John Mayer - Blues in G Major - The Palace - Detroit - 7/5/7

[tinman5680]

nice old LP JR.

[QuagmireJams13]

what is the guitar that he is using?

[davezfu]

Great tone

[janedoe1024]

Finally the audio becomes worthy at the the last sew econds....

[aldricmeints]

He is using major pentatonic, minor pentatonic and mixolydian. Never "G major scale".

[golferdude77777]

G Minor..

[colormestupid798]

"blues boy tune" intro, note for note, the first 5 anyways.

[66vapor66]

@colormestupid798  thats right

[tipc843]

1:25 he throws that bb lick in there. i like that hahahaha

[imscott111]

is jj smoking? haha

[ottjakeaustin]

that is a les paul junior

[ilovemyipodnanoyesh]

i wouldnt call this an intro really, the song seems to end, and then immeaditally jump into dreaming with a broken heart

[ASATCAT85]

Double cut Les Paul Jr. Single P90 pick up. Pretty rare very cool guitars and after listening to this tone I need one!

[SmokeyJesus]

Pretty sure thats a double cut away les paul, or maybe a les paul special double cut away. I can't tell if there's 2 or 4 knobs. But its definitely a Gibson and its not a 335, its got a solid body, which leads me to believe its a les paul of sorts.

On a different topic, when the hell is Mayer going to release a straight blues album.

[Halliday7895]

I have an 1981 gibson 335-s (solid body) looks just like that but its natural finish firebrand series and has the dirty finger pick ups in it.....

[DavidCasper]

@SmokeyJesus I'd put money on it being a Gibson Melody Maker, myself. I only count 2 knobs and 1 pickup, and the double cutaway fits the profile too.

[joakim456]

@SmokeyJesus My thought excactly.. I do enjoy his pop stuff, especially Continuum, but this blues playing is what i enjoy the most.. Imagine an almost pure intstrumental blues album from Mayer!

[aydeeT]

@SmokeyJesus cud be a melodymaker too

[wiludall]

@SmokeyJesus it's a straight les paul junior. an OLD one!

[ragingstorm33]

@wiludall yea there cheep priced but play so well, recommend for real

[biscaca]

what is the name of this song???

[FaiselQazi]

Out Of My Mind

but.... he's playing it in a different key than he usually does.

[FaiselQazi]

Sorry, it starts the same as Out of My Mind but then it's just improv.

[fiddycent2]

Its Dreaming with a broken heart, but that was just the intro

[JOHNNYG99X]

look too small to be ES 335.. could be PRS

[kevin8122006]

ES 335

[ilovemyipodnanoyesh]

isnt this just 'out of my mind' in G?

[fiddycent2]

its an intro to dreaming with a broken heart

[hypershadow647]

not to introduce another guitar into the debate, but imo it looks like a double cut les paul special.

[hrjones44]

is it not a blues hawk?

[MrWalshy26]

dudes nuts! he's srv one minute then he's BB then he's clapton. Shit he's got his own style now

[billthehype]

what kind of gibson is that?

[ncguitarist9]

Its a les paul jr. double cut

[weirdotis]

at first i was going to mock you, but then I lookied and saw you are right :)

[ellusionist32]

its a gibson es 335

[30x60]

its a melody maker

[reddawg032]

I was here. He was unbelievable.

[adgelui]

is the drummer smoking while playing? lol.

[maticallom]

yeah

[apkbluesman]

id really love to hear john do some slide blues...methinks he could destroy some elmore style dirty nasty slide guitar

[guitar4HimJIC]

wow, for a second there i freaked cuz i thought that was a prs! haha

[Stefanrocks]

so did i!

[SGTHORSON]

Begining of "Out of my mind" anybody? haha, good stuff!

[paulefty]

yeah, Out of my mind!:D

[llake2]

this was the best night of my life!

[shootsnscores35]

what kind of guitar is that?

[Duckmeister61]

Les Paul Junior circa 1950s

[untiedshoos11]

Les Paul Double Cut classic (Gibson discontinued it in 2005).

[shootsnscores35]

ok, thanks. i just had never seen him using that before, he mainly sticks with the strat and 335 doesnt he?

[SergeantClogs]

That intro was a great homage to BB King... it practically does what the Goldberg variations do for Bach

[satrsmndri]

Intro sounds like "the thrill is gone"

[metstd5]

cardinals is right..a lot of times when he plays he tries to explain the blues feeling to help poeple understand..hopefully he does keep it alive

[JNana87]

mayers a wicked bluesician

[timmylexmark]

Sounds like A blues

[philbr42]

bonamassa is all about speed... too technical.

[santacruezz]

Joe bonamassa has everything that is needed to be a great blues player...John Mayer is also a good player but joe plays in another league.

[etotheli]

Strictly my opinion, so no disrespect, Bonamassa is a tool. He's got amazing technical talent but the "emotion" in his playing feels so forced. Mayer's a much more soulful player, his playing is just more meaningful and expressive. I'm sure Mayer could run lightning fast scales and do over the top bends just to show off, too, if he chose to. That being said I'll never have 1/2 the technical ability of either one.

[santacruezz]

yeah, nobody knows. But for me Joe is a soulful player..I think it is preference....for a lot of people clapton has a lot of soul, to me he is as cold as ice...no soul. John Mayer has soul and therefore imho stands over clapton.

[etotheli]

Yeah, to each their own. Everyone has their own tastes and everyone is touched differently by what they hear. Cheers.

[KatanaKBP]

you know have no idea how encouraging it is to see two people express their ideas without shitting all over eachother.

[crushme41dmb]

I second that. But it just goes to show that there are people out there that respect other people's taste in music. Something I've learned in life is that you can't argue 'good' vs. 'bad' music. You can however express what makes it good and what makes it bad. And I agree with the soulful Mayer over the now Clapton . . . but when Clapton was with Cream - - he had a lot to say with his guitar. It may just be that when you're younger, you have more to express. Either way, bravo.

[Ethonadon10]

@santacruezz nah mayer can for sure keep up. mayers by far a more interesting player. though at their level its like comparing apples and oranges. mayer is more of a progressive whist bonamassa is quite the fundamentalist. ya dig?

[wickedfast87gti]

Man I had absolutely no respect for Mayer but I saw him on Eric Clapton's crossroads DVD and holy shit.

[jshea1212]

Well said my man... well said. Mayer fuckin ripsss the blues. im gonna go out on a limb and say he played better than anyone on that DVD. (and i do mean "on that dvd" not as a career.... but he is close)

[Odiosus90]

anyone else noticed that cigarette in JJ's mouth?

[JohnMayer07]

im not surprised. he's a black blues drummer. hes got da funks.

[JohnMayer07]

That 335 looks so small compared to him.

[strat7007]

That's because it's a les paul double cutaway, not a 335 :)

[JohnMayer07]

Haha could've sword I saw f-holes on it but it was a trick of the light. i see it now. and doesn't he usually play a 335 on this song?

[strat7007]

For "dreaming with a broken heart" he pretty much exclusively plays the Les Paul Double Cutaway. . for "out of my mind" which is the song he's bluesing this around, he plays either a 335 or his "monterey pop" strat

[JohnMayer07]

yeah you don't need to explain all about the songs to me. notice the username.

[killthecardinals]

He also usually plays "Out of My Mind" in D Major, not G.

[taikoking]

First, he is a great blues player. Second, he did bring back blues, and exposing it to so many young people who are otherwise listening to JL. But most importantly bringing back real guitar playing to pop music. I am really sic of people dissing each other basically for no reason but to inflate there tiny egos.

[zethmed]

John Mayer is good thats all thatneeds to be said. He IS NOT THE NEXT SRV OR BUDDY GUY OR ERIC CLAPTON. Hes just this guy that went to Berkley and learned alllllllll this extra shit and cut a watered down blues album and they think he the second coming of every dead blues great. Please dont get me wrong he is good but thats all.

[killthecardinals]

Give it up, dude. No one is saying he's SRV or Hendrix, but he's one the best guitarists alive today. When Clapton, King and Guy are gone, Mayer is going among the few keeping the blues alive. Twenty years from now you'll thankful he was around to make sure that happened.

[cottovall1]

Dont fucking compare people fuck you either like him or you dont i personnally would by a concert ticket to go see him but i dont mind listening to him. Its like comparing Jimi Hendrix to Derek trucks(And i think derek is amazing) But theres no point to it if you dont like john mayer Then why the fuck are you watching this video you dont have anything worth notice to say then dont say it at all.

[1falasha]

JM is so overrated! If he had to play in the era of Jimi Hendrix or SRV he would have been working at the drive up window for Wendys! FACT!

[ibanezplayer5533]

ha yeah your right....oh wait your not cause if you were right then that would mean the BB king, Buddy Guy, and Eric Clapton are lying when they say that he is the future of blues and can play just as good or better then any blues player ever

my opinion doesnt matter and neither does yours

but when it comes to the kings of blues

they are right and i cant argue with them

[1falasha]

OOOOOOOKKKKKKKKKKKKK! Name one musician who would bad mouth another? They guys only say that to not make any waves and keep getting paid! Oh, I forgot, you have been listening to this JM crap for so long that it sounds good to you!

[ibanezplayer5533]

haha if he was medioker they would say he was pretty good, they wouldnt all go out and say he is the new face of blues if they didnt mean it.

i use to hare john mayer

but after seeing him live

amazing

[135789]

"medioker"? LMAO. I won't take anything you say into consideration now that I've seen that. it says that this is using a "G major blues scale" lmao hes not using that scale because there is no g major blues scale. thats impossible. god you john mayer fans are so stupid, but i guess thats why you're the ones who think hes so good.

[giveitaway86]

you're a fucking idiot if you don't think theres a g blues scale....b/c thats def what it is.

[135789]

you're the "fucking idiot" who can't read because a blues scale is not a major scale. you're a fucking twat.

[Yihaur]

its blues in g major (and some minor bits). Yea, its not called the g major blues SCALE.. but so what?You're flaming people because of that? ridiculous.. its still blues played over the G major scale.

[135789]

where is the g major scale being played here? under "about this video" it says hes using "g major scale blues". if you're using the g major scale you can't be playing the blues. blues scales are derivatives of minor pentatonics and that is derived from the minor scale.

[Yihaur]

Lol, chill dude. I'm just saying, clearly this is the g major scale. And what he is playin is definately blues.. but yea, you're right though. The most definitive blues scale would be from minor pentatonics with that added note.. but still, you can definately play blues over major scales. Blues is just a style, and its not confined to just a minor scale. Hendrix did it, SRV did it.. and well, that is blues isnt it =)?

[135789]

for blues in music you can only use minor pentatonic/blues scales with some major pentatonic mixtures that can be thrown in, and some dorian even, etc. there are no natural major(especially) or natural minor scales involved. all of that is basic facts of music. SRV played minor pentatonics/blues, as john mayer is doing here. listen and look at what he is playing.

[JohnMayer07]

Hahahahahaha. The major pentatonic scale is used by BB King all the time. So I guess BB King is jazz? Lmao

[135789]

yes idiot, like i said, it is minor pentatonic with major pentatonic mixed in, as well as solme others.

[giveitaway86]

i said nothing about major i said theres a g blues scale....read again gaylord

[JhaseC6D]

gaylord? you're retarded. "read again" or learn how altogether, because you seem to think that i claimed there was no g blues scale. i said that there was no g major blues scale. like i've already said, you're a fucking twat.

[JohnMayer07]

you're fucking retarded. you obviously aren't a musician. It's called music theory, see. You take a G Major Pentatonic scale and to make it a so called "blues" scale, you add in a few funky sharps and flats, and there you have it. The blues scale is a universal scale that can be applied to any key, fucktard.

[135789]

exactly moron, where did i say that blues couldn't be played various keys? "You take a G Major Pentatonic scale and to make it a so called "blues" scale, you add in a few funky sharps and flats, and there you have it" really? ya think? how long did it take you to think of that? i'm not a musician? you're laughable. not a musician? is that a guilty conscience i smell? yes.

[Florez531]

know whats funny? to make a G major pentatonic, you add a "few funky sharps and flats" and there you have it, you have a minor scale. Add in a sharp 5th, and you have the blues scale. the major notes are added to give it a vocal quality, and are usually bended to or hammered on from the minor notes.  If you knew music theory, you would know that adding a bunch of sharps and flats to a major scale makes it a different scale.

[Florez531]

also, blues = playing minor notes over major chords. Playing a G major scale over a major chord would not sound anything like blues. go ahead and try it yourself.

[michaelpfranco]

listen to BB King.

major scale blues.

one of his signature things is bending a major second up to a major third. neither one of those notes are in the minor pentatonic scale. he also often slides up from a perfect 5th up to a major 6th then plays the root note. major sixth is not in the minor pentatonic scale.

my point here isn't to be an asshole, but just to show that there's no on way to play the blues. i feel like its naive to try and analyze the blues theoretically. its all about the feel

[codehendrix]

I really like what you said... the blues is so roomy ... it gives one space to be individualisitic yet recognizably genre-consistent.... its amazing dude.. i play too.. i play everyday and i feel the best way to play is by just going inside and letting yourself out... chanelling yourself... because i think music really is a message from the subconscious.. the deep part of oneself...

in specific terms i suggest never looking at your fingers... rather, look at your soul...

[thebomb321]

Deep, but very very true.

:)

[guitarskater11]

what if your blind?

[watto444]

i wanna add a word inn, it could work better if u are blind if u get to know ur fret board ok then u have no distractions when playing ud also probably pick up more unique sounds with ur hightened sense of hearing and ur imagination would help with different rythem techniques by "bouncing" on top of drum and bass lines

[firebug7132]

then play the damn piano like ray charles ....

[JohnMayer07]

flat fifth. a sharp fifth sounds horrible. And I wouldn't be "adding a bunch of sharps and flats". No need to in blues. I play what i think sounds good. Kinda the point isnt it?

[Florez531]

my bad, your right, the flat fifth is added. the point i was making, though, is that you were wrong. you do not solo with a major scale in blues. what "sounds good" is the minor pentatonic over major chords, with the major third thrown in.

[Florez531]

my bad, your right, the flat fifth is added. the point i was making, though, is that you were wrong. you do not solo with a major scale in blues. what "sounds good" is the minor pentatonic over major chords, with the major third thrown in.

[gasmeter]

to be honest with you all, i am a musician, i have played all my life, and i an grade 5 in music theory, and even though i know all about pentatonics and stuff, when i play the blues (which is my main style of playing) i just tend to play from my heart, not from my brain. whatever i feel will sound right, i will play, i never follow specific scales. it would probably sound like i do, but sometimes to add to the feeling of the music u need to break the rules a bit

[jimc8p]

Major blues is just a minor pent plus any other notes. No such thing as a sharp 5th, u mean sharp 4th.

[dudeman5790]

sharp fifth, or augmented fifth, would be one of the "wrong notes" in the bebop scale.

[michaelpfranco]

yup, but over the 5 chord, bird or any of the other great bebopers would throw in the altered notes, such as the #5, the b5, the #2 or the b2 to give tension before resolving to the I chord.

[meatspinnage]

Well I don't think that any of those legends have said Mayer is the future of blues (they've actually said that about Bonamassa though), but that being said, Mayer definitely has their respect, since they've all performed together.

[tornadothrasher]

John Mayer is pretty good but I'm sorry pmills, he is far from the best ever. Stevie Ray Vaughan? Duane Allman? Hendrix? Jeff Beck? They are all light years ahead of Mayer

[acousticrock7589]

how bout the best of our generation?

[tornadothrasher]

Not at all. Derek Trucks isn't even 30 and Clapton wanted him to tour with him, plays with the Allmans and his own band, and much more. Plus he knows what sound he wants and is trying all sorts of new musical routes. Steve Vai is also an accomplished and talented composer and guitarist and John Frusciante makes great riffs and is incredible.

[killiktwilight]

i'd say he's up there with derek trucks though

[ninjatwins421]

he's a sexy beast, yes he is!!

[pmills076]

hes the best guitarist ever!

i was there! I love John Mayer hes soo damn good!

[palacethe5th]

I've got a video of this!! I'm gonna post it pretty soon hopefully, its just i have slow internet so it takes forever to post..... mine is really really good quality though! :) John mayer's amazing

[huopcd]

Please share it then with us! I don't think mine is that bad though...

[JMfan7]

Killer! I was there! It was the best concert I have ever attended.