CHOPS

Blue Sixths
BY JUDE GOLD
CHANCES ARE WHEN

Nobodys sixths had more
Jimi Hendrix was play- sting than those of Albert
ing timeless blues in- King.
tros like the one pre-
sented in Ex. 1which is
similar to the opening notes of
Red Househe wasnt con-
sciously thinking, Im now fretting
the interval of a major sixth for two
beats and then moving it down a
half-step. But like great blues play-
ers before and after him, Hendrix
used intervals of major or minor
sixths all the time because these
grips when played with passion
and convictionhave a mesmer-
izing, open sound.
While Ex. 1 may be one of the
most popular sounds in the history
of the blues, an equally tasty but
less common example of a blues-
inflected sixth is shown in Ex. 2.

Ex. 1 Ex. 2

  = 50-60 (I)
 
la Jimi Hendrix
= 50-60
(IV)
C7
 
 12              
G7
 12
3
2
      
 8













 8 




















1

3
etc.
 
7 7 7 6 6 6
T 7 7 7 6 6 6 T 5 3 (3) 5 3 (3)
A A
B B 5 7 5 7

Ex. 3


la Albert King (IV)
 = 50-60

C7

 12     
 
3

 8
















5 3 (3)
T
5
A
5 3
B

8 8 GUITAR PLAYER APRIL 2003 PH OTO : C L AY TO N C A L L

Hendrix sometimes played this lick
when approaching the IV chord of
a slow 12-bar blues in G. This lick
gets its savory flavor from the minor
sixth that occurs between E and C,
just before C slides down to Bb. To
ensure this meaty maneuver has a
huge emotional impact, play it not
just with your fingers, but also with
your heartas well as a warm, bit-
ing tone and a lyrical vibrato.
As shown in Ex. 3, the great Al-
bert King had a punchy way of
handling the IV chord in a G blues
involving two major sixthsone
between C and A , the other
between Bb and G . Stevie Ray
Vaughan, who wore his King influ-
ence proudly, added some hot
sauce to Ex. 3s moves, evolving
them to the feisty IV-chord riff in
Ex. 4 . One reason Vaughan got
such a fiery mojo out of these de-
scending major and minor sixths
was because he absolutely killed Chet Atkins, unplugged in
the notes with his pick. To keep 1984.
unwanted strings from ringing, the
Texas powerhouse intuitively
muted unused strings with the un-
derside his fretting-hand fingers
and thumb.
Finally, dont forget that blue
sixths can also come in country col-
ors. And when Chet Atkins was
manning the fretboard, the melodic
results, as you might expect, were
often spectacular. Ex. 5 demon-
strates how Atkins used major and
minor sixths chromatically to nail
the sweet tones in a I-VI-II-V pro-
gression in G over a quick two-step
rhythm. Once you learn the layout
of this riff, youll find its easy and
fun to play, thanks to the open D
string that precedes each interval
of a sixth. g

Ex. 4

(IV)

la SRV


= 50-60 C7


 12         

2 2 2

 8
2


8 6 5 4 3
T 9 7 5 3
A
B

Ex. 5

la Chet Atkins
G7 E7 A7 D7

 4     

        
= 100-120
 
     
 
2
    
2

4 

































    2                   2
2 2 2

 
T
12 10 8 7 7 5 (5) 10 8 7 5 5 3
A 0 1112 0 9 10 0 8 9 0 6 7 0 6 7 0 5 6 0 10 11 0 8 9 0 6 7 0 4 5 0 4 5 0 3 4
B

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