Cream - White Room - Guitar Lesson

About White Room

Few tracks from 1968 pack as much guitar interest into one arrangement as "White Room." Eric Clapton opens with a wah-wah figure that has become one of the most recognisable applications of the effect in Hard Rock, and nailing its feel requires real control of the pedal sweep timed to the rhythm. The verse riff sits in D minor and moves with a deliberate, slightly behind-the-beat heaviness that rewards patience. At 120 BPM in E Standard tuning, nothing here is physically brutal, but the wah phrasing and the bends in the solo demand accuracy over speed. Cream recorded this for their 1968 double album, and the studio version gives you the full arrangement to study. The outro solo in particular involves layered bends and position shifts that can be tricky to piece together, so use the Practice Toolbar to loop those bars slowed down until each phrase locks in cleanly.

• The wah-wah pedal is central to the main guitar part, so dialling in the sweep timing is as important as the notes themselves.
• The song is in D minor in E Standard tuning at 120 BPM, making the technical challenge about phrasing and control rather than speed.
• The outro solo contains position shifts and sustained string bends that are worth isolating and looping slowed down before playing them up to tempo.