Me Time = Learning the Guitar Riffs for a Western Classic

15 Jan Me Time = Learning the Guitar Riffs for a Western Classic

by Marisa Torrieri Bloom

When I was little — well, like 11 or 12 — my dad Don Torrieri got me to watch “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”  for the first time. I kind of knew what it was about (I mean, the title says it all), but I didn’t quite get the plot’s nuances (or Tuco’s relationship with Blondie, played by then-hunky, poncho-clad Clint Eastwood). But what stuck with me most wasn’t the scene of Tuco running through the graveyard (my dad liked to say this was me, in Italy, searching a cemetery for the grave of my great-great grandfather Pietro Torrieri I).

It was the soundtrack. Still one of the sexiest Western themes on the planet, Ennio Morricone‘s title track. Take a listen, and a look, and experience the awesomeness.

So today, I had a little free time. Hubby took the kids to my inlaws’ house to watch a football game. I broke my Gibson SG out of its hard case, and got to work, setting a goal to learn this riff. Perhaps so I can play it at an upcoming show.

The good news is that it wasn’t too hard to learn. However, the frets on my Gibson SG are still too far apart for me to stretch my hands in a five-fret span comfortably and pull off something sonically delightful. So I switched to the Fender Strat, and had no troubles. It sounds lovely and is super-fun to play. Learn it here, in this video.

My next goal: To set up my looper pedal so I can strum chords underneath this cool riff and sound like a badass next time I play out.

— Marisa Torrieri Bloom is the founder and editor of Rockmommy.