This Is The End: Guitar Tab

This tab captures the distinctive phrasing and bending technique that define Guy's approach to blues guitar. Students get direct access to how one of the genre's masters constructs a solo, making it an invaluable reference for understanding authentic blues articulation beyond the scale patterns they already know.

Raw and expressive, with a conversational quality that sounds more like singing than playing. The phrases breathe and bend with emotional intention, giving the impression of spontaneous improvisation even though each moment is carefully crafted.

Guitar students ready to move beyond basic blues patterns and explore how a master player bends notes, bends, and phrases within a 12-bar structure. This works best for intermediate to advanced players who already hear blues and want to decode how to actually play it.

• Pay close attention to the timing of each bend. Guy's phrasing often sits slightly behind the beat, creating a laid-back feel that tab alone cannot fully convey. Listen to the original recording repeatedly to internalize the exact moment each note lands.
• Experiment with varying the sustain and decay on your held notes. The emotional weight of this solo depends as much on what happens after you hit a note as on the initial attack.
• Practice the transition between positions smoothly. Guy moves across the fretboard with fluidity, so map out efficient finger placements rather than following the tab literally string by string.
• Use controlled distortion or overdrive to match the tonal character of the original. The grit in the tone is integral to how the phrases communicate.

Assign this as a listening and transcription study alongside live recordings, or use it as an ear training exercise where students first attempt their own tab before comparing it to this version. It also works as a solo vehicle for a blues jam session or as supplementary material in a guitar elective focused on genre styles.

• Bending technique with precise intonation control
• Phrasing and articulation in blues idiom
• Fretboard navigation and position shifting
• Listening for and reproducing subtle timing variations
• Reading and interpreting guitar tab for stylistic accuracy