My Guitar Heroes: Monster Mike Welch

I want to talk about a musician who was very special to me, Albert King, one of the most influential blues guitar players of all time. His influence was so profound that even the blues guitarists who were active before him started playing differently after hearing his work. Albert's influence extends beyond just blues fans; rock-oriented blues fans would recognize parts of his playing in the work of Steve Ray Vaughan, Gary Moore, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and Jeff Beck.

Albert King is a titanic figure within the blues genre. He inspired me to focus on becoming a blues guitar player from a young age. I remember being in my childhood home, around 10 or 11 years old, listening to records. My dad had a collection from the 60s featuring the Beatles, Stones, Dylan, Hendrix, Clapton, and a few blues records, including a live Albert King album called "Wednesday Night in San Francisco." I was already a fan of blues-based guitar playing, but it was while listening to this album, particularly the track "Got To Be Some Changes Made," that I realized this was the sound I wanted to achieve.

Albert's playing had a raw power that resonated with me as a young, confused kid. Today, I still find his playing powerful, but I also appreciate the nuances and tenderness in his style. Albert had a set of stock phrases that he owned and invented, always finding ways to surprise listeners with his nuanced touch. His influence is evident in many guitar players, but no one plays quite like him.

Albert was a master of string bending, achieving nuances from a bent string that went beyond typical guitar sounds, almost like a human voice. When demonstrating these techniques, I focus on the key of A, particularly bending the C note up a major third to E and hitting the notes in between. A good practice method is to target pitches within that wide bend. Albert sometimes grabbed two strings at once, offering a lot of variety within the bend.

I also discuss my right-hand technique, contrasting it with Albert's unique style. He played left-handed on a right-handed guitar, with his high E string closest to his face, and used his thumb. I had to adapt to get a similar sound on a standard-tuned guitar using a pick, with the pick barely sticking out from my finger and thumb and grazing the string with flesh and fingernail.

Albert's phrases, especially lower on the neck, were basic blues but slightly surprising in direction, often ending on a slide, partial chord, or double stop. His big slide down on the top three strings served as a punctuation mark. Another aspect of Albert's playing is his call-and-response style, a fundamental component of blues phrasing, where a phrase sets up a question followed by an answer, especially over different chords.

From Albert's playing, there's much to learn and apply to your own style. Whether it's mastering the big bends, adopting the question-and-answer style of phrasing, or experimenting with different pick attacks for varied tonal qualities, these techniques can enhance your playing. I'm excited to share more about what I've learned from Albert.

Now, I'm going to demonstrate something I call Albert's Crosscut Groove, a blues rumba in the key of A, based on Albert's version of "Crosscut Saw." I'll be playing some of Albert's stuff and expanding on it over a few choruses. While I stay close to Albert's style, my own approach and embellishments will come through in this performance. Let's dive into Albert King's playing on Albert's Crosscut Groove.

In this lesson, we will explore the monumental influence and distinctive techniques of blues guitar legend Albert King. We'll delve into how King's playing inspired a generation of guitarists across genres, from blues to rock. The session includes a personal reflection on how King's music shaped the instructor's own musical journey. Key focal points include mastering King's unique string bending, achieving nuances within bends, and adapting right-hand techniques to replicate his sound on a standard-tuned guitar. We'll also examine his call-and-response style, an essential aspect of blues phrasing. Additionally, the lesson features a demonstration of Albert's Crosscut Groove, showcasing how to integrate King's style into your own playing while adding personal embellishments.

In this lesson, we will explore the monumental influence and distinctive techniques of blues guitar legend Albert King. We'll delve into how King's playing inspired a generation of guitarists across genres, from blues to rock. The session includes a personal reflection on how King's music shaped the instructor's own musical journey. Key focal points include mastering King's unique string bending, achieving nuances within bends, and adapting right-hand techniques to replicate his sound on a standard-tuned guitar. We'll also examine his call-and-response style, an essential aspect of blues phrasing. Additionally, the lesson features a demonstration of Albert's Crosscut Groove, showcasing how to integrate King's style into your own playing while adding personal embellishments.

I'd like to talk about another one of my favorite players, the great Buddy Guy, whose playing remains vital in 2023 and continues to be a leading light of the blues scene. The Buddy records that really influenced me were his older 1960s records made for labels like Chess and Vanguard.

His playing during this period had a cleaner sound with a crazy edge, and a fragile beauty I've never heard in anyone else before him. It seemed to be a reflection of his personality. Taking early B.B. King as a starting point for phrasing, Buddy added more staccato and scattered elements. To achieve a brighter, more percussive tone, I sometimes pick back by the bridge.

In the key of D, I stay within the pentatonic blues scale, incorporating a lot of slides between positions and playing flurries of notes. Buddy's wide bends were less controlled compared to Albert King's. He also had a late-night mode, using a static note on top, like the D on the high E string, and picking with both his pick and middle finger to play blues phrases on the D and G strings, keeping the high E going.

Another technique he used was on the E and B strings, climbing from the third to the fifth with the root static on top. He would also include little chord fills and interjections, sliding a D6 chromatically down to a D9, and sometimes going as high as possible for effect.

One of my favorite things he did was sliding from the minor third to the major third and putting vibrato on the major third, a variation on a B.B. King phrase but with a different attack and vibrato. Buddy was also a great rhythm player, especially when playing with people like Junior Wells, blurring the lines between rhythm and lead. For example, over a shuffle in the key of A, he would use a tremolo pick from a D9 to a minor pentatonic, and over the E7 chord, he sometimes played a minor seventh chord for the turnaround.

Buddy's lead playing varied from beautiful restraint to high energy. What I got from Buddy was a sense of freedom in phrasing, the idea that anything's fair game if it feels right, and his wide dynamics. During the performance, I'll be using wide dynamics, embodying Buddy's "whisper to a scream" approach.

There's so much in Buddy Guy's playing, and I encourage you to check out every era of his playing to see what moves you the most. For me, it's his 60s work, but he also made great records in the 90s and 2000s.

Now, I'd like to play something I call "Blues for Buddy," a slow blues in the key of D. You'll hear B.B. King influenced phrasing, flurries of notes, and especially the wide dynamic range of Buddy's playing. This performance will showcase the freedom of phrasing and the sense that anything goes. I'll play two choruses of a 12-bar blues in the key of D, and I hope you enjoy it.