Techniques of the heroes: Stevie Ray Vaughn

Okay, Stevie Ray Vaughn is almost as much a part of blues guitar history as Chuck Berry or B.B. King. He is most known for his fantastic renditions of the late Jimi Hendrix’s songs such as little wing or Voodoo Child. Therefore it will come as no surprise to learn that most of the theory used by him is bases solidly in the blues as well.

Now in this first part of the lesson I will show you the scales he would most often use and show you one of the signature tricks of the blues trade that I have seen him use as well. In the next lesson I will go over how to play one of his signature tunes in his style. Below are a few scales that I have seen him use, I’ve put them all in the Key of E to make them easier to understand.:

Tab key:-

--4-- = pluck the string shown while fretting the string on the fret numbered

-8b9- = luck the string shown while fretting the string on the fret numbered, then bend the string until the note sounded becomes the same as the note sounded on the fret shown to the right of the b. E.g., 8b9 means pluck the string while fretting the string on the 8th fret, then bend the string one semitone/one fret higher in pitch.

-8b9r8- = same a regular bend but allow string to return to regular position on fret numbered; think of b as meaning bend, and r as meaning relax

--9v- = use vibrato by wavering the string up and down by bending it to get a sort of wavy sound

Minor Pentatonic Blues scale in E

E||------------------|------------------||------------------|-----------10---12-|
B||------------------|------------------||--------------10--|-11---12-----------|
G||------------------|----------7----9--||-9--11---12-------|-------------------|
D||---------------7--|-8----9-----------||------------------|-------------------|
A||-7---9----10------|------------------||------------------|-------------------|
E||------------------|------------------||------------------|-------------------|

So what exactly would you use this scale for? Well, if a song is played in E and you can hear certain notes from this scale being played in the song, you could use this scale to solo over the song. This scale is basically a regular pentatonic (old word which basically means five-sounds, as the scale had five notes originally) scale with an extra note added, which I have highlighted. This note is a little different than the others, as you will actually find it sound better if you bend up to it or glance over it briefly, but can’t be held for as long as some of the other notes in the scale can be. This is referred to as the blues note.

You can also use this scale to write songs by making the chords you play follow the notes of the scale, for example the first chord being E, and the next being three frets higher like in the scale, which is a G. Basically, you can think of a scale like a guideline to what notes are likely to sound good and bad in certain situations, for example a sad song will probably demand you use a sad sounding scale, as there may be notes that don’t sound sad in that scale that can still be used that you wouldn’t find otherwise. Always use your ears though, as that’s what the audience will be using.

Here is another Scale that Stevie Ray Vaughn used, but be aware that his heart was in the blues, so he really stuck to the blues scales when he could to keep his sound.

Natural Minor scale

E||------------------|------------------||------------------|------------------|
B||------------------|------------------||------------------|------------------|
G||------------------|-----------7----9-||-9----7-----------|------------------|
D||----------------7-|-9----10----------||----------10----9-|-7----------------|
A||-7----9----10-----|------------------||------------------|-----10----9----7-|
E||------------------|------------------||------------------|------------------|

Now, onto one of his signature tricks throughout his career; well, this is an old blues trick that’s been used since the sixties, but it still has great effect in his songs and most modern blues music. It’s called accidentals.

You see, when you play a scale you will often feel like the scale is always leading back to its root note, as that fits the tune to most perfectly. However, blues musicians discovered that by deliberately not resolving to the root but deliberately ending a phrase on certain notes in scale for a different effect, and a good example of this is Stevie Ray Vaughn playing Crossfire. The tab of some of the licks from it below should give you an idea of what he’s playing at the beginning of the song and how this involved using accidentals.

This track was written with Stevie Ray Vaughn’s guitar in E flat tuning, as it was most of the time when he played live.

Eb||------------------|-17b19r17-15v-----||------------------|------------------|
Bb||-10b12r10---------|---------------17-||------------------|------------------|
Gb||----------12v---9-|------------------||------------------|------------------|
Db||------------------|------------------||------------------|------------------|
Ab||------------------|------------------||------------------|------------------|
Eb||------------------|------------------||------------------|------------------|

The next lesson will in the series will tell you what Stevie Ray Vaughn would do to his guitar to get his signature to tone, and also how to blend his style of phrasing into your own.

I hope this lesson has helped some of you guys out there. Take care and I’ll see you next time!