Steve Cropper

• Restraint is the entire technique — the correct note played at the correct moment in the correct register. Do not play when you can serve the song by not playing
• Fill the spaces after the vocal line — Croppers fills are call-and-response with the vocalist. Wait for the lyric to end, then fill the gap
• Telecaster bridge pickup for the bright, cutting single-note fills — no other pickup produces the same "crack" on single notes
• Chord stabs on the upbeat — short, muted chord stabs on the "and" of beat 2 and "and" of beat 4 create the rhythmic push of soul rhythm guitar
• Lower register fills (strings 4-5-6) under the vocal — filing in the bass register avoids competing with the vocal melody range
• Double-stops (two strings simultaneously) are a Cropper signature — sixths on strings 1&3 or 2&4 create a chord-like texture with two fingers
• Study "In the Midnight Hour" note by note — every guitar part in this song is exactly right and nothing is wasted
• The clean amp lets the Telecaster's natural bright character come through — any overdrive changes the attack character and makes the fills sound less refined
• Record yourself playing along to Stax tracks — the feel is different from rock or jazz. It is slightly behind the beat, relaxed and groove-focused

Steve Cropper is the definition of "less is more" — the Stax Records guitarist whose Telecaster fills on "In the Midnight Hour," "Knock on Wood" and "Sittin' On The Dock of the Bay" are among the most perfectly placed notes in recorded music.