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Silenced Fred

By Silenced Fred
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Silenced Fred

Silenced Fred

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I am very interested in learning blues, I listen to a lot of SRV, Clapton, and some more of the Delta Blues

 

First off: what are some other good artists to listen to for blues, texas blues, or delta blues?

 

Second: are there any good websites with information on blues and more stuff like it?

 

Sorry for the newbie question, but I just want some information, and well, let's say it, I am.

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Silenced Fred

Silenced Fred

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My bad I should've done a more extensive list

 

I listen to (in addition to the ones I wrote) Robert Johnson, BB King, Hendrix (I love his blues songs, you can really tell those are the songs he wrote for himself)

Jazz wise- I listen to some Wes Montgomery as well as Joe Pass

John Mayer is also a decent blues guitarist, don't care for much of his more mainstream stuff, but some songs are really good

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rocketman

rocketman

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If I had to choose one, I'd go with B.B. King. He keeps it simple but makes it sing so well. Note, no one will ever be able to reproduce his vibrato but the lines themselves are pretty simple. You'll get a great introduction to a number of great blues licks by studying B.B King without straining your fingers.

 

As far as websites, Arlen Roth's lessons on the Gibson website are great IMHO.

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djroge1

djroge1

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You're already hittin' on some of the key players to listen and emulate. But no to Pat Metheny. He's a talented guitar player, but not so with blues. Pass and Montgomery are clean players, but their style of blues is pretty complex still. Good to listen to though.

 

Check out this guitarest Jazzy blues line in his lead solo starting at 2:28 - His name is Russle Malone

 

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mx5-pQ7D2k[/YOUTUBE]

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Shnate McDuanus

Shnate McDuanus

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Can't go wrong with Jimi Hendrix, Elmore James (the man who, it's been said, had inspired Hendrix more than any other guitarist,) T-Bone Walker, Robert Johnson, or Albert King. In fact, all of Retrosurfer's list happens to be great--Keb Mo is a wonderful guitarist. I also love Mike Bloomfield's work, especially on the first Paul Butterfield Blues Band album. I'd also look into Albert Collins, Robin Trower, Bo Diddley, and Rory Gallagher. While we're talking about blues greats, you ought to listen to Hubert Sumlin from Howlin' Wolf, and Muddy Waters did some fantastic work throughout his career.

 

Finally, I'd also make a personal recommendation that, in addition to listening to blues guitarists, you ought to get more familiar with other genres with similar tropes--this can add variety to your sound through influence. I'd especially recommend listening to more jazz, particularly the work of the incomparable Charlie Christian, who in my mind was one of the greatest guitarists ever. Psychedelic rock can give you some great inspiration, as many of those players began with the blues. John Cipollina from Quicksilver Messenger Service was a fantastic guitarist (who played an incredibly cool custom Gibson SG through most of his career,) and combined his blues interests with his childhood training as a classical pianist, and his familiarity with jazz and folk music. A final recommendation, stemming from the mention of Charlie Christian and John Cipollina, is to listen to other instruments and the melodies that are played on them. There's so much that you, as a guitarist, can learn from a pianist or a saxophonist, or even (much like Bo Diddley,) a percussionist! I've drifted away from specific blues advice to advice about more specific genres--and if the digression annoyed you, I apologize.

 

Be the best that you can, whenever you can. Don't be afraid to play something daring, even if you think it won't work--there will always be another performance in your future as a guitarist. Listen as much as you play, and play more than just what you hear. The blues is a great place to play from--in my opinion, one of the best--although as you continue, you may (but not necessarily) find that what's more important about genres in music may not be that they're different, but maybe that they're so similar. Good luck, man.

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Silenced Fred

Silenced Fred

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Thanks a lot to everyone

 

There is a lot of information out there, I just need to find it

 

For some reason I can't stop listening to Fly Farm Blues by Jack White

 

I listened to a lot of John Lee Hooker like 2 years ago, and for some reason I just stopped not really sure why, but I have started back up again, among some of the other people on lists shown above

 

I try to listen to everything, and keep an open mind, but I really like the Blues, i don't really know why

 

It is probably all the mojo ](*,)/

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milod

milod

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One problem with Blues is figuring what you really wanna do for you.

 

And that's where not gigging regularly, especially with a group, can lead into helping a bit because style, usually from copying faves, is a group decision. I like too much to be solidified anywhere and that's probably damaged real virtuosity at anything.

 

Most of my pickin' has been solo - and that's easier with the older styles in a lotta ways. Playing even as a duo, let alone a band, puts stuff into a different sorta category.

 

Honestly, I haven't figured out how to play blues "my" way entirely - and I've been at it since 1963.

 

I listen to Buchanan and I'm in awe... then I lissen to Lightnin' and. <grin>

 

Then I try to figure out what Blues are in the first place. Stuff from the old Lomax collections? the 20s and 30s "race" records? Electrified post WWII stuff? Rocksie bluesy stuff? Things like St. James Infirmary that have been done in a dozen ways?

 

The easiest is gigging with somebody else and swap lede and rhythm. Then you can kinda get a band-like thing going instead of having to do more of a "piano" thing or a "strumming guitar" thing if you're doing more modern styles of blues. The older styles were solo in the first place, and largely fingerpickin' so...

 

Around here nobody really wants to hear the real old stuff with and one guy doing most of it. So... mostly I do what I jokingly call piano bar blues - kinda a fingerpicked piano in-between thing.

 

Bottom line? Have fun.

 

m

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Silenced Fred

Silenced Fred

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One problem with Blues is figuring what you really wanna do for you.

 

And that's where not gigging regularly' date=' especially with a group, can lead into helping a bit because style, usually from copying faves, is a group decision. I like too much to be solidified anywhere and that's probably damaged real virtuosity at anything.

 

Most of my pickin' has been solo - and that's easier with the older styles in a lotta ways. Playing even as a duo, let alone a band, puts stuff into a different sorta category.

 

Honestly, I haven't figured out how to play blues "my" way entirely - and I've been at it since 1963.

 

I listen to Buchanan and I'm in awe... then I lissen to Lightnin' and. <grin>

 

Then I try to figure out what Blues are in the first place. Stuff from the old Lomax collections? the 20s and 30s "race" records? Electrified post WWII stuff? Rocksie bluesy stuff? Things like St. James Infirmary that have been done in a dozen ways?

 

The easiest is gigging with somebody else and swap lede and rhythm. Then you can kinda get a band-like thing going instead of having to do more of a "piano" thing or a "strumming guitar" thing if you're doing more modern styles of blues. The older styles were solo in the first place, and largely fingerpickin' so...

 

Around here nobody really wants to hear the real old stuff with and one guy doing most of it. So... mostly I do what I jokingly call piano bar blues - kinda a fingerpicked piano in-between thing.

 

Bottom line? Have fun.

 

m[/quote']

 

The thing is, I really like almost all the different styles of blues. I always get flak from my parents, because they always say, "how can you like this music? It is simple and how can you relate to it?"

 

I just like the way it sounds, and as a middle-class suburban child, I probably don't have the blues, but man, sometimes it just feels like it

 

Thanks for the responses again, it is helping alot

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b-squared

b-squared

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Everyone has their own take on 'The Blues'...I think it was BB King that said '...the blues is just a good man feelin' bad...'

 

I love listening to all styles, but I prefer playing blues that rocks a bit more.

 

I love SRV and the 3 Kings, as well as guys like Gary Moore, Duke Roubillard, Ronnie Earl, T-Bone Walker, Lightnin' Hopkins, Buddy Guy, and the like.

 

This is a piece I worked up for the 2009 GC 'King of the Blues' contest. Some might say it's not blues, but I think it's more about what you feel when you play it. I wrote this after Les Paul passed, and was thinking about that as I played it.

 

 

 

Bottom line: pick your inspirations, learn some licks, then make it your own. The best thing about the blues is that you can play one note, or twenty, but if it's from the heart nobody can ever criticize you for it because it belongs to you.

 

Good luck on your blues journey!

 

BB

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saturn

saturn

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This is a piece I worked up for the 2009 GC 'King of the Blues' contest. Some might say it's not blues' date=' but I think it's more about what you feel when you play it. I wrote this after Les Paul passed, and was thinking about that as I played it.

 

[/quote']

 

Nice piece of music and great playing. Yeah, some might say it's not stricktly "blues" but it's certainly bluesy.

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milod

milod

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I know I keep harping at it <grin>, but I think a major difference in "type of blues" has to do with a solo activity as opposed to a group activity.

 

That is a major impact on style. I'm a fingerpicker and frankly, I love old non-electric styles and a lot of 20s-30s stuff because it lends itself to that. "Down and out" as Clapton did acoustically is a good example, and one I've done fingerpicking style since the mid 1960s. It ain't a 12-bar 3-chord piece, but...

 

On the other hand, take the same "Down and Out" and do it with, say, even a bass player and drummer, and you've pretty much gotta change the style of playing.

 

That's not good or bad - just a difference a lot of folks don't mention that makes a major, major difference in how you play even a given tune.

 

Even the transitional bluesmen made some big changes in their playing when they went electric with a group. The whole tune would take a different direction regardless.

 

So again... I think in a lotta ways technically you're talking far more than just "I wanna play like Lightnin'" or SRV or whomever. I think you've got to consider differences between "do I essentially wanna do solo stuff or group stuff." A lotta guys have had huge difficulties making the shift in a number of kinds of music, and I can tell you from experience, it ain't easy.

 

Joe Pass in the jazz world, for example, made a major change in his style when he started doing solo gigs, became a self-taught fingerpicker and went from being an exceptional player to being a true legend on guitar.

 

m

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Cruznolfart

Cruznolfart

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I just want to say, to Fred61 as well as to all those who've offered such great advice and opinions, that as an older guy, it makes me feel very happy to hear another younger player express an interest in learning about the Blues. It's what keeps the genre alive and vital. I encourage Fred to get very deeply involved in his quest to learn, so he can discover the incredibly rich tapestry that is the Blues in all its different styles. You will not be disappointed or bored.

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