I'm an advanced lead guitar player, so I know a bunch of standard blues licks and a few turnarounds, but I don't think I ever sound like a real blues guitarist. I want to be able to throw some authentic blues techniques into my leads that I can play around with to discover some new sounds.
Does anyone have any favorite techniques that they would be willing to share?
I'm looking for more advanced techniques, but I had to share this video because it's AWESOME!
I think it's key to define to yourself what it means to be a blues player. without getting into the old "what is the blues?" conundrum. Obviously Robben Ford and Mississippi John Hurt are pretty drastically different, but there are common threads there. One really important recurring theme when you listen to most great players talking about the Blues, and one you see in the vid you posted of Billy Gibbons, is that most great Blues players have a strong sense of the stylistic history of the form.
So...If you want to play Blues music, listen to Blues music. Dig into the old recordings chronologically. Start with Son House. Then hear what Robert Johnson did with it. What happened when the Blues migrated north to Chicago and changed from a rural acoustic form into an electric urban music. Listen to Elmore James.
It's been a while but I remember this being a great book about the roots of the Blues, and history of the early players.
Next trace the different branches of the Blues. Piedmont Blues, Texas Blues, Jump Blues..What was the impact of the Blues on Jazz and Rock.
I don't think you have to be a historian of the Blues to be a player, but you do need to have a sense of where it came from and what you want to do with it.
Check out this video:
Try this... Little Milton: no distortion, no tricks, bells & whistles. But whats he REALLY doing? Cop 1 lick...something simple. That is the blues, strip it down first. Why does he sound just as cool as BB without the wild tone? Skip james & the delta stuff... Go rite to Chis Cain=he's not doing robben ford, its accessable but why not listen to Larry Carlton just for FEEL too & then cop a Duke Robbilard riff (dukes mood) Compare the vibrato of luther allison (coiled &focused) vs. say, bb or clapton. Ah yes technique rite there which defines & makes a player unique... but decide which path u want & persue that. Why did jimmie vaughan play simple while srv swung for the fences? Who are u & what do u wanna say? Watch my friend dave workman play "backstroke" on utube--he copped collins but plays his own style/ no doubt that helped him & it prolly took alot of study to figure that stuff out. What about just getting a vibrato pedal & jamming to Robert Ward? Maybe...ok thats enuf 4 now.
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I've always had a "Less is more" approach to playing the blues. I wanted it to be more about feeling than playing a lot of notes. Stevie Ray's "Texas Flood" solos come to mind. The mileage he gets out of bending one single note is incredible. Buddy Guy also comes to mind. This video of SRV from Japan, with just the trio, should show you what I mean.
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