Learning to play electric: artists I should look at?

[adaw2821]

So I've been an acoustic player for a long time but just getting into electric. I'm self taught on acoustic and planning to do the same for electric. That said I'm looking for particular songs/artists that would be good inspiration.

Some that I have already been looking at are Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Mayer. However, I'm not really familiar with a lot of artists. (23 years old and grew up listening to country) Also a lot of stuff that I really like is to difficult to play right now. I'm open to new stuff but primarily like bluesy lightly overdriven sounds. Right now Eric Clapton's live performance of Little Wing is one of my favorite guitar instrumentals.

So really just any suggestions on artists or songs that would fit along those lines would be appreciated!!

[1neeto]

Originally Posted by adaw2821

So I've been an acoustic player for a long time but just getting into electric. I'm self taught on acoustic and planning to do the same for electric. That said I'm looking for particular songs/artists that would be good inspiration.



Some that I have already been looking at are Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Mayer. However, I'm not really familiar with a lot of artists. (23 years old and grew up listening to country) Also a lot of stuff that I really like is to difficult to play right now. I'm open to new stuff but primarily like bluesy lightly overdriven sounds. Right now Eric Clapton's live performance of Little Wing is one of my favorite guitar instrumentals.



So really just any suggestions on artists or songs that would fit along those lines would be appreciated!!

Pink Floyd. David Gilmour plays some of the most amazing solos ever written. They’re not too distorted, and he rarely strays off the blues pentatonic scale so that makes them quite simple too. Check out Time and Comfortably Numb solos.

[DukeX]

Not necessarily meeting all your criteria, but you should listen to some:
B. B. King
Jimmie Vaughan
Danny Gatton
John Fogerty
Brian Setzer
Brad Paisley

[perttime]

Just for variety, I'll throw in
Mark Knopfler (Not exactly blues, usually)
Billy Gibbons (Usually associated with high gain blues rock, but you don't necessarily have to play ZZ Top songs at high gain)

[Rodger Knox]

Check out the Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker, and Lynard Skynard.

Jimmie Vaughn(Stevie's older brother) mentioned already plays in the Fabulous Thunderbirds, also worth checking out.

Since you're only 23, I'll point out that Clapton also played with the Yardbirds, John Mayhall Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, and Derek and the Dominos if you are not familiar with Clapton's earlier work.

There's also Jimi Hendrix...

[Bob Womack]

I started with The Allman Brothers Live at Fillmore East and the Allman Brothers Beginnings (their first two albums in a single package). The extended solos in the live material opened my mind to the possibilities and their short solos on the studio albums offered shorter, more focused material. You've got two guitarists working off each other as well.

Another interesting double album with two lead guitarists is Wishbone Ash Live Dates from '73. The remastered Beat Goes On (BGO) version is much more listenable than the horrible MCA disc set that wasn't even mastered, best I can tell.

Bob

[rdawsoniii]

Listen to as many different players as you can.

I will add Joe Bonamassa to the list.

[roylor4]

I agree with Bob about Live at Fillmore East - a groundbreaking album. Duane Allman was a genius.

Also, a big +1 for BB King, Jimi & Jimmy V.


Others i highly recommend:

Muddy Waters
Johnny Winter
T-Bone Walker
Bonnie Raitt
Jimmy Reed
Elmore James
Albert & Freddie King
Albert Collins
Derek Trucks/Tedeschi-Trucks Band

Lots of great relatively new guys out there too: Walter Trout, Poppa Chubby, Mr. Sipp - lots of great stuff out there.

[Johnny K]

^^^^

I learned on all these guys when i started playing 35+ years ago. But lots of Clapton, Zeppelin, Beatles and Stones too.

But...you gotta first learn the Smoke On The Water riff. It's all down hill from there.

(The Aqualung riff was the 2nd thing I learned)

[BahPa]

Lots of good suggestions so far. Don't forget Robby Robertson, Jerry Garcia, and Stephen Stills. By the way, Walter Trout is not a new guy, but he's very accomplished. I saw him at a dive bar here in Phoenix. He's an amazing guitarist.

[perttime]

Originally Posted by Johnny K

....

But...you gotta first learn the Smoke On The Water riff. It's all down hill from there.

....

I've understood that there's lots of apartment dwellers who absolutely hate the Smoke On The Water riff

[mikealpine]

I saw BB King mentioned, that's a great start. Very expressive player, mixes minor scales and major scales, but over very few notes. It was all about the phrasing. A common trap, one I still fall into, is to believe you have to cram a lot of notes into every measure, that you have to play blindingly fast to be "good". It's very refreshing to hear a single note, bent to the right pitch with a little vibrato, and then slowly hearing it returned down to the next correct pitch. BB was great about that.

[Paleolith54]

Originally Posted by adaw2821

So I've been an acoustic player for a long time but just getting into electric. I'm self taught on acoustic and planning to do the same for electric. That said I'm looking for particular songs/artists that would be good inspiration.

Some that I have already been looking at are Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Mayer. However, I'm not really familiar with a lot of artists. (23 years old and grew up listening to country) Also a lot of stuff that I really like is to difficult to play right now. I'm open to new stuff but primarily like bluesy lightly overdriven sounds. Right now Eric Clapton's live performance of Little Wing is one of my favorite guitar instrumentals.

So really just any suggestions on artists or songs that would fit along those lines would be appreciated!!

A different tack. Most of the suggestions above are in the "guitar hero" category in the sixties and seventies. That's fine, I grew up on them too, but some who helped me take a broader (or maybe I should just say different) view on my own playing might be worth a look.

Mike Campbell (Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers) is just such a great example of how to play in such a way that the guitar complements the song without becoming the point of the song. Listen to his slide playing on Fifth Avenue Heartache on the Wallflowers' album Bringing Down The Horse. Danny Korchmar (James Taylor, Don Henley, lots of others) is another great example of this. For that matter, a close listen to George Harrison will get you that.

Listen to some punk (Ramones, for example), and some near-punk or "pop punk" (almost a contradiction in terms) like Green Day for a similarly-rooted (but I think less artistic) rejection of lots of flash and bombast, and for how to focus on simple parts and short or no solos.

At the risk of a vast oversimlification, what gets called the Grunge bands (say Alice In Chains, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, even Foo Fighters) kind of merge both of the things I referred to above with more of an old-rock vibe, so may also be worth checking out.

[paulp1960]

+1 to the above.

It may prove disheartening to the OP to try and fail to play the stuff of the electric guitar giants at this point.

[adaw2821]

So what's easiest for me is slowish solos. Not a lot of shediding or anything were it starts getting hard to pick out notes. The little licks between vocal lines are nice but don't do much when practicing alone at home. It really takes the rest of a band and vocals to make them "fit". I really like just listenening to guitar instrumentals or solos.