Eric Clapton

Learn Eric Clapton guitar songs

Eric Clapton is one of the best guitar players (#2 on Rolling Stones Magazine’s list of the best guitarists), and an icon to many. He has had a very eventful life, you can read all about it in his bio.

Eric Clapton Guitar Lessons

Clapton has been an active musician since 1962, so he’s got several decades of song writing behind him, shaping contemporary music as we know it. During this time, he’s stacked up hundreds of songs, dozens of which have become classic hits.

If you are a guitarist, you absolutely need to know a few Clapton songs. Now stop reading, grab your guitar, and learn some of them.

TheGuitarLesson.com has several guitar lessons teaching covers of Eric Clapton songs. Here they are in no particular order.

16:11

Wonderful Tonight

Eric Clapton

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Wonderful Tonight is, well, a wonderful song ;-) You will be able to learn it as an early beginner, even if you just picked up the guitar not long ago. In fact, this was one of the first songs I ever learned, I still remember playing the main riff to one of my friends just a few weeks after I got my first guitar.

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19:18

Tears in Heaven

Eric Clapton

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Chord changes Open chords Picking patterns

The song won 3 Grammy awards, and was at the top of the charts for several weeks. Tears in Heaven has a very tragic story though: Clapton’s 4 year old son fell out of the window of their New York City apartment, and the song is about the pain and loss Clapton feels following the tragic accident.

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14:12

Hey Hey

Eric Clapton

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12 bar blues Blues chords Hammer-ons Palm muting Pull-offs

Hey hey is a classic 12 bar blues song released by Eric Clapton on his 1992 Unplugged album. Hey Hey is an acoustic blues tune, but you can play it on the electric guitar as well. The song was originally recorded by Big Bill Broonzy, an American blues singer during the first half of the 20th century.

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13:15

Crossroads

Eric Clapton

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12 bar blues Alternate picking Minor pentatonic blues scale String skipping

Crossroads is a great song to get started in playing fast blues. Of course, it’ll take a bit of time before you can play it up to speed. Crossroads is actually a Robert Johnson song, originally recorded in 1937.

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8:51

Sunshine of Your Love

Eric Clapton

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Alternate picking Minor pentatonic blues scale Power chords String bending Vibrato

Sunshine of Your Love was recorded in Clapton's Cream era. It is a great beginner guitar song, that even novice guitarists will find this song really fun to play, since it’s not that difficult. You’ll learn about scales, and apply a number of techniques that are a must for your advance as a guitarist.

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13:29

Layla

Eric Clapton

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Alternate picking Barre chords Hammer-ons Multiple string slides Power chords Pull-offs Slides String bending

The video tutorial in jam-packed with material, so learning this song well will be really beneficial to your advance as a guitarist. You’ll be practicing lead guitar and solo techniques, as well as chords and strumming, so this is really an all-in-one lesson.

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