Blues Guitar Questions Answered – Beginner Guide
These blues guitar tips answer some of the most common questions beginners have when learning how to play blues guitar. Topics like vibrato, phrasing, bending and scales are essential for developing feel and expression.
Essential Blues Guitar Tips for Beginners
If you’re a beginner, start with simple songs or riffs. There is this great blues shuffle riff which is not too hard to play and is used in about a million songs which is a great start.
If you learn the bar chords the world is pretty much wide open to a whole range of songs so try to get to those if you feel you are ready.
Like all other guitar styles a good practice routine helps a lot. It’s better to do half an hour each day then 3 hours straight in a week.
For the intermediate players who are up for some soloing there is off course the brilliant pentatonic scale. With only the minor pentatonic there is a lot of cool stuff you can do.
But mastering the pentatonic scale doesn’t mean you can play musically right away. In blues it’s often about the feeling you want to convey and not as much a ton of notes per second. Phrasing is also very important, call and response is a part of that. Amongst a whole range of techniques like hammer on/pull off, bending, sustained notes, breaks, raking, vibrato, dampening strings, playing close to the bridge or further away from it. Anything you can think of to get some more expression in your own style.
Why is vibrato so important in blues?
Besides bending vibrato is one of the most expressive techniques in blues guitar.
Vibrato can express a lot of emotion. It can be gentle like B.B. King or more aggressive like you might hear from Gary Moore. It can also become a signature sound that helps listeners recognize a player immediately. BB King’s vibrato for instance is quite characteristic for him.
At first vibrato can feel a bit unnatural. Many beginners simply push the string up and down with their fingers.
There is another approach that leads to a more natural sounding vibrato, which I demonstrate in the video below.
It may feel a bit strange at first, but if you practice vibrato like this you’ll soon hear how much expression it adds to your playing.
How do you make blues guitar sound expressive?
Your tone plays a big role in how expressive your playing sounds. When you have a tone you enjoy, it often changes the way you play as well. One of the reasons I like working with a DAW at home is that it helps me shape my sound, which makes practicing and playing more enjoyable.
Other than tone, there is a whole range of techniques that add expression in blues guitar. This YouTube short of Now YOU Shred demonstrates this clearly:
This video demonstrates several expressive techniques that can help make your blues playing sound more vocal and dynamic. My top blues guitar tip is simple: apply these techniques to phrases you already play. Adding vibrato, bends and subtle timing changes will immediately make your playing sound more expressive.
What scale is used in blues guitar?
Besides the minor pentatonic scale, blues guitar players often use the major pentatonic as well. The minor pentatonic is very versatile because you can also use it in a major blues progression. So with just this one scale you can already do a LOT!
The blues scale is basically the minor pentatonic scale with one extra note added: the flat 5.
In a major blues progression it often sounds great to mix the major and minor pentatonic scales. If you need some help with that check out my lessons page.
Why does blues guitar sound “bluesy”?
As I mentioned earlier, sounding bluesy doesn’t have to involve a lot of notes. One bend timed nicely has much more impact than a whole bunch of notes played quickly…
Besides phrasing there is also the matter of picking good landing notes. This is where chord tones are useful, especially the (minor or major) third. These notes played at the right time will make you sound bluesy. Just like a bend can have a lot of impact, a nicely timed minor third can sound very bluesy as well.
Vibrato also plays a huge role here. Many great blues players, like B.B. King, use vibrato to make notes really sing.
Want to improve your blues phrasing?
Online Blues Guitar Lessons with Bas de Beer:
https://basguitar.com/lessons/
If you want to see me practise with these topics check out my jam page.