Session 3 : Blues Building Blocks

Blues Picking Technique

A lot of blues playing involves really digging into the strings
when you pick. Picking forcefully as shown in the session
gives a slap back of the string against the fretboard that
creates a lot of color in your sound.

To practice picking forcefully, use only downstrokes on a
simple scale or pentatonic form. Listen for the slap back
sound.

Another helpful technique described in the session consists of plucking up on the string from underneath using
the middle or ring finger. This gets a slightly smaller but more dynamic sound. Watch the interview with
Johnny Hiland for a great demonstration and explanation of this technique.

Making the Most of Simple Ideas

Blues guitar playing is not complex. Many of the best musical ideas include a very small amount of notes. But it
is what the player does with those notes is what gives the blues its passionate sound.

Here is a great exercise to help your ear start to hear different melodies to play.

Ear Training: Soloing with One Note

• Solo using only the root. Experiment with different rhythms and different picking attacks. Try to
  vary your volume.


• Solo using the root in any octave. Before you play find all of the roots in every octave all over
  the guitar. Practice jumping between them. Then experiment playing a solo using roots in any octave.


• Solo using bends and slides to roots in any octave. Remember to make good bends all the
  way up to the pitch. Practice sliding from a half-step and whole-step away from the root up to the
  root.

Finding the Roots on Every String

A helpful exercise in learning the neck of the guitar is to find a particular note on every string. The example
below includes every G on each string. Say the name of the note while you play each one. (The second G on

the 5th string may be impossible on some guitars because their necks do not have that many frets.)

Playing Tip

Many players play too softly. Don’t

be afraid to play and pick forcefully,

especially when playing the blues.

Blues Guitar with Steve Krenz 42 http://www.learnandmaster.com/bluesresources