Sunshine of Your Love (explained)

If you know anything about Eric Clapton, besides that he’s one of the greatest musicians of all time, you know he was also in several other bands that he is well known for such as The Yardbirds, John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, and Derek and the Dominos.  Before he was in Derek and the Dominos, he was also in the band Cream.  One of his legendary hits was Sunshine of Your Love.

For those of you who know the song, many have tried to cover it, such as Jimi Hendrix, Blood Sweat & Tears, Living Colour, and Ozzy Osbourne…each with their own style.  Staying true to the original recording, this tab is going to go beyond what other tabs out there have done.

Above is the intro to the song.  Played in the key of A, many tabs on the internet have kept true to how this is played with one exception…if you notice when I bend the F on the 10th fret, I add a tiny bit of vibrato.  If  you listen closely to the original, you can hear a slight hint to this, but others who have covered it have made that vibrato more pronounced; which I feel adds to the song.  This part is played twice before going into the main riff.

Where other tabs have gone wrong is the main riff.  They keep showing the intro as if that’s all there is to the song.  Once again, if you listen closely, you can hear the C and D bar chords as I have them tabbed here.  This gives the feeling of two guitar parts with a single, richer sound like it is in the recording.  This part is played four times before the next part, then twice after the next part.

Here again, I used the F and G bar chords for a richer sound.  The rest of this riff was moved up one string, but is the same pattern.  This part is played twice within each verse.

The part above is the bridge.  This is played three times.  Notice the strumming directions under the A bar chord at the beginning.  Not only does this save you energy to strum this way, but it also adds to the sound that you can hear in the actual recording.

Above is the last part of the bridge.  That’s the main part of the song.  I’m still working out the solo, so keep checking back, and have fun with this one like I have.  When you’re ready, try playing against the actual song.