Minor Blues Scale Phrasing

In most of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s songs, especially in live shows, he would solo over this scale.

In the key of C minor (using E-flat tuning).

Figure 1

In the key of C minor (using E-flat tuning), for example, a minor blues scale advanced phrasing is demonstrated. This is by far one of my favorite ways Stevie would play over this scale. With minor changes, he’d do this same pattern over and over in different keys.

This particular guitar riff is one that you’ll want to master.

The Classic SRV Shuffle

One of Stevie’s most distinctive approaches was his signature, powerful shuffle licks. Stevie was nominated several times and awarded for his song “Rude Mood,” in which he uses this technique. It’s a takeoff of Lightnin’ Hopkins’ “Hopkins’ Sky Hop” song, as he referred to it.

Stevie’s technique was to strum the upstroke closer to the bridge and the downstroke closer to the fretboard.

There were a couple of instances when I observed it looked somewhat like a circular movement, and he did it in an upside-down v formation between the middle and neck pickups.

Figure 2

Here’s a sample of how this shuffle technique sounds and looks like.

SRV Picking

The pick attack of Stevie is also quite special, and there are a few things to take away from this.

He preferred to use medium guitar picks. They usually range from .60 to .80 mm in thickness, and he used to pick with the round edge of the pick, which is refreshing to know since that is how I’ve been using the guitar pick as well since I can remember.

This is the way I teach my students to use the guitar pick when soloing, because it offers a smoother feel and string transition. Not only that, but the tone is considerably fuller as a result of it.

Hybrid Picking Technique

Stevie also used the so-called hybrid picking technique, which is when you use both the pick and your fingertips simultaneously. This technique is often used in bluegrass and country music, but it’s becoming more popular among guitarists. It improves your speed.

The pick strikes the 3rd string downstroke and an upstroke on the 2nd string with your middle finger in this illustration.

——– ↓ – ↓ ——————– | ( 3rd String – Guitar Pick )
———- ↑ – ↑ —————— | ( 2nd String – Middle Finger )

Practicing Stevie’s Aggressive Picking

This simple exercise will improve your picking technique. It doesn’t matter how clean it sounds at first; all that matters is that you hit the strings aggressively and in the proper sequence. The idea here is that after you hit a string, the pick should end in a position where it is simple to transfer to the following string without having to leap.

You are going to hit each string 6 times. Start with a downstroke on the 6th string, then move to the 5th string with a downstroke, and so on.

——– ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ———————- || 6
——– ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ———————- || 5
——– ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ———————- || 4
——– ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ———————- || 3
——– ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ———————- || 2
——– ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ———————- || 1

An upstroke ↑ on lower string positions you to hit a higher string ↓ downstroke, does this make sense? give it a shot, practice it and increase your picking technique by 50%. Yea, by that much!

The goal of this drill is to increase speed by hitting each string six times aggressively without getting stuck when changing strings.

SRV Aggressive Vibrato

Another aspect that made his sound unique was Stevie’s strong vibrato. This form of vibrato is produced mostly by the arm rather than the wrist or fingers.

The vibrato used by plenty of rock and blues guitarists is similar, but it has been claimed that Stevie’s was particularly distinctive. It had a distinct wobble to it, rather than a smooth slide from one note to the next.

Vibrato Waveform Comparison

Vibrato comparison: Moderate vibrato vs. aggressive vibrato.