How to Play Acoustic Blues Guitar - The Basics
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Blues Acoustic Guitar
Here is a basic tutorial on how to play "blues" acoustic guitar. This is very similar to my other article called How to Play Acoustic Guitar - The Basics. However, how this one differs is that it is in the style of the blues. Now if you have any experience playing the acoustic guitar then you can skip the "How to Play Acoustic Guitar - The Basics" hub and go straight to this one.
Things you will need:
- A acoustic guitar
- A tuner
- A pick
- A bluesy attitude
Playing The Blues
Okay so this part we are going to learn is in the key of E major. We are going to be using dominant 7th chords to generate that "bluesy" sound. Look up (if you dont already know) E major chord, E7 chord, A7 chord, D7 chord, and B7 chord. These are the chords that we are going to be using. Comfortably play a chord change with these chords and be sure to use different combinations. For example, one measure of E major, one measure of A7, one measure of B7 and then one measure of E7. Switch it up to see what kind of sounds you can get.
Now that you have that down we can discuss blues strumming patterns. The most basic one i use is the down, down, up, up, down, down, up, up. This gives a "bum bum, bum bum" bluesy sound.
Once you have gotten the basic concepts of blues chord changes and strumming patterns, explore new chords to play and work your way up to scales and blues licks. This may be difficult at first but it will be worth it in the end.
Influences
It is important to look back and see what the blues greats did. Look at artists like B.B King and Stevie Ray Vaughn. They have a distinct style to their playing and are good role models when it comes to blues guitar playing.
Any questions or comments? Feel free to ask.
- How to play Acoustic Guitar - The Basics
A Beginner's Guide to Acoustic Guitar Here is a tutorial of how to start playing the acoustic guitar.
Try listening to other blues guitar players and adopt their style of chord progression
If you can, try to find another blues guitar player and practice rhythm and lead guitar playing for this is what makes the blues the blues
blues lessons 15 months ago
Blues guitar has many many different styles. Blues guitar has many many different styles. There's a huge number of ways to play blues guitar. Although I'm fascinated by the old legends, a select few of the modern day 'legends', like Buddy Guy also impress me. Genius is genius, whenever the music was made. For me, it almost goes without saying that the best music of today came from the roots, that's why I keep returning there. You can still hear the riffs of Broonzy and others in all modern music. Additionally, Piedmont guitar is evident in jazz classics. Students learning the guitar would be advised to begin from way back and progress until they find their way.