What is this B. B. King line?

[Evan12345]

e|--(8-------------------------------12-10---------|
b|-----11-9---------------10-11-12----------12---|
g|-----------10-8-----------------------------------|
d|-----------------11-10)---------------------------|
a|---------------------------------------------------|
e|---------------------------------------------------|





This is from sweet sixteen (

- 0:30), in C#min. I'm mostly interested in the first line, the part in brackets: (C, Bb, Ab, Gb, Eb, Dd, C). As far as I can tell it's what he's doing over the V chord, so it should have something to do with G7, I guess, but I can't see what. Listening to it, I always assumed it was some diminished thing. Now that I actually see the notes I don't know what to make of it. Anyone know what it's based off of? It sounds so cool...

Thanks

[JonR]

Firstly, the key is Db major, not minor.
Second, your tab needs a little correction to the last part:

                         |Ab7                                    |Gb7....
         e|---8----------|------------------11-9-----------------|9-------
         b|-----11-9-----|----------9-10-11--------11---------11-|--------
         g|-----------10-|8---------------------------11--8------|--------
         d|--------------|---11-10-------------------------------|----------
         a|--------------|---------------------------------------|--------
         e|--------------|---------------------------------------|---------
      NOTES:  C Bb Ab F   Eb Db C   Ab A Bb Eb Db  Bb Gb  Eb
CHORD TONES:  3  2  1 6   5  4  3   1 b2 2  5  4   2  b7  5
                                         \_____Ebm7__(Gb6)________
                                             (Ab9sus4)

It's definitely a lovely little phrase, but not really as unusual as it sounds. (Except maybe that it avoids blues scale!)

The first part of the phrase targets chord tones of the V chord (3-1-5-3), with passing notes from the key scale (2,6,4). Four of the notes are before the downbeat, so it's partly an anticipation.
(Chord shape outlined: x-x-10-8-9-8.)

The second part of the phrase is a little more interesting (something about it reminded me of Django Reinhardt for some reason), with it's chromatic A natural leading to a Ebm7 arpeggio - aka Gb6, of course, so you could see it as anticipating the IV chord, but it does give that nice sus4 flavour on the V chord.

You can call the whole thing "Ab mixolydian" (save the passing A natural), but that doesn't really tell you anything. Really it's about the chord tones and extensions. (B B was always fully conscious of chord tones, and how to resolve into them.)

[Stevebol]

This? At about 30 seconds;

It's something like an arpeggio on the Ab7 chord change. Then on the Gb it's another Charlie Christian thing. It's another lick based on a chord shape- the Gb9. It has a sort of dissonance because a lot of what CC did he did just because it was under his fingers and in rhythm. It can't be explained.
Nice lick.

[jjohannes]

                         |Ab7                                    |Gb7....
         e|---8----------|------------------11-9-----------------|--------
         b|-----11-9-----|----------9-10-11--------11------------|14------
         g|-----------10-|8---------------------------11--8----15|--------
         d|--------------|---11-10-------------------------------|--------
         a|--------------|---------------------------------------|--------
         e|--------------|---------------------------------------|--------
      NOTES:  C Bb Ab F   Eb Db C   Ab A Bb Eb Db  Bb Gb  Eb
CHORD TONES:  3  2  1 6   5  4  3   1 b2 2  5  4   2  b7  5
                                         \_____Ebm7__(Gb6)________
                                             (Ab9sus4)

I'd like to add that BB would likely (and evidently, looking at the video) slide up to the "C-shape"-box (or E-shape seen from the chord we're on) on the 14th fret for the last two notes (see tab), where he stays well into the next chorus. This is classic BB stuff!

[JonR]

                         |Ab7                                    |Gb7....
         e|---8----------|------------------11-9-----------------|--------
         b|-----11-9-----|----------9-10-11--------11------------|14------
         g|-----------10-|8---------------------------11--8----15|--------
         d|--------------|---11-10-------------------------------|--------
         a|--------------|---------------------------------------|--------
         e|--------------|---------------------------------------|--------
      NOTES:  C Bb Ab F   Eb Db C   Ab A Bb Eb Db  Bb Gb  Eb
CHORD TONES:  3  2  1 6   5  4  3   1 b2 2  5  4   2  b7  5
                                         \_____Ebm7__(Gb6)________
                                             (Ab9sus4)

I'd like to add that BB would likely (and evidently, looking at the video) slide up to the "C-shape"-box (or E-shape seen from the chord we're on) on the 14th fret for the last two notes (see tab), where he stays well into the next chorus. This is classic BB stuff!

Sure. The box wasn't really an issue for me, the notes were the point. (I guess the whole thing could be played in different positions.)

[Robertkoa]

BB King was surprisingly sophisticated Musically..
I saw him at a Club when I was very young...
and I remember being surprised at how Polished he was on Guitar .

Friendly and very wise and well spoken...we hung out with them a bit...in the Club..after the last Set.

Lost the two white BB King picks I asked for after a few months...lol.

I remember in Guitar Player Mag I think - BB talking about Eric Clapton and he mentioned something you wouldn't expect - paraphrasing-
He said that Eric had a 'sweeter sound' than many Bluesman because he often used a Major Third in Soloing rather than Minor Third - whether or not you agree with this ( sometimes he did sometimes not )-
BB knew about Thirds, Fifths, Ninths etc.and vertical placement in the Chords at least to some extent-and thought that way.

[rintincop]

BB is not advert to some whole tone scale and then going out for a b5 (b9) target. He like diminished scale licks/arps too.

[mr. beaumont]

Anybody else just think he got caught between two pentatonic positions and made some lemonade?

[rintincop]

That could also be an answer.

[rintincop]

He is inadvertently getting the sound of melodic minor for C#

[fep]

Anybody else just think he got caught between two pentatonic positions and made some lemonade?

This ^^^^^

That line is very uncharacteristic for B.B. He played it with conviction though, yes making lemonade.

[rintincop]

This blues in Db (not minor).

He actually plays this at :30 over the Ab7 V chord:

C Bb Ab F Eb Db C

Not a thing about it is unusual, imo. It' an Ab pentatonic scale with the passing tone of Db (the tonic of the key). You could also reference it to the major scale of the key. He sort of flavors the chord as Ab6 rather than the Ab7, nice variation. It's rather diatonic major sounding. I think it sounds different to us because everything else he plays is so strongly anchored in expected "blues" melodies and then he runs 6th notes near diatonic major. It's a contrast... I don't he got caught between 2 blues scales. He was probably playing the key of Db major or the Ab6 of the moment.

[ragman1]

Good lord, such complication. He's just playing the mixolydian, emphasising the 6, 9, 13 extensions, that's all. It's been done since the year dot. The only reason it leaps out as suddenly nice and different is because the rest of the solo is solid pentatonic b5 blues stuff.

[rintincop]

Good lord, such complication. He's just playing the mixolydian, emphasising the 6, 9, 13 extensions, that's all. It's been done since the year dot. The only reason it leaps out as suddenly nice and different is because the rest of the solo is solid pentatonic b5 blues stuff.

Such complication, frankly your answer is misplaced because BB didn't think in your terms ("Mixolydian" "emphasis on 6, 9, 13" )
He did think in Penatonics such as Ab Maj Pent over Ab7. And he occasionally used the major scale of the key. And once in a while diminished arpeggios which he got by listening to Charlie Christian.

[ragman1]

BB didn't think in your terms

I shouldn't think he did. He was probably just playing over a shape.

But how do you know what BB's thoughts were? I'd be interested to know this!

[rintincop]

I had his guitar lessons

[pauln]

Sometimes you have to listen harder, sometime you just have to listen a little longer (in this case only 45 seconds longer).
The consensus is overwhelming, the science is settled, sorry deniers, but BB King has the last laugh on all of you at 1:15...

[ragman1]

Sometimes you have to listen harder, sometime you just have to listen a little longer (in this case only 45 seconds longer).
The consensus is overwhelming, the science is settled, sorry deniers, but BB King has the last laugh on all of you at 1:15...

I don't know what you mean by the last laugh. Sure, he does it again later but there didn't seem much point in mentioning it. It's just the straight mixo sound instead of the blues scale.

Fuss about nothing really - but he does do it very nicely. I think that's the real point. It's not the boring old theory, it's the tasty way he does it

You can get the same sort of effect two different ways:

[pauln]

I don't know what you mean by the last laugh. Sure, he does it again later but there didn't seem much point in mentioning it.

The point in mentioning it is that it was not a mistake to which all the comments about it being lemonade, inadvertent, very uncharacteristic, not thought, and just played over a shape are implying.

BB King adopted a kind of minimalist style to the point that many people assume he was just blues, didn't know chords, and others go on about what he could do "with just one note"... but as a young man (old videos and interviews) he was well jazz dressed in chords, bop lines, the lingo to discuss them, and the chops to play them.

[ragman1]

The point in mentioning it is that it was not a mistake to which all the comments... are implying.

Right, I get it. No, of course it wasn't a mistake, that's absolutely what he meant to play.

[whiskey02]

I think there's an awful lot of judgement going on here, preconceived expectations of what we expect to hear from a particular player. If Peter Bernstein played this line, we be discussing the hip originality factor and practicing to work it into our own lines.