Megan+E.

As you research your selected guitarist, you will need to note some specific information from his or her life and career. Include the following in your final writing: Details for your written assignment: ,
 * Introduction
 * Biography
 * Discography
 * Legacy
 * Conclusion

Your Guitarist Name: (first and last name) BB King

Write your essay here! : B.B. King was an extrodinary guitar player. He kept to his style of playing the blues even when rock and roll was popular. The blues is an traditional American ballad style written in 4/4 times. King had his own unique style of the blues.He loved the combination of vocals with a guitar. He would use the guitar to hold his singing. King payed close attention to diction and used the technique of the finger vibrato to set him apart from other guitarists. He usually performed with two saxophonists, two horn players, two guitarists, a drummer, and a keyboardist. One last touch that completed his style was his Gibson guitar, named Lucille.He was a very unique artist with his own original style.

King was born on September 16, 1925 and is still living today. Throughout his life he has been through good and bad. When he was little King's great aunt had let him play the phonograph around the house,which had triggered his love for the blues music. It wasn't until he watched his pastor at church play guitar that he fell in love. The pastor had showed him how to play the guitar and cord progressions. As things were starting to look up his parents got divorced. Then, not long after, did his mother died. This struck King hard. He dropped out of school and moved back to Indianola. This is where he reunited with his family. He took a job as a sharecropper to get back on his feet. He also began singing and playing the blues on the weekend. He quickly realized that he was making a greater profit than he was working as a sharecropper. His earnings on the weekend was more than a whole weeks worth of working on the plantation. This sparked an idea in the new artists mind. He then moved to Memphis in 1947 to persue his dreams. Although Memphis did not give him the break through he wanted so he returned home a year later. He got a job working at a radio station, as he became more popular he switched to another radio station where he got the name B.B. King. With his success he decided to return to Memphis in 1949. There his career took off. He began touring and was even a father for fifteen children. He was a very successful man

As a very accomplished man King released two rhythm and blues singles that hit number one on the charts. They were named “Three o’Clock Blues” and “You Don’t Know Me.” This made King even more popular. Although to make all of his music come together he was influenced by many other artists such as Lonnie Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, T-Bone Walker, and King’s cousin Booker White. Their music and the style of the Blues created this legendary artist.

The legacy that he has left on the world of music is very strong. He has shown many younger artists to stick to there style and not to change to other styles that my appeal to the majority of the crowd. Through this he has shown originality. He stuck to his passion even when rock and roll became very popular. He has changed the musical world by sticking to what he wanted to play and it paid off for him.

I believe the most important thing that I learned from this artist is to never give up. Kings parents got divorced and his mother died but that didn't shy him away from his dream of becoming a guitarist. This made him stronger and even when he went to Memphis to chase his dream, he got shot down and had to move back home. This made him try harder and eventually he went back to Memphis and it all turned out in his favor. Even though the road was bumpy he still got to were he wanted to go with a passion for what he was doing.

Works Cited

Sources : Include the source information for all of the articles or web sites that were used to complete your project. Source information is found at the end of each article in iCONN.They should also be listed in alphabetical order by the first word of the source citation. sample: "Carol Kaye." //Contemporary Musicians//. Vol. 22. Detroit: Gale, 1998. //Gale Biography In Context//. Web. 8 Jan. 2012. "Selected Websites on Carol Kaye's Life and Works." //Gale Biography in Context//. Detroit: Gale, 2008. //Gale Biography In Context//. Web. 8 Jan. 2012.

Wagner, Mary H., and Wagner Mary H. "B. B. King." //Musicians And Composers Of The Twentieth Century// (2009): 1. //Biography Reference Center//. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.
 * Your Source List:**

Kuhn, Laura Diane. //Baker's Student Encyclopedia of Music / Compiled by Laura Kuhn.// New York: Schirmer, 1999. Print.

Guitarist Research Notes Table
//cells will expand as you enter your findings// || What do you like about his/her style? ||  ||
 * ** Information Feature ** ||= **Your Findings**
 * The guitar style I am researching is: || blues ||
 * The artist I am researching is: || BB King ||
 * This guitarist lived from _ to __ || September 16, 1925 to present ||
 * Define and describe the guitar style you are researching. || King’s style of music is a dialogue between voice and guitar/ the blues is a traditional American ballad style it is in a 4/4 times with a melody characterized by lowererd third and seventh ||
 * What kind of musical training did the guitarist have? || played guitar in church and pastor introduced the boy to the guitar and chord progressions On weekends King began singing and playing the blues ||
 * What types of music influenced this artist? || King’s great-aunt, Mima, allowed him to play the phonograph, sparking his interest in the blues music / interest started at church when pastor played the guitar ||
 * Name some musicians who influenced the guitarist you are researching. || Lonnie Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, T-Bone Walker, and King’s cousin Booker White, Duke Ellington’s band ||
 * Has this guitarist played more than one style? If so, what other styles? || no stuck through the blues even though rock and roll was very popular ||
 * What type of guitar does this musician play? || (electric guitar) Gibson guitar, named Lucille ||
 * What are some interesting facts about your guitarist’s childhood? || parents separated when he was 8 his mother died Discontented with school, King dropped out and returned to Indianola, where he reunited with his extended family, and he worked as a sharecropper /father fifteen children ||
 * What did this guitarist do before he became famous? || On weekends King began singing and playing the blues, which resulted in cash donations greater than the earnings from a whole week’s worth of plantation labor ||
 * List two interesting facts about the guitarist’s life. || performed in his seventies and eighties ||
 * List two albums or songs your artist released, the dates they were released and why they are important. || two number-one rhythm-and-blues singles: “Three o’Clock Blues” and “You Don’t Know Me.” they were #1 on the charts ||
 * Who is playing this style of music today?
 * What legacy has this guitarist left to the world of music? || noted for changing the way the electric guitar is played and for inspiring many blues composers. His clear diction, phrasing, accents, and nuances made his style unique, and his blues music documented and preserved the story of the past/King remained committed to blues music ||