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...
The Ibanez Tube Screamer is one of the most iconic guitar pedals ever made. It has been used by many of the most famous blues guitarists of all time - including Stevie Ray Vaughan, Gary Moore and John Mayer, to name just a few. It is a brilliant guitar pedal...
Truthfully, the first time I heard ZZ Top I didn't really want to sound like Billy Gibbons. My introduction to the band was as a teenager, watching a compilation of the MTV videos they had put together for their best selling album Eliminator. I had only recently started playing the guitar, and...
There are very few albums that capture the essence of a musician as accurately as Rory Gallagher - Irish Tour '74. It is an album that brilliantly highlights the musical qualities for which Gallagher is renowned; the blistering guitar playing, raw vocals and relentless onstage energy. But more than that, the album...
The Ibanez Tube Screamer is one of the most popular guitar pedals of all time. Initially made famous by Stevie Ray Vaughan, it has since been used by a whole variety of notable blues guitarists, including Gary Moore, Joe Bonamassa and John Mayer, amongst others. Many aspiring guitarists have added a...
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...
Texas Flood, by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble was the album that got me hooked on the blues. Like so many others, I first heard it as a teenager, a couple of years after I started playing the guitar. It was the first time I had ever heard a guitarist...
Duane Allman is one of the greatest blues and rock guitarists of all time. During his short life and career, he changed the landscape of the blues. He adapted and built upon the bottleneck style of bluesmen like Elmore James, blending the blues with country rock and roots music. In...
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...
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...
It is not easy to create an effective guitar practice...
In the history of blues and blues-rock music, the tube amp...
Record producer Mike Vernon once described Peter Green...
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