Category: Blues Guitar

This article is a Jimmie Vaughan guitar lesson that focuses mostly on Jimmie’s later guitar style in his solo career. Some of the greatest “white blues” recordings of all time are the early Fabulous Thunderbirds albums which feature Jimmie Vaughan on guitar. 9 Must Know Electric Blues Guitar instrumentals talks about one of Jimmie’s many great instrumentals from that era called “Extra Jimmies”. When Jimmie left the T-Birds, he almost always uses a capo. Using the capo for single line soloing is by no means a new thing, older players such as Clarence Gatemouth Brown and Johnny Guitar Watson used them. These 1950’s electric blues guitar players are a huge influence on Jimmie’s guitar style which makes it totally different from the blues/rock orientated style of his younger brother Stevie Ray. All of the licks in this Jimmie Vaughan guitar lesson were played using a capo on the 3rd fret so please bare that mind when reading the notation and tab. Jimmie exclusively uses the Strat and even has his own signature model from Fender. I used the back and middle pickups on my Strat to record the audio examples and used fingers rather than a plectrum. I would like to thank my friend and Skype student Patrick for making this great lesson suggestion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqsQ7cu576g Jimmie Vaughan Guitar Lesson Lick 1 This first lick is a typical Jimmie Vaughan style intro which can be heard on tunes like “Just Like Putty”. Licks like this work well as an introduction because the quarter notes are on the down beat and help set the feel and mood the rest of the band. Jimmie Vaughan Guitar Lesson Lick 1 Jimmie Vaughan Guitar Lesson Lick 2 The next line demonstrates a favorite four note pattern of Jimmie Vaughan which he frequently uses in his solos to build anticipation. The lick finishes with Jimmie’s slow and quirky vibrato technique. Check out this clip and listen to how many times Jimmie uses this pattern. Jimmie Vaughan Guitar Lesson Lick 2 Jimmie Vaughan Guitar Lesson Lick 3 To break things up, here is an all fretted chromatic line Jimmie Vaughan uses. The example is written over the I chord here, but Jimmie usually uses this idea to outline the IV chord, typically in 10 of a 12 bar blues progression. I played this lick in 16th notes on the recording but it is notated here in 8ths to make it easier to read. Jimmie Vaughan Guitar Lesson Lick 3 Jimmie Vaughan Guitar Lesson Lick 4 The final lick from this Jimmie Vaughan guitar lesson is a great Lightnin’ Hopkins inspired run. Jimmie Vaughan Guitar Lesson Lick 4 Practice using each of these licks against backing tracks. Slow blues or New Orleans style shuffles work well and are feels that Jimmie often like to write songs in. Check out the audio track below of me incorporating these licks in a full 12 bar blues situation. Blues for Jimmie I hope that you enjoy playing and working through each of the riffs from this Jimmie Vaughan guitar lesson. The backing track for the examples can be found below. Listen to as much Jimmie Vaughan as possible to capture his feel attack besides just working through the ideas in this lesson. What do you think of this Jimmie Vaughan guitar lesson? Share your thoughts in the comment section below. https://youtu.be/w6bJk8L5HOQ