If You Learn One Thing From Buddy Guy It’s This

Among all the great blues guitarists, Buddy Guy holds the crown as the most expressive when it comes to playing solos with rhythmic variety. In particular, he’s got an uncanny knack of drifting away from the band’s time, particularly in a slow blues, where there’s more space to play with. Clipped notes, sustained vibrato notes, quick-fire note bursts, accelerating repetitive licks and moments of silence: these and more have become his beloved rhythmic trademarks for blues soloing.

One of my favorite eras of Buddy’s is the mid-to-late ’60s, and this encompasses albums such as I Left My Blues in San Francisco (1967), and A Man and the Blues (1968), as well as his incredible work with Junior Wells. There’s something special about this period, where his playing was cleaner, and yet more raw-sounding. He was considerably ahead of his time.

And don’t forget his renowned tone: neck and middle pickups on a Strat (legend has it that he originally taped his three-way selector to get the sound). I’ve gone for this pickup position in all the examples, with some mild breakup on the amp. He has also used neck and (especially) bridge positions, so feel free to experiment.

All of the examples are in C# major. This is perhaps an unusual key for guitar players but one that Buddy has enjoyed playing in over the years. The benefit of this key is when you’re using minor pentatonic shapes 1 and 2, you’re in the middle of the fretboard, so bending and vibrato is easier. But it’s rhythm that we’re really going to dig into, so let’s get into it!

Example 1a. On The Grid Time Feel

Before you explore playing around with time or playing “off grid”, it’s important to be able to play on the grid, showing you can synchronise with the band/backing track. In a 12/8 blues groove, most players gravitate to underlying groups of three (played on the hi-hat on the backing).

In this example, this is evident but also there are fast pull-offs that come from a smaller 12-note grid. Even though you’re playing with different rhythmic groups here, notice that almost every line begins on one of the strong beats.

Example 1b. Shifting the Rhythm

Buddy Guy is about vibe and spontaneity rather than precision. This extends to some of his string bending as well as his timing. Here you’re shifting some of the lines to either side of the strong beats as this will make your phrasing sound less predictable. Experiment with the speed and placement of the faster pull-offs.

With repeating licks like this, it’s worth making it sound more conversational and expressive, as opposed to being completely uniform.

Example 2a. On The Grid Time Feel

One of Buddy’s trademark ideas is using pedal note bluesy double-stops. He does this with thumb and first finger (or you could use hybrid picking as I’ve done in the video), which means you can easily achieve wide intervals that jump strings.

On this first ‘on the grid’ version, view the whole phrase as a classic blues call and response line.

Example 2b. Off The Grid Time Feel

Here you’re letting go of the grid. The ‘dragged’ sound should feel a little lazy in the picking hand as this will give you a behind the beat feel. The second half of this line includes a ‘4 over 3’ grouping that’s common in slow 12/8 blues.

Don’t overthink this, as aiming for precision can often ruin the effect. Just as with harmony, you can create considerable tension with rhythms like this, with a feel good release when you hit the final note.

Example 3a. On The Grid Time Feel

Buddy loves to milk simple blues phrases over time (and often over an entire 12-bar solo). Here you’ll start off with a typical pentatonic lick that’s grouped as six notes per beat.

As before, the bends can be loose in terms of tuning (anything from a ¼ note to a ½ note bend will sound good). The first finger bend is a Buddy Guy trademark but it can be tricky: explore bending towards your face rather than towards the floor, as it can feel easier to do.

Example 3b. Elastic/Bungee Time Feel

The notation can be a little bit daunting here but all you’re going for is a “start slow and soft, then gradually get faster and louder” vibe. As with the previous example, the release of tension will be at some future point – ideally when the chord changes.

Again, it’s not about precision. You can put the brakes on if you feel yourself going too fast, but if you end the line too early or late it doesn’t really matter. For added expression, try picking close to the bridge for a spikier sound and vary the dynamics from whisper quiet to loud.

Example 4. Putting It All Together

In this longer 12-bar solo all of the previous ideas are put together so you can see the examples are interchangeable over different parts of the progression. There are also some extra Buddy-isms, including the ‘catch bends’ in bar 2.

Normally, the fretting fingers push a lower string out of the way during a bend up, but here you can allow the fingers to be slightly flatter to push onto the second string. It’s got a glorious out of tune sound that’s worth getting into your playing (you can also hear where the great SRV got this from).

This line resolves in bar 3 with the second finger bending down from F# to E# for a sus4 to major 3rd sound that Buddy was fond of using. You’re also being more explicit with the harmonic change to the V chord (G#7) during the turnaround by playing notes from G# minor blues, rather than C# (this is another trick that SRV loved to use).

Play along to the backing here:

If you’d like to own a copy of this backing, it’s available to buy in my shop.

Takeaways From This Lesson

Whilst this is definitely not a “how to play in the style of Buddy Guy” lesson, it leans into his rhythmic style; and this is a universal concept when improvising – and not just in the blues.

Try it over a the backing here and then see if you can apply it in different keys/feels/styles – that’s where the real power of this lesson lies.