Joe Bonamassa's ONLY Advice For Guitarists

What's the ONE piece of advice Joe Bonamassa can give to guitar players when constructing a guitar solo?

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In this insightful interview, blues guitar maestro Joe Bonamassa helps us unlock the fingerboard and get out of those pentatonic ruts we as guitarists can get stuck in. Watch as he and Gibson Gear Guide host, Dinesh Lekhraj show us how to move between scales, taking inspiration from our favorite blues guitar players like Albert King. This foundational knowledge of blues licks and scales, Joe argues, is the key to unlocking a world of musical possibilities, allowing for expressive and innovative playing that can set us free from the patterns we as guitar players tend to gravitate towards, time and time again.

Another key piece of advice Joe offers is that guitarists experiment with playing familiar phrases in various neck positions, thereby discovering new creative avenues that we may not have thought of when building a guitar solo. He introduces the idea of modal playing, particularly the Mixolydian mode, to add a fresh twist to the blues scale.

This blues guitar lesson from Joe Bonamassa will improve your soloing in less than 4 minutes. Enjoy this excellent guitar solo, pentatonic and playing tips from the Grammy award-winning guitarist!

"Learn the entire fingerboard." - Joe Bonamassa

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[johnroach]

I got to meet Joe around 2015. Everyone had his signature guitars for him to sign. I was the last person to get to talk to him and I had a white strat. I’ll never forget when he laughed and said, ”Ah! The lone white strat.” He was such a cool dude. I asked him if he could give only one piece of advice on guitar what would it be. He stood there quietly for probably 10 seconds and said “Make every note as clear as you can. It doesn’t matter how fast or slow you play if no one can understand it”. Best advice I ever got for music.

[matthewdrake]

My best advice for guitarists is learn everything there is to know about guitar. All the notes, all the scales, all the chords, all the modes. That’s step one. Easy

[SouthMeckStunna]

The uncomplicated version of what he is saying: learn all 5 positions of the pentatonic, learn all 5 positions of the major scale, learn the modes, practice all of it until it’s engrained in your brain and muscle memory permanently.

[richardcatalinajr.]

"If you have to think about where to go next, you are too late - way too late." Truer words never spoken. JB is the king.

[gilbertocruz]

I watched the whole interview on another channel and I think the best advice he gives is: "the best thing I ever did as a guitar player/artist was learn how to sing"

[wolfbrother]

Guy asks him for a little trick for getting out of the usual proceeds to play every note in the scale at lightening speed

[robbiedigital]

Dude: "How can I get OUTSIDE of the pentatonic scale"
Joe: "Play the pentatonic scale in different positions"

[jaysigma]

The way J.B. approaches a "simple" pentatonic box and spreads her... blew my mind. I now feel the urge to practice.

[thestime]

I came here for a good conversation. The quick witted Peter Frantics comment was gold

[nevinbontrager]

Was in a band that opened for Mr. Bonamasa about 20 years ago. It ws a lot of fun to watch him play. Good times.

[linnstr]

Joe is absolutely right. When it comes to improvising, everything has to be in the moment and you shouldn't be "thinking", but rather "feeling". All these terms like mixolydian, chromatic, etc... are just theory. You have to internalize what these sound like, and when comes time to improvise you will instinctively know to invoke those sounds.

[tomcripps]

I learned major and minor pentatonic all over the fretboard just from connecting chords. Then it made "more" sense what people like Robben Ford were doing. I'm now using it on 251s and it's a blast. Learning all of the major chord scales and inversions is also essential.

[wolftracks]

Being aware of the Launching spot and knowing where you will wind up on the neck after you finish a run (between scales) is like playing pool in that it's not only necessarily about making the shot but it's also about playing position; setting yourself up for the next shot as well.

[SnakeGodDiamond]

Love Joe's clean, slightly overdriven sound

[javajulsu]

Love listening to Joe talk music. He has been playing steady for so long, he's like a guitarist guitarist if that makes any sense at all

[godsinbox]

Start by learning everything.
Gotcha.

[m.vonhollen]

All 12 notes are available over a Dominant 7 chord. First 1-3-5-b7 are the super-safe chord tones. Next are b3 (up into 3), b5-2-4-6 (from the Blues scale and Mixolydian). The last 3 notes, b2-b6-7, can be used in chromatic lines.

[BigFiveJack]

4:27 J.B.: "But Why Not - There's NO RULES." In other words - If It Sounds Good - IT IS GOOD

[machupikachu]

4:00 I believe the takeaway here is that statement. Know what notes you need to play to add tension, and know what ones you need to make it sound sweet. Then practice it. A lot.

Cheers!

[danarcotta]

I actually rarely think about what I'm playing, I just play what I feel in the moment according to where the song is going. Then....I'll play it completely different on the next take, it's a wonderful feeling of freedom