“White Room” Cream
It’s hard to believe, but rock’s premier supergroup, Cream, was only together a little over two years before throwing in the towel, at the peak of their popularity, in late 1968. Formed in 1966, the English group (guitarist Eric Clapton, bassist Jack Bruce, and drummer Ginger Baker) pioneered the “power trio” format, laying the groundwork for the blues-rock and hard-rock bands that would dominate the late ’60s and ’70s rock scene. Fusing blues with psychedelic rock and pop, Cream pushed the live-performance envelope with their extended jams, often stretching their 3-minute hits well beyond the 15-minute mark. During their brief career, Cream put out four highly-influential albums, Fresh Cream, Disraeli Gears, Wheels of Fire, and the posthumous Goodbye. “White Room,” from Wheels of Fire, showcases Clapton’s thick-toned, chordal riffing and wah-embellished blues-rock soloing.

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THE INTRO AND INTERLUDES
The ominous, majestic intro to “White Room” involves a variety of intriguing factors. First off, it’s in 5/4 time. Secondly, it’s in a minor key (D minor). Although not unusual in itself, this is in direct contrast to the bulk of the song, which is in the key of D major. Next, we have the sound of a “mini” orchestra, which is comprised of two guitars (Gtrs. 2 & 3), two violas (played by producer Felix Pappalardi), and a human voice (Jack Bruce), all delivering one note each, for a combined harmony. Round off these elements with tympani (played by Baker), distorted power chords (Gtr. 1), and bass guitar (Bruce again), and you have the distinctive passage that marks the Intro and Interlude sections of “White Room.”While it may seem an impossible task, it’s actually quite possible for a power trio to pull off an effective approximation. The drummer can play the tympani parts on the tom-toms, the bassist can play power chords, and the guitar can combine Gtr. 2 & 3’s parts by playing dyads along the B/G string set (see Fig. 1).

THE VERSE RIFF
The last measure of the Intro flags a metric modulation to 4/4 time, followed by a segue to the key of D major for the Verse section. Clapton tackles the verse changes using a collection of open-position chord partials (smaller forms of full chord voicings), which he fuses together to form a thematic riff. Aside from accurate picking techniques, proper fret- hand fingering is key. Use the suggestions in Fig. 2 to help plan your moves.

WAH-WAH ACTION
When the song hits the Bridge, Clapton activates his wah pedal (Gtr. 2). Anchoring his part on sustained chords interspersed with various arpeggios and single-note fills, he colors the passage by varying the speed of the wah. (Gtr. 1 provides reinforcement with whole-note chord pads.) Starting out with eighth- note rhythms, he slips into a quarter-note feel, then varies the speed in “free-floating” time. If you’ve never used a wah pedal, start by practicing a quarter-note rhythm. Rock the pedal (down and then up) in smooth, even motions, pressing down on the downbeats, and up for the upbeats. For the eighth-note rhythm, simply double the speed of your rocking motion.

THE LEADWORK
In the second and third verses, Clapton intersperses wah-infused fills between Jack Bruce’s vocal phrases. Verse 2 features a variety of bluesy, D minor pentatonic (D–F–G–A–C) licks crafted from the pattern found in Fig. 3. It’s interesting to note that for the slower phrases (measures 3–4 and 7–8) he pedals the wah in quarter-note rhythms, while, for the faster phrases (measures 11–12 and 15–16), he doubles the speed to an eighth-note groove. Clapton treats Verse 3 more like a solo section, playing over the top of Bruce’s vocals, rather than complimenting them. Tonally, he bounces back-and-forth from D minor-, and D major-pentatonic- (D–E–F#–A–B) based licks, splashing minor color here; major color there. For example, he opens with a D minor-pentatonic lick in measure 1, slips in an F#/A dyad (from D major pentatonic) in measure 2, dabbles with D minor pentatonics again, and returns to the F#/A couplet in measure 3. Maintaining this minor/major interplay throughout the verse, he varies his wah-wah rhythms in direct correlation to the speed of each lick. Except for a few notes in the fade out, Clapton stays exclusively with D minor pentatonics for his beautifully-phrased outro solo. Relying heavily on the pattern from Fig. 3, he also spends a good deal of the time in the five- note, “Albert King” box illustrated in Fig. 4. Watch out for that 1 & 1/2 step, index-finger bend at the end of measure 14. Wrap your thumb over the top of the neck, using it for leverage to assist in the bend. Also, drop your fretting hand, angling it so that the pinky-side is pointing toward the floor.

Want more? Check out these cool links at guitaredge.com

•    Get more Cream guitar tab at guitarinstructor.com
•    Get “The Best of Cream” guitar tab book at musicdispatch.com
•    Download “White Room” from iTunes
•    Check out Cream online at cream2005.com
•    Check out Eric Clapton’s Signature Stratocaster at fender.com
•    Get cool Cream gear at oldglory.com

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