If you really are interested in learning blues guitar, you need to have a few things to consider and learn first. Starting from the very basic, you will first need an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. Make sure you are not having the one with nylon strings. Leave those to classical music.

A basic knowledge on some simple chords is important if you are interested in learning blues guitar. Of course, if you have the interest to play blues, you must have learned the basic guitar chords, but if you still don’t, you may start back with the basics and learn simple chords like D, A, E and so on. You also have to know how to read tablatures. This will help you in learning the different techniques in blues music, and being able to read tabs helps you in learning songs easily and efficiently.

You might need to have a CD of your favorite blues musician. You can also find their performances online and learn to listen to them play. The first thing you might want to listen to is the rhythm of the blues music. Familiarize the tempo and the rhythm. Most blues song has a timing of 4/4 so it can be easy to learn. You might also want to have a metronome to help you with the practice and the timing.

Aside from mastering the rhythm, you have to master the blues scales too. This is important in learning blues guitar especially if you want to play solo, as it gives the blues guitar an authentic sound. Other techniques you may want to learn especially if playing solo are techniques like string bending, vibrato and the slides.

It is also important to learn the blues licks to start playing solos. Blues licks are sets of notes that seem to express a single expression. In playing blues guitar, you can use the blues licks as your base and you can add them with other notes to have your own style or combine them. You can also get ideas from other musicians and from there, you can make your own style.

Another basic thing you can also learn easily is the 12 bar blues, which means that a song is divided into 12 measures with a chord pattern, and that you just need to repeat it over and over until the end of the song. You can actually find a lot videos where you can learn this technique easily.

You can find a lot of ways in learning the blues guitar. You can actually choose to have a private tutor in learning blues guitar, although this can be a little expensive. You can also learn through CDs and DVDs where you can learn to play at home, and you can have the convenience of repeating the lessons as you like.

Carolyn Anderson loves music and loves the blues guitar. To help you learn the blues guitar in detailed instructions and video tutorial, she recommends Blues Guitar Secrets. Also recommended is Guitar Mojo, a website that can help you in everything you need to know in playing the blues guitar.

Author: Carolyn Anderson
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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1. Learn The Basics

Anyone wanting to learn to play blues guitar music will first of all need to gain mastery of the basic guitar fundamentals that are common to all styles. Once you got a grip on these, then you’ll be ready to learn the more specialist blues guitar techniques.

So first of all, you need to know:

• How to string and tune your guitar using standard tuning (EADGBE)
• The correct posture and hand positions for left hand and right hand
• How to form simple chords
• How to hold a guitar pick and play simple strumming patterns
• How to play individual notes and easy tunes
• How to read guitar tab (and preferably simple musical notation too, although this isn’t essential)

Once you can do all of these, you can start learning to play blues guitar.

2. Blues Rhythm Playing

As with other types of guitar music, when learning blues guitar it’s best to start off by learning rhythm guitar techniques first, and then graduating to lead playing.

Blues rhythm playing involves learning those chords and rhythmic patterns which are most characteristic of blues music. The 12 bar blues pattern is the most common, and this is the pattern that you should learn first.

The 12 bar blues simply consists of three lines, each with four bars. The chords I, IV and V (and their variations such as sevenths) are used – so for example, an easy 12 bar blues pattern in the key of E might look like:

E / E / E / E /
A / A7 / E / E /
B7 / A7 / E / E /

The 12 bar blues can be played in any key, although the keys of A and E are especially popular.

Other blues patterns include the eight bar, 16 bar and 24 bar blues.

It’s easiest to start by practising these chords sequences using one strum per beat, and then incorporating the rhythms which are characteristic of blues songs, such as the shuffle patterns and slow blues rhythms.

3. Lead Playing

Once you’ve got the hang of playing blues rhythm guitar, it’s time to learn some blues scales and graduate to solo playing.

Blues guitar solos are based on the five note pentatonic scale – both major and minor scales can be used, although the minor scale is most characteristic of the blues sound.

Blues guitar music also makes use of the so-called ‘blue note’, which is usually a diminished (flattened) fifth, although diminished thirds and diminished sevenths can also be used. These blue notes help to give greater expressiveness to the music.

Work through each of these stages, and you’ll be on your way to playing fantastic sounding blues guitar music in no time!

Think about this: a 50 year old man, and a 14 year old youngsters are trying to play guitar together. Chances are, they’re not going to know many of the same songs. This is when make out a uncomplicated blues will come in handy… one guitarist can play the chords, and the other can either sing, or play guitar solos over those chords. And then, they can trade off, to allow them both have a turn playing lead guitar.

The subsequent delivers instructions for learning a 12-bar blues in the key of A. There is a extremely simple intro and outro which have been included, which might take a little practice to play rapidly, but shouldn’t be too complicated. For the sake of simplicity, the following is presented in a fundamental, nearly “hokey” style. Study it as is, and we’ll diverge the style in upcoming lessons, to make the blues sound a little more attractive.

The Blues Intro:

This is a blues intro at it’s most basic.. just a few chords, and a few single notes, which will guide nicely into the major part of the song.

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The Outro:

This is a basic guitar part that will wrap up the song, the last time you play it. It’s not too long, and shouldn’t be tough to learn, as well.

The 12-Bar Blues:

This is the key part of the song. The song begins with a plain intro, then continues for 12 bars, then goes over (without repeating the intro). The last time the song is played, the last two blocks are replaced by the outro.

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The above gives the common breakdown of the twelve bar blues, and you’ll have to memorize it. Chances are, though, when you hear it played, it will sound logical, and shouldn’t be at all hard to remember. Although the above illustration shows us commonly which chords we will play in each bar, we are going to play a bit more difficult than just A5 for four bars, D5 for two bars, etc. To see precisely what you’ll play for each bar, study the following:

For each bar of A5, you’ll play the above tablature. Play the note on the second fret with your first finger, and the note on the fourth fret with your third finger.

For each bar of D5 and E5, you’ll play the above tablature. Play the note on the second fret with your first finger, and the note on the fourth fret with your third finger.

If you listen to the demo, you’ll notice there’s one small difference not included so far. It is this: the first time through the 12 bar blues, on the 12th bar, we play an unlike pattern on the E5 chord. This is often done at the end of each 12 bars, because it provides the listener and the band a firm way of knowing that we’re at the end of the song form, and we’re going back to the opening again. Here is how you play this very easy pattern:

Try this:

Circle the 12 bar blues with no intro, and without the outro. Keep going over the 12 bar form, until you’ve memorized it.

Be sure you’re not striking open strings that you shouldn’t be playing.

12 Bar Blues Video Tutorial