Well i'm thinking of starting to play blues guitar, I really like it but... I have no idea where to start?
So I was wondering if anybody could point me in the right direction please? :)
I would highly recomend (and I think many on this board would as well) the book Blues You Can Use. Its a very well presented tutorial and gives you some great building blocks to work with.
Another good thing I've found is to listen to as much blues music as you can. There are many fantastic blues guitarist out there to choose from and while everyone has their personal favorites, for me you can't go wrong with a little Albert King. If you are into classic rock, I'd also check out Jimi Hendrix's Blues album. He covers some classics in a way that are just amazing.
Good luck and enjoy the ride.
+1
If you want to check out Blues You Can Use, you can go to the author's website at
BYCU is a great starting place. The book will teach you everything you need to get started. I would strongly urge you to learn the Minor Pentatonic scale to get you going as well. And, as phillyblues said, listen to alot of blues. Do a deep dive into the music. Tone is a huge part of great blues music.
Teamwork- A few harmless flakes working together can unleash an avalanche of destruction.
Further to the above advice (I.E. listen to lots of blues), here's a 13 hour radio series which walks thru the history of blues, and plays a lot of great music.
http://www.yearoftheblues.org/radio/index.asp
and from the same site, read this:
http://www.yearoftheblues.org/features.asp?id={5FA6B3F0-ABFD-468F-AF80-3257000805F9}&type=ttlist
I wrapped a newspaper ’round my head
So I looked like I was deep
BYCU is a great book. My guitar instructor had never heard of it and we are now going through it slowly on a weekly basis. I'm not sure what to recommend as a supplement to the book. I'm sure some of the more advanced players can advise another book as well. I was mostly self taught with a childhood piano background so the counting and some rudimentary theory still applies.
Get the book if you haven't already, it's a great starting point.
A book Ive been playing around with is Blues Guitar For Dummies, theres a whole lot of information in it, and I find it easy to understand. It'll take you from learning basic chords, to learning Robert Johnsons style of picking, to choosing effects,amps and other gear.
I play the guitar, I taught myself how to play the guitar, which was a bad decision... because I didn't know how to play it, so I was a sh***y teacher. I would never have went to me. -Mitch Hedberg
Try www.JustinGuitar.com and find the blues section. He has videos of 10 blues lessons that may be of interest. I've ordered them, even though they're free on youtube. I want to support what Justins doing, so it was an easy decision. I've also bought the strumming dvd, which doesnt have any free videos online, because quite frankly I suck at keeping strumming patterns. :)
Well i'm thinking of starting to play blues guitar, I really like it but... I have no idea where to start?
So I was wondering if anybody could point me in the right direction please? :)
Has your wife left with the kids/house/money/stash/bong & cars yet???
cat
"Feel what you play...play what you feel!"
I find BYCU quite difficult for a beginner. It's a great book, and the songs are fantastic, but unless you are already a decent guitar player, it's a challenge (at least for me). I am currently using 2 books, Beginning Blues Guitar by David Hamburger (1st book in a series of 3), and Drew Giorgio's Blues Guitar for Beginners. They are both very similar, and they are great even if you only picked up the guitar recently. Otherwise, the usual online guitar sites are great as well. Love the blues...
