All vou need to learn to play the blues. Layed out in clear tablature form, this book gives you step by step instruction on how to play blues guitar ‘ MNS ay like such great performers as B. B. King, Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, and many others. BEGINNERS ONH I? The cassette lets you hear, note by note, how you should sound! Tracing the history of the blues, in both words and pictures, this books an invaluable guide to the origins and growth of one of the world's greatest music styles. Blues chords to blues solos, string bending and vibrato techniques, hammer-ons and pull-offs, intros and turnarounds, open tuning, bottleneck and slide playing, this book and C60 cassette by Alan Warner solvesthe mystery to playing the blues guitar. OODLUM= a s 2 =ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ‘The publisher wishes to thank Kevin Black and others who supplied editorial and photographic materia Editorial sources: “The Country Blues" by Samuel B, Charters and “The Story ofthe Blues” by Paul Over. ‘Special thanks to Washington Congress Library and Ron Jautz or theit co-operation. _ CONTENTS ‘TUNING THE GUITAR READING TABLATURE. BARS OR MEASURES GBLUES SCALE (PENTATONIC) GBLUES SCALE EXERCISES STRING BENDING GUITAR SOLO SLIDE AND VIBRATO TECHNIQUES HAMMER-ONS AND PULL-OFFS. GUITAR SOLO INTROS AND TURNAROUNDS: EXTENDED BLUES RUNS BLUES CHORD POSITIONS BLUES CHORD SEQUENCE ROCK BLUES STYLE ROCK BLUES GUITAR SOLO. BLUES LICKS CHICAGO BLUES. ROCK BLUES STYLE ROCK BLUES GUITAR SOLO ‘TWO BAR INTROTURNAROUND 14 BAR BLUES (COUNTRY BLUES) THE TRILL ‘THE SLAM.ON AND STRING BENDS CHUGGING BLUES DELTABLUES 16 BAR GUITAR SOLO BLUES LICKS UP TEMPO 12 BAR BLUES OPEN G TUNING BOTTLENECK’SLIDE PLAYING OPEN G BOTTLENECKISLIDE GUITAR SOLO10 DIAGRAM OF GUITAR MACHINE HEAOS oy POSITION DOTS: SADDLE HEADSTOCK eri0ce — FINGERBOARD SCRATCH PLATE HINTS AND TIPS ‘Always keep strings clean by placing a cloth between the strings and finger board at the nut end. Pull the cloth down towards the body (for better results pour some pure alcohol or methylated spirits on the cloth first. This will help retain bright sound. Experiment with different string gauges. Experiment with different plectrum gauges. Keep left hand fingernails fairly short otherwise notes won't sound properly, also ong fingernails can damage the finger board, Make sure bridge intonation is correct. If you can'tdo it yourself, get an expert todoit. Turn amplifier volume control down and guitar volume control up forincreased sustain Investina good quality heavy duty guitar lead. Cheap inferior leads cost more inthe long run. Form ot join a group as soon as possible. It's never too early. Watch and listen to other guitarists, you'll be surprised how much you can learn. Plugging your guitarinto a personal headphone amp is a good way of practicing without waking up the neighbours and can also be used to reinforce and enhance the sound of an ordinary amplifier both on stage and in the studio. TUNING THE GUITAR There are several ways to tune your guitar, The most common way is to strike an (E) tuning fork and tune your 6th string to this. Sthstring— Place your finger behind the Sth fret of the 6th string and strike. Tune your open Sth string to this note. 4th string— Place your finger behind the Sth fret of the Sth string and strike, Tune your open 4th string to this note. 3rdstring— Place your finger behind the Sth fret of the 4th string and strike. Tune your open 3rd string to this note. 2nd string— Place your finger behind the ath fret of the 3rd string and strike. Tune your open 2nd string to this note, ‘Iststring— Place your finger behind the Sth fret of the 2nd string and strike. Tune your open Iststring to this note. SYMBOLS USED Hammer-on Pull-off FRETS) NN h Double Pull-off Damping slide Plectrum Down Stroke Plectrum Up Stroke Viprato Beng Left Hand RH = Right Hand RS = Right-hand Finger Slam-on LS = Left-hand Finger Slam-on g | Y OD zo eo‘These are the strings oun Strike each of these strings individually (starting with the 6th string). wi (This note lasts for four counts), (O means open string (without pressing on a fret) (This note lasts for one count) Here are some notes (the number represents. * the fret to be used) EX (3! —o—_1— Place your finger just behind the fret, FINGER CHART ‘you will find this under most of the exercises, 0 00 Ow Cant Ue Two Con fret number - The charts wil Rest for one count Rest for two counts Rest fr three counts stor four counts, {inthis case fret 1) 1) G) ofcourse be My 7 different each time ha Ce so therefore this as ‘TRY THIS SIMPLE EXERCISE AA. anions. RUE tina shawn ava terra «AH 3) |G] thstanccampe ‘The number with indicates fingers to be used. “AN on joins two or more notes together. SsG BLUES SCALE G BLUES SCALE (PENTATONIC) EXERCISES wa | [ | oo Use Down Strokes with the plectrum These two simple blues exercises are in the key of G. Fora 5 s Many blues guitar ifs ticks and solos have been created just by using these five notesfrom the | reuse Bs eon econ po blues scale. The G Blues Scale is one of the most popular keys | D Try playing these five G Blues Scale Position 1 notes on the th, 3rd o These not | ’ ees EAH Blues Scale Position 1 | a if 5 6 | : : = a | \ | PY psa Lhe | G Blues Scale Position 2 starting on the 3rd 2 Blues Scale Position 2 »s CELT OD , : mao tt I 9STRING BENDING String bending or note bending is absolutely essential to electric blues guitar playing, Although itis easy to do, itis quite effective and will add mote feel to your playing. Its usually done with the 3rd finger ofthe left hand (L.H.) and for extra strength to enable you to push the string across the fretboard, the second finger is often used as well Upward string bend (Normally for Ist, 2nd cor 3rd string) 4 3 07 i 4 J ‘The note in brackets is the nate hofare hending the string upwards, The next note is the pitch to which you have to bend the string up to. (The arrow indicates upward bend) Ex. 1 Using upward string bend ‘ Downward string bend (Normally for 4th, 5th or 6th string) Thisis the same procedure except the arrow indicates a downward bend,THE BLUES ‘The story of the blues isthe story of humble, obscure, unassuming men ‘and women. For some people biuesis Infinitely glamorous. For others tis symbol ofthe oppression of a racial minority. Thereare those who view the blues as a music of protest and some who consider it as music of self pity or as an influence on jazz. Whatever people think about blues, ithas been here fora long time and will be with us, ‘even longer. Mississipi John Hurt, Kobert Johnson, John Lee Hooker, Howlin’ Wolf, Eddie ‘Son’ House, Lighinin’ Hopkins, Jimmy Reed, Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Boy Williamson, Blind Boy Fuller, Arthur ‘Big Boy Grudup —all names who became legends in the development of blues. 2 This book is dealing with the up-to- dlate electic blues which can be traced back to the 1940s, The first notable electric biues quitanst was T-Bone Welker from Texas who started to record about then. His guitar playing was described as “exciting and fluent, using the instrument in a way that ‘macle the mostofits strong clearsound and power of sustain, His technique of using the volume control extensively with the bending and finger vibrato of the country blues player gave his music ‘an earthy feel quite different from the ear horr-lke sound of the jazz player.” T-Bone Walker, by the way was playing the guitar between hislogs and overhishead longbefore one dimi Hendrix, Continued on page 18— ee SLIDE AND VIBRATO TECHNIQUES A slide means starting on a particular fret and without taking ‘your finger off or releasing the pressure, you slide up to the next note Ex. SLIDE (Going up) Place your finger on the 2nd fret of the G or 3rd string Now strike with the plectrum and slide up to the 4th fret | Ex. 2 SLIDE (Coming down) This time place your 2nd finger on the 4th fret of the G or 3rd string, strike with the plectrum and slide to the 2nd fret Se Ex. 3 VIBRATO. A vibrato effect is produced by pulling the string slightly back and forward with your L.H. (left hand) finger on a given fret. tis a very go of expressing mood and feeling od way BHAMMER-ONS AND PULL-OFFS Hammer-On This technique is performed by first striking, for example, the Ist finger on the 2nd fret of the 3rd string. Next slam down firmly on to the 4th fret of that string with the 3rd finger. Pull-off ‘This technique is really just a hammer-on in reverse. Have your Ist finger ready on the 2nd fret of the 3rd string, This time place your 3rd finger on the Ath fret of the 3rd string, Then strike the string with your plectrum and release the string, which will automatically create the next tone. Try this exercise using pull-offs. =e — GUITAR SOLO Using slides, vibrato, hammer-ons, pull-offs and string bending techniques. 1 5 4 » iINTROS AND EXTENDED BLUES TURNAROUNDS RUNS These intros and turnarounds have been used by just about every famous These extended blues scales have been designed to help you blues player at one time or another. They are extremely useful to fall back on break away from the box pattern, (Notes confined within four frets in a row). if you ever get stuck for ideas This breaking away occurs on the last two notes featuring the slide techniques. (Use your 3rd left hand finger for this) Intro Turnaround Key of G 1 -3 = H i ‘ an: A tumaround often appears at the end of a solo to bring you back - to the beginning again Turnaround } 1 2 2 3 3 ‘ : Mymymyay omy ~ a Turnaround a i 1 3 3 2 $ 7 3 5 5 i ce 6 16 ”BLUES CHORD POSITION The following chord positions are excellent for the blues chord sequence Alter the second world war, urban players were to be found in Chicago ‘and Memphis. Chicago was an important centre because of the migration of blacks, in search of work, ‘They brought with them the influences of country, Memphis andl Texas blues and ragtime. All these met together in the Windy City and gave birth to the likes of Muddy Waters. By the early 50s Waters and his band dorninated the Chicago Biues scene. There were others such as B, B. King and with the electric guitar staring to come to the \was bom and blues players went through hard times as the face of popular music was changed, Certainly ‘many popular records had tight blues influences but the music, its style of being played and its message, was left to be supported by the die-hards. But even when the Stones and the Beatles and the others made their breakthrough in the 60s, blues was sil a force to be reckoned with, The Stones were initially a r & b band with ‘Confessing the Blues’ their admission to the influence of B. B, King and which appears on the next page, so learn them thoroughly F C7 on od G7 {ore in popular recordings, blues Walter Brown. The Animals acclaimed TT] reigned supreme. The advent of Sun Jimmy Reed in “Big Boss Man”. The | Records, Bll Haley, Elvis and others Lovin’ Spoonful dedicated “Biues in - = | stood blues on its head. Rock n’ roll the Bottle” to Lightning’ Hopkins. = Continued on page 34 — 0BLUES CHORD SEQUENCE (Using chords from previous page) Use down strokes with the plectrum for this. You can try a more rythmic approach later Key of C do EE i hy GF PT FE FEE di Cc C7 FRC GG SE FY | VAROUND ‘TWOBART Using the same sequence from previous page, with lead fills, This sequence is quite dificult at first because you have to jump from a chord position toa single note lead fill quite often inthe first eight bars The last four bars are just chords as before. } Fon AT 1 ——?- 2 —Gyi— she 2. abs 4 sbs Tes @ cnn ie | sahlsG mROCK BLUES STYLE JIMI HENDRIX. Jimi Hendrix was bom in Seattle, Washington, on the 7th of November, 1942 and died on Friday, September the 18th 1970, In that shor life of twenty seven years he lefta mark on the music world that will never be forgotten. Afirstit was asa backing musician to such stars as Little Richard, B.B. King, Key of E Typical Hendrix type riff ‘Sam Cooke and Ike and Tina Turner, that Hendrix made his living, but the secondary role didn't suit him and after some hardship trying to go it alone, he started playing gigsin the clubs of New Yorks Greenwich Village. His reputation asa virtuoso guitarist spread quickly and visitors o his gigs included, Bob Dyian, The Beatlesand the Rolling Stones. An offer from Chas Chandler, ‘ex bassman for the Animals brought Hendrix to London in 1966, By the end of that year The Jimi Hendtix Experience had been formed with Noel Redding on Bassand Mitch Mitchell on drums. Then followed success after success. “Hey Joe” the bands first single went to number four, “Purple Have" their socand release, went to number three. Three gold albums and a triumphant return to America atthe Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967 and Jimi Hendhix was a superstar. In 1968 The Jimi Hendrix Experience broke up probably from lack of clear direction, Hendrix withdrew very much from performing with rare but biliant appearances like the Woodstock festival in August 1969. A new group in 1970 “The Band of Gypsies” didn't seem tosolve the problem and Hendrix seemed to withdraw more and more from the public eye, many believed he was working on a new direction. His controversial death in 1970 is history but his billance as a guitarist, musical cteatorand ive performerlive on, in his records and film appearances. = = =< = ty ih ROCK BLUES GUITAR SOLO This sa typical Jimi Hendrix solo. Iti in the key of E and the ‘open strings gives it a full ringing sound. Koy of EWork on the following section before attempting the guitar solo on page 27. These are all classic blues licks, used by the likes of B. B. King, sm par t a t (1957 — ike ben 12)14 —10 Here is a two bar turnaround 11TH Bar zm Baw A —1-10- style of B. B. King, vitar f 121410 1024217 0 ae.28 B.B. KING ‘Thegrowth ofblues musicand the rise tofame of B.B. (Blues Boy) King, have much in common, for it was out of the impoverished black communities of southem America, in the 1920's, that the powerfully emotive voice of the bblucs began fo emerge. BB King (originally Riley King) was bom on a cotton plantation near Indianola, Mississippi, in 1925. At the age of twenty two he moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he got a job singing commercials on the local black radio station, WDIA. Eventually, in 1949, they gave him his own show, asaD.d.arxllive radio performer, Sain Philips, who ran a record company, heard him and launched him on a series of hits, which included such classics as “Three O'Clock in the Moming Blues” and “Sweet Black ‘Angel"’ During the fifties he established himself as the leading blues performer, both in concert and on record and became immensely popular with his, mainly black audience. It wasn’t until the sixties when new Up and coming white arfsts began to delve into the wealth of the blues and acknowledge the source oftheir inspiration, that B.B. King received Universal recognition and appreciation for the music he had been playing for twenty years. His contract with ABC Records and the ensuing album “Live at the Regal”, brought him great acclaim from musicians and public alike. This success led to appearances at major rock concerts ain feature fins but al regula Vis he prop chars with vecords tke “The Thai's Gone” and “Why I Sing The Blues”. Today B.B. Kingisa superstar of the music world, with a recording career spanning nearly forty years and recognition as one of the great blues performers of alltime, ROCK BLUES STYLE Mini-chord positions for next exercise. These ‘mini’ chords sound quite powerful when used in the following Rock Blues pieces. Now we can apply the ‘mini’ chords to the piece below. The end result should be quite full with an almost percussive feel to it. Note the lead fill at the end of the second bar. Rock Blues Piece Choke the string by laying your L.H. finger lightly over the strings and at the same time hitting the side of your RH. on the strings near the ‘saddle’. This will create a ‘percussive’ effect.ROCK BLUES GUITAR SOLO This guitar solo with its hard driving rock blues feels, has all the influences of guitarists like Keith Richard, Joe Walsh and Peter Green rolled into one. Key of A Ay TWO BAR INTRO/ TURNAROUND Here is an interesting combination of full chords, mini-chords and single notes in preparation for the 16 bar blues on page 39. The two bar intro starts with a great little chord progression which involves stretching the L.H. Fingers imaround Two bar intro tu 5 5, 5 t 5 Here we come to the shuffle ‘mini’ chord patterns. These should sound full 5 a percussive and gutsy. Try damping the string. This is done by resting the heel of your right hand on the strings, while striking down with the plectrum, A _Shuffle D Shuffle 2 5 ‘ Now for the two bar country blues lick. You need to hold the chord positions illustrated below, before attempting the notes. Then you don’t have to worry about slipping on to a wrong string, = En — F 3 — O a14 BAR BLUES (Country Blues) Play this through to the end, then go back to the two bar intro (which also serves asa tumaround). You can play this as many times as you like as you eventually finish at the end of the intro/turnaround, TWO BAR INTRO/TURNAROUND THE TRILL A trill is a succession of rapid hammer-ons and pull-offs, Trill played on the 3rd string Try playing this slowly to begin with, then build up speed. Whiting all the trill notes on a section 3 of tablature will not only look complicated but will also take up too much space. So we will illustrate a till as they appear in this diagram. Try this exercise using trill notes. 3arisen 6B King Fee ‘Kingand Buddy Guy and so on, all Since then blueshasenjoyedreial aterewvahinteUSA sd | BB, Ots Rush, Mike Bloomiald, along way from the shacks and juke) medicine shows but rome blooms in July and shettoes, The syle of playing ‘demonstrated here by: ‘may have changed, but ‘mind and blues, the mus voice to itis very much ali THE SLAM-ON AND STRING BEND Here is a great blues effect for you to work on, Start off by bending the string in the normal fashion. Now slam your right hand index finger onto the seventh fret of the 3rd string, Now with both L.H. and R.H. Fingers still in position you can perform the vibrato technique with your left hand finger for added effect. 35CHUGGING BLUES The chugging feel to the following exercises is obtained by striking a bass string dowmurards with the RH. Finger to a steady 1, 2, 3, 4, count. ree The open sting exereke has the LH. Thumb (7) stkrgihe Gi sg, ene Sek ne a cea Damp the string with the use of your right hand. Pluck the 2nd and 3rd string : i up with the R.H. Ist (i) and 2nd (m) fingers. Ex. 1 Open Strings Here is the lead fill Ex. 2 With Chords Key of E E7 ' ae } a eee E Se eS 5 E Se ar aa ao 36 3716 BAR a GUITAR SOLO (Based on the exercise previous to this page) A The Delta Blues requires the use of thumb and thumb strikes the open 5th A string at a frm st | theplece, whit the 2nd eight hang 2nd stBLUES LICKSUP TEMPO 12 BAR BLUES (This makes use of the last lead lick on the previous page) t t pa coi Ppon— amma fee ort tt A de 12512-1119 11-10 iD an. {-pcab=¢---aaieo— any 10 Econigs-P tons 0-} 2 OPEN G TUNING Open G tuning is ideal for bottleneck slide playing and is a favourite amongst the great blues players For the hing, start with your E (1st) string and tune it to D. Thisis done by placing your finger on the 3rd fret of the 2nd string. Strike and tune the Ist string to this note. re | Leave the 2nd, 3rd, ahd 4th strings as they are. Then tune your A (5th) string down to G. To check this, place your finger behind the 7th fret of the 5th string, Strike the string. The note should sound the same as the open 4th string, Finally tune your E (6th) string down to D. To check this, place your finger behind the Sth fret of the 6th string, Strike the string. The fretted note should sound the same as the open 5th string. [ae if The Tuningisnow » ¢ » 6 mo 4Bother. So, I felt had to include the technique t produces a wailing type of sound. OPEN G BOTTLENECK/SLIDE GUITAR SOLOie (rh “Nae ashore #