The verses of the song are 16 measures long. Each verse has 4 lines of lyrics, so if you do the math you’ll come to find that each line of the lyric will last 4 measures.
[Verse 1]
Hello there my old friend
Not so long ago it was ’til the end
We played outside in the pouring rain
On our way up the road we started over again
The chord progression for the verse is A, E, F#m, D and each chord gets a measure.
This is a Vaughan rendition of a Willie Dixon song. The verses and bridge are 16 bars (or measures) long instead of the standard 12. It’s blazing fast too, at 184 beats
per minute. There is a heavy use of muted strings to create a percussive sound.
The song’s tempo is at about 98 beats per minute. It’s in standard 4/4 time and the rhythm uses a shuffle pattern. Stevie Ray Vaughan recorded the song using a 12 string acoustic guitar. If you don’t have a 12 string, that’s okay. It sounds great on a six-string acoustic, too. It’s one of those rare SRV songs in standard tuning.
In this lesson, we’ll be looking at the intro lick to the song which takes place in the measures 1 and 2.
Wouldn’t you know it! The hardest part to play of Life By The Drop is the very first part. Stevie sets things up nicely with a tasteful two measure lick.
This lick seems straightforward but it is deceptively difficult. It’s not real fast, but that’s not the problem. It’s got a certain swing to it and accents that give it character.
The main thing to keep in mind when learning it is to maintain the steady triplet pattern. That’s what gives it that swing.
