02 Rockabilly
Dovetailing genres including rock’n’roll, country and jazz, players like Brian Setzer are modern purveyors of the style first championed by Scotty Moore and Chet Atkins
The Players
Like blues, rockabilly gained popularity in the years following the second world war as electric guitars and amplifiers became available. Stylistically, it’s an exiting fusion of rock ‘n’ roll, country, blues and jazz, and takes its name from a portmanteau of hillbilly (a country sub-genre) and rock ‘n’ roll. Early guitar innovators include Scotty Moore (Elvis Presley’s main guitarist), Chet Atkins, James Burton, Cliff Gallup and Carl Perkins. The Reverend Horton Heat and Brian Setzer revitalised interest in the 80s and 90s. In more recent years, Darrel Higham has kept the flame alight, playing with Imelda May and Kat Men.
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The Scales
The major pentatonic is a bright sounding and much-used scale, ideal for rocking solo lines. Like the minor pentatonic scale, the two-notes-per-string layout makes it easy to fret and to add a few one-finger doublestops (two-note chords) into the mix. The ‘country’ variation on the major pentatonic scale (aka the major blues scale) is usually played with rapid shifts between the major and minor 3rds.
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The Ch ords
Rockabilly often follows I-IV-V blues progressions, typically with a little extra flavour in the chords. ‘6/9’ chords have a great sound for endings and are super for rhythm work – together with the simpler ‘6’ chord they’re a big part of rockabilly harmony. Cdim7 has a striking sound and is often used as a passing chord in the 12-bar blues. A little shimmer from a whammy bar gives a Bigsby vibrato vibe.