Master The Blues Like SRV – For Guitar Players

Nearly all blues guitarists start out as rock or country guitarists, only developing their interests in blues at a later date. Thus, there are many blues guitar players who don’t have all of the necessary education and background requisite to play traditional blues who rely on altered rock licks and scales to sort of “fake” a blues sound.

For the guitarist who’s serious about developing his or her skill as a blues musician, there are several things that can be done to heighten and accelerate this process.

1. Learn some processes and methods of playing that are specific to blues music. This can mean learning specifically blues-oriented scales, and licks. Particularly valuable techniques that are a bit trickier to master, but well worth it are playing with a slide and playing in modified tunings. Many terrific blues soloists like Buddy Guy or Eric Clapton will play in an open chord tuning to alleviate slide playing.

Don’t think of just major chords either, minor chord tunings are extremely versatile when it comes to blues.

It is important to remember that there will be times when these improvements come very quickly, and others when it may seem like you have accomplished nothing. Do not get discouraged. The guitar is one of the most difficult instruments to master, so you can’t expect instant results. Some people keep notes on their progress. When they feel that they have reached a plateau, they refer to their notes to see if any unperceived improvements have been made. Often, you will find that you are your harshest critic, so your notes may keep your emotions in check.

2. Learn from the masters. If you’re more into modern or classic blues, than start your pursuit with Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Keb’ Mo’ and Buddy Guy. Once you’ve absorbed these heavyweights, than start working your way backwards with such artists like Robert Johnson and Howlin’ Wolf.

3. Develop your skill with the acoustic guitar. Remember, blues started as an acoustic art form, so to discover pure blues, pick up an acoustic guitar, a glass slide, put on some recordings of the old masters, and take yourself back to the Delta!