Guitar Lesson:T-Bone Walker

FROM THE LICKS LIBRARY

"T-Bone Shuffle" T-Bone Walker

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This classic blues lick can be found in T-Bone's Walker's solo at 1:30, during the first six bars of the second 12-bar chorus, moving through the I-IV-I chord progression. The whole phrase is in G minor pentatonic and is played in the standard blues-box position at the 3rd fret yet The repeating bend riff, the pull-off lick and the thematic descending line are three main points to explore.

The idea of locking in with the pulse of the song on one note, and bending that note in a repeating, steady quarter-note rhythm, is a fixture of rock and modern blues style. It reduces the feel of the phrase to its most fundamental component: pure rhythm. This is what we find in bars 1 through 3.
In bar 4, we hear a pull-off lick which was a favorite motif in Jimi Hendrix's style and is now a standard cliche for all guitar players. Most rock and blues guitarists use this motif as an all-important nucleus idea, often to be repeated in ostinato form--as Hendrix did in his "Spanish Castle Magic" solo (see Jimi's solo: bars 7 and 8). Compare the melodies and see for yourself!
The descending lick in bars 5 and 6 is a classic horn line applied to guitar, and again locks in soldly with the quarter-note pulse of the song's groove.

This lesson in Interactive TAB.

Click here: T-Bone Walker Fact Sheet

For more on T-Bone Walker, the pentatonic scales, blues guitar, the box position, fingering tips, 12-bar song form, bending technique, and ostinato, stayed tune to WOLF MARSHALL'S GUITARLAND.

Questions?

wolf@wolfmarshall.com.

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