Riff 1 for Playing Blues Guitar in E

Series Summary

The instrumental and vocal style of music commonly known as 'the blues' is actually derived from a repetitive 12 bar pattern and the blue notes. It was born in the slave camps of the United States in the form of hymnals, gospel tunes and spirituals, and evolved into a highly influential genre that has inspired everything from jazz to rock 'n roll to hip hop. Blues guitar is one of the purest forms of the genre, since slaves were typically allowed to have guitars or homemade banjos. The beginnings of blues music are steeped in tradition and at their purest when combined with stringed instruments.

In this free video clip series, our expert will introduce you to blues guitar by demonstrating commonly used scales, box patterns, bends techniques, shuffle patterns and tips for paying rhythm blues guitar. Tips on blues guitar solos are also included and before you know it you'll be jammin with the best of them!

Video Transcript

"I'm going to begin this series by showing you basic Blues rhythms in the key of E. Essentially, what we're going to start with is placing your first finger on the second fret, which is B on the A string, and playing it with E which is essential E five chord. You're going to use your third finger to hit the fourth fret and then essential what were going to do is have this rhythm. And we're going to play it over and over again. This is your most basic Blues rhythm and you're only playing on two strings and pretty much it's going to go like this. (audio demo) You want to keep doing that just get comfortable with playing the two strings right there and essentially it's going back and forth. (audio demo)"