If you're a guitarist of a certain vintage, you're going to fall into one of two categories - those who are open about being inspired by Michael J Fox's rendition of "Johnny B. Goode" in 1985's "Back To The Future", or those who are damned liars.
But of course back in the real world, that song was originally written byh Chuck Berry (you know, Marvin Berry's cousin) - and I think we can make a pretty good claim for Chuck being the most influential electric guitarist of all time. We've all played that bend the G/bar the B & E string lick at some point, haven't we? And then follow it up with a few easily accessible notes from the 1st position minor pentatonic.. and from there develop into the kind of licks everyone from Hendrix to Slash to even last months' entrant, Neil Zaza, plays at some point.
I have already delved into Chuck's backstory in an earlier blog post, so this one is going to be All About Those Licks - let's get stuck in!
Now unlike the conventional format, I want to drill down into a couple of the techniques that Chuck would use to build his solos rather than focusing too much on the licks themselves - check out the One Minute Lick series on the YouTube channel for them - so let's start with what I call the "Chuck Berry Scale":
As you can see, this is based around a conventional minor pentatonic (R b3 4 5 b7) but also includes the 2nd, 6th, b5 and major 3rd notes. This is a very useful scale in itself, used by a lot of artists and often referred to as the "hybrid" blues scale, incorporating elements of the blues scale and Dorian and Mixolydian modes.
But the thing with Chuck is, I don't think he was ever thinking in terms of scales at all. What he was thinking of was a chord - in this example, an E shape A chord. It's reasonable enough to assume that if you're playing over something in A, an A chord is a good place to start looking for notes that will work. From there, it's a simple matter to figure out by ear and trial and error which notes work and which notes don't - you'll notice the lack of a b2 or b6 for example. These are simply not "rock & roll" notes!
Next, let's talk double stops. This is a technique where we play two notes at a time on adjacent strings, creating a fuller, gutsier sound than single notes can, and is a great way of filling up sonic "space" - remember, at this point in history, there is no such thing as distortion, and guitars would generally be strung with something north of '13s, so widdly stuff simply isn't going to be possible at the kind of tempo's much of Chuck's material is at. Double stops - nature's distortion pedal, if you will - are a great way of conveying energy and a fullness of sound.
The examples tabbed below show a few of his signature runs and ideas, including the characteristic hammer-on from minor 3rd to major 3rd.
Another signature set of licks comes from a combination of Chuck's hand positioning - the index finger barred across the B & E strings to cover the root of the key on the E and the 5th on the B (so in A, that's the 5th fret) - and also a very heavy T-Bone Walker influence, who was great at layering notes over each other. This is a "Chuck Berry Scale" or hybrid blues scale idea that crops up in songs like "Carol" and of course "Johnny B Goode"
Finally, let's take a look at the way Chuck used the "prettier" intervals of 3rds and 6ths - the first examples (3rds) taken from the intro to "Sweet Little 16" and the solo of "Brown Eyed Handsome Man", the second set (6ths) from the intro to "You Never Can Tell" and from the solo to "Long Distance Information".
Notice how Chuck takes a horizontal approach in "Sweet Little 16", moving diatonically down the Db major scale, but the "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" example stays within a D chord shape
In the above intro from "You Never Can Tell", Chuck simply takes the major 6th interval and slides it chromatically down to resolve onto the C chord.
Whereas in the above excerpt from "Long Distance Information", he is effectively playing the vocal melody based around the Gb major scale, but harmonised in 6ths.
As always, please to check out the accompanying video over on the YouTube channel to see these licks being demonstrated in context - join me next month for the tasty jazz-blues stylings of the one and only Robben Ford!
I should also mention that as of April, this blog will be moving on to the Patreon and Ko Fi platform as it's just not economical to do this for free any more, sadly- the idea is that all the beginer stuff and song tutorials will be on YouTube, while those who choose to support the channel for the princely sum of £2 per month will get access to all the intermediate and advanced programs as well as access to the Discord server too... More on that to come!
