How to Play the Blues Guitar

12 bar blues guitar

12 bar blues guitar

On 12 bar blues guitar:

Acoustic Blues Guitar
By Ricky Sharples
Well, it is around the hundred year mark since the world first started noticing blues players. Of course they were all acoustic pickers then because they had very few places to plug their electric guitars in, but they made the best of what they had. Just as a basic first impression, I would say that blues players kind of favor acoustic every bit as much as electric guitar. A glaring example is the success Eric Clapton had with his Unplugged album, but there are plenty of other electric blues players who are on record playing acoustic guitar. Even Jimi Hendrix appeared on TV playing some acoustic blues songs.

Acoustic blues was brought to the world by the likes of by Robert Johnson, Bill Broonzy, and Rev. Gary Davis. Fingerpicking acoustic blues uses your thumb to play the bass notes while the first and second fingers play the melody. Bear in mind that the thumb is responsible for keeping time, so it will take some time getting your fingers to work independently but it will be worth it. Rev. Gary Davis was an acoustic blues player who used his thumb to strum the chords and only his index finger to play the melody.


Lightnin' Hopkins was another acoustic blues player whose style was out of step with fashion when he was trying to make his way as a player in his youth. Hopkins grew up listening to music played by bands but he learnt to play the in isolation from other musicians. So he developed a style that imitated a band playing lead, rhythm and bass. He even provided his oWell, it is around the hundred year mark since the world first started noticing blues players. Of course they were all acoustic pickers then because they had very few places to plug their electric guitars in, but they made the best of what they had. Just as a basic first impression, I would say that blues players kind of favor acoustic every bit as much as electric guitar. A glaring example is the success Eric Clapton had with his Unplugged album, but there are plenty of other electric blues players who are on record playing acoustic guitar. Even Jimi Hendrix appeared on TV playing some acoustic blues songs.

Acoustic blues was brought to the world by the likes of by Robert Johnson, Bill Broonzy, and Rev. Gary Davis. Fingerpicking acoustic blues uses your thumb to play the bass notes while the first and second fingers play the melody. Bear in mind that the thumb is responsible for keeping time, so it will take some time getting your fingers to work independently but it will be worth it. Rev. Gary Davis was an acoustic blues player who used his thumb to strum the chords and only his index finger to play the melody.

Lightnin' Hopkins was another acoustic blues player whose style was out of step with fashion when he was trying to make his way as a player in his youth. Hopkins grew up listening to music played by bands but he learnt to play the in isolation from other musicians. So he developed a style that imitated a band ______continued.

Interesting article on 12 bar blues guitar:

A Review Of 50 Blues Guitar Backing Tracks By 50blues
By Eugene Walker
Here is a review of 50Blues from Guitar Player MagazineI have been looking for good blues backing tracks for the longest time.Finally, I have found the ones that I know will better Read more...

More on 12 bar blues guitar:

continued______ playing lead, rhythm and bass. He even provided his own percussion by slapping the body of the guitar.

The secret to playing lots of acoustic blues songs is in learning a basic chord sequence. A one, four, five progression - for example C, F and G or G, C and D usually make an acoustic blues chord sequence. Listening to the music of Mississippi John Hurt is a good way to get started on acoustic blues. His early career as a blues performer was hampered by his and vocals being too subtle and expressive than was fashionable at the time.

You can do a web search for lessons on how to play acoustic blues like the great bluesmen of the past, but as a general introduction to playing acoustic fingerstyle guitar, you cannot go wrong with the technique known as "Travis Picking". The basis of this style is to use the thumb, first, second and third fingers of the right hand to pick the strings in a predetermined sequence while the left hand plays chords. This is the basic idea of the style, but once you can perform this kind of picking with ease, you will find that you will begin to develop your own musical ideas that allow you to depart from rigidly playing standard chords and the same right hand picking patterns. "Travis Picking" was made popular by Country guitarist Merle Travis and popularized further by Chet Atkins.

So we have covered the names and techniques of great acoustic blues players and found a basic way of playing the that will set you on the road to being a blues guitarist.
wn percussion by slapping the body of the guitar.

The secret to playing lots of acoustic blues songs is in learning a basic chord sequence. A one, four, five progression - for example C, F and G or G, C and D usually make an acoustic blues chord sequence. Listening to the music of Mississippi John Hurt is a good way to get started on acoustic blues. His early career as a blues performer was hampered by his and vocals being too subtle and expressive than was fashionable at the time.

You can do a web search for lessons on how to play acoustic blues like the great bluesmen of the past, but as a general introduction to playing acoustic fingerstyle guitar, you cannot go wrong with the technique known as "Travis Picking". The basis of this style is to use the thumb, first, second and third fingers of the right hand to pick the strings in a predetermined sequence while the left hand plays chords. This is the basic idea of the style, but once you can perform this kind of picking with ease, you will find that you will begin to develop your own musical ideas that allow you to depart from rigidly playing standard chords and the same right hand picking patterns. "Travis Picking" was made popular by Country guitarist Merle Travis and popularized further by Chet Atkins.

So we have covered the names and techniques of great acoustic blues players and found a basic way of playing the that will set you on the road to being a blues guitarist.
Do you want to learn to play the guitar? Learn How To Play A Guitar For Free is a constantly updated blog which contains all the resources you need for: learning to play solo guitar, how to learn guitar chords, how to learn to read and play easy acoustic guitar tabs, finding a free online guitar tuner, looking for free guitar lessons online, and how to learn guitar scales..

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Another decent article on 12 bar blues guitar:

Play Guitar By Ear - Finding The 'one' Chord
By Mike P Hayes
The first important step in learning to play guitar by ear was tointroduce the eight bar song form. Now, it's time to develop asystem for identifying common harmonic patterns used Read more...

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