How The Pros Play Blues (it's more simple than you think)

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Blues guitar is something most of us have played at one time as guitarists, but what separates the pro's from the amateurs? In this video, my friend @coreycongilio and I discuss some of the concepts that pro players use to get the most out of blues guitar.

MY VIDEO COURSES:

Cowboy Chords Breakout Course

Pentatonic Breakout Course

Fretboard Fundamentals Slide Guitar

Chords and Rhythm Course

Fretboard Fundamentals

The Complete Nashville Number System video course

The Tone Course

[coreycongilio]

Love the hang as always! Appreciate everyone jumping into the course and…get Rhett’s courses too! He’s got some GOOD ones!

[davespin]

Years ago my guitar teacher said “less is more”. He also said “your solos need to be like a good stripper, don’t give it all away too fast, a little bit keeps em coming back”. He showed me tasty bends, very few notes, it was all about the tempo, the sustain, the correct note played with the chord, attack, vibrato. Squeeze every ounce out of a single note, he was right

[KBtoogood]

Man this is really helpful. When Corey advised to limit yourself and quoted “you don’t have to use every word in the dictionary to make a sentence” was so mind opening to me. Very simple but is exactly what I think I need to get out this frustrating rut I’m in. Very helpful, thanks Rhett and Corey!

[careyvinzant]

Sometime in the 2000s BB King was interviewed by Guitar Player magazine and the interviewer asked him what he practiced. His answer? Scales and arpeggios. He said, "...but I don't *run* the scales. That would be like reciting the alphabet instead of spelling a word." Exercises make for better facility with instrument, so use them--just not onstage.

[stoneysdead]

Here's my advice to anyone trying to learn the blues- you're going to start with a three chord, 12 bar progression- so find the three notes in the pentatonic scale that match those chords. In other words- if you're playing out of E- then you need to know where E, A, and B are in the scale. And since these notes repeat within the scale- then you need to know where all the As, all the Bs, all the Es- are. And when they're playing the E chord- resolve your licks to one of the E notes. When they play A- resolve to one of the As- it's that simple. And no- this isn't like all you need to know- not even close- but it really gets you started understanding how to tie what you' re playing to the rhythm so you' re not just noodling in tune with the band- you're part of the song, not just layering something over it. And sometimes- once you get good with improvising lead- you won't resolve to the same note as the chord they're playing- but at first, I would do it with each chord. Just play short 3-4 note licks that resolve to the chord in the background. To "resolve" just means to complete- so the last note of the lick should match the chord being played at that time.
Now here's a different way to think of resolving- let's say they're playing an A minor- instead of resolving to an A- try resolving to the note that is defining that chord as a minor. So, it would be a flat third in this case- because to change an A chord to an A minor- you flat the third. If it's a major chord- you would play the third- not the flat third- see what I mean? If it's a 7th then you resolve to a 7th- that's the note that is defining that chord. When you do this, it really accentuates whatever feel the song already has. If it a minor and sounds all smoky and mysterious- it's going to really bring that out and make it evident.

[thomaskinsey]

Albert King was 44 when Born Under A Bad Sign was released in 1967, and SRV would have been 13. SRV released Texas Flood when he was 30, so just remember it takes time to get really good and we are always standing on the shoulders of giants

[aldanino]

As someone who played in the 60s and 70s yes we had more venues and we played live a lot that's how we good better now it's people like you who carry that torch thank you.

[floaty]

learning the chord tones and how certain notes are shared between the One and Four Chord is a great basis for mastering the blues.

[meowitzzer]

I love that point that playing with muscle memory isn’t bad. It’s something that obviously stuck with us, and there’s nuances we can add to this licks because we have the “feeling” of that muscle memory.

It’s always important to force ourselves to play something different, that’s how we stop playing the same things over and over; that’s how we add to our muscle memory and be more creative. But muscle memory certainly isn’t the enemy. Let’s lean into it

[TropicalLatitude]

9:41 BB King was a jump blues player in the 50s. Check his 1955 "Every Day I Have the Blues." I think it's his strongest soloing ever. Played on an early telecaster with flat wound strings.

[bks]

Awesome video. I especially liked the part toward the end explaining that music is a journey. I’ve been playing over 50 years and I’m learning so much these days from many young guys like these two. Keep up the great work fellas!

[claudioalbanesi]

Corey is the man when you talk about playing and teaching the blues. I have been following him since his first courses on Truefire and I am know a member of his new community. I learned so much from him and I am know in a blues band as singer and player. I still study guitar using his courses and I can’t thanks him enough.

[bobygap]

The "blues by yourself" is the best purchase I've ever made.
Corey is an incredible teacher and I've learned so much thanks to him 👍

[mjf]

Corey summed up my playing when he said.."no one wants to hear that stuff" 😂 ❤ great session guys!

[TheWhiskeyCowboyLife]

Tempo, and PAUSES, matter a lot.... and not a fast tempo. So many guitarists (sadly) think playing fast or complex is "the thing" or "key to sounding good".... and while it can be impressive, slower, paced, voiced, and with pauses tends to be FAR more enjoyable to listen to. it applies to blues as well as so many other types of music. If you have the basics, and can play it smoothly, slowly, and with feeling.... there it is.

I was watching a "low watt amp" video from Rhett earlier today, and his demo grabbed me.... why? Because I COULD HAVE BEEN PLAYING IT. Rhett is VASTLY better than I am, but he was playing exactly how I play... and it sounded great.

I think so many of us are far harder on ourselves than we need to be. And getting wrapped up in complexity, speed, and "flashy" can be a real hindrance.... since in all honesty, the vast majority of what we like listening to is NOT that at all. And this video here also demonstrated that.

Cheers!

[veljkosimovic]

The "two string only" idea is not bad at all. Nice way to make the most of that few notes you have. BB King was absolute master in that and everybody liked it a lot.

[goltzhar]

One of the best "learning on the job" the oldtimers had, was that they played with so many different people with different styles, and had to adapt to their tempo, type of playing and many other things. So they learned a variety of different styles, of playing the same thing but in a different way, and then made their own style of all the knowledge/experience they had gathered over the years.

[tedjohnson]

When I started taking lessons my instructor, who is a big blues/jazz improvisation guy, really tried to get me to do some blues stuff, and I just wasn’t having it. I wanted to play country and 80’s/90’s rock. 3 years later here I am, and my absolute FAVORITE stuff to play right now is blues. I can’t get enough. I even told my instructor “hey, let’s do some more of the blues from way back when”. I just really enjoy exactly what you guys talked about, using small chunks of the neck or just a couple strings and seeing what comes out of the guitar. You’ve also rubber stamped my thought lately that I really need to get back to practicing with my metronome. Great video Rhett, thanks again!!

[AndrewTimberlake]

“You don’t have to use every word in the dictionary to make a sentence” 😂 love it! 5:59

[weets]

Awesome vid. As a high beginner player who is stuck in that minor pentatonic noodling box this opened my eyes so much. Two strings set was a light 💡 🤘