Chords for "How Albert King Changed The Guitar" Matt Schofield live at the Studios of Blues Radio International
Tempo:
83.95 bpm
Chords used:
G
D
Em
Ab
B
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
On Blues Radio International, we're here today again with my friend Matt Schofield.
Welcome Matt.
What is it that distinguishes Albert from others who are playing the same notes?
Well, first of all with Albert, it's bending.
So from a technical standpoint, you know we talked in the Bebe segment, we talked about
how really Bebe was the first person to bend more than just a little bit.
And [D] then you know, Bebe's [Em] doing
[B]
Albert comes along and Albert starts [Gm] doing bends like this and nobody had done this before ever.
[G] I mean that's a full like two whole tone bends.
[F] [C] [G] [D]
[Eb] [G]
[G]
So that was the first real signature thing about Albert.
Of course he's playing upside down completely as well,
which is why it's so hard to get that sound.
So Albert took a right-handed guitar and just turned it over and just played upside down.
So his high strings are on the top.
So he's
where I'm having to push the note up, he was just pulling down.
And so then he could get this vibrato on the top of the note, on the top of the bend, you know.
[Ab] [Gm]
Which I just can't do as effectively because he just had these huge hands
and he's pulling down.
And in fact, from a technical standpoint, [Ab] to me it sounds
He also had a crazy tuning.
I'm not even sure what it is.
There's a couple of different
Steve Kropp has got one that he noted down during a stack session.
And I think Dan Irwin, the luthier who made his latest 70s Fly MV, he has a different tuning.
He probably used both.
I mean like
so no one really knows exactly what the tuning was or for sure.
He was definitely tuned down a little bit.
But to me, you've got to
for us mere mortals, you have to play Albert on the B string of the
guitar even though he was playing it on the E, those bends, because he's using these big
strings tuned down early on.
And he's just got these huge hands that he can [B]
do those bends.
[D] It's much, much harder to do it on the high E string because of the way the tension
on the different notes, on the scale of the guitar, the way the bends work.
So if you play Albert on the E string, it ends up sounding
That's basically what Stevie Ray did because Albert being one of his huge influences.
[G] So
[D] Sounds more like Stevie to me, whereas
[G] Is more authentically Albert sounded to me for some reason. [Gb] But
So bends first of all, he's upside down, he's pulling down instead.
So it just lends this incredible, incredible strength to his playing.
Just because it's so physically strong, you know?
And direct.
[C] And then he didn't really move his hands.
So all those notes, you know, [G] [Ab]
[Em]
[Bb] they're all just within the one spot.
And he's like literally wringing it out of the guitar.
So I think that also contributes to the power of it.
Mainly, he's just saying something with it.
He's just standing up and he's just telling you about it.
And you can't argue because it's so genuine and so strong.
So yeah, [Em] that's why Albert just
[N] Just kills everybody, you know?
And you see him when he's playing with
I saw an interview with Jimmy Gorn, he's like
Jimmy said, Albert King didn't care if you were BB King.
When he's on stage, it's his show.
Welcome Matt.
What is it that distinguishes Albert from others who are playing the same notes?
Well, first of all with Albert, it's bending.
So from a technical standpoint, you know we talked in the Bebe segment, we talked about
how really Bebe was the first person to bend more than just a little bit.
And [D] then you know, Bebe's [Em] doing
[B]
Albert comes along and Albert starts [Gm] doing bends like this and nobody had done this before ever.
[G] I mean that's a full like two whole tone bends.
[F] [C] [G] [D]
[Eb] [G]
[G]
So that was the first real signature thing about Albert.
Of course he's playing upside down completely as well,
which is why it's so hard to get that sound.
So Albert took a right-handed guitar and just turned it over and just played upside down.
So his high strings are on the top.
So he's
where I'm having to push the note up, he was just pulling down.
And so then he could get this vibrato on the top of the note, on the top of the bend, you know.
[Ab] [Gm]
Which I just can't do as effectively because he just had these huge hands
and he's pulling down.
And in fact, from a technical standpoint, [Ab] to me it sounds
He also had a crazy tuning.
I'm not even sure what it is.
There's a couple of different
Steve Kropp has got one that he noted down during a stack session.
And I think Dan Irwin, the luthier who made his latest 70s Fly MV, he has a different tuning.
He probably used both.
I mean like
so no one really knows exactly what the tuning was or for sure.
He was definitely tuned down a little bit.
But to me, you've got to
for us mere mortals, you have to play Albert on the B string of the
guitar even though he was playing it on the E, those bends, because he's using these big
strings tuned down early on.
And he's just got these huge hands that he can [B]
do those bends.
[D] It's much, much harder to do it on the high E string because of the way the tension
on the different notes, on the scale of the guitar, the way the bends work.
So if you play Albert on the E string, it ends up sounding
That's basically what Stevie Ray did because Albert being one of his huge influences.
[G] So
[D] Sounds more like Stevie to me, whereas
[G] Is more authentically Albert sounded to me for some reason. [Gb] But
So bends first of all, he's upside down, he's pulling down instead.
So it just lends this incredible, incredible strength to his playing.
Just because it's so physically strong, you know?
And direct.
[C] And then he didn't really move his hands.
So all those notes, you know, [G] [Ab]
[Em]
[Bb] they're all just within the one spot.
And he's like literally wringing it out of the guitar.
So I think that also contributes to the power of it.
Mainly, he's just saying something with it.
He's just standing up and he's just telling you about it.
And you can't argue because it's so genuine and so strong.
So yeah, [Em] that's why Albert just
[N] Just kills everybody, you know?
And you see him when he's playing with
I saw an interview with Jimmy Gorn, he's like
Jimmy said, Albert King didn't care if you were BB King.
When he's on stage, it's his show.
Key:
G
D
Em
Ab
B
G
D
Em
_ On Blues Radio International, we're here today again with my friend Matt Schofield.
Welcome Matt.
What is it that distinguishes Albert from others who are playing the same notes?
Well, first of all with Albert, it's bending.
So from a technical standpoint, _ you know we talked in the Bebe segment, we talked about
how really Bebe was the first person to bend more than just a little bit.
_ And [D] then you know, Bebe's [Em] doing_
_ _ [B] _
Albert comes along and Albert starts [Gm] doing bends like this and nobody had done this before ever.
_ _ _ _ [G] _ I mean that's a full like two whole tone bends. _ _ _
[F] _ _ _ [C] _ [G] _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ [Eb] _ _ [G] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
So that was the first real signature thing about Albert. _
Of course he's playing upside down completely as well,
which is why it's so hard to get that sound.
So Albert took a right-handed guitar and just turned it over and just played upside down.
So his high strings are on the top.
So he's_
where I'm having to push the note up, _ _ _ he was just pulling down.
And so then he could get this vibrato on the top of the note, on the top of the bend, you know.
[Ab] _ _ _ [Gm] _ _ _ _
Which I just can't do as effectively because he just had these huge hands
and he's pulling down.
And in fact, from a technical standpoint, [Ab] to me it sounds_
He also had a crazy tuning.
I'm not even sure what it is.
There's a couple of different_
Steve Kropp has got one that he noted down during a stack session.
And I think Dan Irwin, the luthier who made his latest 70s Fly MV, he has a different tuning.
He probably used both.
I mean like_
so no one really knows exactly what the tuning was or for sure.
He was definitely tuned down a little bit.
_ But to me, you've got to_
for us mere mortals, you have to play Albert on the B string of the
guitar even though he was playing it on the E, those bends, because he's using these big
strings tuned down early on.
And he's just got these huge hands that he can _ [B]
do those bends.
_ [D] It's much, much harder to do it on the high E string because of the way the tension
on the different notes, on the scale of the guitar, the way the bends work.
So if you play Albert on the E string, it ends up sounding_
That's basically what Stevie Ray did because Albert being one of his huge influences.
_ [G] So_
[D] _ Sounds more like Stevie to me, whereas_
_ [G] _ Is more authentically Albert sounded to me for some reason. [Gb] But_
_ So bends first of all, he's upside down, he's pulling down instead.
So it just lends this incredible, incredible strength to his playing.
Just because it's so physically strong, you know?
_ _ And direct.
[C] And then he didn't really move his hands.
So all those notes, you know, [G] _ _ [Ab] _ _
_ _ _ _ [Em] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [Bb] _ _ they're all just within the one spot.
And he's like literally wringing it out of the guitar.
So I think that also contributes to the power of it.
Mainly, he's just saying something with it.
He's just standing up and he's just telling you about it.
And you can't argue because it's so genuine and so strong.
So _ yeah, [Em] that's why Albert just_ _ _
[N] Just kills everybody, you know?
And you see him when he's playing with_
I saw an interview with Jimmy Gorn, he's like_
Jimmy said, Albert King didn't care if you were BB King.
When he's on stage, it's his show. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Welcome Matt.
What is it that distinguishes Albert from others who are playing the same notes?
Well, first of all with Albert, it's bending.
So from a technical standpoint, _ you know we talked in the Bebe segment, we talked about
how really Bebe was the first person to bend more than just a little bit.
_ And [D] then you know, Bebe's [Em] doing_
_ _ [B] _
Albert comes along and Albert starts [Gm] doing bends like this and nobody had done this before ever.
_ _ _ _ [G] _ I mean that's a full like two whole tone bends. _ _ _
[F] _ _ _ [C] _ [G] _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ [Eb] _ _ [G] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
So that was the first real signature thing about Albert. _
Of course he's playing upside down completely as well,
which is why it's so hard to get that sound.
So Albert took a right-handed guitar and just turned it over and just played upside down.
So his high strings are on the top.
So he's_
where I'm having to push the note up, _ _ _ he was just pulling down.
And so then he could get this vibrato on the top of the note, on the top of the bend, you know.
[Ab] _ _ _ [Gm] _ _ _ _
Which I just can't do as effectively because he just had these huge hands
and he's pulling down.
And in fact, from a technical standpoint, [Ab] to me it sounds_
He also had a crazy tuning.
I'm not even sure what it is.
There's a couple of different_
Steve Kropp has got one that he noted down during a stack session.
And I think Dan Irwin, the luthier who made his latest 70s Fly MV, he has a different tuning.
He probably used both.
I mean like_
so no one really knows exactly what the tuning was or for sure.
He was definitely tuned down a little bit.
_ But to me, you've got to_
for us mere mortals, you have to play Albert on the B string of the
guitar even though he was playing it on the E, those bends, because he's using these big
strings tuned down early on.
And he's just got these huge hands that he can _ [B]
do those bends.
_ [D] It's much, much harder to do it on the high E string because of the way the tension
on the different notes, on the scale of the guitar, the way the bends work.
So if you play Albert on the E string, it ends up sounding_
That's basically what Stevie Ray did because Albert being one of his huge influences.
_ [G] So_
[D] _ Sounds more like Stevie to me, whereas_
_ [G] _ Is more authentically Albert sounded to me for some reason. [Gb] But_
_ So bends first of all, he's upside down, he's pulling down instead.
So it just lends this incredible, incredible strength to his playing.
Just because it's so physically strong, you know?
_ _ And direct.
[C] And then he didn't really move his hands.
So all those notes, you know, [G] _ _ [Ab] _ _
_ _ _ _ [Em] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [Bb] _ _ they're all just within the one spot.
And he's like literally wringing it out of the guitar.
So I think that also contributes to the power of it.
Mainly, he's just saying something with it.
He's just standing up and he's just telling you about it.
And you can't argue because it's so genuine and so strong.
So _ yeah, [Em] that's why Albert just_ _ _
[N] Just kills everybody, you know?
And you see him when he's playing with_
I saw an interview with Jimmy Gorn, he's like_
Jimmy said, Albert King didn't care if you were BB King.
When he's on stage, it's his show. _ _ _ _ _ _ _