“Pentatonic ideas are always the best way to reach an audience. Those tend to be the notes they feel even if they don’t even know why”: Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram on why the pentatonic scale is still the GOAT

Blues guitar wunderkind Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram has become one of the defining blues voices of his generation and is one of the leaders of the contemporary blues resurgence. His secret to a good guitar solo? The humble pentatonic scale.

“As simple as the scale is, pentatonic ideas are always the best way to reach an audience. Those tend to be the notes they feel even if they don’t even know why,” he tells Guitarist. “The secret to pentatonic playing is finding as many licks as you can.”

However, it's not just about playing the pentatonic scale as it is. “You have to be inventive so it doesn’t sound like a scale,” reveals Ingram.

In a 2023 Total Guitar interview, Ingram talked about Eric Gales' influence on how he approaches pentatonic-driven solos.

“I learned a lot of my faster pentatonic runs from Eric,” he said. “There’s one I call ‘the pentatonic staircase’ because I saw a video of Eric Gales when I was younger where he called it his ‘up the stairs, down the stairs’ lick. It’s where he crosses positions and comes back down the same line.

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“I try to emulate that for certain runs. Eric’s so amazing, I love all his chord voicings. When I’m learning, I sit down, listen and try to play along.”

Elsewhere in that interview, Ingram revealed his preference for improvising solos on stage, rather than playing the recorded version note for note.

“When I’m up on stage, I improvise to avoid playing the same exact solo every night. There may be certain licks here and there, but I prefer to just make it up and feel it.

“It’s better to not overthink it or place too much emphasis on perfection. That stuff can be a distraction. Sometimes us guitar players can get caught up in our heads. I just want to go out there, have fun and do my thing, you know?”

For more from Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram, plus new interviews with Samantha Fish and Richard Hawley, pick up issue 514 of Guitarist at Magazines Direct.