my blues lead playing doesn't sounds bluesy

ElectroDan

Danny1969 said:

I probably will never reach that weight 

Sounds like quittin' talk! 

EricTheWeary

Well known you can't really feel the blues until you've got type 2 diabetes.

ElectroDan said:

Danny1969 said:

I probably will never reach that weight 

Sounds like quittin' talk! 

ElectroDan said:

I grew up with 80's rock too. The rhythm tends to be more precise timing wise and less triplet like than some Blues stuff.
Listen to SRV's 'Pride and Joy' for instance. On paper that riff is straight forward enough. but when you get into the subtleties of how you hang out the upstrokes and how quickly you cut them off... The dynamic difference you can get into the various parts.
It's flirting around with the time rather than slavishly sticking to it that the greats seem to do effortlessly. Knowing instinctively when to rush or hang out a phrase... and of course the huge lingering bends with wailing Vibrato...
Most Blues Guys I like use double stops a lot too.

Players like SRV and Hendrix were channelling some more traditional blues licks but speeded up so listening to their influences probably isn't a bad idea. Lot of Albert King in both of them, both big Hubert Sumlin fans as well.
Can be worth trying a solo using only downpicking, slows you down and it's closer to the unorthodox techniques of Albert and Freddie King and Albert Collins. Works well with rakes as well, although another thing not to over do.

Yay me ! 

RocknRollDave said:

Great post from @EricTheWeary ....I shall definitely be doing some homework based on those suggestions.

Veganic

Anyone else think we should hear this no bluesy blues? Some of us struggle with anything that isn't minor pentatonic.

  

Barney

Veganic said:

Anyone else think we should hear this no bluesy blues? Some of us struggle with anything that isn't minor pentatonic.

  

Not sure what you mean ?

Veganic

I was just suggesting that @finest1  should post a soundcloud sample. 

menamestom

Yeah I think posting a clip would be good.  Blues lead playing doesn't stick to any particular rhythm, it's kind of slow, then possibly bursts of speed, but not shred speed.  It's bending in between the bends.   Less gain that you think, slide up to notes, hold notes and squeeze the life out of them.  But I think one of the most important things is the gaps; play the silences and let the music breathe.  Robben Ford has a great vid on Truefire about pentatonic playing, about creatiing music out of five notes, rather than just blasting around a scale and making a sound that should sound like blues. It's a simple music, but the devil is in the detail.

Lewy

The greatest blues guitar players are internally singing what they are playing ... sometimes you can even catch it on the vocal mic. It's a good habit to develop not just for ear training but it will also make your playing breath the way you do. 

TimmyO

As well as the advice above (particularly about leaving space - creating anticipation) perhaps pick a couple of examples of playing that you think *does* achieve what you are going for, and spend some time copping them note for note, feel for feel.

You might start to internalise some of it that way 

Reverend

Check out the Alan Lomax - Library Of Congress recordings. You'll hear acoustic blues, but also chain gang songs, white gospel, blue grass, skipping songs and so on. a great way to get a feel for the musical climate that many of these players evolved in. 

BigLicks67

Start with something like Peter Green's 'Need Your Love So Bad' - it's deceptively simple but it shows how important timing and note choices are for good blues playing.

Also, with someone like BB King he mixes both the minor and major pentatonic into his soloing ideas. 

HAL9000

I know you've already said that Clapton doesn't do it for you but, if you've not got it already, get hold of a copy of John Mayall's Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (also known as the Beano album). The solos on Key to Love and, more particularly, Have You Heard are masterclasses of control and aggression. Also, the Clapton 'From the Cradle' album is well worth a listen.

Also as @BigLicks67 has said, listen to Peter Green. The Best of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac really does have all of Peter Green's best stuff. Also, whereas Clapton sticks mostly to minor pentatonics, Peter Green relies a lot on 6ths and 9ths for a different kind of bluesy feel.

Apart from that, some of the early electric blues like Albert, BB, and Freddie King for the guitar licks but also listen to people like Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters for a feel of what was going on back then.

fendergibson

May I also chip in 

First things first.

Clapton. Beano album.

1. Steppin Out
2. Hideaway

Find the tab, listen to the record, learn them note for note, and ALSO the phrasing.

There is a lot more, but if you studied both those songs you'd be well on your way.

Just my 2c

hywelg

Before first things first!

Less is more. If you can naturally play fast, don't. Blues solos should work up to fast. A solo is supposed to be you saying something. Start fast and you've nowhere to go. 

Because I cannot play fast (maybe lack of practise, maybe lack of ability) I have to compensate by making everything count.  

Very first things first. 

Learn how to play one note 12 different ways. BB could. Own it. So Bend up to it, lower off to it, slide up slide down to it. Slow vibrato, fast vibrato, hammer on pull off. Above all play the note as if it was the last note the audience would hear from you. 

Learn which notes resolve and which create tension over which chord. 

Learn how to leave gaps, some so long that it seems like you've forgotten to play. Don't feel as though you need to start on bar 1 beat 1. Come in early, come in late. Don't be afraid to hold your last note hanging in the air when the singer has already started. 

Learn to play a wrong note and bend up to a right one. Then do it again to show it wasn't a mistake.

viz

hywelg said:

Learn to play a wrong note and bend up to a right one. Then do it again to show it wasn't a mistake.

Unless you were a semitone sharp, then just whammy it down. 

pintspiller

@finest1 which blues guitarists/bands/songs do you like?