Newb Feeling Blue

Wait 'till you use a slide for the first time. You'll thoroughly enjoy yourself for hours and hours! Anyway, every blues guitarist has at one point or another listened to/studied Robert Johnsons work. You should also give B.B. Kings material a good listen if you are interested in playing the blues.

Any electric will do. Maybe the most popular blues axes are the Stratocaster, Les Paul, Telecaster and Gibson ES355. But, there are many others that are capable of creating a pleasing blues tone. Both humberker and single-coil pups are used.

These are the books I've been using the most (both have CDs included, but may also be available without):

Hal Leonard's Guitar Method Blues Guitar by Greg Koch ISBN 0-634-03389-1

National Guitar Workshop Method's Beginning Electric Blues Guitar by David Hamburger ISBN 0-88284-791-0

Also, I recently got:

Hal Leonard's Boogie Blues Riffs by Dave Rubin ISBN 0-634-06927-6
It has "25 classic patterns arranged for guitar in standard notation and tab". These riffs are not lead riffs, but more the underlying boogie rhythm riffs.

Have fun!

Margaret

Who are some blues guitarists that you guys listen to?

Muddy Waters
John Lee Hooker
Taj Mahal
John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers
Son House
Memphis Minnie
Howlin' Wolf
Elmore James
Willie Dixon
T-Bone Walker
Eric Clapton
Buddy Guy
Mike Bloomfield
Robben Ford
Keb Mo
Anson Funderburgh

To name a few! :D

(Can you tell I like the blues?) :D

I'm currently working with "Blues You Can Use" by John Ganapes. More of a lesson book than a songbook. Very well written. Geared to electric guitar (or at least all of the samples on the CD use an electric. There are also follow-on books available.

Take a very good look at Electra's list, those people are basically the backbone of blues music. I could add:

Albert Collins
Albert King
Lightnin' Hopkins

And a personal favourite: Jimmy Witherspoon (can't get enough of his 'Tain't nobody's business if I do')

There are tons of cheap collections availlable. I just bought a 4-cd box with music of these and Electra's artists for the price of $6, every decent recordstore has tons of these collections. Get some music, learn the blues scale and just try to play along with them. Copy their licks and start using them. Pay your dues. :D

As for gear, anything goes. The great blues masters have used anything, from westerns, 12-string accoustics, Flying Vs, Strats, Teles, SGs, Lps, hollows and semi-hollows, you name it. As for amps, most of them used small tube amps, but that's partly because there wasn't much to chose from back in those days. In short: any guitar and any amp should do fine, espescially when you're just starting. Blues isn't about gear, or about running scales super fast. So don't worry to much amd have loads of fun. :D

I agree with all of the previous replies. All of the information given is a great place to start.

I can't believe nobody mentioned Stevie Ray Vaughan! I listen to him for inspiration, because I will NEVER be able to play like him! :D

Check out classic rock (particular emphasis on 60s & 70s). Lots (really most) classic rock is HEAVILY based on the blues. Once you learn more about the blues, go back and listen to some of it and the blues will "jump" right out at you.

Eric Clapton was mentioned, and personally I don't consider SRV much of a blues player. His music is great and I truly his El-Macambo performance, but not all pentatonic riffing over bluesbars actually is blues. Or else we could also include Led Zep, AC/DC and you name it all. You just can't sing the blues about how much you and your girl are having a great time together, unless she cheats on you at the end of the song. ;) Hendrix should've been mentioned though, dunno why he slipped my mind.

And this is all very much my humble opinion!

Hendrix is blues, but SRV isn't? Hmmm, not sure I agree with that. Both are great guitarists, but Hendrix (at least to me) had a much wider spectrum of music. Sure he could play the heck out of the blues, but he also played MUCH heavier music - A LOT. He is one of the fathers of heavy rock/metal. SRV only played the blues/blues based rock, Texas style.

And yes, I agree much of classic rock was heavily influenced by the blues. But, there is a BIG difference between say Led Zeppelin and SRV's music, no?

Anyway, just my opinion, which is worth what you paid for it! :D

At the least, I think it's a pretty safe bet that SRV listened to and studied all of the founding fathers of blues. So if nothing else, you can listen to him to see one direction that someone went, building upon the blues. I can see your point Arjen, but I think some of his songs, like "The Sky Is Crying" definitely qualify for blues, while others are, like you said, more blues-influenced, if anything.

Oh, in the end it kinda comes down to one's personal definition of blues. I myself consider the sadness to be the key part: Jimi's blues was pretty much always gloomy and depressed, SRV's blues is happy and upbeat. And while Jimi was indeed a much more varied musician I find it still easy to consider Hendrix a blues player while I find it near impossible to combine 'happy and upbeat' with 'blues'. The only link between SRV and blues that I can see is the use of the blues-scale. But blues is more then some chords and a scale, blues is about a certain emotion. And the one that I feel is required is just totally missing there.

But regardless, SRV is a great guitar player and everyone should check him out, whatever his genre is. :D

I consider SRV a blues player - but it's Texas Blues and Zep did play play the blues; on their first couple of albums, the majority of tracks were stolenborrowed from the likes of Willie Dixon just played louder and in some cases faster!

A couple of newer guys I like are the Black Keys and T-Model Ford.

SRV is deffinately a blues guitarist. And, one of the most influential at that. I cant imagine him as anything else.

Jimmy_Legs,

Give "In Step" or "Texas Flood" a listen as well. Im sure you'll find SRV's style very appealing if not, interesting at the very least.

I'll second the "Blues You Can Use" book, I've had it for a while, though I've only gotten through a half dozen or so of the exercises. They are pretty good for getting your fingers used to the patterns, and for exploring the progressions.

Johnny Winter is another 70s blues guitarist that I quite like. Also (if you like female vocals) Susan Tedeschi, Bonnie Raitt, and Janis Joplin, though a lot of that kind of straddles the line between soul and blues I think.

TZ

You guys are the best. I'm defintiely planning on looking up a few of these artists. As far as instructionals or tips go, please keep them coming. I've heard good things about "Blues You Can Use" and "Hal Leonard's Guitar Method Blues Guitar". Does anyone else have a favorite that they'd like to throw into the mix?