Play Blues Guitar Like B.B. King

Play Blues Guitar Like B.B. King

For all of you who love B.B. King’s music, you would be amazed about the precision with which he maintained a highly visible career. He is one of the most well known figures in music and has featured on numerous TV programs apart from performing for a stunning number of 300 nights each year. 

Over five decades, this remarkable musician has provided his die hard fans with more than 15,000 performances yet you would be amazed to hear who his favorite singer is. Yes, believe it or not, it is Frank Sinatra. In King’s biography, he clearly states about having been a complete “Sinatra nut.” He also revealed that he always went to bed each night, listening to the timeless appeal of Sinatra’s most celebrated musical piece, “In the Wee Small Hours.”

The coolest thing about B.B. King’s music continues to haunt all those who have loved his music, namely its simplicity. Ranked as the 3rd in the Rolling Stone’s list of 100 greatest guitarists, this musical legend is one of the world’s most loved and respected blues musicians. 

With a beginner’s experience as a disc jockey in Memphis, King emerged as a sure winner with his best songs turning the whole world into a frenzy. His best hits are “You Know I Love You,” “Woke Up This Morning,” “Ten Long Years”, “Bad Luck” and “On My Word of Honor.” 

You have got to understand that the most important aspect to learn from B.B. King of playing the blues is learning the art how to “phrase” the solos. To begin with, your conversation, for example, doesn’t start off like an illogical spurt, does it? Firstly, you get an idea to talk about in your mind and by the time you have conveyed it, the idea becomes a well thought out manifestation of logical thinking. That is exactly the B.B. King style of playing blues.

His style essentially centered around exploring with all the minute nuances of an idea and then detailing it so well that the phrasing is almost butter smooth. What most guitarists do is simply go on playing the notes till they lose focus. That isn’t the way to play blues. You have to focus on practicing five to six notes. Take a pause so that the series of notes don’t catapult together.

This gradual effort may appear slightly complex in the beginning, but your constant practice will enable the phrasing to develop in a stronger and more streamlined way.
 
If you want to learn the B.B. King style, you have to listen to his music more often. You must remember that you have to learn the music well to find the proper root note that has been elusive for too long.

So keep practicing and play and play again till the simple notes come to you naturally.