Blues you can use…
The blues guitar skills every player should have
The traditional blues players of the 1920s through to the 60s established many song structures, chords and guitar techniques. It’s testament to the quality and enduring popularity of these artists that so much of the identity of their playing can
still be heard in today’s blues music. Less well known is that blues is at the heart of much of the rock and metal that would emerge from the 70s on – so there’s something for everyone to learn. What more reason do you need to follow our lesson on some core blues basics?
01 Simple repeating boogie riff TRACK 16
Get jamming the easy way with this good old-fashioned blues boogie riff in the style of the great John Lee Hooker. Based around an A root note, this line can easily be taken through a standard 12-bar blues progression (A-D-E) by shifting the pattern up one string to a D shape riff and down one string set for the E chord.
02 Rhythm and blues groove TRACK 17
This rhythm is often associated with blues and rock ’n’ roll great Bo Diddley, but it’s been adapted by many artists including The Rolling Stones in Not fade away, Bruce Springsteen in She’s the one andeven George michael in Faith. It’s all about the rhythm and timing, so strum slowly at first, then try using some other chords you know.
03 Shuffle feel bassline TRACK 18
Stevie ray vaughan was famed for the shuffle rhythm sand ferocious lead work he’ d coax from his‘ number one’ Strat. Here, a blues bassline is weaved around some easy powerchords – you get the weight of the chords, while the bassline outlines a more sophisticated harmony. Listen to SRV’s Pride and joy and Rude mood for inspiration.
04 Blues turnaround TRACK 19
Our turnaround is in the style of players like Eric Clapton who adapted Robert Johnson-style changes for electric blues. Playing fingerstyle will help all the melody notes and the descending bass notes all ring out clearly.
05 Funk-rock and blues rhythms TRACK 20
Jimi Hendrix was a master of mixing funky rock and blues ideas. Here, one of his favourite chords (the 7#9, often dubbed the Hendrix chord) is played in both E and C. In the single-note part of the riff you can pull the 5th fret G note slightly sharp for a dirty bluesier flavour.
06 BB King-style vibrato TRACK 21
BB King is famed for his soulful touch and his ‘butterfly’ vibrato technique. To recreate BB’S sound aim for a quick wobble of the string but without too much pitch change. Rest your fretting finger on the side of the fretboard then ‘flutter’ your hand around this pivot point to create the vibrato. It’s easier than using pure finger strength and it’s pure BB!
07 String rakes TRACK 22
In blues circles, a mini sweep across the strings is referred to as a rake. This drag of the pick is more of an effect so the notes don’t need to be perfectly fretted – you can even mute the strings out entirely as you pick. We’ve written picking directions for the rakes here. Notice how the quarter-tone bend in bar 1 provides a blues edge too.
08 Two-note shapes in solos TRACK 23
Playing two notes at once is a great way to thicken up your guitar sound – ideal for the dreaded ‘tone dropout’ you might experience when soloing in a power trio. Here, inspired by John Mayer, we’re playing a line that descends the guitar’s two highest strings, firstly, one note at a time, then with two notes together.
09 Stock pentatonic solo ideas TRACK 24
From Eric Clapton to Joe Bonamassa, blues guitarists seem to have a never-ending vocabulary of stock phrases, yet somehow always sound authentic. The key is to use the minor pentatonic scale and keep your solos simple at first. We’re playing part of the A minor pentatonic scale here – ideas that can be reimagined in myriad ways.
10 Fast pentatonic flurries TRACK 25
With some minor pentatonic basics under your belt, think about how to expand your ideas into something more sophisticated. Legendary bluesman Buddy Guy uses fast flurries of notes, often straight from the minor pentatonic scale. That means the shape feels familiar but you’ll be delivering more ‘angular’ phrased licks.
11 Major pentatonic melodies TRACK 26
Blues isn’t only about minor keys. Listen to Freddie King’s Hideaway and fleet wood mac’ s Need your love so bad–both use the major pentatonic scale extensively. Our simple lick is designed to help get you started with the major pentatonic scale. Watch out though. There’s a bluesy minor note in there too – the 5th fret C right before the last diad.
12 Mixing major and minor pentatonics TRACK 27
Our previous lick hinted at the idea we’re exploring more fully here – mixing up major and minor pentatonic scales in solos. Why bother? Well, the combination of ‘happy’ major and ‘sad’ minor scales sounds way more sophisticated than sticking to one or the other. We’ve kept things simple here but this idea is a key part of blues so experiment.