Category: Backing tracks

I hope everyone is having a great summer. Its super humid and hot down here in sunny North Port FL! I have put together a fun Layla backing track to jam along with in D minor. Its essentially Layla, by Eric Clapton, very slightly different, but still makes for a great jam.

Theory Behind Layla

While not exact, I followed pretty close to the chord structures of the 2 main parts of the song. The main signature lick is in D minor, then interestingly enough on the verses it changes keys, dropping a half step, to C#minor. This makes it a great Jamtrack to practice your chops to. Also when in D minor practice adding the “7” note to your pentatonic scale. So on the high string, string 1, instead of using your pinky (4) to play the top note, use your third finger to play the note behind it.

Legendary “O” Acoustic Guitar Tone

When it comes to the O style acoustic guitars I cannot think of a better example then Eric Clapton’s 1992 Mtv unplugged session of this song Layla. The whole session is filled with great examples, but Layla really showcase how dynamic and sweet the O sounds with percussive finger playing. Particularly the main guitar lick played by Mr Clapton. You might be thinking, “What is an O style acoustic guitar?” An O guitar stand for “Orchestral.” The exact guitar Clapton is playing in this song is a Martin 000-42 acoustic guitar which was a guitar was a gift from George Harrison. For a deeper study into the different acoustic guitars of Eric Clapton check this article out HERE.

OOO, OM, O Orchestral Model

The Orchestral style of guitars have generally 2 models, the OOO and the OM, and the only difference being the scale length. The OOO is a bit shorter scale length at 24.9″ compared to the OM with its 25.4″ scale length. The scale length is the distance between the nut of the guitar and the bridge. A shorter scale length makes bending easier, the down side being the strings can flub out much easier. Which to personally choose is a matter of ones playing preference. Me? I chose to be opened and use every style of guitar, thinking each brings out different techniques, feels and styles. I like to let the instrument talk back, but everyone is different. For this backing track I used and OM style guitar, but only because I had a really nice one in the studio at the time. If you have any questions, comments, or requests please drop them below. See more of our backing tracks HERE. Have a great jam with this Layla Backing track in D minor my peoples!

Hello, today we are looking at our Dorian scale, particularly this funky Backing track in G Dorian we have made. If you are unfamiliar with the theory behind modes you will have to do some digging, but you can still jam along using the scales illustrated below. In general, the Dorian scale has a Latin or Caribbean sort of vibe to it. As it pertains to the guitar, Carlos Santana is one of the champions of the Dorian sound. The mode really fits his whole vibe. Many Santanas songs use Dorian, including his smash hit “Oye Ye Como Va,” which is in A Dorian.

Every scale can be broken down into roughly 5-7 different patterns to encompass the entirety of the guitar neck. 5 patterns is a pretty smooth way to digest this type of info. Hopefully, you are already familiar with the 5 patterns of the pentatonic scale. Let’s look at the 5 patterns of the Dorian scale, using G as our key. G Dorian is actually the key of F, but that’s a theory lesson for another day. You can also play G pentatonic over a G Dorian progression. Notice how similar the Dorian scale is to the pentatonic scales? If you look closely you will see that each Dorian pattern has a pentatonic pattern inside it. Remember pentatonic is the 5-note version of a 7-note scale. If you are already familiar with the 5 pentatonic patterns, learning these shapes will be easier. Also, check out our backing tracks page for more modal jam tracks.