.
I've been playing even longer than you, and it would probably take me a month to get it down. Considering working 50 hours/week and other obligations, and band, and other new songs. If I took my guitar and tab on vacation with me, alone, I could get it down in a couple weeks as well. The point of my rambling? Not much, but there's lots to consider. Enjoy the tatt, OP :)
You can do it bro. Just take it piece by piece. I believe in you.
If OP is asking whether it's possible in four months, there's a good chance he's been playing for far less than 25 years lol. Props to you for learning that piece in any amount of time!
Uhā¦ good luck with that.
All the wrong advice being given here OP. What you need to do is create a new Youtube account, upload a very simple and basic song to it called "Cliffs of Dover", and play that.
Find the tabs online and practice 12 - 16 hours a day minimum. Then youāll have bloody fingers AND a new tattoo.
That middle part between the first couple of notes and the end is pretty tricky. Do you have a public-facing job?
no. next.
It's for a church, honey. Next.
i did not know what this is. and now i do. thank you.
You're most welcome. Next.
I looked it up after your glowing review. Thanks.
OP, is there a specific arrangement youāre supposed to learn? August 25th is a while away, Iām sure you can do it. If you post the audio/ vid of the arrangement Iāll try too so your not alone.
Not a chance. Iāve been learning it for 3 years. Literally practicing every single day and Iām still nowhere near done.
that should be enough time unless you are novice. hope your finger stretching exercises are solid! EJ is very adept, and I'm fairly certain he uses hybrid-picking... you can hear the pick attack and free fingers for faster runs. most of the main song consists of open triad arpeggios while skipping strings, so the stretching is the toughest part. he's great at shifting neck position quickly, but he also is fairly economic, in that he will use the pinch harmonics to help reposition the drastic shifts.
That last sentence makes this sound so daunting lol. Thatās very difficult to do even slowed down, let alone at full speed.
Tips. 1. Learning anything in music is a balance of knowledge and building proper muscle memory (myelination). Ensure that any practice you do is focused and slow enough to not make a single misstep along the way. Each mistake you make builds incorrect muscle memory. 2. Playing quickly is not about moving fast, but making your movements as efficient as possible. Think about how you can cut down on unneeded movements instead of tensing and trying to move your muscles quickly. 3. Doing this song finger style would be difficult, but not impossible, if you are good at tremolo fingering youāll have an edge. Taking a bit of time to get comfy with hybrid picking would be beneficial, but may eat up too much time. 4. Utilize good resources like Guitar Pro. It will help you stay focused on learning phrases instead of trying to blindly play through large sections. But unless you can be diligent in this, enjoy your new tattoo and story to tell your future spouse.
LMAO hell no
Matteo Mancuso could play it fingerstyle at 19 years old. The problem is that heās Matteo Mancuso, and weāre not. https://youtu.be/mQlY7jwl_Us?si=zRIr6ScIr0pjFggg
Sounds like youāre getting a tattoo
0% chance of this happening. Not hyperbole.
better ask in r/tattoo for good numbing creams
Get a metronome and start practicing picking groups of 5ās lol
First learn one note at a time. Then put them all together. Simple!
Hahahahahaha, you are beyond f'ed my dude. Enjoy your tattoo.
Why are you on Reddit when you could be watching videos on YouTube on how to play it?
hahahahahahahaha
G\_C\_D\_Am\_D\_G\_Em7 Piece of cake. There aren't even any bar chords. lol I just hope you didn't say you had to play it exactly like Eric did.
If you've *never* used a pick, you are basically going to be learning to play the guitar all over again. This is a difficult tune even for experienced players. You might be able to do it in four months if you are really dedicated. What other stuff do you usually play? I have been playing the guitar my whole life and there are still a couple of passages that give me trouble, but OTOH I have seen [high school kids play this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3yDRw1V0-Y).
Was totally expecting a shitty sloppy cover but that was tight! Live performance too, so a million times more impressive than a bedroom cover, where you can record as many takes as you like.
This guy plays Cliffs of Dover in 1000 different styles on a hello kitty guitar and he has tabs and lessons on his Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GuitrMagic?utm_campaign=creatorshare_fan https://www.instagram.com/guitrmagic?igsh=MWUyY29jb3p4YndpMA==
Look up Eric Johnson on Austin City Limits. And marvel at this master play with no mistakes. He's a legend.
In years to come you'll realize that you learnt 2 lessons when you took that bet.
Start practicing now!
Iām a fairly advanced/high intermediate guitar player and this song stumped me pretty hard, especially the intro. However, if you worked at least 4 hours on it every day until August, itās definitely possible. Itās fuckin hard man. Good luck
Tattoo will say Johnson after Viagra. Just Json shrinkage in the pool. š
Maybe just learn instead the Slight Dropoffs of Dover?
Literally the only song I tried to learn and couldnāt lol.
Semi permanent? You mean hennaā¦? Who cares if you lose, youāll have a shit tattoo for a few days/weeks. Just go practice now so you can win anyway, but if you lose itās not really a big dealio. Plus, playing cliffs is vague. You can play it note by note flawlessly orā¦ not really flawlessly, but where to draw the line between whatās acceptable or not? Just go practice!
If ur not a shred master then this is a tall order. My advice is, guitar pro 8. Use text annotations to break into sections. Use the incremtal speed tool to practice in looped parts and learn everything slow and then faster in increasingly larger sections. Also make exercises out of parts that give you trouble. Also find some youtube covers for seeing how people move sections and change hand positions or cheat certain sections. 90% chance he tattoos you though...
Yeah. . . That intro means youāre gettin some new ink bro.
Thereās a different version. Much slower https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ovfQjR3iU-A
Here's a valuable lesson for you: ask this question ***BEFORE you make the frickin' bet***. Enjoy your new "I š Dick" neck tattoo.
Hey at least it's not an actual tattoo. Hopefully your friend picks one that isn't too embarrassing.
Cliffs of Dover is the song that made me decide to start playing guitar. I'm still really new to guitar and I hope to one day be able to at least play something that kinda resembles it lol, though I have no idea how long that will take, I'm not very good atm.
Learn Clover Over Dover by Blur instead, say that's the song you thought he meant
Chop chop OP, clockās ticking
It took me about a month of consistent practice to get, but i had used a pick before i tried learning it lol
NBD, just one of the hardest electric guitar pieces ever recorded. Even just the first 30 seconds is far beyond most players' capabilities.
U have plenty of time. The intro is hard, but if u only play the main riff, it's not too hard.
LOL, I saw EJ last year in Sac, he had a couple mistakes himself playing the intro (not major gaffs, but noticeable).
Itās possible. Ā Spend an hour a day. Ā Your skills will increase exponentially. Ā Start small
AnnualAttorney9472, you in danger, girl.
Deepends. How much does he know about guitars? You can learn it in like a week if it just needs to be good enough to impress someone that doesnt have a clue but if he has a metronome and also plays guitar... Good luck soldier.
It depends on how flexible the definition of success is. You could most likely work up a version that would be recognizable as Cliffs of Dover and feature lots of parts of the song. But to play it note for note at speed? Certainly nothing is impossible but, if you did that, you should document it because you'll become famous.
Probably not.
Check out Matteo mancuso for a ridiculous electric player not using a pick, also look into hybrid picking if you do fancy a pick! As for the playing, if your pentatonic chops are up to speed it shouldn't be awful, just need some dedicated practice to get it down!
Post progress vids, I wanna believe in you OP!
August of this year?
Good luck!
Good luck OP š¤
Whatās your skill level currently? Iām leaning towards no.
lol why would you agree to this
No. It took me years to be able to execute the intro well, and if I don't practice it, I need to spend a week getting it back up to speed.
What's their definition of "learn"? š
I play it without a pick, it's doable
Your tattoo can say, "My Johnson was lacking".
He didn't specify how/where to play it, so just play a mp3 of it.
Free tattoo is a free tattoo
When you're learning the intro, unless you know that you definitely need to work on your bends, just hold a whole step for a beat instead of doing the bend. You will practice it hundreds of times and it will destroy your fingertip.
yeah....good luck with that pal. There's a reason you don't see a lot of players playing this. It's really difficult even for seasoned professionals. Avoid face tattoos.
You are going to have to start by listening to it all most constantly.
I saw an interview with Eric where he said it took him several years to master it...
Please dear God no make it stop. Hate that song
Do you have to play it well?
Not happening, friend. Hope you like the tattoo!
I was not familiar with the song but intrigued by the replies. After reading the description of how seasoned you are as a player and then listening to the song I can say with all sincerity enjoy that tattoo my guy!
Hahahahaha
Have you ... heard Cliffs of Dover??
Have you ever heard the song? Why would you take this bet?
Can you learn 2 measures a day? You can do it with time to spare!
Look up Matteo Mancuso. Shreds harder and cleaner than anyone on the planet but can't play with a pick.
That would take months to a whole year to learn
You can do it. I learned classical thump by victor wooten when I was 16. Get the tablature, start slow, and learn one section at a time.
Dude...you're screwed!
Absolutely doable. Practice your fucking ass off. 2 hours a day AT LEAST
One way or another, this going to be a learning experience.
I found the fingerpicking lick that repeats to be easy enough after a day. The intro is either you have the hands for it or you donāt
If you canāt already shred, and I mean, clean shred. Youāre doomed.
Looks like r/guitarcirclejerk is leaking again
Absolutely possible.Ā The main riffs are pretty simple, solos a bit more challenging.Ā Ā Ā Use. A. Metronome. Eric Johnson is pretty tight on time.Ā Ā Ā (Also, make sure you have the terms of success set down and clearly elucidated so you know what you need to focus on.) Start slow, get every note right at half or even a quarter-speed and then increase speed slowly until you hit the right tempo. FingerpickingĀ will be fine.
Does it have to be the whole song?
Quite literally one of the most difficult pieces of music to play on guitar ever. You are cooked, my friend.
Hope you like that tattoo
Haha unless youāre already at the level to play that song, then youāre fucked lol.
I can sort of play the melody (electric), but man, sliding around with my pinky is not a technique Iāve ever needed on any other song. Also, was there any stipulation that you canāt just pick a single note at a time at whatever tempo you want? Make him sit there for a full 2-hour performance š„ø
Considering itās April you could but that depends on your skill level. And how much of the song he wants you to learn
Good luck
As a benchmark, I was playing for 30 years (rock, metal, fingerstyle, folk, Iām generally regarded as a very good player) before I started it for real, and it took me 13 months to get a good take.
Cliffs of D'OH!!
You have over 4 months. Break it up bit by bit and learn each section. Start at a suuuuper slow tempo. Learn a section at that super slow tempo and slowly build up speed. Once you can do a section at speed, move on to the next section. Repeat. You got this.
Lmfao this has to be BS. If legit it could be the most arrogant bet Iāve ever seen. Hope it pans out for you, but unless you are being extremely modest and your āokay fingerpickingā is actually Matteo Mancuso level, youāre going to have a bad time here. One does not just start playing with a pick and learn Eric Johnson licks š
Lol, good luck with THAT!
lmao outjerked by the cosmos
>Iāve never used a pick. >I need to learn cliffs of dover by august 25th Remember to follow up with your new tattoo pic in august!
Doubtful. Pinch harmonics bedevil players for \*years\*, LOL. Even on a nylon, it's gonna be rough: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gbAbk6ES8A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gbAbk6ES8A)
Put on the CD and finger-synch!! Otherwise follow up with us with pictures of the tattoo!
LOL. It's one of most difficult solo there is .. just the intro with hybrid picking going to take a while
The whole song? What tattoo do you think he'll pick for you?
At least you can finger pick the opening yāall know what Iām talking about. Eric uses a pick and his ring finger. Iāve been trying for years to do that and nope. Iāll alt pick tyvm
How good a musician is your friend? If they aren't all that good you could play the bones of it and they may not know.
Matteo Mancuso covers it nicely fingerstyle [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQlY7jwl\_Us&ab\_channel=MatteoMancuso](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQlY7jwl_Us&ab_channel=MatteoMancuso)
Good luck mah boy.
Only guitarist I know that can nail CoD flawlessly without a pick is Matteo Mancuso. So itās humanly possible. Bad news for you my friend, is that you are not Matteo Mancuso.
You can learn it--badly.
It matters on your current ability. If you are an intermediate level player, you can do it. Spend 2 hours a day on the song.
The whole song? Or just the main riff?
Do you have to play the whole song at full speed? If you can get away with just doing the chorus at like .75 speed, itās doable and might be convincing enough
You didn't say "On the Guitar", despite the sub... Perhaps just a stream will do played from your phone? If hat doesn't fly... Guitar hero?
It's possible you're about to have a peen on your face. EJ's CoD is one of the hardest pieces for even the best guitarists. If you have to ask, there's no way you can do it.
!remindme 3 months
Semi-permanent? Wuss.
If youāve never used a pick the only possible way I can see is if you can figure out how to play it fongerstyle.
Piece of cake annual attorney unless you want a Homer Simpson tattoo on your folded arm
Does the bet specify on what type of guitar? If not, play it on Guitar Hero 3 on easy
Offer to double or nothing the bet by learning Solfeggietto or get a permanent tattoo.
Phew thatās a bad bet bro
Good enough teacher/money/time.. maybe???? But prolly not no
You fucked up son.
I've been playing for 18 years and I still can't play that intro. Enjoy your new tattoo š¤£
Lot of naysayers in the comments, but I believe you can do it. You'll have to work on it every single day most likely, but there are plenty of online lessons that will show you, note by note, how to play the song. Just follow along, start slowly, play to a metronome, learn one section/measure/lick/note at a time, and incrementally increase the tempo. Spend a couple of hours on it every day, and who knows? You might surprise everyone. It would be really cool if you logged your progress in a series of YouTube videos, too.
On Guitar Hero maybe
Spend less time posting. More time practicing. Also no more sleep
Pray he does not target your face. Thatās an insane piece of guitar mastery. Good luck!
So you're selling your dignity to have a social interaction? I remember when my guitar player friends would try to power play me out of jealousy.
Practice every single night. I dedicated myself to learning this over Covid (been playing nearly 40 years). Months of dedicated practice, got about 75% through, never really all the way up to speed, and definitely not clean enough. Iāve actually been meaning to revisit it. Good luck.
Learn the bass line. You said you will learn the song, but did you exactly said every guitar note?
Following. Please show us pictures of your new tattoo
Maybe try for the love of god on a les Paul lol ur screwed bub lol
How is your sweep picking and arpeggios? What about your harmonics? And your, well fuck, this song uses every technique that exists. So practice those and youāll be fine.
1:30 a day and I can do it People romanticize difficulty... Don't be afraid to cheat a bit, a lot of times thinking how YOU prefer to play a passage will make it 3 - 4 times easier
I wish you mercy from your friend because unless your name is actually Mateo Mancuso, your never going to nail cliffs of dover with your fingers alone in 90 days.
Just learn it on Bass or Guitar Hero
Does it have to be on a real guitar? Because you could totally do this on Guitar Hero 3