Guitar Tricks Insider February/March Digital Edition | Page 64

ANOTHER TAKE - WHY A CATFISH?

“I wish, I was a catfish,
swimming in the deep blue
sea. I would have all you
good lookin’ women, fishin’,
fishin’ after me.” Maybe
Muddy Waters said it all when
he sang those virile lyrics.
However, the persistence of
catfish imagery in the blues
is likely due to their feisty
nature, aggressive looks
with their “mustache,” and
bottom feeding habits of
this tasty Southern delicacy.
Furthermore, their timeless
presence in blues and rock
is no doubt a product of
their dynamic and ominous
characteristics.

Fig. 2

 __ =   
3

 
    

3

    
1/2





0





0
2

0

2







0
2

0

0

Gary Clark Jr., a young lion on the
contemporary blues scene, chooses to interpret
the riff as shown in Fig. 2. His version also
relies on ringing treble notes via an open string
1 for dynamic effect.

64

DIGITAL EDITION

 __ =   
3


   


E

   
    



1/4

3

1/2

0



2

2

2

0

2

3

0

Fig. 1 shows one of the several classic and

influential ways Mr. Morganfield (Muddy Waters)
used the riff as a “hook.” As will be seen, the
bend and pull-off involving the 4th, b5th, b3rd
and root notes from the blues scale are crucial
in most variations.

Fig. 3

E

2

Fig. 1

 __ =   
3

G7

       




3

5

3

5

3

5



 
5

6

3

The “Boogie Man,” John Lee Hooker, performed
this in open G tuning rather than the more
typical root position of the E blues scale.
However, Fig. 3 is presented in standard tuning
for ease of access.

FEB/MAR