premier clinic
From Birth of the Groove
(00695036)
The Soulful Style of the Electric Blues/R&B Guitarist
IkE TURnER
By DAvE RUBIn
Ike chose his notes with the cunning of a card shark trying to draw an inside straight. But, he phrased with the abandon of a sailor on shore leave.
All those years of playing piano and arranging taught him a considerable amount about harmony, as he could certainly navigate I-IV-V chord
changes. Ike modestly terms what he does on the guitar as “tricks,” but make no mistake, he attacked his axe with the conviction of a man who
knew precisely what he wanted to hear come out of it.
He took inspiration from Gatemouth Brown’s “Okie Dokie Stomp” and ran it through the supercharger on his Strat to produce the four measures
of Fig. 1. Similar to “I’m Tore Up,” it shows how the root position of the basic blues scale can be finessed to create tension, even with typical blues
licks. Dig how Ike ends his phrases on the 5th (F) in measures 1, 2, and 3, refusing to give in to the root note. Instead, he slams past it until measure
4, where he finally resolves to the Bb while getting ready to up-shift to measure 5 and the IV chord, with a full-step bend to the F note.
äoe
J
oeboe oeOEÓ Bb
Fig. 1
(= )
j
oe
£
oe oe oe = 120 Fast Shuffle
& bb4 4
‰ oeJoeoeboe ä
£
oeän n b oeoeäoeoe
boe
J oe ‰OE ‰oeJ
iä oe
J
oe
‰‰
oeboeäoe
full
1/2
£
1/2
T
A
B
6
full
6
6
full
6
11
full
11
9
6
6
6
6
6
9
8
8
69
8
8
6
8
Fig. 2 gives a tantalizing taste of Ike’s whammy-bar technique. Like all of his Kings of Rhythm material, notes on paper do not adequately convey
the explosive exuberance of his playing. Nonetheless, you should know that Ike did not use the whammy bar to dive bomb, he used it to launch
rockets and incendiary devices. With a limited palette of notes, he acknowledged the chord changes of the last four measures of a fast shuffle
like “Sad As a Man Can Be.” To fully achieve his shattering vibrato, pull up and push down on the bar rapidly. For the bends in measures 10 and
11, hold the bar up while vigorously pumping on the handle. Though he may have sound wildly spontaneous, Ike was able to articulate these
maneuvers with a high degree of pitch accuracy.
boeoe ˙˙ oeoe F
Fig. 2
(= )
j
oeoe
£
oe oe oe = 120 Fast Shuffle
& bb 4 4
9
iä ˙
Eb
oe
‰
oeoe
J
iä oe.
Bb
oeoe
J
ä oe.
oeoe
J
˙
F
oeOE
w/bar
w/bar
full
w/bar
full
w/bar
full
w/bar
T
A
B
9
8
8
8
6
6
9
6
6
9
6
69
6
6
6
Ike demonstrates his mastery of the Mixolydian mode combined with the blues scale in Fig. 3. Taking advantage of the attributes of both scales, he
uses the major 3rd (C#) in the pickup and measure 1 to illuminate the A7 change, but eliminates it in favor of the b3rd, which functions as the b7th
leading tone of D7. Of course, he is bending, hammering, and pulling off like a demon throughout, scattering triplets like a man shooing alley cats
with a bucket of water. Compare this figure to what Ike played on Buddy Guy’s “You Sure Can Do.”
Click here to head to premierguitar.com/clinic to download sound clips for this lesson.
88 PREMIER GUITAR DECEMBER 2009
www.premierguitar.com
