EASY Robert Johnson Guitar Lesson (They're Red Hot)

If you like ragtime blues guitar then today I’ve got you covered with this lesson on how to play the amazing tune “They’re Red Hot” by Robert Johnson. 

This song is a 9-bar blues progression. It’s essentially an 8-bar progression plus a little one-bar tag at the end of the vocal phrase, which brings it up to 9 bars total. 

There are two parts we are going to cover the intro and the verse progression. 

So get tuned up and let’s dive into this Robert Johnson guitar lesson!

Who originally wrote, “They're Red Hot”?

“They’re Red Hot” is a blues song written and performed by the legendary Delta blues musician Robert Johnson. It was recorded in 1936 and released as part of Johnson's influential body of work. The song showcases his distinctive guitar style. Particularly his driving guitar accompaniment and bluesy vocal performances.

"They're Red Hot" is an upbeat tune with lyrics that revolve around the theme of spicy hot tamales. This is used as a metaphor for Johnson's love interest. 

"They're Red Hot" has been covered by various artists over the years, paying homage to Johnson's enduring influence on the blues genre. The song's lively rhythm and playful lyrics continue to captivate listeners, making it a notable part of Robert Johnson's musical repertoire. Here’s a great cover version by Eric Clapton from his album Me and Mr. Johnson.

They're Red Hot Chords

To play “They’re Red Hot” you’ll need to know 11 chord shapes. But keep in mind some of them have the same name but we will use different inversions of them on the neck. 

Let’s start off with the chords used in the intro. For the intro, we will use 7 of these chord shapes.

It starts on a C triad up at the 8th position like this:

Then make a slight shift to D7 like this:

Then G7 like this:

After those 3 chords, then we will head down to the open position and play a standard C like this:

Then to F and Fm like this:

And then finally, we have a G7 chord as the last chord before the verse progression like this:

The entire intro progression is only 2 bars long. But there is a little twist to the rhythm. The first bar is in a 4/4 time signature but the second bar switches to 5/4 for just that 1 bar, and then back to 4/4 once Johnson comes in with the vocal.

Here’s what the intro progression looks like:

As I said, after the intro, we then go back to a 4/4 time signature and start the verse progression. 

“They’re Red Hot” Strumming Pattern

Let’s next talk about the strumming pattern for “They’re Red Hot”. The groove for this song is primarily eighth-note driven.

This means we are going to count it like this:

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

Johnson often used a thumb-pick or he played with bare fingers. For this lesson, I am going to be strumming with my thumb (in the strum hand) instead of using a pick. This gets a great warm sound. 

The trick to getting the groove right is to play the “and” of each beat slightly staccato. 

So every other strum is going to be slightly shorter. 

This is done best by using a pressure and release technique with the fretting hand. For the longer strums, you fret down the chord and keep it down. But on the shorter staccato ones you release the pressure. 

This alternating in the rhythm helps to create that swing and slight skip to the groove. 

Johnson’s rhythm was a powerhouse behind his vocal and getting this part down is key to making it sound like the song. 

Verse

After the intro, Johnson comes in with the 9-bar verse progression. It starts with a descending pattern walking down the fretboard. In bar 1 we’ll play C, B, A, and A7. Each chord is going to last 1 beat, and we’ll keep that same eighth-note rhythm throughout. Here we’ll start on a C chord like this:

Then B, and A use the same shape just on different frets like this: 

Then on the A chord. Trade out your pinkie finger for your middle finger and play A7 like this: 

Adding in the rhythm the first bar of the verse progression would go like this:

Then it moves to a turnaround style progression going from a D7 to a G7 and then back to a C. 

For D7 we’ll play this chord shape:

Then we’ll plug in the same G7 and C chord shapes we used in the intro and bar 2 would go like this:

So bar 1 starts off with a descending chord progression. Then bar 2 wraps up the phrase with a little turnaround progression. When you combine those both together you get a great effect.

The last part you’ll need to know about is when he moves to the IV chord halfway through the progression. Here he starts on a C chord and lets the rhythm ring out a little more like this:

Then he goes to the IV chord (F) and then makes it minor (Fm) like this:

After this, he repeats bars 1-2 of the progression. Then he repeats the little turnaround progression, and tags the last bar like this:

The Ending:

When Johnson ends the tune he plays the turnaround progression and ends on beat 3 with the C chord.

After this, he goes up to the 5th position and strums 4 strums on a C6 chord at a slightly slower tempo.

You can strum this chord with just one finger (in the fretting hand) like this:

Conclusion:

"They're Red Hot" by Robert Johnson is one of his more lively blues tunes. And it does not follow a typical 12-bar blues progression. This one is more of a ragtime-style chord progression. To recap we covered how to play the song (including the intro and verse progressions) the chord shapes, strumming patterns, and the rhythmic nuances that will unlock Johnson's signature playing style. So be sure to take it slow and when you’re ready try to play it along with the recording. Happy blues jamming! And for more amazing blues guitar lessons check out this blog on the 101 best blues songs to learn on guitar next!