Blues is one of the oldest genres of music; it is timeless and very influential in modern musical styles of today. Playing the blues technically crosses the boundaries of traditional forms for music. Although it is simplistic in format it is complicated in style. As a beginner playing, the blues is one of the easiest genres to master the basics and rhythm soloing techniques. If you can learn the rhythm, chords and song structure you will be well on your way to building your ear and developing your own blues style.

Blues is by tradition a twelve bar structure based on three dominant chords in a I, IV, V chord progression. The most common scales used in blues playing are the pentatonic major, pentatonic minor and the blues scale. By nature pentatonic scales are five notes instead of seven notes which make up the typical major / minor scales. The bluesy sound comes from adding what is called a diminished or flattened fifth. Some people look at playing the blues as a science, regardless of its simplicity. In addition to the basics phrasing, vibrato and fingering patterns play and integral part.

Being that guitar is the single most important instrument for blues music, picking and strumming techniques are essential. Practising blues scales will increase your knowledge of note placement and chord progressions for soloing and improvisation as well as increasing your overall speed and accuracy. It is been widely publicized as a genre that is “not something you know, it’s something you learn, and then its something you feel”. This is true. You need to learn to play the blues before you can feel the blues. Take the time to learn the basic phrasing, and practise your fingering progressions. In order to play with emotion, you need to know how to play before you can express yourself fully through the music.

Why play the blues?

Blues is known for its reputation as the genre of music for ‘expressing emotion’. There are many images of the blues from Muddy Waters in a smoke filled bar in Chicago to Jimi Hendrix on stage at Woodstock and the ever famous B.B. King. This is part of the attraction to the blues, personal interpretation. The majority will say the blues are timeless, and the best at capturing human emotions and life lessons. Some people hear sorrow where others hear joy, this is the genius.

Modern day blues players are not necessarily the traditional players of the past. Consider John Mayer, Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughn, all influential modern day blues players. Blues was and continues to be very influential to many bands including Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, and Pink Floyd. Its not that these bands are blues bands but throughout their existence the blues have surfaced the form of a solo or rhythm that inevitable shapes the song. Blues has its tradition, but it has evolved over time into almost every other genre of music including Jazz, R&B, hip hop and Rock.

Blues is a platform for many musical journeys, whether it is the technique that you want to master or the influence of style you are looking to gain, your time will not be wasted.

This course developed by Griff Hamlin, provides a thorough, step-by-step, student tested approach to mastering the blues. The book provides every scale, technique, theory, and trick that you'll need. It follows a simple, logical progression with each chapter building on the last. The package includes audio examples and jam tracks. The audio examples come in both full speed and slow speed versions.

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