This
was it. This was the biggy. Mr. Riley B. King, the King of the Blues
himself – B. B. (Blues Boy) King! Armed with a tuxedo and a shiny
Gibson 335 (the ever faithful Lucille), this man carved himself a
place in history – even the normies out there, those non-musos and
non-blues fans have heard of this guy. Christ, he played Glastonbury
2011 (remember that? Remember Glastonbury? Remember... outside?)
I've
dealt with the extraordinary man and his equally extraordinary career
in a previous post, so this time out I'm going to focus on the
technique, the licks and his overall musical approach. I'm going to
break this down into three categories – 1) major and minor
pentatonic 2) arpeggios 3) quirks! So.. let's dive in!
Major
and minor pentatonics – firstly, unlike his namesakes Freddie and
Albert, BB's style was largely based around the major pentatonic. The
classic “BB box” was centred on the root note on the B string
under the first finger, with easy access to the 2nd
falling neatly under the third finger allowing a bend up to the major
3rd. Equally, the 5th scale degree is easily
accessible by the third finger, allowing a bend up to the 6th
and back (a trick BB would often do when playing a turnaround and
nailing the V chord), as well as those characteristic 5th
to root resolutions. Some example licks are below:
This box pattern also has the benefit
of being able to shift handily into minor pentatonic – the b3 falls
nicely under the third finger, able to be bent up to the 4th
(or even b5 if you're feeling adventurous). The presence of the 2nd
nearby allows you to easily get both minor and major 3rds, as well as
being able to bend in between them – the “blues curl” quarter
tone bend.
Arpeggios – BB was wont to break out
the odd jazzy lick now and again, and my first encounter with this
was whilst transcribing “Every Day I Have The Blues” (key Bb)
from “Live At The Regal”. In the first solo, he pulls out
something very tasty in the turnaround – making his way down the I
chord, followed by a very tasty inverted dominant 13th V
chord (F13) arpeggio! Another trick used elsewhere in the album (Please Love Me), he
plays over a blues in Eb, and over the V (Bb) chord he plays an
arpeggio of the ii (Fm). Fm is comprised of F (root) Ab (b3) C (5).
When played over a Bb root, however, these notes translate to 5th
(F) b7 (Ab) 9th © - giving the overall impression of a
Bb9! Whether he was operating on a purely intuitive level or whether
he had perhaps a little more theoretical knowledge than he liked to
let on, BB King was a wily old fox with a beautiful taste in note
choice. I've tabbed out both the licks below:
Quirks! - the main BB King-ism that
springs to mind is the famous “stinger. This is simply a high root
note, often played on the change to the IV chord. Although notable by
it's absence on the entirety of “Live At The Regal”, it does crop
up on the iconic blues standard, “The Thrill Is Gone”. This track
is in B minor, the intro solo played around the 7th and
12th frets, but in the main solo he leaps up to the 19th
fret as the chord changes up to the Em.
Like the other players we've examined
so far, BB was not afraid to stick to one note – in fact, on "Worry Worry", he plays the same bend (B up to C, 2 to b3 in the song's key of A) no fewer than twenty consecutive
times. TWENTY. This is a man who is unafraid to stick to his guns
when he feels he's on a good note!
So, this has been a very informative
month for me, I've thoroughly enjoyed wrapping my ear and fingers
around the licks of one of the undisputed masters of blues guitar.
Having gone so in depth with him, I've come to understand much more
instinctively just WHY he's so highly regarded. There's a lot more to
the BB King style than just pentatonics, and I'm VERY glad to have
finally got around to this step in paying my dues!
See you all next month for spot of
T-Bone Walker...
