Bob - I'd love to throw my hat in the ring. I'm predominately a rock player, but have been leaning more and more toward blues for years, and in the past 10 years I've been finding out all of my main early influences were originally blues oriented players. Clapton, Page, Allman, Walsh, Gilmour, Trower, Johnny Winter...and have been realizing I'm actually more a blues player than anything else.
Check out "While We Cry" on my profile, it's a cover, but still gives you an idea of my style and ability in the blues arena, and some of it is improvised too, it's not strictly a copy. I wanted my Strat but broke a string and had no spares, so I used the Peavey Patriot, and it's also too clean, I wanted just a hint of dirty, had it on the amp but it didn't come out in the recording.
That one was done by the old "ping pong" method, bouncing it between my old reel to reel and a friend's CD recorder. I played everything but drums, that was a drum machine. (Yamaha keyboard for drums and organ) We were both really surprised when noise didn't bite us on the a$$. He just had to be a jerk and add fake audience applause, I hate that, but he was the proverbial kid with a new toy, and always went overboard with effects both onstage and in recordings.
I managed to keep the effects reigned in on this one, but he added the audience stuff after I left the studio...I was pissed...he also added a spoken bit in front, saying it was named "Cry Baby" and I wrote it, I cut that part out, I almost started a fight over that one, I specifically told him DO NOT do that, I would be open for plagiarism charges. He did it anyway...so I cropped it and got rid of that intro.
As far as playing blues, at least for lead players, the best advice anyone can give you is put everything you have into every note. Make each note say something, make it count. That's how BB King let Stevie Ray Vaughn play his ass off for several minutes, then blew him right off the stage with the very first note. BB can say more with one note than 99% of the world's guitar players can in 10 minutes. Who cares if you can play 87 notes in 4 seconds, if not one of them actually says anything?
That goes for any instrument. Guitar, harmonica, piano, sax, you name it.
I started trying to play melodic instead of fast over 20 years ago, after listening to David Gilmour a lot, (a master of melodic) and believe me nothing is more difficult. I think learning to play fast helped a lot, I'm not constantly fumbling around trying to find the notes I want, my fingers already know how to get there. The problem is NOT THINKING ABOUT IT...If I think about it, I suck out loud. If I just decide where to start then let my fingers go their merry way, it usually turns out pretty well.
Melodic is the way to go for me, especially with blues, and when it works, it's great. When it bombs...well it really bombs...but the challenge is there so I always can't wait to give it a try.
Check out "While We Cry" on my profile, it's a cover, but still gives you an idea of my style and ability in the blues arena, and some of it is improvised too, it's not strictly a copy. I wanted my Strat but broke a string and had no spares, so I used the Peavey Patriot, and it's also too clean, I wanted just a hint of dirty, had it on the amp but it didn't come out in the recording.
That one was done by the old "ping pong" method, bouncing it between my old reel to reel and a friend's CD recorder. I played everything but drums, that was a drum machine. (Yamaha keyboard for drums and organ) We were both really surprised when noise didn't bite us on the a$$. He just had to be a jerk and add fake audience applause, I hate that, but he was the proverbial kid with a new toy, and always went overboard with effects both onstage and in recordings.
I managed to keep the effects reigned in on this one, but he added the audience stuff after I left the studio...I was pissed...he also added a spoken bit in front, saying it was named "Cry Baby" and I wrote it, I cut that part out, I almost started a fight over that one, I specifically told him DO NOT do that, I would be open for plagiarism charges. He did it anyway...so I cropped it and got rid of that intro.
As far as playing blues, at least for lead players, the best advice anyone can give you is put everything you have into every note. Make each note say something, make it count. That's how BB King let Stevie Ray Vaughn play his ass off for several minutes, then blew him right off the stage with the very first note. BB can say more with one note than 99% of the world's guitar players can in 10 minutes. Who cares if you can play 87 notes in 4 seconds, if not one of them actually says anything?
That goes for any instrument. Guitar, harmonica, piano, sax, you name it.
I started trying to play melodic instead of fast over 20 years ago, after listening to David Gilmour a lot, (a master of melodic) and believe me nothing is more difficult. I think learning to play fast helped a lot, I'm not constantly fumbling around trying to find the notes I want, my fingers already know how to get there. The problem is NOT THINKING ABOUT IT...If I think about it, I suck out loud. If I just decide where to start then let my fingers go their merry way, it usually turns out pretty well.
Melodic is the way to go for me, especially with blues, and when it works, it's great. When it bombs...well it really bombs...but the challenge is there so I always can't wait to give it a try.
I'm a member of the BOMB SQUAD.
If you see me running, better catch up!
http://billy-griffis-jr.artistwebsites.com/
If you see me running, better catch up!
http://billy-griffis-jr.artistwebsites.com/
