guitar coach: special edition 40 blues licks

Guitar Coach: Special Edition40 Blues Licks

Ain’t Talkin ‘Bout Love: Van Halen

Virtually everyone rock guitarist aspires to beable to play like Eddie Van Halen. Legendaryfor his finger tapping skills, his ability as anall round musician and producer meansthere’s more to his playing than pure speed.

His ability to create melodic guitar riffs and solosis easily illustrated when listening to the intro toAin’t Talkin’ Bout Love. Listen to it once and you’llbe impressed………..listen to it twice……..and you’llbe humming it……and before long, with a bit ofpractice you’ll be playing it.

In the key of A and based around the Am and Gchord shapes, the main body of the riff encom-passes some palm muting, string skipping andbends, which, when played accurately, makes youimmediately sound like a rock god. Of course aloud amp and plenty of distortion will definitelyhelp your cause.

Combine this with the note slides and vibratoplayed on the G string and you have a riff that en-compasses several essential lead guitar techniques.Well, ironically, except finger tapping that is.

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GUITAR COACH MAGAZINE : SPECIAL EDITION: BLUES ROCK LICKS 1

40 Blues LicksPlus Backing Tracks

Tab Book

In the style of:Albert CollinsBB KingBilly GibbonsEric ClaptonJeff BeckJoe BonamassaMatt SchofieldStevie Ray Vaughan


Contents

Albert Collins

BB King

Billy Gibbons

Eric Clapton

Joe Bonamassa

Matt Schofield

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Robben Ford,

Larry Carlton & Sam Lay

Guitar Coach Special Edition

In the style of...Albert Collins

40 Blues Licks


Albert Collins: introduction

Iceman. Why? Because he had a ferociouspluck on the strings. Seriously Ferocious. Albert Collins was a eclectic player unlikemany before and after him; he used 60-100ftguitar leads so he could roam around the audience, and he used a capo to adjust whatkey he was playing in. Kind of basic by todaysstandards, but it was the sheer guts andheart that went into what he played thatmade Collins the revered guitarist that he is today.

The idea behind this set of licks is to get that Al-bert Collins 'icepick' sound. I've said that you canopt to play it all with a pick or you can use yourfingers a-la Albert, because by plucking the

strings hard you will get that sharp twang thatyou need. It also means that most of these licksare slower than what you may expect and, again,it is all about the phrasing. You'll notice smallvariations that separate Collins from the otherplayers we have profiled, most noticeably that heis a very 'minor' player and likes to hit that minor7 sound.

Albert has always been a diehard telecaster fanand is often seen sporting a beautiful blondewith a neck hum bucker and a traditional ashtraycover. Use your bridge pickup to get a nice thintone and use a bit of drive for a rasp. I would gofor another Fender Twin sound and dial in a bit ofreverb to add a bit of ambience.


Lick 1

Albert Collins:

Lick 2

Lick 3


Albert Collins:

Lick 4

Lick 5


In the style of...BB King

40 Blues Licks


In the style of: BB King

BB King is revered as one of the most influential bluesman of the last 50+ years;his touch and tone are simply incredible,magical and enchanting.

He may be over 80 years old, but he can certainlyhold any listener captive with his vocal lead lines,and he famously told John Mayer that if he keptplaying too many notes he would politely leavethe stage.

So with that in mind I have tried to take somequintessential 'Blues-Boy' phrases and demon-strate them here for you; they are very major-sounding due to his natural ability to wring everylast drop of emotion from the note.

In order to sound like King you need to use a neckpickup and roll the tone control down very low,creating a very rounded, warm and woody sound.

You may be familiar with the story of his oldebony 335 guitar named Lucille, whom which hesaved from a burning marquee at a weddingmany moons ago; so if you have a hollow-bodyguitar it will definitely help you track down thatsound easier. BB liked to collect old Gibson ampli-fiers that were very clean and very piercing if leftto stand on their own, but you can combat this byreplicating (or using) a Fender twin type soundwith a splash of reverb.

Finally, don't forget the subtleties of Kings play-ing; he used a very shallow and a very fast vibratowhich is instantly recognisable from hundreds ofother players out there. A deft touch and plentyof commitment is needed to make your audi-ence/listener 'feel' like you are in the momentand playing from the heart. BB did, and so shouldyou!


Lick 1

BB King:

Lick 2

Lick 3


BB King:

Lick 4

Lick 5


In the style of...Billy Gibbons

40 Blues Licks


In the style of: Billy Gibbons

A man with such a beard and such a crazycollection of guitars is not often associatedwith such a deft touch and catchy songs ofwomen and booze….actually that's a lie, because 'Revered Willy G' is not only a rock-star, he is a connoisseur of the blues genre.

Gibbons plied his trade opening for the one-and-only Jimi Hendrix with his band the Moving Side-walks before forming ZZ Top with Dusty Hill andthe ironically named Frank Beard; and after a fewguitar purchases and battles with the ever changing industry, that 'Little Ol' Band fromTexas' are still going strong.

The licks here outline a few of what I think arethe corner-stones of Gibbons sound. Billy is allabout knowing where you are on the fret-board,hence why I have put in the descending 6ths lick

and the open string licks. He is a very big hybridpicker too, so be sure to watch my picking when Idemonstrate the licks. Everything else is a varia-tion on what I will affectionately term 'the clichélick', and each player has their own take on this.

There is also a little pinched harmonic on the first lick that you should pay close attention too,because once you have it down, you are well onyour way to building an impressive array of tricksto add to your own bag. It is incorporating theflesh of your thumb to 'pop' that harmonic out.

Gibbons has a sound that is mostly associatedwith early Marshall Plexi's; loud, dirty and raucous. So that is what we're looking for here,bridge pickup on your guitar with everything upfull and coax each lick from your fingers in a controlled way, but spread some attitude overthat too. ZZ GO!


Lick 1

Billy Gibbons:

Lick 2

Lick 3


Billy Gibbons:

Lick 4

Lick 5


In the style of...Eric Clapton

40 Blues Licks


In the style of: Eric Clapton

'Clapton is God'. That is what was scrawledacross London's walls back in the '60's whenthe Bluesbreakers were releasing 'Beano'. EricClapton has enjoyed worldwide success bothas a member of influential bands (Cream,Derek & The Dominos) and as a solo artist;he has constantly reinvented himself butstayed true to one thing that lays deep in hisDNA…the blues.

He has the uncanny ability to spray attitude andgrit from Les Paul and Marshall one minute andbring people close to tears via glassy strat tonesthe next, he has been blessed with talent only usmere mortals can dream of.

In this group of licks I have tried to combine some

Clapton's earlier and grittier ideas with some ofhis more modern, traditional ones. They combineboth major and minor tones with stinging vibratoas well as a renewed focus on phrasing. Phrasingwas key in making EC a force to be reckoned with.

Eric had two very distinct sounds in his career;the earlier, heavier sound which came in the formof 1959 Les Pauls and SG's into 100w Marshallstacks and the recent sound of glassy strat tonescombined with Fender EC Branded Bassmancombo's. I have gone for a sound a little betweenthese two. It's still a fairly overdriven sound but ismore manageable with the licks and won't maskany mistakes you may need to hear.

Play with plenty of aggression and plenty of nicewide vibrato. Clapton was all about making astatement. So make these yours….


Lick 1

Eric Clapton:

Lick 2

Lick 3


Eric Clapton:

Lick 4

Lick 5


In the style of...Joe Bonamassa

40 Blues Licks


In the style of: Joe Bonamassa

Cited as the best guitarist of his generation,Joe Bonamassa is riding a huge wave of suc-cess across the globe. He fuses his americanblues influences with his heavy british bluesinfluences to make a style all his own.

Bonamassa was a chid prodigy supporting BBKing as well as taking lessons from the late, greatDanny Gatton, and he has experienced the highsand lows of a record label. However it is his insistent touring schedule that has brought himto where he is today. He has sold out the AlbertHall and the Hammersmith Apollo and he hasbeen a member of classic rock band Black Country Communion. This guy is the real deal andhas plenty of chops to show for it.

I've taken some of JoBo's technique and based itaround some of the pentatonic positions. The key

here is to take everything nice and slow and buildup the speed. You don't want to breed bad habitsbecause then they will take longer to smooth out.Start as you mean to go on. I would go as far tosay that Bonamassa is the Line 6 POD of guitarplayers and has the phrasing of multiple playersdown to a fine art, so use these as a spring boardfor your own playing and try and see where hehas taken inspiration from.

Joe is a bona-fide Gibson man and owns two-yestwo!-1959 Les Pauls and a 1960's one to join in. Sowe're going for a bridge hum bucking tone withplenty of drive on it; amps-wise he usually runs 6amps at one time, but we are going to makethings simple and use a Marshall tone. I'm usinga Silver Jubilee model with more-than-your-aver-age drive to really make it sing.

Go forth and have some fun!


Lick 1

Joe Bonamassa:

Lick 2

Lick 3


Joe Bonamassa:

Lick 4

Lick 5


In the style of...Matt Schofield

40 Blues Licks


In the style of: Matt Schofield

Matt Schofield is one of todays top blues guitar players. He is an amalgamation of allthe classic bluesmen such as BB King and Albert Collins and the jazzier folk such asRobben Ford and Larry Carlton.

He makes statements with his playing and is amaster of combining the major and the minorsounds to create something that flows betweenchords, as well as being able to break it down andplay something that is simple and effective. He isTHE modern classic blues player, and this is beingdemonstrated right now by his current success inthe US and his consistent touring cycle.

These licks are designed to showcase Matt'smajor leanings a little more; so this is a little bitmore advanced than BB King but still in the samekind of vein. There are a few minor licks in there

but Matt invariably manages to make them hisown, so after you have seen them demonstratedbe sure to see what you can do to string some together. He is a straight ahead picker and combines a few hammer on's and pull off's inthere too, so nothing should be too advancedtechnique-wise.

Schofield plays SVL guitars as his usual '61 strato-caster had to be retired due to heavy touringdamage, but they are hand built replicas of thisparticular axe and they do the job accurately. Weare using neck positions on a strat style guitar toget a nice round tone but you can use the neckhum bucker if that is what you have. Amp-wisehe normally uses a signature Two-Rock amp, butyou can achieve a similar sound by using a Fenderstyle amp with a bit of natural drive, and asmudging of reverb to fill everything out.


Lick 1

Matt Schofield: Lick 1

Lick 2

Lick 3


Matt Schofield:

Lick 4

Lick 5


In the style of...Stevie Ray Vaughan

40 Blues Licks


In the style of: SRV

They don't come much bigger than SRV. Stevie turned down a world tour with noneother than David Bowie in order to travelwith his band 'Double Trouble' playing themusic he just loved to play, and what startedas a humble trio traveling in a milk float toshows, morphed into something much, muchbigger.

By the time of his death, he was standing on topof the world reaping the rewards of such hardwork and sheer talent. Sadly missed.

So, what I want you to think about here is a supercharged Albert Collins; everything is heightenedhere including aggression, tone and technique.Each lick you will recognise as something you

have heard before in most modern bluesmen'srepertoire, so don't be afraid to tweak them as you see fit. Stevie was always at home switching between pickups to gain some twangfrom the bridge or a glassy neck tone. There are a lot of double stops/bends, so make sure yousupport each of them with the necessary forcefrom your fingers.

SRV was a Strat man through and through andhad a few signature models with Fender, so forthis reason, I have used the neck pickup on a strat.You can get close with most neck pickups be itsingle coil or hum bucking. He also liked to usemultiple Fender amps such as twins and bandmasters driven really, really loud. I've gone for atwin replica here and cranked the drive so it has anatural sound to it.


Lick 1

SRV: Lick 1

Lick 2

Lick 3


SRV: Lick 2

Lick 4

Lick 5


In the style of...Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Robben Ford,Larry Carlton & Sam Lay

40 Blues Licks


Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Robben Ford, Larry Carlton & Sam Lay

So in this final section I have got 5 licks in thestyle of a few players who maybe weren'tquite 'blues', but they could certainly turntheir hand to it when they wanted to. I've included one lick from myself, so you canhopefully see how this group of licks can influence you to create your own by combining different bits and pieces together.

So, the first lick is the incomparable Jeff Beck;there is some whammy bar trickery here if youhave a strat or a guitar with a tremolo unit on it.It's a very simple lick but it's the little inflectionsthat make Jeff who he is and those are what tofocus on here.

Second is the rock titan Jimmy Page. He was wellversed in the blues and often used this as a basefor some Zeppelins finer riffs such as 'Rock n' Roll'and 'Black Dog'. So in this lick I have taken a slightvariation on the opening line to 'Since I've BeenLovin' You' and moulded it to a slight uptempobacking; go with the flow of the rhythm and,again, this is a variation on a lick we've seen manytimes in these lessons, so make it your own.

Robben Ford is next up, and although a jazzer, hissolo albums are usually all blues based and very

articulate. What I've done here is tried to give youa lick that is Ford’s take on a BB King style line.but with a bit more technical wizardry; notenough to scare anyone but it is a little step upfrom the mighty Mr King. Compare the two andsee what you can do with it.

Larry Carlton follows very aptly. He is mostly knowfor his superb theory knowledge and session ex-traodinaire in the 70's. Carlton once said in bluesit is all about communication of the most infor-mation with the least amount of notes; wisewords I feel and so here we've taken a relativelytame lick by Mr 335's usual expression and used itto create a wonderful flowing statement. Feel itand play it with conviction.

Finally, here is a lick that I have written myself. I'veincluded it so you can see how all these playerscan influence the licks you want to play and howyou play them, and let's be honest here; everyoneplays differently and that is what makes the gui-tar such a personal instrument.

Sound-wise I'm using a Marshall setting again ona Line 6 POD for a bit of natural drive in thesound, but this is now your choice; utilise whathas worked for you and dial in your own tone.

You have the power of the blues!


Jeff Beck: Lick

Jimmy Page: Lick


Robben Ford: Lick

Larry Carlton: Lick


Sam Lay: Lick

guitar coach: special edition 40 blues licks

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