Acoustic blues

[scott r]

I just joined this site. I would like to learn to play acoustic blues with no back tracks etc. any advice on a few lessons to start on that keep it simple ?

[sunjamr]

Hi Scott – There are tons of standalone blues lessons. I assume you mean fingerstyle acoustic blues, because that’s the best way to play acoustic blues.

Go to Weekly Lessons and look down the lefthand side of the page at the list of lesson categories and you will see “no accompaniment”. Also there is a category for “acoustic blues”. Just listen to some of those and pick the ones you like. I have often recommended to people to try playing EP065 and EP066 using fingerstyle. You can merge those two lessons together and end up with some happy blues that’s not boring. Good luck, and let us know how you do.

Sunjamr Steve

[GnLguy]

Hi Scott

Welcome to the AM Forum; it’s a friendly place so if you have questions, please ask

As Steve said, we would assume that you are referring to acoustic fingerstyle blues.

If you haven’t started learning to play fingerstyle, it can be a challenge but with diligent practice you can get it. I would suggest that you consider this lesson first
** Chet Atkins Blues Finger Style Guitar Lesson — EP057

Brian breaks down his right hand movements in great detail in this one. As you look at the tab for this one, you’ll see that you will either be playing a single bass note with your thumb or there will be a pinching motion in which your thumb and one of your fingers will be playing a note on either strings 1, 2 or 3

Some of the older blues players like Rev Gary Davis, used only their thumb and index finger to play fingerstyle. Others would use thumb with their index/middle fingers. When I learned, I was shown to use my index finger for the 3rd string, middle finger for the 2nd string and ring finger for the 1st. I think that this approach comes from the world of classical guitar
There are no set rules for how you approach playing fingerstyle, see what works for you

Again, if you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask

Keith
aka GnLguy

[Richard G]

Hi Scott, further to to the excellent advice from Steve and Keith, it would help if we knew at what stage in your playing you’re currently at, what type of acoustic blues you want to follow, ie Monotonic bass, Travis style etc etc. and which artist(s) you most want to emulate.
I’m sure we can help more if we knew a bit more about you and the styles you want to play.

Richard

[Mark H]

I learned Mississippi John Hurt’s style from Stefan Grossman’s Guitar Workshop VHS tapes. I first got stuck on MJH from the Vanguard album “Live at Oberlin”, as did thousands of others of my generation. Allocate at least two years to get that rock solid thumb bass pulse down unless you’re in a big hurry and can practice every day.

[RIFF DIGGER]

EP 268 is a great one and quite popular in the Key of E. 24 bars or a stand alone composition you can play melodic lines around the chords. Also look up the E Blues a tribute to Clapton’s 75th birthday which Brian did a very cool 12 bar single chorus.

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