Easy Blues Licks: Albert King

by James Stelling

The following is a study of (and a lesson in) the lead guitar style of Albert King using video, audio examples, written music, Tab and backing tracks.

 

This article is the first in a series of 3 lessons covering Easy Blues Licks. 

It is intended to help you to start building a blues vocabulary by copying the greats.

In this instance, Albert King.

I've presented 10 licks here. Each lick is grouped into one of 3 categories:

  • I Chord Licks (these licks may be played over the I7 chord - C7 in the case of this article)

  • IV Chord Licks (these licks may be played over the IV7 chord - F7 in the case of this article)

  • Turnaround Licks (these licks may be played over the turnaround in the last 4 bars of a blues - of which we use 2 in this article)

This having been said, Albert King draws a great deal from the Tonic Minor Pentatonic / Blues scale so you will find that a lot of these licks are interchangeable.

Each lick has an audio example and a slowed down audio example for your reference in addition to the written music. 

There is also a backing track and a slowed down backing track for you to practise the licks to.

Once you have learned these licks you can see them in action in a typical Albert King style solo using just licks from this lesson (see the video above).

I Chord Licks

Lick 1

Lick 2

Lick 3

Lick 4

Lick 5

IV Chord Licks

Lick 6

Lick 7

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Lick 8

Lick 9

Turnaround Lick

Lick 10

See the video at the top of the article as a demonstration of this Albert King Style Solo.

Albert King Style Solo

Using only licks from this lesson

I hope you've enjoyed this lesson and found it helpful. 

Please check back regularly for more and if you're enjoying & finding them useful then please consider donating (no matter how little) as a means of support.

Thanks so much, James.

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