A study of Stevie Ray Vaughan's style of playing guitar

Abstract

Stevie Ray Vaughan ignited the 1980s blues revival with his astonishingly accomplished guitar playing, developing a distinctively eclectic and fiery style that sounded unlike any other guitarist in any genre. Despite the fact that his mainstream career lasted only seven years, he is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in blues music history, as well as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. The objective of this research was 1. To study the biography of Stevie Ray Vaughan in order to better understand his musical background, musical influences, and gear. 2. To analyze in order to gain a better understanding of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s style of playing guitar. A study of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s style of playing guitar was conducted using the qualitative research method, consisting of four processes: 1. Primary data collection, 2. Data classification, 3. Data analysis, and 4. Data presentation. In conclusion, the astonishingly accomplished guitar playing of Stevie Ray Vaughan was a major driving force behind the blues and many genres. Vaughan was influenced equally by bluesmen, rock and roll guitarists, and jazz guitarists. As a result, he developed a style that was uniquely eclectic and fiery, and it sounded like no other guitarist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in blues music history, as well as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. Implication of the thematic paper: A study of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s style of playing serves as a guideline for people who want to know the method, concept, and technique of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s guitar playing style and could be applied to playing blues, jazz, or any style of music. For further research, the author suggested that in the aspect of the use of the pentatonic scale by Stevie Ray Vaughan, he mostly used the pentatonic scale as a harmonic generalization over the chord changes of the song, but it could be applied as a harmonic specific over the chord changes. This led to the idea for further research, which was the practical way to use the pentatonic in the language and style of Stevie Ray Vaughan over a jazz standard tune regarding an aspect of harmonic specificity over the chord changes.