Learn How To Play "Pride And Joy" by Stevie Ray Vaughan On Guitar!

In this lesson, we'll learn how to play Pride And Joy by Stevie Ray Vaughan on the guitar. It's an all-time Blues classic with excellent techniques to learn.

💡 I played this song wrong for years! So for this lesson, I spent quite some time researching, watching SVR play live, and practicing it. Transcribing it really helps understand all the intricacies of this tune!

This is a seriously killer tune! There's some classic Stevie thing going on, including a circular strumming technique we'll explore. And you'll also encounter some string muting with your fretting hand. Loads to dive into! Grab your guitar, and let's get groovy!

How should you tune your guitar?

The original recording uses E flat B tuning. We'll be exploring it in standard tuning, which is easier to play. If you want to play with the original recording, you can transcribe it and tune it up a semitone.

Circle Picking Technique

We have this high-energy circle picking technique throughout most of this tune. You'll quickly pick over the neck for the down pick, then come back forward into the bridge. This creates this circular motion, which you'll notice if you watch SVR play this song live!

The strum is more of an arpeggiated click; you hear the individual notes. It's subtle but is part of what makes this song so unique.Nailing the picking like the record will take some time. Don't rush it - this masterpiece is tricky!

Fretting Hand Muting

With your fretting hand, you'll mute all the strings you don't want to hear. Lay your fingers on the strings, except for the one you want to play.

Learn the notes first, then try it out and figure out the best fingering to tidy up the sound. It's a complex technique, but once you learn it, it'll be helpful for other tunes too!

Practice the muting before adding the upstrums. Take it slow enough not to lose control of your technique, but fast enough for it to feel nice!

Want chords, tabs, and lyrics to follow along for this Stevie Ray Vaughan Masterpiece? Check out JustinGuitar Tabs!