ACORDES
&
SCALES
Chords & Scales
Let’s take a look at the guitar scales and chords Stevie’s style of playing was based on.
ACORDES
SRV Legendary Sound
SRV Legendary Sound
Stevie Ray Vaughan’s legendary sound is mostly found in the minor blues scale.
Stevie Ray Vaughan’s legendary sound is mostly found in the minor blues scale. Almost every guitar solo Stevie played was based on this specific scale. When I figured this out also, I was astonished because again, most of us associate achievement with having a lot of specialized knowledge.
It was good to know that this misconception that the more you know, the more successful you’ll be was becoming increasingly evident.
The majority of these guitar legends rose to the top of their fields by relying on a few, if not merely one, signature riff. It doesn’t necessarily imply that’s all they could do. I’m sure their guitar knowledge was quite extensive. However, they all kept a fairly basic but melodic style of playing with a lot of feeling.
The minor pentatonic scale was my main soloing scale until I discovered the mighty minor blues scale, which became my favorite scale ever.
The Classic SRV Shuffle
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.
SRV Picking
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
Hybrid Picking Technique
The pick attack of Stevie is also quite special, and there are a few things to take away from this.
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
Practicing Stevie's Aggressive Picking
This simple exercise will improve your picking technique.
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.
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
SRV Aggressive Vibrato
Another aspect that made his sound unique was Stevie’s strong 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.
SRV Guitar Techniques
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