Chords for "How B B King Changed Blues And Rock Guitar" Matt Schofield Live at the Studios of Blues Radio Inte
Tempo:
65.55 bpm
Chords used:
Dm
G
D
F
Em
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[Dm]
[F] For people studying his music, you're looking at a lot of one note, three note, or one string
solos and it's all very simple stuff.
How come it's so important if it's that simple?
Well, I would call it deceptively simple, actually.
You know, there's in fact, one of my favorite sayings that I can't remember exactly where
it comes from, but it's, you know, simplicity is the highest form or purest expression of sophistication.
To do something simple very well, to get rid of all the fluff and all the nonsense and
just cut it down to the basic essence is much harder to do than, especially on guitar, be all over.
There's a million guys who can be all over the thing.
But, it was, there's several things with B.B.
It's actually pretty sophisticated playing.
He just makes it sound easy, but harmonically what he's doing, he's in some ways coming
from more of a jazz background.
He's just not playing maybe quite as many notes through the changes, but I've got some
live stuff and he's shredding all over it.
I mean, he was influenced by guys like Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and Lonnie
Johnson as much as he was influenced by, you know, Blind Lemon Jefferson and T-Bone Walker
more on the blues side.
But to get back to that one note thing that he had, I think he had more than anybody else,
you know, just [N] hitting the root note with vibrato and just making it sing.
I think he owned that.
So, nobody's ever going to own the root note on the guitar.
And if you put it in context of where that came from, I've looked and I've listened and
I've been back through all the players and there's a major shift when B.B. comes along
in how the guitar sounds.
And so, there were guys playing, like Charlie Christian or Django, playing sophisticated,
complicated guitar in a jazz context.
They hadn't been doing that for long.
The guitar had been really a backing instrument, you know, percussive part of the rhythm section,
really more than a lead instrument.
It was horns that were soloing.
But then B.B. comes along and really he's the first guy that made the guitar sing like
a voice that I know of.
The slide guys as well and that was what B.B. was trying to imitate in a lot of ways.
He said that himself.
He couldn't play slide so his
Like yearning kind of sound is stemming from him trying to imitate slide.
But you know, before B.B., you've got like T-Bone [G] playing [Em] single string stuff.
[D] But simple and kind of still rhythmic.
B.B. comes along and it's [Dm] like
[Bb] It just starts to sing out.
So I think in many ways he almost invented what's rock guitar now.
You know, like using the guitar as more of a solo voice than an accompanying instrument.
It really didn't sound the same.
No one had bent strings that much.
I've never heard anybody
Before B.B.,. people [Gm] used to bend like [G] a little quarter note bend. And then B.B. comes along and starts playing these big singing bends. And that kind of stuff that he did up here, really. People weren't really going up there and doing that. So it's a major like stepping stone in guitar just from a technical point of view. It was a different way of approaching the instrument. And so everybody, really anybody that plays now that's got finger vibrato like that or [D] [E] doing bigger bends has got B.B. in there somewhere whether they know or not. Regardless of the kind of music they're playing. That's how important
[F] For people studying his music, you're looking at a lot of one note, three note, or one string
solos and it's all very simple stuff.
How come it's so important if it's that simple?
Well, I would call it deceptively simple, actually.
You know, there's in fact, one of my favorite sayings that I can't remember exactly where
it comes from, but it's, you know, simplicity is the highest form or purest expression of sophistication.
To do something simple very well, to get rid of all the fluff and all the nonsense and
just cut it down to the basic essence is much harder to do than, especially on guitar, be all over.
There's a million guys who can be all over the thing.
But, it was, there's several things with B.B.
It's actually pretty sophisticated playing.
He just makes it sound easy, but harmonically what he's doing, he's in some ways coming
from more of a jazz background.
He's just not playing maybe quite as many notes through the changes, but I've got some
live stuff and he's shredding all over it.
I mean, he was influenced by guys like Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and Lonnie
Johnson as much as he was influenced by, you know, Blind Lemon Jefferson and T-Bone Walker
more on the blues side.
But to get back to that one note thing that he had, I think he had more than anybody else,
you know, just [N] hitting the root note with vibrato and just making it sing.
I think he owned that.
So, nobody's ever going to own the root note on the guitar.
And if you put it in context of where that came from, I've looked and I've listened and
I've been back through all the players and there's a major shift when B.B. comes along
in how the guitar sounds.
And so, there were guys playing, like Charlie Christian or Django, playing sophisticated,
complicated guitar in a jazz context.
They hadn't been doing that for long.
The guitar had been really a backing instrument, you know, percussive part of the rhythm section,
really more than a lead instrument.
It was horns that were soloing.
But then B.B. comes along and really he's the first guy that made the guitar sing like
a voice that I know of.
The slide guys as well and that was what B.B. was trying to imitate in a lot of ways.
He said that himself.
He couldn't play slide so his
Like yearning kind of sound is stemming from him trying to imitate slide.
But you know, before B.B., you've got like T-Bone [G] playing [Em] single string stuff.
[D] But simple and kind of still rhythmic.
B.B. comes along and it's [Dm] like
[Bb] It just starts to sing out.
So I think in many ways he almost invented what's rock guitar now.
You know, like using the guitar as more of a solo voice than an accompanying instrument.
It really didn't sound the same.
No one had bent strings that much.
I've never heard anybody
Before B.B.,. people [Gm] used to bend like [G] a little quarter note bend. And then B.B. comes along and starts playing these big singing bends. And that kind of stuff that he did up here, really. People weren't really going up there and doing that. So it's a major like stepping stone in guitar just from a technical point of view. It was a different way of approaching the instrument. And so everybody, really anybody that plays now that's got finger vibrato like that or [D] [E] doing bigger bends has got B.B. in there somewhere whether they know or not. Regardless of the kind of music they're playing. That's how important
Key:
Dm
G
D
F
Em
Dm
G
D
_ _ _ _ [Dm] _ _ _ _
[F] For people studying his music, you're looking at a lot of one note, three note, or one string
solos and it's all very simple stuff.
How come it's so important if it's that simple?
Well, I would call it deceptively simple, actually.
You know, there's in fact, one of my favorite sayings that I can't remember exactly where
it comes from, but it's, you know, simplicity is the highest form or purest expression of sophistication.
To do something simple very well, to get rid of all the fluff and all the nonsense and
just cut it down to the basic essence is much harder to do than, especially on guitar, be all over.
There's a million guys who can be all over the thing.
But, it was, there's several things with B.B.
It's actually pretty sophisticated playing.
He just makes it sound easy, but harmonically what he's doing, he's in some ways coming
from more of a jazz background.
He's just not playing maybe quite as many notes through the changes, but I've got some
live stuff and he's shredding all over it.
I mean, he was influenced by guys like Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and Lonnie
Johnson as much as he was influenced by, you know, Blind Lemon Jefferson and T-Bone Walker
more on the blues side.
_ But to get back to that one note thing that he had, I think he had more than anybody else,
you know, just _ [N] hitting the root note with vibrato and just making it sing.
I think he owned that.
So, nobody's ever going to own the root note on the guitar.
_ And if you put it in context of where that came from, I've looked and I've listened and
I've been back through all the players and there's a major shift when B.B. comes along
in how the guitar sounds.
And so, there were guys playing, like Charlie Christian or Django, playing sophisticated,
complicated guitar in a jazz context.
They hadn't been doing that for long.
The guitar had been really a backing instrument, you know, percussive part of the rhythm section,
really more than a lead instrument.
It was horns that were soloing.
But then B.B. comes along and really he's the first guy that made the guitar sing like
a voice that I know of.
The slide guys as well and that was what B.B. was trying to imitate in a lot of ways.
He said that himself.
He couldn't play slide so his_
_ Like yearning kind of sound is stemming from him trying to imitate slide.
But you know, before B.B., you've got like T-Bone [G] _ _ playing [Em] single string stuff.
[D] But simple and kind of still rhythmic.
B.B. comes along and it's [Dm] like_ _ _ _
_ _ [Bb] _ _ It just starts to sing out.
So I think in many ways he almost invented what's rock guitar now.
You know, like using the guitar as more of a solo voice than an accompanying instrument.
It really didn't sound the same.
No one had bent strings that much.
I've never heard anybody_
Before B.B.,. people [Gm] used to bend like _ [G] _ a little quarter note bend. And then B.B. comes along and starts _ _ _ _ _ _ _ playing these big singing bends. And that kind of stuff that he did up here, really. People weren't really going up there and doing that. So it's a major like stepping stone in guitar just from a technical point of view. It was a different way of approaching the instrument. And so everybody, really anybody that plays now that's got finger vibrato like that or [D] _ [E] doing bigger bends has got B.B. in there somewhere whether they know or not. Regardless of the kind of music they're playing. That's how important
[F] For people studying his music, you're looking at a lot of one note, three note, or one string
solos and it's all very simple stuff.
How come it's so important if it's that simple?
Well, I would call it deceptively simple, actually.
You know, there's in fact, one of my favorite sayings that I can't remember exactly where
it comes from, but it's, you know, simplicity is the highest form or purest expression of sophistication.
To do something simple very well, to get rid of all the fluff and all the nonsense and
just cut it down to the basic essence is much harder to do than, especially on guitar, be all over.
There's a million guys who can be all over the thing.
But, it was, there's several things with B.B.
It's actually pretty sophisticated playing.
He just makes it sound easy, but harmonically what he's doing, he's in some ways coming
from more of a jazz background.
He's just not playing maybe quite as many notes through the changes, but I've got some
live stuff and he's shredding all over it.
I mean, he was influenced by guys like Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and Lonnie
Johnson as much as he was influenced by, you know, Blind Lemon Jefferson and T-Bone Walker
more on the blues side.
_ But to get back to that one note thing that he had, I think he had more than anybody else,
you know, just _ [N] hitting the root note with vibrato and just making it sing.
I think he owned that.
So, nobody's ever going to own the root note on the guitar.
_ And if you put it in context of where that came from, I've looked and I've listened and
I've been back through all the players and there's a major shift when B.B. comes along
in how the guitar sounds.
And so, there were guys playing, like Charlie Christian or Django, playing sophisticated,
complicated guitar in a jazz context.
They hadn't been doing that for long.
The guitar had been really a backing instrument, you know, percussive part of the rhythm section,
really more than a lead instrument.
It was horns that were soloing.
But then B.B. comes along and really he's the first guy that made the guitar sing like
a voice that I know of.
The slide guys as well and that was what B.B. was trying to imitate in a lot of ways.
He said that himself.
He couldn't play slide so his_
_ Like yearning kind of sound is stemming from him trying to imitate slide.
But you know, before B.B., you've got like T-Bone [G] _ _ playing [Em] single string stuff.
[D] But simple and kind of still rhythmic.
B.B. comes along and it's [Dm] like_ _ _ _
_ _ [Bb] _ _ It just starts to sing out.
So I think in many ways he almost invented what's rock guitar now.
You know, like using the guitar as more of a solo voice than an accompanying instrument.
It really didn't sound the same.
No one had bent strings that much.
I've never heard anybody_
Before B.B.,. people [Gm] used to bend like _ [G] _ a little quarter note bend. And then B.B. comes along and starts _ _ _ _ _ _ _ playing these big singing bends. And that kind of stuff that he did up here, really. People weren't really going up there and doing that. So it's a major like stepping stone in guitar just from a technical point of view. It was a different way of approaching the instrument. And so everybody, really anybody that plays now that's got finger vibrato like that or [D] _ [E] doing bigger bends has got B.B. in there somewhere whether they know or not. Regardless of the kind of music they're playing. That's how important