His musical career has taken him from blues to pop, reggae, country and back again as we hone in 4 key chords from the career of old Slowhand himself to help you mine some inspiration for yourself

Guitarist Eric Clapton performing on stage, 1986
(Image credit: Michael Putland/Getty Images)

Although Eric Clapton came to prominence as a lead guitar player through the 1960s, many of his biggest hits have featured some great chord work.

Clapton is a player who has proudly moved between different styles. His musical career has taken him from blues to pop, reggae, country and back again as we hone in four key chords from the career of old Slowhand himself to help you mine some inspiration for yourself.

D

Chord

(Image credit: Future)

Usually, there wouldn’t be much special about a D chord, but this D chord is a little different. This D chord is featured in the track Sunshine Of Your Love. It’s a D major triad, spread out over the E, A and G strings (With the D string muted). 

Think of this as a two string power chord with the major third added at the top. This is a great way to add a major flavour to a power chord riff without resorting to full barre chords.

Cream - Sunshine Of Your Love Live At Revolution Club 1968 HD - YouTube Cream - Sunshine Of Your Love Live At Revolution Club 1968 HD - YouTube
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E/G#

Chord

(Image credit: Future)

Inversions are a great way to unlock additional tones and voicings from chords that you might use everyday. This E/G# is one of the chords from the track Tears In Heaven that was a moving highlight of Clapton's iconic 1992 MTV Unplugged performance.

What we have here is just an E major triad, but the root is on the B string, the 5th on the G and the major third on the low E. This inversion, coupled with the pitch gap between the low G# and the other notes, gives this E major triad a new identity.


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Chord

(Image credit: Future)

Clapton has dabbled with some reggae stylings over the years, one of his most prominent ventures into this style was his cover of the Bob Dylan classic Knockin’ On Heaven's Door. 

This G Major triad is a great example of a shortened major barre chord that can be used in a reggae-style track. Although this is just a simple major triad, it’s use in this context is very effective. It also frees up sonic space in the spectrum for other instruments in the mix.


G6

Chord

(Image credit: Future)

This opening chord from the track Wonderful Tonight has a slightly jazzy undertone. We don’t tend to see the 6th interval added to major chords in most rock and pop music.

The G major triad is played on the D, G and B strings, as if you were taking it from a regular 6 string barre chord, and the 6 interval is added on top as the open high E string.

Eric Clapton - Wonderful Tonight [Official Live] - YouTube Eric Clapton - Wonderful Tonight [Official Live] - YouTube
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Leigh Fuge

Leigh Fuge is a guitar player and content creator with a love for all things '80s. When he’s not creating gear demos for his Youtube channel he’s teaching students via his online guitar course Right Notes Music Tuition. Off camera he spends most of his time travelling around the UK performing at functions and corporate events.  www.instagram.com/leighfugeguitar