With the dust settling on the second year of The Great Plague and the first year of The Great Vaccination, it's time to take a look at a stalwart of this blog (probably because he's one of my all time favourite guitarists) - the blues legend Stevie Ray Vaughan.
I'm not going to get hung up on a potted history of his life or tragic, long before his time death - because I already did that last time - this is going to be strictly a dive into his style.
As December dawned I set myself the task - ever since I heard it in 99-2000, I've been totally smitten with the sublime SRV cover of "Little Wing".. so why not see if I could transcribe it?
Much to my surprise, I managed it! As well as "Cold Shot" and the tracks from "Texas Flood" that I didn't get last time around - so that's where this moth's licks are drawn from.
First up, the jaw-dropping slippery legato licks at the climax of "Little Wing". Both of these use the E blues scale, and notice the skilful use made of the b5 interval, the hallmark of the blues scale as opposed to the minor pentatonic.
Notice the "overlapping" approach SRV uses to get maximum mileage out of this simple scale - you've got the finger roll from the 3rd fret B string onto the 3rd fret G (where the b5 sits), sliding down to the second and then pulled off to the open G before down to the root on the 2nd fret D, before the classic open position blues lick, 2nd fret G slid to 4th, up on to 3rd fret B and then slid back down the G and pulled off to open string. It's this overlapping repetition which SRV uses to absolutely devastating effect and puts me in mind of T-Bone Walker. Both players repeat the same ideas with slight tweaks to execution, making their point again and again.
The first lick uses open position E Blues, the second example takes the same ideas and pushes them up an octave - one thing to note is how the run ends on the 5th, very much a "leading" tone - whereas the root note provides a satisfying conclusion, the 5th says "hold on, there's more to come".
The third lick comes from "Love Struck Baby", using the A Blues scale and this time is played almost exclusively in double stops - this is because the song itself is a fast and up tempo and double stops work to fill a lot of sonic space without the need for lots of distortion and legato flurries. It's also a very rhythmic approach to lead guitar, which makes sense when you consider this track was likely recorded live (legend has it that this whole album was recorded over two days at Jackson Browne's studio). Look for the classic minor to major 3rd hammer-ons that conclude the line - SRV very much channelling Chuck Berry cranked to 11!
This track was also released as a single, and just for kicks, here's a link to the video (love how they have "Lenny" playing in the background at the start):
https://youtu.be/nnbnRWHDFpw
The final example is taken from "Cold Shot" using the A Blues scale (although it should be noted that SRV famously detuned by a semitone) and although there's nothing particularly outstanding about note choice or technique, it's a very complete line, following a call - response - call - conclusion pattern. To play through this, your best bet is to keep the first finger planted on the 5th fret E and B strings using the 2nd and 3rd fingers to perform the bends, including the quarter tone bend on the high E string, bending between minor 3rd (C) and major 3rd (C#).
Don't forget to subscribe to me on YouTube to catch the demonstration video - with anything in music, it's easier to show than tell! - as well as to feast yourself on the One Minute Lick series, the beginners' Zero Point series and of course all the other Style Analysis videos.
Stay safe out there and see you next month for Mr. 335, the effortlessly smooth Larry Carlton!
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