Filed under: blues guitar
Ive played guitar for now for almost 3 years. I’ve learnt all sorts of styles, etc. but i really want to become a better blues player. Does anyone have any tips? and will it help if I know some theory? Is it better to finger pick instead of using a plectrum?
To make is short and sweet, listen to your fave blues player and steal some licks and try to finger out the how and why of using them. Blues scales are usually based on minor and pentatonic scales.
But there is more to this otherwise, a person will get sick hearing the same 5 notes over and over and over.
Check out the Blues section in this link. you will sind some very interesting stuff with samples from major blues player as well….enjoy
http://www.freeguitarvideos.com/lessons.html
The obvious is to take lessons from a great teacher but the best thing you can do and a teacher will tell youthe same thing-Listen,listen and Listen
Elmore James great blues guitarist and many more
References :
I am a Musician
The best advice I can give to beginners is to practice as much as you can. Pulling off blues licks is a lot like boxing combo’s…. the more you practice them, the easier they become. Building hand strength and endurance is just as important as the music itself. Don’t get too wrapped up in theory, although learning the basics won’t hurt you, most of your efforts should be focused on practical application. Learn to pick up licks by ear and then get them down during practice and pretty soon you will be able to conjure them up on command. I can run down the list of the Blues greats to listen to but you will soon discover them on your own if you put yourself on the path to the crossroads. Good luck and Keep the Blues Alive.
References :
Get some bues jam CD’s.
"Lets Jam" blues
and "Band in the Pocket" are both great back up band CD’s
Playin along to these will help any musician sharpen his skills.
References :
make sure you can do all the simple stuff perfectly;
vibrato
string bends (with vibrato on the bent note)
find the right sound on ur amp nd guitar
learn your major and minor blues scales for every scale (just shifting the same patterns) in all positions and shapes, whilst getting used to understanding when you can use the open strings to add speed and impressiveness if you wanna go kinda texas/country blues style… (a la srv)
yes it will help to learn some theory, in any form of playing the more the merrier, if you listen carefully to the pros you’ll hear all their solos follow the chords (aka, the scales and notes they use change depending on what chord is being played beneath them, most common in jazz but it sounds good in all styles).
make sure you can wow people with slow playing before you try and wow them with speed, I’v watched plenty of starting guitarists open for bb king and play some really fast stuff, and just get blown away by one note from bb…
Whether or not you use a pick is up to you… what kind of sound do you want to get? Percussive or Soothing? Do you want to try your hand at chickn’ pickn’? A lot of what people say will be what they find is best for them, its up to you to find your own sound, and the rest will come from practice and theory.
On a VERY big generalization, picks are normally used for heavier, rockier blues, and fingers for the much softer stuff… Again,,, all up to you…..
Some other little tips:
to get you started on playing with the chords, a trick that bb (not the most technical guitarist in history) uses is to play the major blues on the 1 chord, the minor blues on the 4 chord and the major again on the 5 chord.. This is very simple but very effective, it adds a lot more colour to your playing as well.
i.e. If you are playing in the key of… say… E,
when the E chord (1 chord/root chord) is playing (E7,Em,E,E9 etc), play E MAJOR blues (the notes F sharp and C sharp emphasize this)
when the A chord (4 chord/subdominant chord) is playing (A7,Am,A,A9 etc), play E MINOR blues (the notes G and D emphasize this)
And when the B chord (5 chord/dominant chord) is playing, play E major again…
Hope all that helps, if you want any more theory advice I’ll try my best to help, just IM me or something (i don’t really understand all this yet, I’m new to yahoo answers you see)
xD
References :
To make is short and sweet, listen to your fave blues player and steal some licks and try to finger out the how and why of using them. Blues scales are usually based on minor and pentatonic scales.
But there is more to this otherwise, a person will get sick hearing the same 5 notes over and over and over.
Check out the Blues section in this link. you will sind some very interesting stuff with samples from major blues player as well….enjoy
http://www.freeguitarvideos.com/lessons.html
References :
Berklee Teacher / Luthier & Studio Guitarist