From a technical and compositional point of view, the blues is not something incredibly difficult, and anyone, even a novice guitarist, can play and compose their own blues part. However, this rather rich direction is definitely not worth bypassing. The main reason is that the blues now underlies absolutely any musical direction - from classic hard rock to extreme genres such as sludge or grindcore. "Blue Sorrow" is the forerunner of everything that is currently happening on the world music scene, and its basics, at least technical ones, are worth knowing, if only in order to understand how modern music works.
A bit of blues history
At the moment, it is very difficult to say who was the first to play the blues. Historians claim that the first compositions arose in the nineteenth century, in the south of the United States, among African-American slaves. The main origins of the genre can be called gospel and work songs. The first blues did not use any instruments at all, except for the voice, and was often performed by the choir in churches, settlements and plantations. And from this, somehow, the genre we are talking about was born.
In addition, the origins of the genre also lie in country music, which is national for North American peoples. There is an opinion that before being finally formed, the direction took the form of the so-called country blues. Over time, at the beginning of the 20th century, when the genre went beyond joint performance, the first ensembles appeared, we can assume that the formation of the direction was finally completed.
A rather interesting fact is that now the frets characteristic of the blues are heard not only in the music of the peoples of America, but also in Chinese folk music, as well as in the population of the far north of Russia.
Blues lessons. The Six Essentials of Learning Style
Listen
Of course, before playing in any genre, you need to listen to it, and especially to listen to the classics of this direction. Below is a list of world blues albums that you should definitely put on your playlist if you want to understand how the blues is still played.
- Robert Johnson - The complete recordings (1990)
- Muddy Waters - The Anthology (2000)
- Howlin' Wolf - The Definitive Collection (2007)
- John Lee Hooker - The best of John Lee Hooker (1992)
- T-Bone Walker - Stormy Monday Blues: The Essential Collection (1998)
- Eric Bibb - The Good Stuff (1998)
- Bibi King - The Ultimate Collection (2005)
blues rhythm
In addition to the classic 4/4, the blues is based on a special rhythm called shuffle. Its whole essence lies in the fact that each beat of the measure is divided into three parts, and not into two, while every second beat has a pause.
That is it looks like this: one - pause -two - one - pause -two - and so on.
By playing the song at a high tempo, as well as listening to classic blues compositions, you will quickly understand the essence of this rhythmic pattern.
In order to work out knowledge in practice, below are eight guitar riffs in shuffle rhythm, which are standards, and therefore a support for composing future compositions.
Blues chord progressions. Chord diagrams.
In addition to the direct phrase standards, there are also blues triad sequences that give the music that very characteristic sound, and in the shuffle rhythm give the purest Blue Devils, which everyone is talking about.
For example, the following harmony is very popular:
Hm-G-D-A
And all its derivatives, which are formed from different combinations of these chords. This sequence, for example, can be heard on the song Graveyard Train - Ballad for Belzebub, along with a blues solo and harmonica.
There is another, very simple sequence:
Em-G
It is on these two chords that Johnny Cash's legendary masterpiece, Personal Jesus, is played.
Generally for that to understand how blues harmony is built, you have to delve a little into musical theory. The whole genre is built on the sequence I - IV - V, that is, Tonic - Subdominant - Dominant. The tonic is the first note in any scale. Subdominant - respectively, the fourth, and the Dominant - the fifth.
That is, if we, say, take the key of E-major, then the chord progression will look like this:
E-A-H
Minus game training
But, of course, for the blues you need to understand .That is what this section is for. Here you'll find two classic blues melodies that you can play right from your browser and play and improvise along. This is a great practice for practicing shuffle and pentatonic, which are the basis of this direction.
Jam Track - 70bpm
Jam Track - 100bpm
Blues pentatonic scale
But this topic is incredibly important inblues for beginners.It is on it that the characteristic sound and melodies that you must own are built. Below are the five classic pentatonic scale boxes you need to learn in order to play the blues, both as chords and solos.
Game techniques
Of course, in this genre, various methods of playing the guitar are used. Some more often, some less often, but they all have a place to be.
- Vibrato. Its essence lies in the fact that during the sounding of the string on the fret, “swing” it a little, achieving a vibrating sound. This technique is used to emphasize an accent or an important note in the composition.
- Bend- this is a string pull. The bottom line is that with this movement, the tone of the note rises, and it changes to another. There are several types of bends, depending on how much you tighten the string. It is worth using this technique carefully, because not everywhere and not always it will sound out of place - for example, if a pulled note is not in the key, then a nasty knock-out sound will happen.
- Slide. This technique consists in hitting a note on one fret, and then, without releasing the strings, “move out” on the other. It is often used in blues and country, there is even a special thing - a slider, as well as a subspecies of guitars - slide guitars, the playing technique of which is built on this technique.
- Hammer-on and pull-off. The technique of these techniques is, in the first case, to hit the string with a plectrum, and then hit the adjacent fret with the finger of the left hand, while the string is still sounding. In the second case, the finger must be released, slightly picking up the fret. This is a very popular technique that allows you to play solo parts that are characteristic of the melody.
Analysis of other songs
There is no better practice for a guitarist than reviewing the songs of other artists. Be sure to do this when playing the blues, because a lot can be learned from such works - from single phrases to whole harmonic ideas and departure from the standards.
Phrasing work
Any blues tutorialwill tell you that the main thing in this music is phrasing. Work on every break and phrase you put into your song. The classic version of building a solo part in the blues is a “question-answer”, that is, the first part should, as it were, ask a question, and the second should resolve it. However, due to the analysis of compositions, you can draw for yourself a huge layer of other variants of phrases that do not follow this concept.
Blues guitar tabs (GTP). Tablature of blues compositions and teaching exercises.
- Blues Shuffle Rhythm (Blues shuffle) – (5 Kb)
- Eric Clapton - Layla (tabs for one guitar) - (39 Kb)
- Learn songs from other artists.
- Study musical theory to better navigate the composition.
- Learn how to play the shuffle rhythm. This is the main rhythmic pattern, without it the blues simply does not exist.
- Keep track of the condition of your guitar. If you have ,and this prevents you from playing solo parts, then be sure to take the guitar to the master so that he can fix the problem.
- Always play with a metronome.
- Learn blues standards for more improvisation.
Hello guitar lovers. Today we traditionally have a lesson for beginners. In this short lesson, I will tell you how to play the blues on your six-string acoustic guitar or electric guitar. I will also post a diagram where you can see the most common blues chords.
If you are interested in blues, jazz and improvisation, then I would like to recommend the new educational portal natomia-music.rf, where you can find a lot of free information and lessons on these and other equally interesting musical topics.
In fact, playing this musical style (blues) is not difficult, it is enough to know a few basic concepts and techniques, to practice a little, and you will be able to play the blues as well as B.B. King.
chords
Below, in the text, you can find a diagram that shows the most popular blues chords. Instructions on how to read these chords, their diagrams are also attached.
- The scheme consists of a grid, which consists of six vertical lines (strings) and five horizontal lines (nuts). As you might have guessed, these lines represent the strings and nut on a guitar. Their intersection forms frets on a six-string guitar;
- At the top of the diagram is a letter indicating the name of the chord shown in the diagram;
- Just below the letter, you can observe two signs: a cross and a zero. They indicate a closed (not played) and open (must be played open) string, respectively;
- There are black marks on the chart itself, pointing and pointing to the fret you need to press in order to play the chords;
- Below the diagram you can see the numbers from one to four. These numbers indicate which finger it is preferable to press a particular fret when you play chords. If we count the fingers from left to right, on the inside of the palm, then the first is the index, the fourth is the little finger, the big pale is not indicated by the number.
Exercises
I have prepared for you an exercise that will allow you to develop the technique of blues improvisation. Below you can find the tablature of this exercise (a video lesson on reading tablature is also below).
Need to play like this:
Video
Below you can watch a video tutorial on the topic discussed in this article.
Game techniques
I would also like to say a few words about the techniques of playing the guitar, which are often used by bluesmen:
- Bend- a method of playing the guitar, in which the played note, in the process of sounding, is pulled up to the desired height. The duration of the bends can be: short and long;
- vibrato- a method of playing the guitar, in which the sound is extracted with the vibration of the string. A very expressive and popular technique, very often used in the blues.
That's all for today, I hope you figured out the technique and techniques of the game and can play the blues.
Blues is a very diverse and interesting genre of music. Two compositions can be very different from each other - and you would not think that this is the same direction. It is performed by street musicians and world-famous stars like Gary Moore. In this article, we will look at how to play the blues on the guitar.
Fingers or slide?
A slide is a special tube of either metal, glass, or ceramic that fits over the finger and is used to clamp the strings. When the string is in contact not with a soft finger pad, but with a metal surface, the sound of the guitar changes beyond recognition. Since the beginning of the genre, blues and slide have gone hand in hand.
But there are no hard and fast rules here. I like to play with "hands" - please. If you want to get bright vibrato and authentic sound, try slide. It is not even necessary to buy it - take a glass bottle or, for example, a folding knife. This will be enough to understand whether you like this sound or not.
A professional slide will not sound better than a bottle. The difference is that you don't have to hold it with your whole hand. The tube is put on only one finger, and the rest will be free. Thus, guitarists can combine slide playing with classical playing.
How full and voluminous the sound of a guitar can be can be understood if you buy a twelve-string guitar.
12-string features:
- reinforced western or jumbo type hull;
- wide neck;
- metal strings placed in pairs - thick with winding and thin without winding. The strings are tuned in unison, however, starting from the third pair, the thin string is always tuned an octave higher.
Where to buy 12 string guitar?
For a musician who is good at playing a six-string guitar, the desire to buy a 12-string guitar in Moscow or in another region of Russia is quite understandable.
When choosing a store where to buy a 12-string guitar, look at specialized stores that offer not only cheap instruments. An inexpensive twelve-string guitar is a great temptation , however, it should be remembered that 12 strings cause a powerful load on the body of the guitar, so one of the main parameters of a twelve-string is its strength.
Preparing for the game
This section of the manual is for those who want to learn how to play the blues on the electric guitar. In the case of acoustics, no preparation is needed - take it and play it. But here it is possible to tweak the equalizer or add a couple of pedals to the chain, getting the desired sound.
First and most important: forget about distortion. Bluesmen use either a clean or slightly loaded sound, that is, a slight overdrive. A high gain level will give a lot of disgusting noises and greatly increase the grinding on the string sheath. It also compresses the flow, cutting off all the dynamics of the blues sound.
There are special blues pedals, such as the Boss Blues Driver. If you can't find one, use a regular overdrive. It is important not to overdo it here. In some compositions, the Wah-Wah effect will show itself well. But at the training stage it is better not to touch it.
The second tip: do not wind up a lot of some frequencies in the equalizer. Instead of raising the middle, it's better lower bass and treble levels. This simple technique will give you a more pleasant and natural sound.
Blues pentatonic scale
The most interesting thing in the blues is improvisation. Without it, you can’t compose your own melody, you can’t embellish someone else’s. And in order to improvise, you need to know what notes you have at your disposal.
The blues scale is based on minor pentatonic scale. Another note is added between the 3rd and 4th steps. It is she who helps to create that very characteristic sound. Over decades of trial and error, blues players have discovered the 5 most comfortable positions for themselves ( boxing) for Game.
The red dot is tonic, the base note from which the melody is built. Blue is the same additional sound. Choose any fret on the guitar and try to play all the notes in each of the positions in turn. Even without additional techniques, you will immediately feel this special character of melodies.
Try to learn all the boxes so that your fingers can easily run along the strings "on the machine". If you constantly think about what to hold down, there can be no question of any improvisation.
Building a melody
When you get used to the pentatonic fingerings, you can start improvising. First, try playing the same scale, but with different rhythmic patterns. Combine eighth and quadruple notes. Change direction, "jump" through 1-2 scale steps, pause. After a while, your hands themselves will remember which technique sounds good, and which one does not.
Don't forget the metronome. Rhythm in music is very important. It should not be forgotten either during the performance of slow, "viscous" compositions, or even more so, in pumping driving riffs. Perhaps practicing under a metronome will be unusual and difficult for you. But without this, a good sense of rhythm cannot be developed.
Try playing in different positions. No one forbids changing them during the game. The sound of riffs in different boxes will vary slightly. Experiment more - and you will get a lot of interesting melodies in your piggy bank.
Bend, slide and vibrato
Not a single blues composition can do without these three tricks. It is they who enliven the melody, make it bright and unique.
Slide- the easiest way. It sounds especially impressive when playing with a slide (such is the terminological tautology). Actually, the whole technique of playing comes down to the fact that you never tear off the pipe from the strings, but lead along their surface. The sound is always there, even when changing the position of the hand.
If you play with your fingers, the essence remains the same. For example, hold down a string at the 5th fret, extract the sound, and then move down to the 7th. You don't have to let go of your finger. The speed depends on the context: sometimes you need to move out quickly, sometimes smoothly.
The next important technique in the blues is band. This is a change in pitch without changing the fret. You press down on the string and then lead it along the fret. It stretches and sounds higher. Typically, bends are pulled by a tone or a semitone. Make it easy. It is difficult to learn how to tighten the strings so that the resulting sound belongs to your scale.
This is a very important point. If you bend only a quarter of a tone, it will not fit into the melody and cause dissonance. If you tighten the string by half a step, but get a note that is not included in your pentatonic scale - again dissonance.
For example: between the 3rd and 4th degrees of your scale, the distance is only half a tone (1 guitar fret). You can play the string at the 7th fret and then pull it until the sound is the same as if you played it at the 8th fret. You can pull even higher - up to the 9th fret - and get the 5th degree of the pentatonic scale.
Another universal approach vibratto. When you play a long note (for example, the 4th among an array of 8s), you can give it a special color, draw attention. If you know how to bend, mastering vibratto will be easy. Simply increase and decrease the tension to get that characteristic shake. You can change the pitch quite a bit, or you can achieve an amplitude of 2 tones. What and when sounds better - you can understand only by experimenting.
This little material will help you get started. And then it's just a matter of practice. Listen to different performers, watch how street musicians play, try to compose your own melodies, add chords to the composition, actively use bends and slides. The best way to learn how to play the blues is to play it.
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