Grateful Dead Guitar Lesson: 7-4-89 Deal Solo - Lesson 3

Part 3 of a 12 part course on how to play Jerry Garcia's awesome solo from the 7-4-89 Deal with the Grateful Dead. For the free & printable tab of this whole solo, keep scrolling down.

In this lesson, you will learn the guitar techniques that Jerry Garcia uses when improvising. You'll also learn the music theory behind why his licks sound so good.

Jerry Garcia's 7-4-89 Deal Solo with the Grateful Dead – Lick 3 of 12

Lick 3

To start off lick 3, Jerry does uses a classic telecaster technique , that sounds a bit like a pedal steel. This is a signature of his style, and it’s also something you’ll hear in a lot of blues and country records. He’s thinking the A shape of the A chord, just on the 12th fret.

Jerry then connects the 5th of the A chord (E note, 9th fret G string) to the 3rd of the C#7 chord. Over this chord, he plays the C#7 Arpeggio in the E shape, but he does it descending.

He then uses the F#m blues scale (with the natural 9th added) over the end of the C#7 chord and into the F#m chord. He rests for a second on the F#m root, but then goes right up the F#m blues scale over the F#m over the E chord and into the D chord.

He uses a half step approach to connect the E chord to the D chord. He connects the root of the E chord (9th fret G string) to the 3rd of the D chord, which is F# (11th fret, G string).

Over the D chord, he just goes down the D arpeggio in the E shape. 5th, 3rd, root.