If you want to create varied and interesting blues guitar solos, I would strongly recommend getting to grips with the major pentatonic scale. As you might have guessed from the name, the major pentatonic scale is closely related to the more commonly used minor pentatonic scale. The latter is a...
If you want to play lead guitar, then learning the minor pentatonic scale is one of the best places to start. The minor pentatonic scale is by far the most commonly occurring scale in blues and rock music. It has been used to craft a huge number of famous riffs...
Record producer Mike Vernon once described Peter Green as the 'very best blues guitarist' that England has ever produced. That is saying something, considering that Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page - amongst others - all grew up calling England home. Yet it was a sentiment that was shared by...
Playing the guitar quickly has never been a natural strength of mine. For some reason still unknown to me, my fingers just don’t want to move very fast. Over the years I have tried a huge range of different guitar exercises to try and get quicker. But despite these efforts, it...
Gary Moore is one of most gifted and technically skilled guitarists in the history of the blues. He is also one of the most interesting. Moore took the traditional form of the blues and fused it with heavy rock, shred guitar, and glam rock. In a totally unique way, he combined the...
It is difficult to overstate the impact that Stevie Ray Vaughan had on the blues. He is one of the most famous blues musicians of all time, and is celebrated for revitalising the genre in the 1980s and in turn, inspiring a new generation of blues guitarists. Whilst Vaughan was both...
One of the key ways to develop as a blues guitarist is to improve your timing. It is what separates average guitarists from those that are truly exceptional. And it is a skill that all of the best blue guitarists have in common. Yet despite its importance, it is a...
It is not easy to play a killer blues shuffle. The masters of the shuffle - players like Jimmy Reed and Muddy Waters in Chicago, and Lightnin' Hopkins and Stevie Ray Vaughan in Texas - make it sound effortless. Yet whilst the shuffle might be simple in form, it is difficult...
I can still remember when I learnt how to play the blues shuffle. At just 12 years old, it was the first time that I had ever played the blues, and it had me hooked almost instantly. It marked the beginning of what has since developed into a deep love...
The blues shuffle rhythm is one of the most common rhythms you will encounter in the blues. It is present in a whole range of different styles - from Delta blues, to Chicago blues, to Texas blues. It is instantly recognisable, sounds amazing and features in many of the most famous...
If you want to create varied and interesting blues guitar...
I think there are very few blues guitarists out there who...
Over the years, I have met only a handful of guitarists who...
If you want to play lead guitar, then learning the minor...
From the moment I first heard ‘Parisienne Walkways’ I...
If you are looking to develop a killer blues guitar tone,...
The world of guitar amps is difficult to navigate. There are...
In the last few years there has been an explosion in the...
I have wanted to sound like Rory Gallagher since I was 13...
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