B.B. King is surely the most famous of the living blues guitar legends. The fame hasn't come easily; at almost 75 years of age (born September 16, 1925) King still stays on the road constantly, playing as many as 250 shows a year.

King's signature aggressive vibrato and his minimalistic approach make the guitarist's music immediately identifiable. A few short details will give you great insight into how B.B. King sounds like he does. Many guitarists, if they were to play a blues in G, would tend to think of riffs around the 3rd fret on the guitar. B.B. King approaches this differently; the guitarist works around the note G on the second string, which is at the 8th fret. He plays the G with his first finger, and plays ideas off that (try, for example, playing the 10th fret with your third finger, and bending it up to the 12th fret). The following is a classic example of B.B. King. It is the first four bars of a blues in Bb. It includes a short introduction, which you'll want to learn in all keys: http://guitar.about.com/entertainment/guitar/library/weekly/aa020700d.htm

Born in Itta Bena, on September 16, 1925, Riley B. King certainly learned what the blues were all about early in life; spending much of his childhood working as a sharecropper. A rather hardspent childhood prevented King from concentrating on the guitar until he was in his very late teens.

By 1949, King had began to make his mark in the blues world, recording numerous sides for several small blues labels. Most of the music King recorded during this early period in his career, however, leaned more towards the more popular "rhythm and blues" style of music. It wasn't until well into the 1950's that King really became noted for his guitar work.

The name B.B. King (B.B. being short for "Blues Boy"; a nickname he got during his work as a dj on blues radio in the 1940's) evokes several distinct images to fans; many immediately think of Lucille, the trademark Gibson guitar of the veteran blues guitarist. Many guitarists will often think of King's patented "trill-like" vibrato, which gives the guitarist a sound that is instantly recognizable and singular. What has always intrigued me most, though, about B.B. King, is his use of space in his guitar solos. King never feels a need to flood his music with notes; rather, he concentrates on playing a few choice notes, and enhances them with different techniques (like vibrato, string bending, etc.) to create an approach that in many ways approximates the human voice.

Those not familiar with B.B. King's style may wish to download and listen to an mp3 audio file of "Worry, Worry", (track running time 9:57, file size 9.2 megs - LONG download) in a live recording from the classic 1971 album "Live in Cook County Jail."
http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Canal/4155/song4.mp3

Those interested can also check out the small amount of B.B. King tablature available on the net: http://www.guitarnotes.com/tabs/

For still more insight into the guitarist's style, King has created (along with Albert Collins and other blues legends) an instructional video entitled Guitar Tips - Blues Guitar, which has been made available online from BigStar.com. Additionally, Borders.com stocks a book of tablature and transcriptions to King's music, titled "BB King: With Notes and Tablature."

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Read this B.B. King feature to learn more about the "King of the Blues"

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