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Albert Collins, open F minor, capo VII
Whether by design or accident, some blues guitarists used pretty unusual tunings.
Texan legend Albert Collins tuned his Telecaster to open F minor (low to high: F, C, F, Ab, C and F) then used a capo on the 5th, 7th or 9th frets.
Albert King was left-handed but played right-handed guitars flipped over upside-down so the low E string was on the bottom. He apparently used open Em (low to high: C, B, E, G, B and E) or open F tuning (low to high: C, F, C, F, A and D) although he tried to keep his tuning secret!
Walking basslines whether played on piano, organ, guitar, horns or an actual bass are an essential element of electric blues. Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble bassist Tommy Shannon is a master of the walking bassline. Check out Tommy playing on Stevie’s Texas Flood.
