Hello ladies and gentlemen,
Welcome back to another great blog post! As you know, last week we covered some excellent rock bands and their style of music. Today, we are going to discuss Blues, Jazz, and Folk music! I’m talking about pentatonic scales on the electric guitar like B.B. King plays in The Thrill Is Gone. Well, I am in a good mood and I hope you are too! Let me begin by asking you one question….Do ya like Jazz?
It seems as though jazz/Blues music has fallen off in today’s music charts. Every once in a while, there is a feature with a blues legend like Stevie Ray Vaughan or saxophone jazz player Kenny G, but for the most part, the genre stays hidden beneath the rap and pop music. I enjoy it probably because I grew up listening to it with my parents and grandparents. I admire the simplicity of a couple chords being played along with a pentatonic scale to produce a rhythmic tune. A pentatonic scale contains 5 tones, hence the name, pentatonic. Those 2 things alone, the chords and the scale, are the main variables in the formula to create Jazz music. For Example, playing a G minor pentatonic over a G Major chord or playing a C Major pentatonic over a C Major chord will sound jazzy. You are able to move up and down the fret board depending on what scale you approach. Here, is an example of a G Major Pentatonic Scale.
I enjoy listening to all sorts of jazz and blue music, but my favorites consist of B.B. King, John Mayer Trio, and Christone Ingram also known as Kingfish. Some other nominees include Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan. If you have not heard any of these people preform, I suggest you do. I will drop a couple videos down below for you to be enlightened. B.B. King is a legendary blues player from Mississippi who basically created the blues genre. He started recording in the 1940s and released over 50 albums throughout his career, many of them classics. Songs like Sweet Little Angeland Every day I Have the Blueshelped pave the way for guys like Stevie Ray and John Mayer. John Mayer Trio consists of bassist Pino Palladino, drummer Steve Jordan, and guitarist John Mayer who play extraordinary live concerts such as Where the Light Is: Live in Los Angelesand John’s nationwide tours. Using his iconic Fender Strat, the group created singles such as Who Did You Think I Was, Come When I Call, andOut Of My Mind. They also covered songs like Wait Until Tomorrow by Hendrix. I listen to their Try! album, which consists of mostly live music, every day in my car. I strive to have a group similar to that trio when I am older. Last, but not least, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram. The young protégé absolutely slaughters the electric guitar and has been gaining a lot of attention. He did his first big shoot with Fender, promoting the “Vintera Series” and covered, I Put A Spell On Youby Annie Lennox. I’ll drop that video down below for those of you who want to be entertained.
Some people consider Blues the devil’s music like in the movie Crossroads, but we will address that on next week’s blog post! Until next time, keep learning to play the guitar and try to implement a couple Jazz techniques. Barry Benson would be happy!
