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#1
02-07-2015, 10:25 AM
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learning the blues
I have been playing guitar now for the past 2 and a half years, I want to learn the blues but I'm a little unsure about the best approach, where to start with it. I'm sure alot of you have been in the same place as me, so I'm looking to see how you have gone about it. I know there's alot of online material but again I'm unsure which Areas bepst to start with, who's good?
Thanks 
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#2
02-07-2015, 01:44 PM
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Im a lil behind u time wise but play blues pretty much exclusively....
Justin sandecore and marty schwartz are AWESOME. On the simple side....but for me, simple, supremely executed blues is more than enough to keep my listening interest. Start w E. Learn 2 licks per week. Change scale position each wk. after 5 weeks go to A and repeat. Daily practice playing it every conceivable way w a backing track. Practice the scale and rhythm. Thats badically what i do....
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#3
02-07-2015, 02:16 PM
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Quote:
Start simple - such as: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ri7TcukAJ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LFjHo7Cdrw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLciraVczRI One chord! E minor pentatonic riffs!  Get into those grooves. Move on to the standard 3-chord stuff later...  Here's the ultimate (12-bar in D): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_rd8y8A2oE Actually, seeing as this is an acoustic site, maybe you should go further back... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytVww5r4Nk0 (standard tuning a whole step down = key D, using E shapes.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdgrQoZHnNY (open G tuning) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L46VRcE8JHI (12-bar in E, standard tuning)
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"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen. Last edited by JonPR; 02-07-2015 at 02:30 PM.
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#4
02-07-2015, 02:21 PM
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Some us got started with Toby Walker.....http://www.littletobywalker.com/index.html
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#5
02-07-2015, 02:40 PM
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The forum's own Toby Walker and Mary Flower are great places to start. They both have their own websites and also have lessons that you can either buy on dvd or download from Homespun tapes. I haven't used any of Toby's beginning lessons, so others can better advise you there. I do have his Blues Fingerpicking Freedom set and if you've been playing 2 and 1/2 years you could certainly learn from it. He's a very patient teacher and explains things very clearly. I have more personal experience with Mary Flower, having gone to an Acoustic Blues Guitar workshop where she taught near Portland OR last year. Also have several of her Homespun lessons and have been working through her Jamplay course. I've learned a lot from her in the past few months. Hawkeye Herman also has a blues series on Jamplay and it starts out less advanced than Mary's. Jamplay offers a ton on courses and in my opinion is well worth the money. I don't think there's ever been a better time to learn to play guitar--so much out there to help you learn!
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#7
02-07-2015, 02:45 PM
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I got started with Arnie Berle and Mark Galbo's "Beginning Fingerstyle Blues" book and CD and then moved on to Stefan Grossman books/videos, Toby Walker videos, and then Orville Johnson videos. There are lots of things available online, depending on which sub-genre you want to pursue.
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#9
02-08-2015, 08:54 AM
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I always recommend immersion...Listen to a lot of blues. To many younger players, the "Old" guys are like Stevie Ray Vaughn.....
I suggest going back to the originators, the Delta blues guys that invented the style. There's plenty of material on YouTube, just look up Son House and Skip James and Robert Johnson and then play through all the "suggested" material that will pop up along with these guys. Then you can work your way through the Mephis and Chicago sounds and the blues revival that started the British blues/rock waver (or was it the other way around?) But you get the idea...Get that stuff in your head.
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#10
02-08-2015, 09:11 AM
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I've been taking the lessons of Daddystovepipe, Jim Bruce and Toby Walker and feel like I've progressed a lot...
As a free lesson just to get used to the very very basics, daddystovepipes video lesson and tab is very useful, then you can move on from there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnEsEZS9020
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#11
02-08-2015, 07:32 PM
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I like Toby Walker's stuff also. He is a member here and very helpful. Find one of his posts and pm him and ask him what he suggests for your skill level.
Also, just to get a feel for it, try making up something of your own using E7, B7 and the A chord.
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#12
02-09-2015, 01:20 AM
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Well, there's learning the blues, and then there's LEARNING AND FEELING the blues...
No matter which style you are interested in learning, do yourself (and anyone who might ever hear you play) a huge favor and REALLY listen to the old guys, the progenitors of the genre... and I mean, REALLY listen. Immerse yourself in the music and the songs and try to feel and understand what those guys were feeling when they wrote and played those songs... A monkey can learn some blues licks and chord patterns and regurgitate them at will, but the LAST thing the world needs is one more white guy who thinks that he's a blues player because he can play a little bit that he's copied from someone else and doesn't really feel, deeply, as his own. Don't get me wrong here - the blues is a whole lot of fun to play, to learn how to solo and play the songs... In my mind, the blues are absolutely the foundation for jazz, rock, country and 95% of what has been "Popular" music for the past 8 decades or so, possibly longer... Definitely learn all you can and have fun with it, just bear in mind that what makes the genre what it is, is something far deeper than the notes and chords played...
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#13
02-09-2015, 02:29 AM
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Quote:
Don't get me wrong here.... I think your post has a lot of merit, except what I quoted above.
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Guild D25 (1973) Guild GAD m120e (2013) Taylor 324 (2014) Last edited by Chin music; 02-09-2015 at 02:36 AM.
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#14
02-09-2015, 04:17 AM
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I'm probably in a pretty similar situation as yourself. There is a ton of material and information available.
My advice is to spend some time using google/youtube listening to figure out what particular styles you enjoy. That will help you focus. The major problem I have is not finding stuff, rather there is so much stuff out there I often have trouble finding something I liked a second time. The solution I came up with is using something like Pinterest. IT really helps to captyre and organize things you find to make them easily accessible. Have fun, don't know whether or not you'll become a professional blues player, but you won't have any trouble finding stuff, like I did, to entertain yourself.
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#15
02-09-2015, 05:00 AM
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I am a British (!) white blond guy (OK grey now) and I totally agree with him. Yes blue men can sing the greens - but it is more about "feeling" (soul if you will) than technique. If you copy ? Best to develop your own style. However, don't neglect "hokum" or "happy blues"
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