BB King

Learn some of BB King’s famous techniques with TG’s five bespoke examples, then jam over two backing tracks to hone your skills!

The late BB King, also known as the King Of The Blues, was one of the hardest working bluesmen in history, performing an average of 300 shows a year well into his 70s. These days we’re used to hearing certain stylistic devices on the electric guitar; licks and phrases played and repeated by many, or maybe even most, blues players. But not so in BB’s younger days. His fluent string bending style and pentatonic phrasing paved the way for much of the next generation. Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and many more blues and rock players would not sound the way they do without the crucial influence of records like BB’s seminal 1965 release Live At The Regal. Though it’s less about what you play and more about how, there are certain techniques and phrases that will help you sound more like the man himself and we’re looking at a few examples in this month’s tab exercises.

Using a simple setup with no effects pedals and a Lab Series transistor amp through most of the 70s and 80s, BB would hold audiences spellbound with his impassioned delivery. Of course, ‘Lucille’, BB’s guitar of choice for decades, was a key part of his sound. If you have an ES-335 or a similar humbucker-equipped semi-acoustic, you’ll get a ballpark tone.