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Blues Power - Walk, Don't Run: Slow Blues Comping
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Keith plays the blues!
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When Jimi Hendrix emerged as the major new force in rock guitar in 1967, his style was so revolutionary that many listeners didn't realize just how deeply rooted in tradition his playing was. His personality on the instrument was so strong that he virtually swallowed up his influences. On "Red House," you can hear traces of a style that dates back to the very first master of electric blues guitar, T-Bone Walker.
T-Bone laid down a style of slow-blues "comping" (rhythm playing) that has withstood the test of time, having been handed down to each new generation of blues guitarists for over 60 years now. By learning something of his style, you'll be one step closer to not only understanding Hendrix, but also to developing your own style.
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Let's begin with the basic, never-fail comp pattern for a slow blues in A (TAB FIGURE 1). Sliding this one shape around gives you two versions of the same basic chord; one is a sixth, and the other a ninth; both are based on the same root.
TAB FIGURE 2 shows the same voicings applied to the IV and V chords (D and E). By playing them on the top three strings, you can comp an entire 12-bar chorus in one convenient position. Now let's put all three shapes together to play a 12-bar blues in A (TAB FIGURE 3). First, record yourself playing a standard shuffle groove, then play this pattern over it. Watch the timing and notice the different pattern on the turnaround.
T-Bone elaborated on this approach by moving the same shape around even more. TAB FIGURE 4 is an example of a slow blues using some of his patented rhythm ideas. It's still a 12-bar in A; the chords in parentheses are either a half-step above or below the I, IV and V chords. These chromatic embellishments create a feeling of motion without changing the basic harmony. You can hear hints of this half-step shift approach on some of the various live versions of "Red House."
Hendrix was like a musical sponge, in that he soaked up the style of every player her admired. By the time he squeezed it through his own brain, though, it came out sounding like nothing so much as Hendrix. The best way to emulate Jimi is to let yourself be influenced by a wide variety of players; the result will be that you sound like no one else.
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dobiehurst
January 04, 2010 at 10:16pm
Love the blues, and have had holdbacks to playing what I like to here. Glad to come across your lessons, and find them very instructional and easy to comprehend. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and I look forward to viewing more lessons. My wifes gonna get a kick outta this riff.
checho
September 30, 2008 at 11:10pm
mn hey mr. wyatt i scouped all our lessons: mnm fine stuff.
mnm Please: do you think you can wip up a lesson on a walking bass with chords n stuff. you know that cromatic movement in the bass that sounds so... so.. 2eat. haha
ok bye.. Che cho. here.
johnnyenglish
September 23, 2008 at 5:43am
Just so good , Have been trying it and just changed the way I play ----- Thanks
hooty2
March 05, 2008 at 1:49pm
Please add more Keith Wyatt learning videos, Keith teaching style is fantastic, easy to learn from.
Rock on!
bluesluvr
February 08, 2008 at 6:18am
It's not apparent, but I have determined how to adjust the volume control on this video if you are getting no audio. Click on the speaker icon in the lower right corner of the display. This will produce a vertical bar. Click on and drag the red slider symbol on this bar upwards towards the + symbol. This will turn the volume up. I thought the speaker icon was for muting on/off, but it happens to be for volume level. Hope this helps.
philcir
January 03, 2008 at 5:08pm
very nice.... I should have it down in a day or two...great lesson!!!!
Mohsen
August 14, 2007 at 9:59pm
Can someone help. Who do you contact if you have a question?
None of the lessons, tab pages can be openned.
jrz1950
July 27, 2007 at 7:23pm
Does anyone know the bass notes to Walk,Don't Run:Slow Blues Comping"?
Keith Wyatt is a great teacher. The figures provided do not contain the bass notes that go with the tune. Thanks
Snownan
July 30, 2007 at 6:19am
Use a Major scale walk w/ chromatic passing tones 1/4 notes,one note per beat! ex; AC#DD#/EF#GG#/AGF#F/ED#D/D now your at the IV chord,D, do the same 1st pattern as you did on the A but only up to the C# and return to the 1st A pattern but only up to the G# then to the V chord,E, EG#AB ,IV chord DF#GA and to the I chord w/turn around AC#DD#/E DD#E. This is your basic blues bass walk and can be customized to fit the song Ex; changing to a minor scale , fast or slow IV chord change , 12 bar or 8 bar and different turn arounds. The best things to think about is how it fits the chords and rhythm of the song. After a while you will start to feel it automatically. And you'll be able to hear what notes sound good! Have fun!
murf01
May 20, 2007 at 4:45pm
I can't get any of the videos to work on this site. I've loaded the latest version of macromedia (according to the web site, I'm totally up to date), checked the hosts file and set the security settings to allow guitarworld.com to access my computer. Anyone got any other ideas on how to get the videos to play!!!!! Hey Guitar World, give us some other options to play the videos!!!
Blondino
April 13, 2007 at 6:06pm
I see the line under the image move from left to right but the image does not change and there is no audio. What's up? All the embed videos are the same. If this is the way it's going to be, I prefer the CD, even if you don't have enough room for all the stuff you want to advertise.
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