Born Under A Bad Sign | TAB
Before we get to soloing, we first work out the rhythm guitar part. This is largely a doubled-up bass line riff. The tune opens with a horn line, which I’ve adapted for guitar, before moving into the main riff, like this:
Chorus
We then move straight into the chorus, maintaining the established riff. Every chorus is played exactly the same way, so make sure you memorise it and resist the temptation to vary it. Remember, you’re effectively doubling the bass part here.
Verse
The verse is just four bars long and slightly modifies the main riff. This same part is also used during the solo section.
Turnaround
After the solo — which follows the verse pattern — we go straight into the chorus turnaround and loop it before stopping. A few chromatic chords are added here, and they sound fantastic.
Outro
The outro puts a fresh spin on the main riff and continues until the fade.
Solo
I’ve picked four moments of Albert King greatness, starting with the opening lick.
This is a Db minor pentatonic, with a briefly added 9th on the first beat of bar 2. Pay attention to the bending, vibrato, and spacing.
Lick 2
Perhaps the greatest strength of a blues improviser is to milk ideas by slightly changing them. Here’s lick 2, played towards the end of the first verse—he’s almost playing the opening lick, but not quite.
Lick 3
Lick 3, which appears at the beginning of the second verse, is a master class in restraint. The slow bend and abrupt end of the opening phrase is classic Albert.
Lick 4 (solo)
The final lick is the solo—a genius move to make it only four bars, showcasing what he can do while keeping it brief so it’s not a jam and can get on the radio.
When you can play all these riffs and licks, put it all together as you play along with the backing tracks and the chord chart at the top of this lesson.
Born Under A Bad Sign Backing Tracks + TAB | Related Pages
Born Under A Bad Sign | Chords + Lyrics
You can learn how to play Born Under A Bad Sign by Albert King using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| Db7 | Db7 | Db7 | Db7 (Gb G) |
Born under a bad sign, I’ve been down since I began to crawl…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
