ABILITY RATING
Moderate/Advanced
Info
Key C Blues
Tempo 160bpm
CD TRACKS 24-31
Will improve your…
Sense of rhythm and phrasing
Sophisticated note selection
Articulation and dynamic delivery
When asked about which guitarists he admired, the great Jimi Hendrix once replied, “Kenny Burrell, that’s the sound I’m looking for”. Throughout the history of blues and jazz music, both these styles have evolved and expanded with the benefit of the other.
Countless early blues artists were happy to broaden their sound with the addition of jazzy overtones (the mighty Robert Johnson for one, and later on the equally talented T-Bone Walker), while the concept of a jazz musician without a deep understanding and assimilation of the blues was considered an impossibility. To quote the legendary Count Basie, jazz was created as a highly successful attempt at “swinging the blues”. Taking things up to date, consider an undeniably fantastic blues player like Josh Smith, who talks at great length about his jazz influences, makes ‘the changes’ and peppers his playing liberally with phrases that wouldn’t sound out of place on any Blue Note release from any era.
This story is from the March 2021 edition of Guitar Techniques.
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This story is from the March 2021 edition of Guitar Techniques.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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