Here is the pentatonic scale in the key of A minor:

e|——————————5–8–5—————————-
B|————————5–8———-8–5———————–
G|——————-5–7——————–7–5——————
D|————–5–7——————————-7–5————
A|———5–7——————————————7–5——
E|–5–8——————————————————8–5-

Here is the blues scale in the key of A minor:

e|——————————–5-8-5—————————
B|—————————5-8———8-5———————-
G|———————5-7-8—————–8-7-5—————-
D|—————-5-7——————————7-5————
A|———5-6-7—————————————7-6-5——
E|–5–8—————————————————–8–5-

For info on blues chord progressions see my post on The Blues Scale And The I IV V Progression.

Here is a lesson on the blues scale from Justin Sandercoe:

So here we are trying to reconcile the two approaches to music. Our guide to whether we are successful in our efforts is the way the music makes us, and our listeners, feel.

This YouTube guitar video is a great start to learning how to play the blues on guitar . . .

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For soloing, here’s a video on a basic lick using the so-called “blues scale” in E . . .

Let’s look at a blues guitar chord progression. It’s a very common progression called the I IV V. The Roman numerals represent the chords of whatever key you are playing in. So if you are playing in the key of A you would be using the chords A, D and E. Just so you understand the process here, if you take the key as a simple octave with the root note, or first note as A, the fourth (IV) note will be D and the fifth note (V) will be E. In blues the seventh chords are used for the IV and V chords, so the chords you will be using will be A, D7 and E7. If you want to play in the key of E your chords will be E A7 and B7.

Next you will need a song to learn on. The twelve bar blues is the most popular and most easily recognized form of blues song and it looks like:

I I I I IV IV I I V IV I I/V

which is just showing you how the music is divided up with the first four bars using the I chord, and so on. The I/V is where you split the last bar into two to serve as an introduction to the next verse.

You need to get the feel of the blues, so even if your chord changes are not up to scratch yet, you can still play the bass notes along with a song or a backing track, so if you are in the key of A you just play the notes: four bars of A, two bars of D, two bars of A, one bar of E, one bar of D, one bar of A and the final bar has two beats of A and two beats of E.

Now you can see why learning blues can get a little complicated in the explaining, but you will immediately see the simplicity as you learn some songs.

Here is a YouTube video to start you off:

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On the other hand we can’t go through our musical lives just learning how to play our instruments without also learning about how they work. Especially fairly delicate musical instruments like electric bass guitars. So let’s talk about bass guitar fret buzz and some of the causes and possible home remedies, even if eventually you are going to have to take your bass to an expert.

Your bass guitar buzzes at a certain fret. All the time. You have tried changing the strings and adjusting the saddles. That is the limit of your expertise, so now what? If you take it to a guitar shop they might recommend that the neck be reset. This would be better than you making things worse by fooling around in the saddles or anywhere else that looks like it could be adjusted by an enthusiastic amateur.

Sometimes you get vibration when you play certain frets on your bass guitar. Often it’s hard to tell where the buzzing or vibration is coming from. One thing an amateur can do is look for loose parts around the area of the tuning keys. Any small part can be loose and causing an annoying vibration when the bass is fired up. The other place where this can happen is around the bridge. Notice I said an amateur can LOOK for the possible cause of the noise. If you do not feel absolutely confident about what you are doing, do not touch it.

If you choose to go looking for the cause of the fret buzz or vibration yourself, just so you understand what’s going on, you could get a friend to look for the source of the buzz while you play the notes that cause the buzz. It’s alot easier than trying to get the guitar to make the noise while examining it minutely at the same time.

Sometimes what can happen to cause fret buzz, say on the first, second and third strings on the second fret, is the bar between the frets is lower than the others. This makes the strings touch the bar when they are played. Or one fret could be higher than the others. If this is the case a special file can be used to make the fret go deeper into the fretboard. This is an easy job for a luthier, just don’t let him talk you into having ALL the frets adjusted if only one is buzzing.

One thing that could be responsible for bass guitar fret buzz is not adjusting the truss rod when you change to a new string gauge. This will not only cause buzz but warp the guitar neck, too.

When you take your bass guitar into the guitar shop to have it looked at, don’t be afraid to tell the man what areas you have been fooling with. I know it’s embarrassing but even if you lie to him, he’ll find out when he examines it. It’s just that if he has to go to extra trouble and time to look for a fault that you could have told him about, it’s going to cost you.

Various random buzzings can come from your bass guitar without the physical components being at fault. If you are getting an electronic buzz in your speaker, try shutting down any appliances like televisions and cell phones.

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With blues guitar music the keyword is tradition. Blues music was originally passed on between family members and friends, and the need for originality was not felt to any great extent, so a solid form was established for blues songs. This article is meant to be an introduction to the basic principles of blues guitar playing. These principles have more to do with letting go of ideas rather than taking more ideas on board.

So where do you begin to learn how to play blues guitar? If you do not already know how to read sheet music or tab, find a tutorial on guitar tabs. This is the fastest written guitar music to learn and any blues music you need will be found in tab. Also you need to know what chord charts are, and how to read them. Neither chord charts or tab is hard to learn. What will take some practice is developing your ear so that you can learn riffs and licks from records.

So, when you try learning other blues guitar players’ solos remember the art of blues guitar playing is in how you play the notes, not necessarily in which notes you play. This leaves you free to experiment and not to worry too much about getting the notes totally right the first time.

Along with developing your ear, you need to learn the minor pentatonic scale in the key of E. The notes are E G A B D. You will learn the scale in other keys, but start in E and that will give you some musical background to your learning blues guitar solos from records. Once you start playing the scale you will recognize where that bluesy feel comes from.

When you listen to blues records, pay attention to how blues guitar players make use of the pentatonic notes, and when you become familiar with the scale yourself, you will also hear when they do variations and departures from it. Blues guitar solos are often made up from a blend of the minor pentatonic and the major pentatonic scales.

If you combine the scales and add the “Devil’s note” – the flatted fifth, you will get these notes to play around with in the key of E: E F# G G# A Bb B C# D.

The other basic thing you need is an understanding of the I V IV chord progression. This chord progression is used in many, many modern songs. For blues guitar you will be using I V IV7 or I7 V7 IV7. The 7’s mean you will be using seventh chords.
If you stick to the key of E you will be playing E B A, E7 B7 A7 or E B A7.

Once you are comfortable with the chord progression, you will need to learn it in all keys.

I will now mention briefly some of the techniques you will be using when you learn to play blues guitar. Of course, no one technique is exclusive to any particular discipline, but the ones I am listing will be your means of communicating your own blues to your listeners. There are a techniques for playing notes without picking the string with the plectrum or your right hand fingers. First, String Bending which means bending the guitar string with the fingers of your left hand to alter the note you are playing up or down. Or you can press on the string, pluck the note and Slide it up or down. If you pick a note at the first fret and remove your finger with a pulling action it will sound the note you just played followed by the sound of the open string. This is called a pull-off. Likewise you can pluck a note and while holding it with the first finger, slam the second finger down on the next fret. That is a hammer-on.

These techniques are alot easier to do than they are to describe, so make use of on-line videos to watch guitarists execute these techniques. You will also be able to see when blues guitarists play single-note scale passages and when they prefer to use arpeggios, but that will take some practice at listening.

B.B. King is a blues legend who you should look for in videos and in tab collections. He always surrounds himself with top class musicians who are at the top of their form. His songs always have that spark of spontaneity as if he was making up the words and music as he goes along but there is never a hesitation over a lyric and never a note out of place. Songs include Beautician Blues, Five Long Years, Just like a Woman, Riding with the King, Rock Me Baby, Sweet Sixteen, Three O’Clock Blues, The Thrill Is Gone, Why I Sing the Blues, You Upset Me Baby.

Another obvious choice to emulate is Eric Clapton, one of the greatest guitar players the world has seen. His music has always been based in the blues even though he has successfully ventured into rock, reggae and ballads. Standouts among many great songs include After Midnight, Hide Away, Bad Love, Badge, Before You Accuse Me (Take A Look At Yourself), Cocaine, Cross Road Blues (Crossroads), Forever Man, Hard Times, Have You Ever Loved A Woman, I Ain’t Got You, I Can’t Stand It, I Feel Free, I Shot The Sheriff, Lay Down Sally, Layla, Let It Grow, Strange Brew, Sunshine Of Your Love, Tulsa Time, White Room and Wonderful Tonight.

Chuck Berry was one of the first artists to add that intangible element to blues music which gave the world rock and roll. Johnny B. Goode, Maybellene, Rock And Roll Music are three of his songs included in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Others are Back in the U.S.A., Little Queenie, Roll Over Beethoven, Sweet Little Rock and Roller, Too Much Monkey Business, No Particular Place To Go and Carol.

As you listen to these artists and try to read and play the guitar tabs of their music, you will find that the technical side of learning blues guitar is not so difficult.

Do you want to learn to play the guitar? Learn How To Play A Guitar For Free – Blues Guitar is a constantly updated blog which contains all the resources you need for: learning to play solo guitar, how to learn guitar chords, how to learn to read and play easy acoustic guitar tabs, finding a free online guitar tuner, looking for free guitar lessons online, and how to learn guitar scales.