aaronblack
Verified buyer
05/11/26
Been wanting something like this. . .
Good blend of demonstration and then breaking down individual techniques.
Play Like Billy Gibbons
Learn the unique stylings, techniques and creative approaches of highly influential guitarist, Billy Gibbons
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About this course
Across the entire history of music, there are very few guitar players who we can point to as true innovators of a new style or technique of guitar. Not just truly gifted players, (so many of those!) but players who singlehandedly crafted an entirely new and fresh approach to the instrument, which in turn greatly influenced future generations of players. TrueFire’s Play in the Style series focuses on the unique stylings, techniques and creative approaches of these highly influential guitarists.
Billy Gibbons’ contribution to the art of Texas boogie and blues rock guitar is undeniable. Any guitarist playing those styles today, including all of today’s big name contemporary artists, proudly pay homage to Billy Gibbons’ influence in their own music.
Jeff McErlain’s Play in the Style of Billy Gibbons is NOT about learning Billy’s signature licks or solos note-for-note. The course goes deeper than that by examining the underlying techniques, rhythmic approaches and creative expressiveness of Billy’s unique voice on the instrument. Understanding what’s under the hood will allow you to draw on his influence in your own sound.
In the second section, you’ll work through 35 lead and rhythm moves that are characteristic of Billy Gibbons’ bends, slides, vibrato, hybrid picking, double-stops, open strings, pinch harmonics, tapping and a variety of rhythm guitar approaches.
Everything comes together in the third section of the course where you’ll learn four complete solos designed to incorporate everything covered in the first and second section.
You’ll start with a funky groove in the key of C, then a down and dirty blues rocker in the key of G, a Texas boogie in the key of C and then finally, tackle a hard rocking minor blues in G.
Jeff will demonstrate all of the solos for you and then break them down note-for-note. All of the key examples and solos are tabbed and notated, plus you’ll get all of the jam tracks to work with on your own. You’ll also get Guitar Pro files so that you can loop and/or slow any section as you work through the lessons.
Billy Gibbons’ contribution to the art of Texas boogie and blues rock guitar is undeniable. Any guitarist playing those styles today, including all of today’s big name contemporary artists, proudly pay homage to Billy Gibbons’ influence in their own music.
Jeff McErlain’s Play in the Style of Billy Gibbons is NOT about learning Billy’s signature licks or solos note-for-note. The course goes deeper than that by examining the underlying techniques, rhythmic approaches and creative expressiveness of Billy’s unique voice on the instrument. Understanding what’s under the hood will allow you to draw on his influence in your own sound.
"Jeff is my favourite teacher on the truefire site. He mixes theory and practice seamlessly so learning is so much fun, and completely painless. He is very thorough with his breakdown of the technical aspects of Billy's playing in this course, which allows you to get down and dirty in the style of Billy Gibbons. The course notes also steer you to some of Billy's best recordings (some of which I was unaware of). Pick up so many cool licks with this course!" Malcolm W., TrueFire StudentJeff organized the course into three sections. The first section examines how to emulate Billy’s tone, recommended gear and his go-to scales and fingerings.
In the second section, you’ll work through 35 lead and rhythm moves that are characteristic of Billy Gibbons’ bends, slides, vibrato, hybrid picking, double-stops, open strings, pinch harmonics, tapping and a variety of rhythm guitar approaches.
Everything comes together in the third section of the course where you’ll learn four complete solos designed to incorporate everything covered in the first and second section.
You’ll start with a funky groove in the key of C, then a down and dirty blues rocker in the key of G, a Texas boogie in the key of C and then finally, tackle a hard rocking minor blues in G.
Jeff will demonstrate all of the solos for you and then break them down note-for-note. All of the key examples and solos are tabbed and notated, plus you’ll get all of the jam tracks to work with on your own. You’ll also get Guitar Pro files so that you can loop and/or slow any section as you work through the lessons.
"As simple as playing the pentatonic scale is, I never was very suceesful at getting anything to sound like Billy Gibbons. I must say that Truefire is the perfect medium and Jeff McErlain the perfect teacher for learning this. Jeff helped break me out of the patterns I was playing and opened up some new worlds just with different combintations of those 5 notes. More importantly though, was that I was able to watch the exact phrasing and how and which fingers he used for vibrato. It is easy to pause and replay until you get it just right. This kind of thing is very hard for me to pick up just from listening - but watching it made it easy! Thanks Jeff for finally opening up the world of a musician I love." - Dickie N., TrueFire StudentPut those cheap sunglasses on and and dig in!
Jeff McErlain's Preferred Gear
Below is a list of Jeff McErlain's preferred gear including guitars, amps, pedals, accessories, and more. What you see in Jeff's lessons may or may not be this actual gear, but if you are trying to capture Jeff's sound and tone, the gear listed below is recommended by Jeff and it's a great place to start!
Guitars
- Gibson SG Guitar
- Gibson Les Paul Goldtop Guitar
- Fender Stratocaster Guitar
- Tuttle Carve Top Supreme Guitar
Amps
Pedals
- Fulltone Octafuzz OF-2 Fuzz / Octave Pedal
- Strymon Flint Tremolo and Reverb Pedal
- Xotic EP Booster Pedal
- Ibanez Tube Screamer Overdrive Pedal
- Fulltone OCD Distortion Pedal
- Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face Pedal
- TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb Pedal
- MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay Pedal
- TC Electronic Flashback 2 Delay and Looper Pedal
- Fulltone Supa-Trem Tremolo Pedal
- Boss Super Chorus Pedal
- MXR Flanger Pedal
- MXR Phase 90 Phase Shifter Pedal
- MXR Dyan Comp Compressor Pedal
- Ernie Ball VP JR Volume Pedal
- Dunlop Original Cry Baby Wah Wah Pedal
- MXR M199 Tap Tempo Pedal
Accessories & More
What you'll learn
- Play a Billy Gibbons-style solo over a two-chord vamp
- Create variations on core lick patterns
- Apply the 'Slick Willy' pentatonic fingering in musical context
- Incorporate pinch harmonics into blues solos
- Develop groove-based phrasing that sits in the pocket
Release date: 06/12/2015 • 3h 33m runtime
Sample lessons
Scales You Should Know
Overview
Hello Neighbor
Lick 4
She Loves My Car
Lick 9
Sharp Stop
Lick 15
What's included
59 lessons • 38 charts • 27 Jam Tracks
Play in the Style of Billy Gibbons
Hi and welcome to Play In The Style of Billy Gibbons. The point of this course is to not teach you note for note solos from the man, that is easily available. What has not been easy to find is a breakdown of his style. We will dig into the techniques, tones, and ideas that define The Rev's guitar playing. I have organized the course into three sections, in the first section we'll examine his tone, gear and go-to scales and fingerings. In the second section we'll work through 35 of Billy's lead and rhythm techniques that you can use. In the third and final section we'll work through four complete solos in Billy's style using the techniques and licks we looked at in the earlier sections. So let's put on those cheap sunglasses and dig in!
SECTION 1: Background
In this first section we will take a look at how Billly achieves his great tone, and how we can get close to that holy grail. We will also take a look at the scales, fingerings, and techniques he incorporates into his playing. I will say that I am basically just plugged straight into the amp for this course. My amp setup is a classic Gibbons configuration, a Marshall 2061x 20 watt head into a 1x12 cab using a Celestion 25watt greenback. Marshall + Celestion = TONE!
Gear & Tone
Billy is a gear maniac with a huge collection of instruments and amps, including his 1959 Les Paul he calls Pearly Gates. He also clearly has a sense of humor when it comes to his gear. He often tells tall tales to have fun with people, that's one of the reasons we love him. If we were to boil down his setup it would be a Marshall or Fender amp and a Fender or Gibson guitar. When we remember that Billy opened for Hendrix on his first US tour it puts his gear more into perspective. There simply weren't many options back then. Like all the great classic guitarists his thinking "plug in and turn it up". His huge tone comes from his hands, as it should. I do want to point out that expression to me really means the way he plucks the strings and manipulates the guitar as well. All essential elements to a great guitar sound. If you want to dig deep into Billy's obsession with gear and cars, pick up his book "Rock n' Roll Gearhead", it has pictures!
Scales You Should Know
Let's take a look at the scales Billy uses primarily. It is basically one scale and that is the blues scale. More specifically mixing the major and minor blues scales. This is a common thing that we here in all blues and the rock guitarist. Really draws a wide range of influences going back to the Delta blues to BB King, buddy Guy, Albert King, Albert Collins, the usual suspects. He also speaks of his great fortune of having toured with Jimi Hendrix on his first US tour and how he and Jimi would spend time creating licks. He is also good friends with Jeff Beck who was actually the person who provided him with this first set of Marshall amplifiers as at that time they were not easy to get in the United States. Like all guitar players, Billy's tone is in his hands. When people say that we often think it is just the left hand; but the right-hand has as much to do with it as the left does.
SECTION 2: Essential Billy Gibbons Licks
In this section we are going to take a look at the essential licks to help you sound like Billy Gibbons. Of course the goal is to not have you sound exactly like Billy Gibbons (although that would be nice)! It is about digesting what he does and making it your own. I always knew Billy was an amazing rhythm guitar player, but it really struck me how amazing he is while researching this course. His feel, and what he is actually playing is deceivingly difficult. He makes it look and sound so darn easy! In conjunction with working through this course I highly suggest you watch as many YouTube videos of Billy Gibbons playing as possible. There are many excellent ones from the 70's and early 80's that are my favorites and give great insight into his technique and groove. We also get to see what a fantastic entertainer he is. He truly is the whole package. A true rockstar.
Bends, Slides & Vibrato
In this next section we are going to take a look at ten licks that really focus in on Billy's use of slides, bends, and vibrato. It is essential to focus in on each one of these techniques. If I may be so bold, all of these techniques are covered in my TrueFire course 'Jeff McErlain's Blues Guitar Survival Guide - Lead Edition'. I go into much more detail there on each of these techniques than I can here. Okay, moving on from my sales pitch :-). What is just as important on any of these licks is the feel and phrasing. Without them, the lick will not sound so good! So when we learn any of the following licks please realize there are many layers to what is going on. It is important to make time to shore up the basics such as bending, vibrato, and slides. Practice those as individual techniques apart from these licks and you will see a great improvement in a very short period of time. I call this practicing with intent. For example for the next 15 minutes just work on bending your G string a whole step. Make sure it's in tune, make sure you nail it every time. That is practicing with intent!
Gimme Lovin'
This one is basically the intro lick to 'Gimme All Your Lovin' from ZZ Top's huge record Eliminator. It's a great example of Billy's use of extending a double stop bend to create a great sense of tension. I love the rub and distant sound we get when bending the Bb to the C in unison. The trick on this one is to really let that shine through. The second half of the lick incorporates a blues/rock guitar staple of tweaking the flatted third of your minor pentatonic scale. I am using a C minor pentatonic scale and the flat third in this case would be Eb. As you can see I bend that note a quarter step every time I play it; this little trick is absolutely essential to any guitar player's standard technique. I am being completely honest when I say this is one of those things that can make all the difference in your guitar playing. Try playing the lick without bending that note then try it with bending the note as I lay out in the video. I bet you you will never play that note without tweaking it again. :-)
+ 52 more lessons
Reviews
29 results
BanjoRobb
Verified buyer
01/18/26
Play Like Billy Gibbons Review
Great instructor and very informative.
bcanaday1
Verified buyer
11/16/25
ZZ top fan
Teaches you Billy gibbons style
alois2812
Verified buyer
03/04/25
Billy Gibbons the easy way.
Play in the Style of Billy Gibbons, is a great course. It's got great licks explained in an easy way. Just what I needed. Thank you.
reubbald
Verified buyer
08/14/24
Play in the style of Billy Gibbons
Very good instruction by a great tutor. I recommend any courses by Jeff Mclerlain
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