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Stevie Ray Vaughan - Pride and Joy - Guitar Tab

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Key E major
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Pride and Joy guitar tab video
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Stevie Ray Vaughan Blues Rock E major
Capo Advisor 0 E major · Original key

About Pride and Joy

Few shuffles in the Blues Rock canon are as immediately recognizable as the opening riff of "Pride and Joy." Stevie Ray Vaughan plays it in Eb Standard tuning, so drop your whole guitar a half step before you even think about the groove. The riff sits in E major and combines a steady thumb-driven bass note on the low strings with a syncopated melody on the upper strings, a technique often called the Travis-pick or Texas shuffle approach. Getting that independence between your bass notes and your melody notes is the real challenge here, and it takes more slow repetition than most students expect. At 120 BPM the song feels relaxed, but that relaxed feel is exactly what makes rushing so easy. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop the opening riff slowed right down until your thumb and fingers stop fighting each other. Vaughan's tone is thick and slightly overdriven, and his phrasing consistently lands just behind the beat, so resist the urge to push.

  • The song is played in Eb Standard tuning, meaning every string is tuned down one half step from standard, which thickens the tone and slightly lowers string tension.
  • The central challenge is a Texas shuffle riff that requires the fretting hand to hold chord shapes while the picking hand alternates bass notes and melody lines independently.
  • Vaughan's behind-the-beat phrasing is a key part of the feel, so practise locking into the shuffle groove before adding any of his bending or vibrato embellishments.

How to Play Pride and Joy

The song moves through: Intro, Verse 1, Verse 2, Verse 3, Solo, Verse 4, Verse 5.

Tuning: Eb Standard · Key: E major · Tempo: 120 BPM · Difficulty: Medium

The core challenge here is locking in the shuffle groove at 126 bpm in Eb standard tuning while simultaneously weaving in lead fills the way SRV does throughout the verses, blurring the line between rhythm and lead playing. Begin by isolating the rhythm part alone until the shuffle feel is automatic, then add the signature intro riff, which requires precise string bends and a firm grip on dynamics. The solo demands expressive bending in tune on heavy strings, so spend extra time with the speed control on those bent phrases. A common pitfall is rushing the shuffle by flattening it into straight eighth notes, which immediately kills the Texas blues feel.

Use the section loop to isolate a passage, drop the speed below 100%, and set the metronome to 120 BPM to build it up to tempo.

Fender Stratocaster
Guitar

Fender Stratocaster

SRV's heavily worn '63 'Number One' with thick .013-.058 strings and responsive single-coils defined his expressive, dynamic tone. The guitar's worn frets and responsive pickups let him control saturation purely through picking attack and volume knob, a cornerstone of his finger-driven style.

Ibanez Tube Screamer TS9
Pedal

Ibanez Tube Screamer TS9

SRV used the TS9 as a clean boost with minimal drive, maxing the level to push his cranked tube amps into heavier saturation while adding midrange focus. This approach preserved his dynamic control and kept the tone transparent, letting his fingers shape every nuance of sustain and breakup.

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