Not a silly question at all. I think that is one of the best things I have heard yet about the blues lessons. Man you are getting the whole idea about what Brian would want done. That is awesome and I vote yessssirrreee to that. You will be on the top of the blues learning curve much faster I bet by doing that.

But then again you might better not. You wouldn’t want to be transformed from a blues student to a blues player too fast would you. Lol

Brian would be super proud of ya and have a big grin on his face.

It’s what they are there for, it’s a language that we put our own accents and slangs to.
Now you need to play us something so we can marvel at your take on the blues.

I dont agree with the rest of you guys on this. I think it does depend on your existing playing level. Whilst I have sympathy with it and indeed I suspect Brian would too, I think there is a drawback. Namely that you end up playing what is the easier piece to play 99% of the time and perhaps that makes the rut loom not exercising the fingers and brain as much as you might. If you stick with the original material and learn how to make it sound as good as Brian then I think you are fully justified in having a go at variation. But to learn and broaden technique you need to be capable of imitating Brian as closely as you can before you go away from the lesson in my book. I think subsequent improvisation will prove to be a tad easier and perhaps with more feeling because you will have had the choice of doing it as copy or improvising ad lib.
I hope that helps and adds a constructive view.
JohnStrat

First I learned them exactly as Brian played them (and wrote them in the tab). That gave me an understanding of what kinds of tricks you can use to create a lick. Then I started changing them during my improv practice. I looped the jamtrack, then I would take just one lick and start messing around with it for 5 minutes or so making subtle changes. By the end of my session, the lick was sometimes nothing like the original from the lesson, yet it sounded excellent. I think that’s the ultimate goal in learning to play blues guitar.

Yes I agree with learning exactly…then change it. I have picked up a bunch. I just went back to something that I learned note for note from Brian. It has completely changed, including the tempo.

Do both. One thing I’ve noticed is that Brian’s licks are often very different than anything I’d come up with. And he explains how he got there! Ignore that at your peril. Nothing wrong with exploring your own ideas but you might get stuck in a rut focusing on that alone. – Bret