If you came here for information on how to play blues guitar, you are in the right place. Many rock bands have a lot of their influences from blues musicians. In fact, the band Pink Floyd was named after two blues musicians named Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. In addition, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones and Stevie Ray Vaughn all have heavy blues influences.
A common misconception is that it is easy to learn blues guitar. Although most beginner guitar players start off learning blues songs and blues scales, more advanced blues music can be rather difficult to play.
Where to Start Learning How to Play Blues Guitar?
If you want to learn blues guitar, the most common type of scale to learn is the basic pentatonic scale. This type of scale is not just limited to blues style of play – it used with many other different types of music.
Here is an illustration of a common pentatonic guitar scale:
This is a Pentatonic Scale in A – the numbers on the neck denote which finger is used. This scale starts at the A note on the 5th fret.
Here is a sample of a blues scale. Notice that there are extra notes added:
This is a Blues Scale in A – the numbers on the neck denote which finger is used. This scale starts at the A note on the 5th fret.
This scale is one of the easiest blues scales to learn. Click the sound samples to listen to the scale.
With a little practice and finger technique you can begin to learn quickly how to solo, improvise and come up with your own blues riffs.
Common Types of Blues Guitar To Learn
- 12 Bar Blues – The most common type of blues guitar is 12 bar blues. In addition, this style is the easiest to play and has the easiest chord progressions. This style is used in many songs because the scales used flow very well over the chord progressions. This style is the most popular type used over many genres of music
- Slide Blues Guitar (Bottleneck Guitar) – There are many different slides that you can use on your guitar – a few samples are listed below:
Learning slide blues guitar (also known as bottleneck guitar) can be a difficult task for any beginner, but with a little practice you can learn this style pretty quickly. If you want to hear a master blues slide guitar player pick up any early Allman Brothers music with Duane Allman playing. It’s pretty amazing what he can do.
Check out these slides from Guitar Center:
- Blues Shuffle – When you think of blues music on a guitar, the blues shuffle style is pretty much the typical style that you have probably heard. Listen to any Stevie Ray Vaughn song and you can hear this distinct style. If you really want to get into the blues especially on the guitar, you should really learn different blues shuffle styles.
As you can see there are many factors and styles if you want to learn blues guitar. This type of guitar playing is usually the first step for most guitar players because of the simplicity and ease of chords and scales involved. With time and practice, you can quickly learn how to become a great blues guitar player.
Are you still interested in learning blues guitar? Do you want to learn advanced styles such as Eric Clapton, Warren Haynes, Duane Allman and Jimmy Page?
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This training package is top notch and is geared towards learning all aspects of blues guitar.