Artists & Bands

T-Bone Walker | Tunes + Guitar Lessons

T-Bone Walker was a pioneering electric guitar soloist whose innovative playing shaped the sound of modern blues. His iconic tunes continue to inspire guitarists!

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T-Bone Walker: The First to Make the Electric Guitar Sing

Born in 1910 to African-American and Native American parents, T-Bone Walker would go on to become the first true electric guitar soloist.

Often cited as the main influence by his peers, T-Bone was a remarkable singer, dancer, showman—and most notably, electric guitarist.

Although his recording career began in 1929, T-Bone famously said, “I’d been doing it a long time before that came around.” Originally a dancer, he would practise guitar with the band during set breaks. Once his skills had developed, he took to the stage with the sweetest vocal you’d ever heard—blazing out solos with his guitar behind his back while doing the splits!

All this happened in the 1940s—well before most people even knew the electric guitar existed. Years before Fender made their first solid-body model, T-Bone was out there playing his Gibson ES-250, literally changing the course of music history.

He didn’t just perform brilliantly—he wrote outstanding tunes as well, including Call It Stormy Monday and Papa Ain’t Salty.

Released in 1947, (They) Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just As Bad) became an instant blues standard. It’s perhaps T-Bone’s best-known tune and has been covered by nearly every blues guitarist who knows their history. Its impact is hard to overstate—this is the song that inspired B.B. King to pick up the guitar.

Papa Ain’t Salty, co-written with Grover McDaniel and released in 1955, may not be as famous as Stormy Monday (but then what is?), yet it added another gem to T-Bone’s already impressive repertoire. Featuring a sliding rhythm guitar riff, the tune has been copied countless times since.

Using the links below, you can learn how to play both of these classic tunes.