How to get good at blues style lead guitar

88CuzJ · February 2023

Evening all,

I was wondering if you could help point me in the right direction please.

I’ve been playing guitar for a long while now but have mainly always played mainly rhythm both at home and in the numerous bands I’ve been in. I’m fairly decent at this, I know all chord inversions, triads and can jam along with any other musicians no problem.

I’ve always wanted to get good at lead blues playing but just don’t know where to start. I’d love to be fluid and able to play in the style of Bloomfield or Clapton etc but can never seem to find the right structured course to help me do this. The lads I play with can all do it and they seem to make it look easy when I know it’s not. They are all brilliant players and it seems I’ll never be able to do that.

So, do I need to learn a load of licks and just keep playing them over and over and incorporate them into my playing? Do I need to learn solos note for note and do it that way? Do I need to just let it go and feel it? Do I need to do all of this?

In in terms of listening to this type of music that’s all I do so I’ve got a good foundation with the perceived feel side of things. I can play a bit of lead btw just not in a fluid way like above. I’m more like a JJ Cale or someone like that. I know my main scales as well.

Any help on where to start would be great.

Trufire and Youtube etc is a minefield.

Cheers!

theatreanchor · February 2023

Hey CuzJ.

Without wishing to be the most basic person here, it really comes down to practice. Time. Practice. Repitition.

If you know your main scales, it’s just about taking the time to make that step. You have to believe you can do it. You don’t to know all the scales. You don’t need to know all the notes. If you’re not fluid, then work out where you’re not fluid and practise that area. It’ll come. Don’t rush it. And good luck.

88CuzJ · February 2023

theatreanchor said:

Hey CuzJ.

Without wishing to be the most basic person here, it really comes down to practice. Time. Practice. Repitition.

If you know your main scales, it’s just about taking the time to make that step. You have to believe you can do it. You don’t to know all the scales. You don’t need to know all the notes. If you’re not fluid, then work out where you’re not fluid and practise that area. It’ll come. Don’t rush it. And good luck.

Thanks for the advice! Much appreciated!

I suppose fluid might not have been the right way to describe what my problem is.

In a more simple way, how do I get good at blues lead guitar?

Do I need to practice loads of licks? Or learn other people’s solos?

How do I incorporate the licks into my playing? Where can I find the licks to learn?

Cheers!

Stuckfast · February 2023

I don't know how to help, but I would say: there are thousands of people who can play blues lead guitar a bit like Clapton or Bloomfield already. But there aren't many who can play like JJ Cale. And I know who I'd rather have in my band!

88CuzJ · February 2023

Stuckfast said:

I don't know how to help, but I would say: there are thousands of people who can play blues lead guitar a bit like Clapton or Bloomfield already. But there aren't many who can play like JJ Cale. And I know who I'd rather have in my band!

Cheers Stuckfast! That’s kind of you to say. I play that way only cos it’s simple but effective. If I try to play fast I just embarrass myself.

theatreanchor · February 2023

88CuzJ said:

theatreanchor said:

Hey CuzJ.

Without wishing to be the most basic person here, it really comes down to practice. Time. Practice. Repitition.

If you know your main scales, it’s just about taking the time to make that step. You have to believe you can do it. You don’t to know all the scales. You don’t need to know all the notes. If you’re not fluid, then work out where you’re not fluid and practise that area. It’ll come. Don’t rush it. And good luck.

Thanks for the advice! Much appreciated!

I suppose fluid might not have been the right way to describe what my problem is.

In a more simple way, how do I get good at blues lead guitar?

Do I need to practice loads of licks? Or learn other people’s solos?

How do I incorporate the licks into my playing? Where can I find the licks to learn?

Cheers!

Hey man.

I used to play to blues songs. Or play to famous backing tracks. It’s a case of learning the changes and the most effective way of navigating or amplifying them. It’s a lot of fun. You don’t need to learn licks or other people’s solos. You can, if you like, but it’s easier to incorporate them into your vocabulary. If you’re serious about the blues - then study the blues. Not just the populist blues, but the actual blues. You’ll find a lot of tasty licks there! It’s a great journey if you’re willing to undertake it, but don’t expect to get there overnight. Like anything - it’s about the process and not the result.

88CuzJ · February 2023

theatreanchor said:

88CuzJ said:

theatreanchor said:

Hey CuzJ.

Without wishing to be the most basic person here, it really comes down to practice. Time. Practice. Repitition.

If you know your main scales, it’s just about taking the time to make that step. You have to believe you can do it. You don’t to know all the scales. You don’t need to know all the notes. If you’re not fluid, then work out where you’re not fluid and practise that area. It’ll come. Don’t rush it. And good luck.

Thanks for the advice! Much appreciated!

I suppose fluid might not have been the right way to describe what my problem is.

In a more simple way, how do I get good at blues lead guitar?

Do I need to practice loads of licks? Or learn other people’s solos?

How do I incorporate the licks into my playing? Where can I find the licks to learn?

Cheers!

Hey man.

I used to play to blues songs. Or play to famous backing tracks. It’s a case of learning the changes and the most effective way of navigating or amplifying them. It’s a lot of fun. You don’t need to learn licks or other people’s solos. You can, if you like, but it’s easier to incorporate them into your vocabulary. If you’re serious about the blues - then study the blues. Not just the populist blues, but the actual blues. You’ll find a lot of tasty licks there! It’s a great journey if you’re willing to undertake it, but don’t expect to get there overnight. Like anything - it’s about the process and not the result.

Thanks for the advice! That’s a really good point about the process and playing the changes as well!

theatreanchor · February 2023

Just keep at it. Play to records, and play with friends. Ask the friends you admire to show you how they do it. Stay curious.

Vibetronic · February 2023

I have some really good tuition material in pdfs I can send you if you drop me a pm with your email. It’s well structured and from the ground up; to be honest it sounds like you’re most of the way there already and just need some fresh ideas/point in the direction you want to go in, and you can probably just take what you need without starting from the beginning. For what it’s worth I’m a guitar teacher on the more rock/ metal end of the spectrum and have found this stuff really useful for my own playing and phrasing

Barney · February 2023

I would start by learning say Am pentatonic 5th fret ....after that work on 2 strings at a a time starting on B and E strings so you are using the 4 higher notes of the pentatonic....put a blues backing track on and see how many combinations you can get . Work on phrasing ... different timings ..slow..fast ....whatever just keep going and messing and always try and sing what you are playing ....so you know what the note is going to sound like before you play it ...to to the next 2 strings G and B same thing and carry on and do them all in pairs

Next do the same with 3 strings then 4 strings ...until you are improvising on them all....really work on phrasing and how you attack the notes ...the picking hand is just as important...also play how you would speak ...leave pauses and try and play something that associates with what you have played before ....and listen to loads of blues guitarists you like and pinch some ideas

DavidR · February 2023

There's a regular piece on Blues technique in the back of The Guitarist every month. Mainly but not exclusively electric.

Search big tradition of acoustic fingerpicking blues too. Blues is a definite style and this is the source material.

For playable pieces look for pdf's of pieces by e.g. Blind Blake, Elizabeth Cotten, Etta Baker, Blind Boy Fuller, Tom Turpin, C Luckeyth Roberts, Blind Lemon Jefferson, John Renbourn, Rev Gary Davis, Skip James, Mike Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez. Loads free on www.

Simplest most beautiful piece of fingerpicking acoustic blues? "I Get The Blues When It Rains" E P Johnson.

Try musicnoteslib.com and search for the guitarpro pdf's.

Kilgore · February 2023

Try adding chord tones to your solos.

merlin · February 2023

Hear it in your head. Then sing it. Then play it.

If you want to play any kind of music then it's best if you have something to say.

bloodandtears · February 2023

record or listen to a rhythm pattern... hum a bluesy melody you've heard before or would like to play over a section of the pattern, perhaps the turn-around at first?

Learn to play said melody and practice over the backing..

Listen to more ear-catching melodies in famous blues tracks.. learn them.. learn how to transpose them to your key of choice.. maybe learn why they work.. do they have certain scale notes (blues note) or certain intervals that sound cool..

Over time you can build up a "lick library".. eventually you can chain stuff together..

kelpbeds · February 2023

My Blues Youtube channel will really help you, it's totally aimed at what you are after and clearly presented

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBTSHf5NqVQDz0LzW2PC1Lw

Lewy · February 2023

merlin said:

Hear it in your head. Then sing it. Then play it.

This, a million times over. Especially if you already have fretboard knowledge and some facility on the instrument.

Blues lead guitar IS singing. If you want to get good at it, don't get dragged into concerns about "breaking out of the box" and playing all over the neck and all the other stuff that the miasma of blues tutorial material out there goes on about. Everybody has got access to more of that stuff than they'll ever get through and is everyone a great blues soloist? No. Did any of the great stylists of the blues learn from that sort of material? No. That's not to say they weren't genuine scholars, they were, just not in the same way. They heard things, they internalised them, and they developed their ears so they could find them again on their instrument at will. And if they couldn't quite execute it how they heard it, they played it how they could execute it, thus making it an evolved version of the original.

AND - this is so important to recognise - for the most part they only did a few things each. I guarantee that most people trying to learn to play blues guitar - even at a beginner level - are already trying to cover more ground than each of the greats did themselves in their whole careers. So this isn't about range, trying to do lots of things. It's about trying to find the feel and spirit of playing the blues first, and then widening vocabulary very gradually over a lifetime of playing.

That feel and spirit is found in using the guitar as a voice. Just focus on singing a line, and then finding it in that classic box position. You don't need to move on from that one position until you can do that. The greatest blues guitar players of all time never strayed from one or two favourite positions. They didn't need to because they knew all the notes they needed were right there. Until you find yourself at the point where you're thinking "hmmm...I love T-Bone and BB and Buddy Guy but I feel like they're a bit limited" you don;t need to go looking for complication.

This is all just my opinion, of course.

But it's also 100% right.

Lestratcaster · February 2023

I'm also a teacher and more of a rock/pop/metal background. But there's a couple of learners who love blues and want to solo like the greats.

I'd say start small, don't learn the pentatonic box shapes everyone slips into when learning to solo. Pick two or three notes from a position and use a backing track to play along to. Listen to each note you play and where it sits. Change the rhythm of the picks too, slow/fast, etc. You will get bored eventually playing only a few notes but its turning those notes into a phrase that's key. Singing phrases is always good, I saw a video of John Mayer talking about singers who can scat phrase or whatever the term is.

Always use some form of backing track as the notes you play have no value otherwise. If you play the note c on the guitar it could be a root, a minor 3rd or a flat 9 depending what chord it's played against. Eventually your ear will guide you to where you need to go.

88CuzJ · February 2023

I’d really like to thank everyone for their helpful kind comments. I’m going to take on board what you have all said and consider each comment carefully. Cheers everyone!

Lewy · February 2023

Another tip for being able to come up with good ideas to play is to take your blues box shape and find the vocal melodies of some classic blues standards in there. a) you'll learn so much about phrasing and space from doing that b) you'll start to fill in the notes around the box that add all the different flavours you hear in blues c) it's great ear training and d) you'll gain a whole new level of appreciation for the vocal stylings of the greats. They really paid attention to their melodies.

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How to get good at blues style lead guitar

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