B b king biography guitar chords

If you like blues guitar or any styles of early rock then you are likely a fan of B.B. King! His string bends, vibrato, and staccato picking of his self-made blues scales left a mark on music history and many fans who wished to emulate his playing. Nothing he did was all that difficult as far as guitar mastery goes, he’s the perfect guitarist to emulate for those learning how to play guitar. It’s his unique style and touch that defined his much-loved blues vibe. Here are some pointers to get started at playing guitar like B.B. King.

The Mississippi Delta Blues

One of the reasons King has such a distinct style is his background, he was born on a plantation in Mississippi in the 1920’s. This was an era when New Orleans jazz, southern blues, and Caribbean rhythms were all coming together to form blues rock, jump blues, boogie-woogie and more. King was also a member of his church choir and sang the predominant gospel style of the day, by the 1940’s electric guitars entered the market and he mixed these two talents.

The main style he would have heard as a child was the delta blues and it was often played with a slide at the time. But as the electric guitar became clearer and more overdriven, picking out melodies and solos became common. One of the main hallmarks of all blues styles is the blue notes. A major scale can be labeled as 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 and the main blue notes are the b3, b5, and b7. In some cases even the 4 can be sharpened (#) or flattened (b).

The key to the delta blues and all blues in general, is using these blue notes and chromaticism, this is where we break from the major scale and move in semitones. This replicates the same concept of gospel singing where we use melisma to move along our notes and get a blues vibe. That is why the slide was once so important, as it helps with that chromatic movement and replicates human vocals better.

B.B. King Box

Some musicians of that era took these blues styles in more rock

The man born Riley B. King had every right to play the blues. Revered by peers such as Buddy Guy, Freddie King, Albert King, Chuck Berry and Otis Rush, he also garnered a plethora of later admirers, from Clapton and Hendrix to John Lennon and Keith Richards. 

Indeed, pretty much every guitarist that ever bent a string, added vibrato and let that note sing, owes something to King’s style. Today’s fine roster of bluesers, including John Mayer, Eric Gales, Joe Bonamassa, Gary Clark Jr., Susan Tedeschi, Joanna Connor and Derek Trucks were all, directly or otherwise, affected by him. 

Even Lennon, when asked if there was anything more he’d like to achieve said, “Yes, to play guitar like B.B. King.” Well, listen to John’s solos on The Beatles’ Get Back and the influence is there for all to hear. And check out Peter Green’s sublime guitar on Fleetwood Mac’s Need Your Love So Bad – it has King’s blues DNA all over it.

First steps

Born on the Berclair Cotton Plantation in Itta Bena, Indianola, Mississippi in 1925, King’s parents were sharecroppers, and from a young boy into his early teens Riley picked cotton, worked on a cotton ‘gin’ (the ‘engine’ that separated the fibres from the seeds), or drove a tractor. Due to his parents splitting up when he was just four, King’s maternal grandmother looked after him until she died a few years later. 

During his time in and around Indianola, Riley would have witnessed endemic racism, segregation, deprivation, even the horrors of lynching. Riley, though, sought to distance himself from the brutal things he saw, never wanting his career to be defined by them. As blues legend Buddy Guy tells it: “

American blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter (1925–2015)

Musical artist

Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B. B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shimmering vibrato, and staccatopicking that influenced many later electric guitar blues players.AllMusic recognized King as "the single most important electric guitarist of the last half of the 20th century".

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and is one of the most influential blues musicians of all time, earning the nickname "The King of the Blues", and is referred to as one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King and Freddie King, none of whom is related). King performed tirelessly throughout his musical career, appearing on average at more than 200 concerts a year into his 70s. In 1956 alone, he appeared at 342 shows.

He was attracted to music and taught himself to play guitar beginning his career in juke joints and on local radio. He later lived in Memphis and Chicago. Then, as his fame grew, he toured the world extensively.

Early life

Riley B. King was born on September 16, 1925, on a cotton plantation in Berclair named Bear Creek in Leflore County near the city of Itta Bena, Mississippi, the son of sharecroppers Albert and Nora Ella King. When he was four years old, his mother left his father for another man, so he was raised by his maternal grandmother, Elnora Farr, in Kilmichael, Mississippi, then in Lexington. As a teen, he moved to Indianola which he referred to as his hometown, later working at a cotton gin.

While young, King sang in the gos