Acoustic Blues Guitar: Acoustic Blues: Stealing Riffs From Stevie

These licks are inspired by Stevie Ray Vaughan — and if you play guitar, it’d be hard not to love what he did with the blues. The riffs here come out of the E flat pentatonic minor scale with some chromatic passing notes mixed in, and they’re built around the kinds of walk patterns and phrases that made SRV’s playing so recognizable.

One thing to know before you start: this guitar is tuned down a half step to E flat, just like Stevie used to play. So everything you see on the fretboard is the same shapes and positions you’d use in standard E tuning — the notes just sound a half step lower. If you want the authentic SRV feel, tune down. If you’d rather stay in standard tuning, these same licks work just as well in the key of E.

The Scale Foundation

Everything here comes from the pentatonic minor scale with two chromatic passing notes added. The first chromatic note sits between the four and five — that’s the flat five, the classic blues note. The second one sits between the seven and the octave. Both of those passing tones are what give these licks their bluesy tension.

If you’re tuned to E flat, these same fret positions give you Eb pentatonic minor. The shapes don’t change — just the pitch.

The SRV Walk Pattern

One of the signature moves in SRV’s playing is the chromatic walk — using that passing note between the four and five to create a smooth ascending line before landing on the root. Colin demonstrates this first off the E chord, then moves the same idea over to the A chord by shifting everything across one string set.

That’s one of the beautiful things about this approach. You don’t need to learn a completely new pattern for each chord change. The same chromatic walk shape moves from E to A to B just by repositioning on the neck. The A7 and B9 chord changes each get the same treatment, and the riff follows the progression naturally.

Moving Ideas Across String Sets

The key insight here is that SRV didn’t just play one lick in one position. He’d take an idea — like this chromatic walk — and move it across strings to match the chord underneath. Play it off E on the low strings. When the chord changes to A, shift everything over to the A string set and play the same phrase. The fingering stays the same, the feel stays the same, but the harmony follows the progression.

This is a practical way to start following chord changes with your scales without memorizing different scale positions for every chord. You just need one good phrase and the ability to move it.

Making It Your Own

These SRV-inspired licks are a starting point. The chromatic passing notes are the secret ingredient — they’re what separate a plain pentatonic run from something that sounds like blues. Once you can hear where those passing tones create tension and where they resolve, you’ll start finding them in your own playing naturally.

For more on how chromatic notes work inside pentatonic riffs, the E minor riff lesson breaks down the theory step by step. And if you want to see how SRV-style phrasing connects to the major-minor scale combination, that’s where the real depth opens up.

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