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Although arguably best known as elder brother and primary musical influence to the legend that is Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie is undeniably a wonderful guitarist in his own right and any serious student of blues guitar has an obligation to check him out.

Both as a player and as a bandleader, Vaughan's relevance is notable, prompting Stevie to proudly declare, "My brother Jimmie actually was one of my biggest influences on my playing. He really was the reason why I started to play".

Jimmie's music encapsulates all that is good about the earlier roots-based urban blues styles. He may have a raw and direct style, and he's not the most technically demanding player out there, but it simply sounds wonderful!

Clarity is the order of the day, both from a tonal and a melodic perspective. The simplicity of Vaughan's music allows the inherent beauty of his phrasing to shine through. He's got great timing, decisive note choice, great rhythmic phasing, confident, bold and authentic delivery and a killer tone.

There are two complete studies for you to learn in this lesson. The first takes its inspiration from Vaughan's fiery soloing style he showcased with his work with The Fabulous Thunderbirds. With considerably more notes per second you'll need to use a pick and dig in hard.

Our second 24-bar piece shows how Vaughan's style has evolved, favouring the fingers over the pick, using much more space with less notes but more expressive devices such as slides, bends and tremolo which, along with his sublime tone, arguably gives his sound even more authentic blues vibe and feel.

The most significant development to Jimmie's sound is his now near-constant use of the capo, selecting its position relative to the appropriate root note on the sixth string. So, if the song is in G, the capo is at the 3rd fret, if it's in C then it would be the 8th, and so on. As Jimmie says, "It's a way to play in E all the time…and that helps me with my playing, and helps me sound more like myself".

As always, treat these solo studies as the springboard to further exploration, and remember to enjoy yourself. Don't be mistaken into thinking that the blues is all about doom and gloom, this is 'good times' music of the highest order.

Audio

Example one: full track

Example one: backing track

Example two: full track

Example two: backing track

Next page: tab and chord shapes