Learn To Play Blues Guitar!
Updated: Apr 29
Greetings Everyone!
If you are looking to learn how to play blues guitar, and/or grow forward as a blues guitarist, be sure to check out the following list of licks, tips and practice etudes complete with free musical notation / blues guitar tab! And, as always, check back for more content to be added!
The Easy Way To Learn Quickly... Here Is Something That You Need To Know!
Many of my best students learn these etudes quickly and most efficiently by having me walk-through-and-solidify each phrase with them. Online or in-person, this advantage provides beginner and intermediate level players with a quick, smart and satisfying way to learn thoroughly-and-correctly all of the very important lessons that are contained within each etude! This fun approach provides, with certainty, a truly great way to develop and maintain forward moving momentum!
'A Classic Slow Blues' Just To Set The Tone!
Before we get started with 'Slow Blues Lick #1, let's just set the tone for a moment with a classic slow blues! This is lesson is #5 - and, you can find the sheet music / blues guitar tab for this lesson below!
Slow Blues Lick #1
1) The first lick that I am going to share is short, but it certainly falls into the category of small-but-mighty! Be sure to pay close attention to the way this little lick can teach us volumes about blues rhythms, techniques, timing, and more!
Slow Blues Lick #1
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Download PDF • 48KB
Blues Guitar Boogie!
2) The next thing I would like to share is a very easy blues solo named 'Blues Guitar Boogie'. For beginners we have the 'Easy Edition' which is a great opportunity to complete a basic blues solo using just the 'minor pentatonic blues scale' with no fancy techniques. Then, for the advancing player we have the 'Deluxe Edition' which adds chords, double stops and even some chord melody as we begin to really 'fill in the gaps'! Check it out!
Blues_Guitar_Boogie!
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Download PDF • 137KB
BB King Inspired Blues: Solo #1
3) A lot of great blues guitar playing is concentrated within the 'minor pentatonic blues scale'. However, the great BB King was an absolute master with his creative use the 'major pentatonic blues scale' to generate a powerful sound that really was all his own! Here, in 'BB King Inspired Blues: Solo #1', we are going to tap into and celebrate this truly great way to have fun playing the blues!
BB King Inspired Blues Solo #1
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Download PDF • 30KB
Next-Level Blues Guitar Solo!
4) This "next-level" blues guitar solo highlights a 'component-based approach' to working our way through a 12-bar blues solo. Notice how the main theme of this solo is alternated with the use of a bass figure [still played on guitar] for spacing. Then, a solid IV Chord lick is introduced for stark contrast. Later, we walk up to a simply stated V Chord, play a variation of our previous IV Chord lick, and then exit with musical confidence using a classic blues turnaround!
Next-Level_Blues_Solo
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Download PDF • 123KB
Slow Blues Solo #1!
5) For blues guitar players, the slow blues provides on of the most satisfying opportunities to really dig in and express the language of the blues! When done right, keeping in mind that learning to "do it right" tends to be a lifetime endeavor, there's nothing else quite like it! With that said, I hope that you enjoy learning and playing this one, especially since there is a lot to enjoy learning about rhythm, techniques and phrasing when it comes to slow blues!
Slow_Blues_Solo_#1
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Download PDF • 34KB
Slow Blues Rock!
6) Is this blues or is this rock? Check out the lone-tone approach to this minor 12 bar blues solo that we are borrowing from my 'Learn To Play Rock Guitar' series. As a practice piece, this fun etude provides a great way to build patience against the 'urge to move too soon' to the next note [and the next]. This long-tone 'savor the moment' solo is also a great way to practice bending and practice the use of vibrato / tremolo in both blues and rock settings! Notice, also, the use of 'an ascending line' to generate interest, intensity and eventually hit a musical climax in the solo!
Rock Guitar Solo #2
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Download PDF • 37KB
Just Getting Started!
We are just getting started, so feel free to check back for more content... Until then, here are some fun recordings that I made a couple of moons ago!
Stay Tuned For More!!! :)