Fundamentals of blues improvisation. How to play the blues
This article is dedicated to those who love the blues and want to learn how to play it.
Blues is the music of the soul. It does not require funds, fashion accessories, powerful equipment. It is enough just to have a simple guitar, perhaps the very one you have loved for the past few years. After all, the blues is the music of the human soul.
But these are all digressions, and now to the topic:
Classic scheme blues guitar has only twelve bars. However, beginners and sim manage to get confused. Here, most likely, the difficulty in remembering the sequence of chords, it may seem meaningless.
Beginners will be pleased to hear that most of all blues is played on three chords, usually located in a certain the same sequences with very modest differences.
The so-called "blues sequence", that is, the scheme in which the blues exists, arose, as expected, much later than the moment when Columbus sharpened his slippers to India, as a result of which America was discovered, well, much earlier than the appearance of guitars with proud name Gibson.
couplet, he is square. Consists of two lines, while the first line of this plain text is repeated during execution. At the same time, the text itself usually does not have any special artistic meaning.
There are three musical phrases per two lines of song text.
IN blues guitar we can safely distinguish three topics on which 80% of all songs are sung: the death of a beloved dog, the departure of a spouse, or being late for a train. You do not need to be seven spans in the forehead to compose a bunch and a cloud of such songs. It will look like something like this:
A-ah-ah, I want to sleep so much, I close my eyes
Oh-oh-oh, I want to sleep so much, I close my eyes
So why do I keep sitting and not going to bed?!
And in the schema:
Aaaa, I want to sleep so much, I close my eyes loss
chord 1 / chord 1
Oh-oh-oh, I want to sleep so much, I close my eyes loss
chord 2/ chord 1
So why do I keep sitting and not going to bed?! / loss
chord 3/ chord 1
When the blues was just born, the length of the lines of the songs depended only on the person who performed it. But over time, when the fashion went to groups that played in taverns, and consisted of 3-4 people, it became necessary to take the same chords at the same time, and not so that each performer would play what he will pop into your head. Thus, the texts acquired their four-bar character. In the song, as already mentioned, there are 3 lines, each - four measures. Simple arithmetic and we get twelve.
The chords of the so-called archaic (“rural”) blues. But don't worry, it's the same thing nowadays when players play in the old style: numbers 1, 2 and 3. Chords A (la), D (re), E (mi)
For example: A - A - A - A;
D-D-A-A;
E - E - A - A;
The rise of this type blues guitar fell on the twenties of the twentieth century, later it was transformed into a "classic".
For example: A - A(D) - A - A, chords A(la), D(re), both are types of the same pattern
D-D-A-A
E-D-A-E
In general, this is naturally not the only way to perform the blues, it is only the most common. But that doesn't mean you don't have to know about it. This applies to all guitarists, not just those who sing and play the blues. A guitarist MUST be able to play any chord at any time when asked, otherwise he is simply not a guitarist.
You can start the game, each time complicate the game On guitar, even if it seems to you that playing the blues is easy, but these are just examples by which you judge. But try to outplay the virtuosos and you will be surprised.
These chords can be found in A(A) blues scores.
Exercises:
Try to play what to say in two hands. It's like playing two instruments at once. Play the chords, it's easy, along with the bass line.
Exercise:
Try playing this exercise using other blues chart chords. There are several ways to play this exercise. Approach these two exercises with due attention, they are the basics of the circuit, you must know them so that the blues can be easily given to you.
Starting to play, you seem to want to learn another language, new and unfamiliar. No matter how many rules you memorize, without constant communication in this language, you will not achieve noticeable success. But still, the basis of the blues is emotions, your emotions, you yourself, your personality, this is something that is not transmitted in text form. Do you really want to play good blues– look for your sound, no more no less.
Talking about the basic foundation blues guitar First of all, it is impossible not to mention its rhythm. And the basis of this very rhythm is shuffle. The shuffle is based on the eight triplets shown below.
Try to beat the rhythm with your foot, while playing triplets on the A-major chord with barre, this will allow you to feel the shuffle. IN musical notation shuffle can be written like this:
Most often it is indicated:
There are only five things you MUST know about shuffle:
Since you are a future rhythm guitarist, you need to constantly keep in mind the dynamics, maintain the contrast of volumes. For example, the solo is usually played louder than the vocals.
Solo in blues on guitar.
Three groups that differ in approach. These are based on:
- 1 gamma
- 2 chords
- 3 some combination of both, the most popular group
Blues Gamma:
Below I will give a picture showing scales (tonality A)
Very a large number of classics blues guitar was done in that order. Any blues artist in one way or another uses this scheme.
Semantic selection of musical phrases
On guitar compared to the piano, for example. Techniques like bends, slides, vibrato can tell a lot with just a few notes. Let's consider these methods separately:
vibrato
Sound swing reception. The most complex and deep reception. Using this technique, you can achieve a powerful effect by playing a few notes. And to practice vibrato, you need to spend a lot of time. There are a few tips for achieving a good vibrato sound:
Most importantly, don't give up! For an acceptable technique, many may spend up to seven years of training;
Listen to professionals performing vibrato, you should have an idea of the perfect performance;
The source of movement will be the hand, but unlike the bend, the fingers do not exert much force;
Use these exercises, and soon you will feel visible changes:
Turn on the metronome at a tempo of 60 beats. Hold the note A at the 10th fret of the second string, make a half step (up) or slightly less bend and release. Hold the note, hop and twitch the strings to the beat of the metronome. Having mastered this tempo, increase it and continue to perform the exercise, making sure that the full movement is performed on each beat of the metronome. You should hear a beautiful vibrato, where the main rule is the consistency of rhythm and tone.
Bend
The rule here is that the band is performed with a chord sound. It can be both the foundation of your style and an occasional decoration. It is recommended to use as many fingers as possible, this will save your strength and add brightness and improve intonation.
Turnaround
Blues on guitar played with different feelings, but something remains almost the same in many blues harmonies. The final two bars of a blues sequence. The turnaround requires a lot of attention, because the musician needs to finish the solo logically and effectively and prepare for the next (square?). This is solved by memorizing a few turnaround phrases, allowing you to pull them out of your sleeve.
Slide
Sliding from note to note used to be a means of making the sound insinuating, until thin strings appeared (and slide guitar became the apogee of this picking technique). By mastering the techniques of bending and slides, you can save the listener from the feeling that good exercise can serve as a solo performance by Eric Clapton I "m so glad) Fresh Cream album, which can be played on one string using sliding and bending techniques.
Greetings guys:=) We continue to figure out how to play the blues on the guitar. As you remember in previous articles, we have already begun to understand. In the first article, we dealt with general concepts, talked about what the blues is, on what instruments and equipment it is performed. In the second article, I explained to you the theory of the blues, which few people love, this was evident from the likes and retweets to the article: =)
Today guys, we will study blues accompaniment. Let's move on from boring theory to practice.
And first, let's get acquainted with the blues chords. In the blues, major chords and the so-called dominant seventh chords with add-ons and alterations are mainly used.
I already foresee your rounded eyes and indignation, from misunderstanding the words that I wrote above :=)
I will not go into theory and say plain language in order for you to understand. Dominant seventh chords with add-ons and alterations, these are the same chords, where after the letter denoting the chord there is something from this set: 6, 9, 13, 7+5, 7#9. I think in various reference books and chord books, you have seen such chords: C6, A9, C7 # 9, etc., this is the dominant seventh chords with add-ons and alterations.
Go ahead. We will study all blues chords on the basis of the so-called chord groups. These chord groups are obtained when a simple major chord taken in different parts of the guitar neck. There are 5 chord groups in total, they are named after their corresponding simple major chords: E, A, D, G, C.
Now I will try to explain all this to you in more detail. If a simple E major chord is moved across the fretboard to the 4th and 5th frets, and barre on the 3rd fret with the first finger, we get the G chord of the E chord group.
If we move the E7 chord in the same way, for example, we get the G7 chord of the E chord group.
The same is true for other groups of chords. So for example, if you move a simple A chord along the neck to the 5th fret and take a small barre on the third fret, then you get a C chord of the A chord group.
D chord group. This is how a simple D chord becomes an F chord of a D group.
C chord group. This is how the C chord becomes the D chord of the C group.
G chord group. These are quite complex chords, so you will have to work hard to learn how to play them. The figure below shows how a simple G chord becomes an A chord of the G group.
Dear friends, I hope you get the idea at least a little. I explain and show it in more detail and clearly in the video tutorial:
And now as for the blues chords, those very dominant seventh chords with add-ons and alterations. What do these terrible words, superstructures and alterations mean for the ear of a simple self-taught guitarist?
I won't bore you with the theory, I'll just say it quite simply. Added chords are chords where additional notes are added to the base notes of the chord. Accidental chords are chords where the root notes rise or fall.
So, let's get acquainted with the main blues chords. Here are the fingerings of these chords in various chord groups. Let's take a look at the C chord as an example.
C6 chord (first version)
C6 chord (second option)
C6 chord (third option)
C7 + 5 chord (first version)
C7 + 5 chord (second option)
C9 chord (second version)
Chord C13 (second option)
Chord C13 (third option)
Chord group A (la):
C7 chord (first version)
(second option)
Chord C7#9
C9 chord
Chord C13
First, learn and memorize at least 2-3 chords from each group of chords, then gradually learn and memorize new ones. Do not be afraid that there are so many of these chords, learn them gradually and you will succeed. Over time, you will come to understand and you might even say awareness of what you are playing, and you will use the grids of these chords as a reference for building many other chords.
It is also very useful, not to stupidly memorize the fingerings of chords, but to analyze where the tonic is located, on which strings it is played, what steps are included in the chord, etc.
I think that's enough for today :=) Learn, master and practice everything that I told you about in this article. Well, I will prepare the next part for you, in which we will continue to study and master the blues accompaniment, we will already try to play chord bundles, but for now, learn the chords yourself.
Keep an eye on your mail so you don't miss the next newsletter. See you guys :=)
P.S. Guys, click on the buttons of social networks like "I like", like, repost and retweet. I would be very grateful to you: =) And also leave comments, and if something is not clear, do not hesitate to ask questions.
Blues is a very diverse and interesting genre of music. Two compositions can be very different from each other - and you won’t think that this is the same direction. It is performed by street musicians and worldwide famous stars like Gary Moore. In this article, we will look at how to play the blues on the guitar.
Fingers or slide?
A slide is a special tube of either metal, glass, or ceramic that fits over the finger and is used to clamp the strings. When the string is in contact not with a soft finger pad, but with a metal surface, the sound of the guitar changes beyond recognition. Since the beginning of the genre, blues and slide have gone hand in hand.
But there are no hard and fast rules here. I like to play with "hands" - please. If you want to get bright vibrato and authentic sound, try slide. It is not even necessary to buy it - take a glass bottle or, for example, a folding knife. This will be enough to understand whether you like this sound or not.
A professional slide will not sound better than a bottle. The difference is that you don't have to hold it with your whole hand. The tube is put on only one finger, and the rest will be free. Thus, guitarists can combine slide playing with classical playing.
How full and voluminous the sound of a guitar can be can be understood if you buy a twelve-string guitar.
12-string features:
- reinforced western or jumbo type hull;
- wide neck;
- metal strings placed in pairs - thick with winding and thin without winding. The strings are tuned in unison, however, starting from the third pair, the thin string is always tuned an octave higher.
Where to buy 12 string guitar?
For a musician who is good at playing a six-string guitar, the desire to buy a 12-string guitar in Moscow or in another region of Russia is quite understandable.
When choosing a store where to buy a 12-string guitar, look at specialized stores that offer not only cheap instruments. An inexpensive twelve-string guitar is a great temptation , however, it should be remembered that 12 strings cause a powerful load on the body of the guitar, so one of the main parameters of a twelve-string is its strength.
Preparing for the game
This section of the manual is for those who want to learn how to play the blues on the electric guitar. In the case of acoustics, no preparation is needed - take it and play it. But here it is possible to tweak the equalizer or add a couple of pedals to the chain, getting the desired sound.
First and most important: forget about distortion. Bluesmen use either a clean or slightly loaded sound, that is, a slight overdrive. A high gain level will give a lot of disgusting noises and greatly increase the grinding on the string sheath. It also compresses the flow, cutting off all the dynamics of the blues sound.
There are special blues pedals, such as the Boss Blues Driver. If you can't find one, use a regular overdrive. It is important not to overdo it here. In some compositions, the Wah-Wah effect will show itself well. But at the training stage it is better not to touch it.
The second tip: do not wind up a lot of some frequencies in the equalizer. Instead of raising the middle, it's better lower bass and treble levels. This simple trick will give you a more pleasant and natural sound.
Blues pentatonic scale
The most interesting thing in the blues is improvisation. Without it, you can’t compose your own melody, you can’t embellish someone else’s. And in order to improvise, you need to know what notes you have at your disposal.
The blues scale is based on minor pentatonic scale. Another note is added between the 3rd and 4th steps. It is she who helps to create that very characteristic sound. Over decades of trial and error, blues players have discovered the 5 most comfortable positions for themselves ( boxing) for Game.
The red dot is tonic, the base note from which the melody is built. Blue is the same additional sound. Choose any fret on the guitar and try to play all the notes in each of the positions in turn. Even without additional techniques, you will immediately feel this special character of melodies.
Try to learn all the boxes so that your fingers can easily run along the strings "on the machine". If you constantly think about what to hold down, there can be no question of any improvisation.
Building a melody
When you get used to the pentatonic fingerings, you can start improvising. First, try playing the same scale, but with different rhythmic patterns. Combine eighth and quadruple notes. Change direction, "jump" through 1-2 scale steps, pause. After a while, your hands themselves will remember which technique sounds good, and which one does not.
Don't forget the metronome. Rhythm in music is very important. It should not be forgotten either during the performance of slow, "viscous" compositions, or even more so, in pumping driving riffs. Perhaps practicing under a metronome will be unusual and difficult for you. But without it good feeling You can't develop rhythm.
Try to play different positions. No one forbids changing them during the game. The sound of riffs in different boxes will vary slightly. Experiment more - and you will get a lot of interesting melodies in your piggy bank.
Bend, slide and vibrato
Not a single blues composition can do without these three tricks. It is they who enliven the melody, make it bright and unique.
Slide- the easiest way. It sounds especially impressive when playing with a slide (such is the terminological tautology). Actually, the whole technique of playing comes down to the fact that you never tear off the pipe from the strings, but lead along their surface. The sound is always there, even when changing the position of the hand.
If you play with your fingers, the essence remains the same. For example, hold down a string at the 5th fret, extract the sound, and then move down to the 7th. You don't have to let go of your finger. The speed depends on the context: sometimes you need to move out quickly, sometimes smoothly.
The next important technique in the blues is band. This is a change in pitch without changing the fret. You press down on the string and then lead it along the fret. It stretches and sounds higher. Typically, bends are pulled by a tone or a semitone. Make it easy. It is difficult to learn how to tighten the strings so that the resulting sound belongs to your scale.
This is very important point. If you bend only a quarter of a tone, it will not fit into the melody and cause dissonance. If you tighten the string by half a step, but get a note that is not included in your pentatonic scale - again dissonance.
For example: between the 3rd and 4th degrees of your scale, the distance is only half a tone (1 guitar fret). You can play the string at the 7th fret and then pull it until the sound is the same as if you played it at the 8th fret. You can pull even higher - up to the 9th fret - and get the 5th degree of the pentatonic scale.
Another universal approach vibratto. When you play a long note (for example, the 4th among an array of 8s), you can give it a special color, draw attention. If you know how to bend, mastering vibratto will be easy. Simply increase and decrease the tension to get that characteristic shake. You can change the pitch quite a bit, or you can achieve an amplitude of 2 tones. What and when sounds better - you can understand only by experimenting.
This little material will help you get started. And then it's just a matter of practice. Listen to different performers, watch how street musicians play, try to compose your own melodies, add chords to the composition, actively use bends and slides. The best way learning to play the blues is to play it.
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Many and many rock musicians have been inspired by the blues. His sadness, sincerity and openness to hearts ordinary people. And wherever the blues sounded, whether on plantations, on river dams, or in a freight train car, he was a friend of a hard worker and a wanderer, singing about his misadventures, masterfully moving his hand around the neck. Here we take a moment to honor the genre by listing the site's Top 5 Great Bluesmen. website. At the end of the article, a bonus is the opportunity to download for free the blues of the famous bluesmen, about whom this article talks.
Blues guitar. Top 5 great bluesmen according to the website site
5. T-Bone Walker (T-Bone Walker)
The blues wouldn't be the blues it is today if it wasn't for T-Bone Walker, with his groundbreaking sound on electric guitar. Big influence on the formation of T-Bone Walker as a musician, had musical roots his family. He was taught to play the guitar by his stepfather. By the age of 15, T-Bone was already performing professionally, and in 1929 he made his first recordings. His distinctive style is smooth phrasing, vibrato and bluesy bands. Playing Gibson guitars, Walker left a great legacy in this genre of music. Listen to T-Bone Blues, or find this song in the Blues on Guitar Tabs collection (at the end of the article) and then you will not confuse Walker's playing with someone else.
4. Robert Johnson (Robert Johnson)
On the performance of the compositions of this musician, many eminent rockers comprehended the world of guitar sound, including: Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Ry Kuder, Bob Dylan, Patti Smith and others. Dedicated to the figure of Robert Johnson Feature Film Crossroads (1986), which starred another guitar genius, Steve Vai.
The life and work of Robert Johnson is covered with many myths and idle conjectures. In particular, there is a legend that for the sake of the ability to play the guitar, this man sold his soul to the Devil, making a deal at a magical crossroads. Robert Johnson is one of the first musicians (if not the first!) who began to use a slide (bottleneck / bottleneck) when playing. A slide is a hollow tube, most often the neck of a bottle (hence the name - bottleneck), which slides along the strings, making specific guitar sounds, which in their expression are comparable only to human voice. Johnson is said to have played Stella and Kalamazoo guitars. To understand Robert Johnson's style, listen to his Cross Road Blues. Gtp tabs of this musician will help you learn the blues.
3. Eric Clapton (Eric Clapton)
Eric Clapton is known for the variety of styles in which he worked, but the blues has always remained in the heart and soul of this musician. Eric was raised in musical family and took up the guitar at the age of 13. The blues has become an integral part of the musician's career. Among the guitarists who influenced his work, Eric names BB King, Freddie King and Robert Johnson. For my long musical career Clapton used many guitars. Including Gibson Les Paul and Fender Stratocaster. Listen to the style of Eric Clapton in the Bell Bottom Blues.
2 Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stephen Ray Vaughn is from Dallas, Texas. The maestro began pouring his soul into the guitar at the age of 7. Steve's style is recognizable by characteristic work with lever and tremolo right hand. Jazz, blues and rock - these are the styles in which the talent of Steve Ray Vaughn was most clearly revealed. The musician mainly plays Fender Stratocaster guitars. The composition Texas Flood will help to hear first-class blues from Steve. And now hurry for the blues gtp tabs to try and adopt this unbeatable pitch!
1. BB King (BBC King)
This man is considered by many to be the most influential guitarist of all time. And these are not empty words, if you remember how many talented musicians influenced by BB. The story of his life is essentially the story of the electric blues. A native of Mississippi, BB King sang in the church choir from a young age. But music really spoke in him at the age of 12, with the appearance of a guitar in his life. Through his long career, the great bluesman has released over 50 albums. B.B. King became famous for his special sounding style, which is characterized by honed vibrato and smooth bends. Multiple Grammy Awards, induction into the Blues Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and universal love made King a legend in his lifetime. Plays BB King on a Gibson ES-355 guitar named after him female name Lussil. Listen to the King of the Blues on one of his most iconic themes. The Thrill Is Gone. Passion is gone, baby!
