Playing the Blues!

[Tyler' Riddim' Murphy]

I'm new to this whole blues thing and I wanna incorporate it into my playing! I play Reggae and Rocksteady and the like. Anyone want to tell me what the basics of blues rhythm guitar is? I know twelve bar blues etc. etc.

[Music Head]

wth is Rocksteady

[SteveO]

^ I am sure that our guitar guru Gater will come aboard and answer your questions, Tyler.

Also welcome aboard MD, Tyler!

[Mrrusty1]

well putting it at its simplest you need three chords for example c g and f four bars of each you can do literally anything you like with this chord sequence , ( it sounds very basic but really the possibillities are limitless

I'm new to this whole blues thing and I wanna incorporate it into my playing! I play Reggae and Rocksteady and the like. Anyone want to tell me what the basics of blues rhythm guitar is? I know twelve bar blues etc. etc.

[SteveO]

Thanks rusty! I can use that advice myself !

well putting it at its simplest you need three chords for example c g and f four bars of each you can do literally anything you like with this chord sequence , ( it sounds very basic but really the possibillities are limitless

[captswagger]

I've always found the best way to pick stuff up is actually to listen to it being played and try and work out what they're doing, or just go and learn some songs from the genre and try and find the similarities. Then I go and look up the actual; theory .

I find that having played some of the stuff before hand and having at least a notion of what it should be like helps me pick stuff up faster.

Go and check out some of the classic blues artists like Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters. If you're after a more blues rock thing then Joe Bonamassa, Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton are good places to start.

[Wenaf]

Thats cool

[Jerome]

I'm new to this whole blues thing and I wanna incorporate it into my playing! I play Reggae and Rocksteady and the like. Anyone want to tell me what the basics of blues rhythm guitar is? I know twelve bar blues etc. etc.

Twelve bar blues IS the basis of blues rhythmn guitar. The trick to unlocking the guitar for blues is to learn scales. Then you can improvise endlessly over the basic 12 bar structure. And playing fragmented chords is a great way to explore the blues. Try playing only 2 notes instead of the three that make up the chord and you will find a whole new world of possibilities. Many people learn to play the guitar (as I did ) by learning chords. There's nothing wrong with that - it's a good foundation. But to really express yourself on the instrument you have to break out of that mold and learn to wander away from the road so frequently travelled.

[Mrrusty1]

the same goes for keyboards

Twelve bar blues IS the basis of blues rhythmn guitar. The trick to unlocking the guitar for blues is to learn scales. Then you can improvise endlessly over the basic 12 bar structure. And playing fragmented chords is a great way to explore the blues. Try playing only 2 notes instead of the three that make up the chord and you will find a whole new world of possibilities. Many people learn to play the guitar (as I did ) by learning chords. There's nothing wrong with that - it's a good foundation. But to really express yourself on the instrument you have to break out of that mold and learn to wander away from the road so frequently travelled.

[funkyjazz09]

I totally agree with this reply, hearing and making connections is the only way we really discover how to play something. Music is a form of communication that most people cannot comprehend because they cannot hear what is really going on. I am not saying that we all need to enroll in the nearest music theory course to understand the exact harmonies and voice leading, but rather that we listen to what really defines that form of music. I have known plenty of good musicians who could not read a lick of music, or even have a desire to learn the theory behind the chord progressions. They learned by ear and communicated what they learned by the role models they chose to listen to, our ears are the greatest tools we have as musicians. I am not only talking from an education stand point, but a performance stand point as well. There is not enough textbooks in the world to teach you what your ears can listen to, trust them and study the style closelymile:

funkyjazz09