Blues Aren’t Just Played on the Guitar

September 2nd, 2010 · Uncategorized

I spend most of my time posting here about learning the blues on guitar, after all that is what most people think of when they think about learning the blues. How ever you can also play the blues on other instruments, especially the piano.

Learning the blues on the piano is similar to the guitar. You’ve got your 12 bar blues, blues scales etc. Of course you need to learn the basics of the piano before you start trying to apply any of the blues theory we’ve talked about here.

A piano lessons dvd is a good place to get the basic knowledge you’d need to transition your blues guitar skills to the piano.

Self study video courses are becoming the more popular alternative to private instruction for adults. Primarily because of the cost savings and lack of time restrictions on when you watch lessons and how quickly you learn.

Once you’ve learned the basic piano scales, how to make chords and left and right hand techniques you’ll be all set to transition into a little bit of blues piano.

What if you’re a guitar Newbie?

August 24th, 2010 · Blues Videos

If you’re an entirely new guitar player, as in just got a guitar, can’t strum a chord and most of the videos and lessons I have on my site are going way over your head, what should you do?

Well for starters, getting one of the blues guitar courses on this site probably is the wrong move yet. You’re going to want a bit of a primer on beginner guitar techniques before you start trying to learn the blues.

Two programs I review and discuss on the site (JamPlay and GuitarTricks) both offer beginner online videos which you may want to check out. They’re quality instruction and have something for everyone no matter what the skill level.

The course that I’ve been recommending for two years now to beginners is neither of those websites, instead it’s a DVD course from Legacy learning systems, the same company that makes the blues guitar dvd course I recommend on this site.

You can learn more about the beginner course here, learn and master guitar review, but I’ll give you a quick primer on it now.

It’s a 25 disc course aimed at taking complete beginners to a place where they’re able to play a variety of styles and know their way around the guitar neck. For complete beginners, such as yourself, there’s over a years worth of lesson content on the DVDs which you can watch and practice as quickly or slowly as you want. There’s only a one time fee for the course and no on going monthly fees like online lessons or private instruction.

Nothing Quite as Sweet as the Slide

August 23rd, 2010 · Blues Videos

I love the sound of slide blues guitar, and the video I’ve got for you today is nothing short of AWESOME.

Like the past two videos I’ve posted for you today is another of Jack Pearson from the Legacy Days get together last year held for Learn & Master Guitar product owners.

This is only a short clip but he plays some nice sounding stuff quickly in the clip. Note how he mixes the slide in with playing the frets with his finger tips as well. A great blues guitarist in action.

You can watch a full interview on his gear, playing techniques and more as part of the full blues guitar dvd course from Legacy learning systems.

Great Alternate Tuning and Dampening Tip

August 21st, 2010 · Blues Videos

Found this video, another from the Legacy Days Get together for the Learn & Master Guitar products. In this video is a great blues guitar player Jack Pearson, he’s interviewed on the blues guitar dvd Learn and Master Blues Spotlight. Pay attention to the video, the audio is low but he shares a great custom tuning and some fantastic techniques for dampening (covering) the strings with his right hand. He is truly one of the great players!

Jack Pearson Playing at Learn and Master Get Together

August 19th, 2010 · Blues Videos

I found a video from the Legacy Days get together that Learn & Master holds each year for their guitar students. The last session they had Jack Pearson, one of the guitarists interviewed for their blues guitar dvd course, Learn and Master Blues Spotlight. He makes it look so effortless in this video. His playing is smooth and creative. He is a perfect example of a “less is more” type of blues guitar player. Rather then jamming 100 notes a second down the listeners throat he takes his time and creates a beautiful melody with his note choosing.

The Legacy Days get together is something available to all owners of a Learn and Master Guitar product. It’s a great event if you are ever able to make it!

New Blues Course Released

August 18th, 2010 · Blues Videos

Rail Road Media Inc, a company popularized for their drum dvd lessons has just recently released a new blues guitar dvd called the Blues Guitar Blueprint.

The course is aimed at taking beginner and intermediate guitar players to a level where they can play not just blues scales but feel confident and comfortable breaking free from the same old scale patterns and making something sound unique and their own.

Here’s the promo video released for the course:

This course will likely do well with younger rock/blues guitarists looking to move more towards learning lead guitar techniques. I still think for more mature guitar players that are through and through blues fans they’ll enjoy the Learn & Master Blues Spotlight course a little more.

Blues Great Albert King

August 12th, 2010 · Blues Videos

The blues have their own royalty known as “The Three Kings of the Blues”. One of these is blues guitar great Albert King. He was a huge man who knew his way around the fret board of his guitar.

I found a nice video from about 30 years ago of him playing in Sweden. There’s a short interview with him at the beginning of the video that’s interesting to listen to.

For those of you hard core blues listeners you likely are familiar with some of Albert King’s material, how ever if you’re just getting started you’ll want to listen to this and take some time to find other tunes of his.

I can’t promise you’ll learn to be as good as Albert King, but if you want to learn some blues licks in the style of Albert King and other blues greats you can check out our top two rated online blues guitar lessons providers.

A Conversation in the Blues

August 11th, 2010 · Blues Videos

I came across this video today from 2004. It’s of Buddy Guy the blues great playing with Carlos Santana. A comment that was written by a viewer underneath the video perked my attention.

The viewer wrote “It’s like watching two people have a conversation”. I somewhat have to agree that that is exactly what it’s like. These two fantastic guitarists have such skill and play off each other so well it’s similar to watching two people talk.

If you’re a lover of the blues or either of these amazing guitarists you’ll enjoy watching this clip.

Wanna learn the blues? We’re only as good as our instructors, so go for the best. These two online blues guitar lessons websites seek out the best talent to teach you the blues from basics to advanced.

Buddy Guy Does Hoochie Coochie Man

August 10th, 2010 · Blues Videos

This is an amazing video you’ve got to check out. If you saw the post I made the other day of Muddy Waters playing his song Hoochie Coochie Man then you’ll love this. This video has the legend Buddy Guy playing this song recently (in 2010 I believe).

He might be getting older but he isn’t losing any of his talent. I said it in a previous post that Buddy Guy is one of the all-time best blues guitarists out there and I think after watching this video you’ll know why I say that.

Wanna learn to play this great blues song and others? You need to check out the online blues guitar lessons at JamPLay.

Blues Great Muddy Waters Hoochie Coochie Man

August 9th, 2010 · Blues Videos

I believe Muddy Waters to be one of the top 5 all time greatest blues guitarists. His influence on those playing the blues today in huge and many of his biggest hits, including the one I’ve got for you today, still stand up to the best blues roots tunes coming out.

This is where the art form began and he was a master of the style.

Muddy Waters was ranked #17 by Rolling Stone Magazine on their list of top 100 Guitarists of all time and he’s considered by many to be the father of the Chicago Style Blues.

If you’re not familiar with the Chicago Style Blues you’ll recognize it after you watch this video.

If you’re interested in learning more about this style I’d suggest checking out some online blues guitar lessons to learn the basics then experiment with it on your own.