John Mayer and Kenny Wayne Shepherd are two of the biggest names in modern blues – and boy, do they know how to introduce a guitar solo

In this lesson, I’m looking at the styles of two modern blues players from my book 100 Essential Blues Guitar Intros. First up is Kenny Wayne Shepherd, a blues artist who also incorporates harder rock elements into his playing. But Shepherd is a consummate bluesman at heart. 

Inspired by seeing Stevie Ray Vaughan play, he began to teach himself by ear. His intro licks can be technically challenging with uptempo, burning phrases that may take some work.

John Mayer’s blues combines many elements of the greats; he has drawn from B.B. King’s vibrato and rhythms, Eric Clapton’s more rock-based approach, and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s attack and speed. 

He is a hugely versatile musician who covers various blues styles so in his examples I’ve opted to explore his approach on a blues with a funky, swing feel. 

Get the tone

Shepherd and Mayer use Dumble amps and Strats, but try a Fender-style amp tone with the overdrive set on heavy gain for Shepherd and light drive for Mayer. Use the above settings for Mayer and add a drive pedal for Shepherd.  

Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Example 1. Minor pentatonic soloing over changes

Shepherd’s gain-heavy lead tone helps when playing these licks, so try more of a rock overdrive than a typical light crunch blues tone here. This example is a good alternate picking workout and showcases Kenny’s typically tight, clean rhythmic phrasing over colourful chord changes. 

Example 2. Double-stops

The double-stop lick in bars 1-2 needs some vibrato applied to it to bring it to life so make sure you shake that fretting hand. It also needs quite a heavy picking-hand attack so you may need to work on your fretting-hand muting here.

Example 3. Natural minor scale usage

This example uses the E natural minor scale (E-F#-G-A-B-C-D) to create this melodic phrase. Also note how the rhythms are cohesive and consistent so it sounds more like a top melody line than a simple lick.

Example 4. Blazing blues pull-offs

Shepherd plays technical phrases like this with a precision and accuracy that you more commonly find in rock players. The lick in bar 1 features repeating triplet motifs that create quite a challenge. When you have this phrase down try replacing the pull-off on the second string with picked notes for a more defined sound. 

Example 5. 16ths, eighths and triplets

This final KWS phrase contains a demanding lick in bar 3 owing to the triplet rhythm on the ‘and’ of each beat. To play this use the third finger for any notes on the 17th fret, the first finger for notes on the 15th fret and the fourth finger for notes high up on the 19th fret. 

John Mayer

Example 6. Sophisticated chords

John Mayer has a great chord vocabulary so in his playing you will encounter far more sophisticated voicings than you will from many other blues players. Play this example with a relaxed, loose picking-hand wrist so you can get get the required ‘bounce’ off the strings.

Example 7. Minor pentatonic low string phrasing

The following example is built around the F minor pentatonic scale but the jumpy rhythms and tempo make it a great alternate-picking workout. Keep the picking wrist relaxed and loose so you can play every note wihout tensing up. 

Example 8. Adding flair to the minor pentatonic

This phrases is also based around the minor pentatonic scale with the brief addition of the 9th interval courtesy of the open third string in bar 3. The two rapid, choppy phrases will be a great workout for the fretting hand.

Example 9. Call and response

This lick shifts up the octave but starts with more position playing in F minor pentatonic and that choppy rhythmic feel. In bar 3, you can see the Hendrix influence with the double-stop ideas; the hammer-ons and pull-offs within the double-stop are a challenge worth spending some time on.  

Example 10. Country-style bends and repetitive picking

There’s a country influence to Mayer’s playing that results in him sometimes playing fun licks with a real major feel. This phrase is based around F major pentatonic scale and is driven by the country-esque phrasing so make sure you adhere to the pre-bend and release notated in bar 1.