My Blues Guitar

One of the first things you will try and learn on guitar is chords.

Learning guitar chords can be difficult. What are the easy to learn chords?

The easiest way to learn guitar chords is through progression and becoming familiar with the structure of the chords. It is easy to learn guitar chords this way and one of the best ways to do this is to start with the E D A D chord structure.

Most people start with this structure as they are some of the easiest chords to learn.

As a beginner you should be careful of a thing called ‘lockup’. Lockup is when your fingers and arm become tensed and no matter how hard you try to work through it they just lockup.

Lockups can be caused by trying to tackle complex chords to fast. This can lead to frustration, so it is a good idea to keep it basic to begin with.

What is the ii-V-I method?

The ii-V-I chord is an easy chord to learn and you should consider it as a beginner. You will feel that you are starting to actually learn the guitar because it sounds good.

You don’t just have to pluck random sounds from your guitar.

The type of music most played through this easy to learn chord is jazz or rock. Because of the feeling this chord gives it is also called ‘happy’ music.

Probably the best advice is to start with basic chords and then practice as much as possible. When you gain confidence and start sounding good you will be able to work on more complex chords. In the end, you will be able to play the guitar much quicker than you expect.

Whether you are playing a show or just practicing, you should tune your acoustic guitar every time you play. Playing an out of tune guitar is not fun. Beginners can become frustrated with learning because they do not understand the importance of acoustic guitar tuning. The few extra minutes it takes to tune your guitar is always worth it.

Pluck the string you want to tune. If you use an electronic tuner, the tuner’s built-in microphone will pick up the sound. Look at the indicator. It could be a flashing light and/or a meter. It will tell you how close your are to the right pitch and whether you are sharp or flat. Adjust your acoustic guitar tuning accordingly by tuning the string’s tuning key.

Taking your strings from looser to tighter will tune your guitar, also called tuning down. If the string is too tight, you will need to get it in tune by loosening the strings slightly and then tightening it again until it is in tune. Tuning up will give you a more true tone than tuning down.

A reference pitch source is needed whether or not you want to use an electric tuner when learning how to tune your guitar. Some options as to other things you can use are a tuning fork, another in tune guitar, a piano, or an MP3 that you know is in tune. Your results will always be accurate if you use an electric tuner when acoustic guitar tuning. If you’d like to try it the old fashioned way, an electric tuner will be helpful if you’d like to check your results.

Begin acoustic guitar tuning with the sixth string (low E), which should be tuned to match the reference pitch. After you?ve done that, the other strings must be tuned to that note. Simply work on them one by one. There?s a scientific explanation for this procedure, but you don?t have to learn it anymore than you have to learn to build an engine in order to drive an automobile.

Here’s how to do your acoustic guitar tuning: 1. Strum (in tune) the sixth string on the fifth fret. Tune the open fifth string to that exact note. 2. Strum the fifth string on the fifth fret. Tune the open fourth string to the same note. 3. Tune the fourth string on the fifth fret. Tune the open third to the same note. 4. Follow closely; this is different than the above. Play the third string on the fourth fret and tune the open second string to this note. 5. Play the second string on the fifth fret and tune your open first string to this note.

If you’re just starting out with acoustic guitar tuning, you may want to ask someone at the music store when you purchased your guitar to show you how to do acoustic guitar tuning the proper way. Then just keep practicing until you’re comfortable with the process. It takes time and practice to learn to do acoustic guitar tuning, especially by ear. For the novice, the simplest way to perform acoustic guitar tuning is with the use of an electronic tuner. You can find one for around $20 and you will definitely get your money’s worth. An electronic tuner that is made specifically for tuning guitars has the ability to recognize which string is being played.

There’s a line from an old blues song that says, “the blues had a baby…and they called it rock n’ roll.”

Let me tell you, there is so much truth to that line! You can listen to all the first rock n’ roll songs and discover the blues guitar riffs, chord progressions and scales being played, just in a less bluesy kinda way.

“Johnny B. Good” is a key example of a blues guitar progression being played with a rock drum beat and a vocal melody that is unusual from how a blues vocal melody would sound. It doesn’t finish there though. The influence on modern music is nonetheless very prevalent. We hear it in hip-hop, rock, emo, indie, reggae, r & b, funk, etc

The commonly used 1 - 4 - 5 chord progression (3 chords) that is used in blues is also used in almost EVERY type of music that exists. Even Beethovan uses this chord progression as well as many others from the classical period. Not only do blues guitar riffs and chord progressions gets played in modern music, but virtually all guitar solos also have blues overtones in country music as well as the other styles that I mentioned. It has been a Essential component in organizing the shape sound of modern music no matter how you look at it.

Learning how to play blues music should be a top priority on any guitar players ‘to-do’ list. Once you learn the ins and outs of this genre, you can improvise it to create your own popular songs, riffs and/or solos. Many guitar players that I know improvize on the blues scale to make their key riffs and super amazing leads as well as use the chord progressions to write innovative, more modern music.

Don’t allow anybody influence you that the blues is dead!

The blues is a form of music that can be vocal, instrumental (blues guitar) or both. It utilises the ‘blue’ notes which are accomplished on a ‘minor pentatonic’ scale almost all the time, otherwise known as the blues scale.

Blues music was inferred from the African-American communities in the U.S. out of job songs, spiritual songs, field hollers, chants, shouts and elementary ballads that rhymed. A lot of aspects of the blues comes from African culture

The call-and-response aspect of the music came straight from African origins and there were a lot of lines that would get duplicated thrice or more. This later developed into a line repeating twice and then on the third time around there would be an ‘answer line’. You will be able to still discover these characteristics of early blues in modern day music, especially hip-hop.

The term ‘The Blues’ refers to the ‘blue devils’ which signifies down spirits or sadness.

The blues guitar brings a essential role in blues music as well as contemporary music. It has influenced Jazz, Rhythm and Blues, Bluegrass and even heavy rock genres The original blues of the early 1900’s, otherwise known as “poor man’s blues” was commonly affiliated with hard times, oppression from white folk, ruthlessness of the police, gambling, economic depression, floods, magic, farming and dry periods. This music was fueled by a lot of grief and depression. Usually a lost loved one or an overall harsh environment invigorated the lyrics and the tone of the blues guitar.

After the world war, you start to see blues songs that were about family relationships and sexuality. Also, humor was broadened to the mix. Here is a funny example:

“That must be your woman, cause mine don’t look like that… I said That must be your woman, cause mine don’t look like that… Have you seen my baby? She’s so big and fat…”

The blues guitar style came forth from the American South’s instruments of the time which were the banjo and the Diddley Bow. This was a home made one stringed instrument that was best-selling in the early 20th century. Figures such as Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, Son House and Blind Willie McTell were a part of the delta blues style which used a lot of finger picking techniques and slide guitar innovations.

Eventually, after WWII ‘electric blues’ became more and more popular where the blues guitar was played on electric guitars as were the bass guitars. This was most prevalent in the Chicago area.

The history of blues guitar and poor man’s blues is rich with culture and chronicles of good times and bad. I could go on for days about the history of the blues guitar but let’s make this part 1 so you don’t fall asleep on me!

If you were to conduct a Google search for “free guitar lessons” or “free guitar tutors” you would find a multitude of websites making you various promises about how they can teach you to play guitar “in no time.” Although these claims are not entirely true, free guitar lessons can be useful if you use them on a regular basis and practice on your own. The content and lessons on free instructional guitar websites and DVDs are usually created and taught by professionals, and they’ll cost you hundreds, even thousands of dollars less than in-person lessons.

Most of us have very busy lives; jobs, school, kids, friends, sports and hobbies are part of most of our days. If you were to schedule an in-person guitar lesson and then have to skip it because something came up, your instructor would be annoyed and would most likely charge you for the full amount of the class. If you take free guitar lessons on a DVD or online instead, you don’t have to worry about annoyed instructors or bills for classes you didn’t attend. You can sit down a take a class when it works best for your schedule, and it won’t cost you a thing. In fact, you could even take a lesson while on vacation or traveling for business.

Another problem with taking a guitar lesson with a real instructor is that sometimes you don’t have time to practice in between lessons. When you show up for your next lesson, your instructor will be disappointed, you will be embarrassed and you will end up paying for the same lesson you took the week before because you didn’t get a chance to practice what you were taught. When you’re taking free guitar lessons online, there is no one to ridicule you or make you feel embarrassed for not practicing. You can also repeat any lesson you want for no charge.

Free lessons also allow you to move as slowly or as quickly as you want. With free guitar lessons, there is no actual instructor to dictate the speed at which you should learn things. If you’re getting the hang of it very quickly, you can skip lessons, and if you’re having a hard time you can slow down, pause between instructions or even go back. If you’re feeling frustrated or burnt out you could even take a month long break from your free guitar lessons without having to explain yourself to an instructor.

One of the only negatives to taking free guitar lessons opposed to in-person instructor led lessons is that if you have a question you may feel like you don’t know who to ask. However, you have a number of options. Try going to a local concert at a small venue and chatting up the musicians after the show. Once you introduce yourself, they’ll be happy to share any advice they can with a struggling new guitarist. You can also peruse a guitar player’s forum for similar questions or post a question of your own. Musicians are generally a tight knit group who love to share tips and help each other out.

So you have understood the 12-bar blues or at least the concept of it and you would like to push your blues playing to higher grounds.

Well your in luck my friend!

The best way to liven up up your playing is to learn the blues shuffle rhythm. I am not sure where the name derives from, but the shuffle is a term used to identify the break down of a beat into 2 components where the first is lengthier than the second.

The blues shuffle rhythm is founded on an eighth note triplet rhythm. A triplet is when you use 3 notes in a given time space instead of two. In a standard 4/4 time signature where there is four quarter notes the eighth notes would be counted as…

1-&-2-&-3-&-4-& … where the &’s are the eighth notes between each quarter. to fill the same time signature with eighth note triplets we’d count as…

1-trip-let-2-trip-let-3-trip-let-4-trip-let … where the trip’s and let’s are eighth notes amounting up to 3 per quarter note. So basically…

1-& = 1-trip-let

The blues shuffle is achieved by playing the first and third notes in a series of triplets. So if the count is…

1-trip-let-2-trip-let-3-trip-let-4-trip-let … then you will be playing on all the down-beats or numbers and the let’s. I have bolded the notes you should be striking to better illustrate.

1-trip-let-2-trip-let-3-trip-let-4-trip-let.

To hear what the shuffle rhythm really sounds like try listening to Led Zeppelin’s - You Shook Me or Grateful Dead’s - Truckin

I hope this has clarified any confusion you may have been having about the blues shuffle rhythm

Acoustic music is one of the most well-received kinds of contemporary music these days. After all, how can you ever ignore a person who seems to be baring his/her soul with an almost-a-capella rendition of a particular song? There’s no other instrument than can go with his/her voice than an acoustic guitar.

There are a lot of people who believe that blues acoustic playing is really easy. Usually, the songs played are slow, which can give them ample time to position their fingers at the right keys. They also don’t have to think about complementing other sounds that may com from the drums or the keyboards. But then again, there’s also plenty of room of mistake, and one wrong move can eventually destroy the entire presentation.

Here are 4 basic tips when it comes to playing acoustic guitar:

1. Match your height with your guitar. One of the most important things in acoustic blues guitar playing is that you have to be extremely comfortable with it. If you have a constant gig, then you’re going to be utilizing the instrument the whole time. You should have no reason to feel sore for carrying it all over your shoulder. Hence, make sure that you pick a guitar that’s the right size for you. This will also help you reach out to the keys more easily.

2. Adjust the strings to the proper pitch of the song. It’s highly essential that you truly have an ear for music. This will help you determine if the music requires a low or high pitch. Depending on the real pitch of the song, you need to adjust the tuning pegs of your acoustic guitar accordingly. When you tighten the strings, you are in for a high pitch. Conversely, a low pitch is produced if you’re going to loosen the guitar strings.

3. Start with standard tuning first. This is considered the default mode in acoustic guitar and thus real easy. If you’re a beginner, you better start with standard tuning before you decide to play on some more complicated notes. You simply need to match the tune of your guitar to the pitch of the song. All six strings should be compatible with the sound produced by the singer.

4. Use a pick. You can always make use of your fingers, but if they get burned out for long playing moments, you will surely get distracted, and you won’t be able to play as better as before. Moreover, fingers don’t really create a much louder sound, which you may need when you’re playing in a large crowd. The best solution to this is to use a pick.

Playing The best blues guitar scales include the Am Pentatonic scales, natural A minor scales, E minor, G shuffle licks and many others. These scales can help you not only to master the blues scales but also help you to play lead and make your own blues backing tracks.

There are different types of blues scales that can be used for lead guitar playing. You can also use them to make some blues backing tracks so that you can play along with the tracks and learn faster. Blues backing tracks can help you to play solo or lead even when there is no second guitarist present and the best thing is that you can even purchase some of the best blues backing tracks from the Internet from companies such as 50Blues. Let’s take a look at some of the most common blues scales used for lead guitar playing and for creating blues backing tracks.

The Blues Scales

You can start with a natural A-minor scale also known as the A minor scale. Here’s how it looks:

A B C D E F G A w w w w w

You can start practicing the natural A-minor scale till the time you are extremely comfortable using it. You can use all the notes that are there in this blues scale for playing the lead guitar with a blues backing track. There are many blues players who use the A-minor pentatonic or the Am pentatonic scale in a mix with the natural A-minor scale.

Once in a while you should try and mix two scales together to bring out a different blues sound. To play the natural A-minor scale, you can tune it to play the Dm7 chord. The Dm7 comprises of D-F-A-C notes. The only chord that is not in the A-minor pentatonic scale is F because A-minor pentatonic comprises of A-C-D-E-G notes.

On the other hand, the natural A-minor scale comprises of A-B-C-D-E-F-G notes. So what you should ideally do is emphasize on the F taken from natural A- minor scale while playing the Dm7 chord. This will bring out a definitive blues scale and sound that can be played as lead with blues backing track.

Some of the best blues scales are just minor pentatonic scales with some added notes. This added note is commonly referred to as the blues note and helps in bringing out the specific blues sound. You can play a basic minor pentatonic scale or the basic blues scale, which will consist of 6 different notes.

When you are playing the lead or creating a blues backing track for a solo then you will need to play all the points for all the 6 notes that are within one position. For example: If you use a C blues scale then you will find that it consists of C E F G G and B notes. Here are the notes that are found in the basic C blues scale:

|–C–|—–|—–|-E–| -1st string |–G–|—–|—–|-B–| |–E-|—–|–F–|-G–| |–B-|—–|–C–|—–| |–F–|-G–|–G–|—–| |–C–|—–|—–|-E–| -6th string | 8th fret

The idea is that there are 6 different notes mentioned above and once you have reached your 6th note, you will need to start back from the C note and go over the process again and again to master the lead.

The slowhand blues is the most prominent technique that makes blues music what it is today. Mastering the slowhand blues will demand time, effort and focus and above all in-depth comprehension of the different blues scales and the blues notes.

Defining blues is not the simplest of things and playing it iwell s a completely different ball game. There are plenty of great blues players and guitarists in the blues hall of fame to learn from. The fact of the matter is that if you are able to master slowhand blues then who knows you might be able to create a great blues record that will take you to the hall of fame too! But then that’s just a thought right now. The main focus should be on mastering the blues scale and creating a blues backing track so that you can practice soloing using that.

When we talk about blues, you need to first learn to differentiate between different guitar techniques. You may be able to do impossibly fast runs or stretch your fingers far on the fretboard to play multiple notes but that’s not what blues is all about. There is a degree of emotion and feeling that comes with the blues scale and has been well rendered by the likes of BB King, Albert King and Eric Clapton. Eric Clapton is one of the greats who is so versatile that he can play almost all the guitar styles including acoustic or unplugged, electric, slide, fingerpicking, open tunings, among many others but his real root lies in playing slowhand blues.

Starting with Slowhand Blues

Where do you actually begin from particularly for dominating the slowhand blues? Tough question really but it depends on quite a few elements like individual influences, the specific key, finger size and special patterns that also called boxes. Each box has the notes of an octave in an arrangement that will be simple to play. Once you are comfortable with the boxes, it will help you to play along with some blues backing track. The boxes or patterns mostly highlight the places where you can bend an important note with your index finger. One of the best ways of mastering the slowhand blues is by spending more time in exploring different positions that will help you to play your strings better. Here is an example of a slowhand Blues scale: The A Blues note

I—8—10–I I—8—10–I I-7-8-9—–I I———–I I———–I I———–I

The E minor Blues scale will look like the following:

I————————-0-3-I I———————0-3—–I I—————0-2-3———I I———–0-2—————I I—–0-1-2——————-I I-0-3————————-I

The E minor pentatonic scale will be like:

I————————————-12-15-I I——————————-12-15——-I I———————-12-14-15————-I I—————-12-14———————-I I——-12-13-14—————————-I I-12-15————————————-I

A I—–0-2—————–I E I-0-3———————I

You will have to start with an open E-string and when you reach the D-string, go onto the 2nd fret, which is also an E. You need to play both the notes simultaneously so that you can hear it. To make it easier, download some of the blues backing track for the same and practice with it. One more important thing: Never download any midis of blues backing track as it will not help you to understand the scales and the changes.

Learning how to play and improvise great blues riffs and licks s is not as easy as it might seem to a novice but the one good thing is that focused learning and practicing with a great blues backing track will help a lot in understanding blues chords and progression.

Using blues backing tracks is an important aspect of playing blues lead guitar. Blues is considered to be one of the origins of jazz music and you will find some influence of blues even in contemporary jazz. Most of the blues music and the ones used in common blues backing tracks are pentatonic scales and the mixolydian scales. These scales can be used in rock too and hence the ones used for blues are enhanced with the blues notes. If you understand the basic of the blue notes then you will be able to improvise over blues backing tracks with ease. Basically, blue notes use a drop in the pitch of the 3rd, 5th and 7th of the major scale. If you hear a professional talk about a blues scale then what they really mean is the pentatonic minor scale with a blue note like b5.

There are many people who jam to blues backing tracks in the C key and the chords used could be C, C7, G7, and F7. If th tracks are meant for a solo then the Am pentatonic scale will be rather useful and perfect to a certain degree. Some of the other options of blues guitar backing tracks include C-minor pentatonic comprising of the c-blues scale and c-major and Bb major scales in Dorian mode.

Blues Chords and Progression

Here are some characteristics of the blues chords and progression, which will definitely help you to play blues backing tracks effectively:

Most of the blues chord progressions are in a 12 bar form. Apart from this, you will also find 14, 16, 24 or even higher number of bar forms for blues. The tonic chord in blues progression is basically the dominant 7th chord. The blues music has been predominantly defined not only as music that focuses on chord changes as well as scales but also on feeling. There are 3 basic chords in blues and they are all dominant 7th chords.

Some of the blues backing tracks techniques include:

Using hammer-on or even a slide right from b3 to natural 3 Mixing the Mixolydian scale with the dominant blues scale

Mixing scales is probably the best way of enhancing blues backing tracks techniques and some of them are:

Blues Tabs

In the first part, you need to use the C Mixolydian scale with a natural 3. In the second half of the 2nd bar, you need to use the C-minor pentatonic scale using a flat 3. If you really want to pursue blues guitar techniques then the best place to learn is by listening to recording of blues guitarists or legends like Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan. You can also listen to some of the compositions of famous jazz guitarists like Kenny Burrell and George Benson.