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One of the most important techniques that you can get down is a slur. Slurs are commonly called hammer-ons, pull-offs, or slides, but really the term slur encompasses all of those things.

A slur is just an unarticulated note. It’s a note you don’t pick. Under that umbrella, you could execute a slur with a hammer-on, a pull-off, or a slide.

Slides can be slurs, but slurs don’t have to be slides. You can slide your finger and still pick the note you slide to.

Slurs are awesome, and absolutely necessary, for creating longer, faster blues runs. Modern blues rock players and traditionaly bluesmen alike have used them to put fire in their playing.

I got an email today that I get often…

I am currently speeding up my box 1 to box 2 scales but I struggle with one thing, which finger to use as the slide finger when moving from box 1 to 2 on the 3rd string. Coming down is easy, it seems, as the first finger seems to naturally be the one to slide down with. But going up there are many options.

1. Use 1 then slide 2 frets and go 1 2 3
2. Use 1 3, then 1 fret and go 3 4
3. Use 1 3 4 then slide 1 fret and go 4
4. Use 1 stretch 2, no slide and go 3 4

The answer is not always the same for everyone. Since I’m comfortable sliding with my pinky, I tend to use option 3 quite a bit, though it’s not technically the most correct way. From a classical, traditional technique standpoint, you would use option 1. Some of you, however, might feel comfortable with option 2. I would definitely advise against option 4, since stretching like that is always prone to error.

This is all in reference to changing from box 1 to box 2 on the 3rd string. You would use your 1st finger to play the 5th fret (in the key of A here,) then slide up your first finger to the 7th fret, use the 2nd finger to play the 8th fret, and your 3rd finger to play the 9th fret.

I love to get emails like these…

“I have been playing for a number of years and have done the private lesson
and the books and so on but could never find what I really needed/wanted,
spent hundreds of dollars.

I have found what I need and I wish to thank you, this is very good and as I
have played with some well known names in my time in the music business, I
will pass this info along to other folks who might wish to enroll in your
very well presented course.

I do not play professionally at this time ;( quieter life style at the
present) but I am excited to be able to tell folks where to go to get what
they need.” … Gary Hamilton, El Paso, TX.

I would love to hear your success story.

In the 1920’s and 1930’s, blues guitar players like Blind Lemon Jefferson, Son House, Robert Johnson, and Lonnie Johnson were the influential performers of the day. They used a slide which was often made out of a knife blade or the broken or sawed off neck from a bottle. Most of the music was improvised, and unaccompanied. The form of the songs were loose, and were rarely, if ever, played the same way twice.

As the 1940’s came, the jump blues style characterized by big band music sequestered the guitar to the rhythm section primarily. The primary influence of this era on blues guitar is that it heavily influenced the development of what would later be known as rock and roll, or rhythm and blues.

After World War II in the 1950’s, blues guitar became electrified and amplified. Starting in Chicago, this new electric blues was characterized by the sounds of Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, and Jimmy Reed. All of these players grew up in Mississippi, but migrated to Chicago. The bands typically had, in addition to the electric guitar, harmonica and a rhythm section of bass and drums. Sometimes there would also be a saxophone, though it would be relegated to a rhythmic support role.

B.B. King and Freddie King were also making names for themselves at this time. They were somewhat unique at the time because they did not make use of the slide to play the guitar. B.B. King has long been considered one of the greatest blues guitar players of all time. Freddie King has often been called the King of the Boogie Woogie guitar.

While Chicago had it’s own sound in the 1950’s, some other artists such as T-Bone Walker and John Lee Hooker were creating what some call the California Blues style. T-Bone Walker was born in Dallas, while Hooker was born in Mississippi.  The California Blues Style that they helped to forge was smoother than the Chicago Blues and is somewhat of a melting pot for Chicago Blues, jump blues, and some jazz swing.

Starting in the 1960’s, Caucasian audiences gained more interest in blues guitar thanks in part to the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and what was later to be called the British Blues Movement. Bands such as Fleetwood Mac, Cream, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, the Rolling Stone, and the Yardbirds were performing classic blues tunes in addition to their original tunes. Many of these artists inspired American blues-rock artists like Janis Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, and Johnny Winter.
Meanwhile, in Chicago, Albert King, Buddy Guy, and Luther Allison where creating what is called the West Side style of Chicago Blues. Their bands were dominated by the amplified electric blues guitar and heavily influenced later artists such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny Lang, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

Since the early 1980’s, the blues has enjoyed quite a resurgence in America. The Texas Rock-Blues Style of Stevie Ray Vaughan and The Fabulous Thunderbirds brought the blues to American rock radio stations. Eric Clapton, who originally gained his fame with Cream and John Mayall, continues to make great blues guitar albums and even recently recorded a set of old Robert Johnson classics. Many famous, legendary blues guitar players such as Buddy Guy and B.B. King continue to share the stage with the new generation of blues guitar players like Robert Cray, Joe Bonamassa, and Walter Trout.

Most of us who play blues guitar are familiar with the 12 bar blues. Almost every blues guitar player has played songs like “Sweet Home Chicago”, “Pride and Joy”, “Red House”, and one of the thousands of other blues songs that use the 12 bar form. What many blues guitar players don’t know, is that there are two other great blues forms to choose from, the 8 bar blues, and the 16 bar blues.

All of the forms use only three chords, and roman numerals are used to describe them. The first chord, called the I chord, is usually a dominant seventh type of chord that is built from the first note in the major scale. If you are in the key of G, then G7 will be your I chord. The fourth note of a G major scale is a C, so the next chord used is called the IV chord and would be C7 in the key of G. The fifth note in the G major scale is D, so the V chord would be D7. So now you have your three primary chords, G7, C7, and D7.

The 12 bar blues is 12 measures long. The term bar is just another word for measure. The first bar is always the I chord. The second bar is either the I chord again, or for a ‘quick change’ blues, it is the IV chord. Bars 3 and 4 are always the I chord again. Bars 5 and 6 will be the IV chord, and bars 7 and 8 will be the I chord. Bar 9 is the V chord, but bar 10 will either be IV or V. Bar 11 is the I chord, and Bar 12 is the V chord which sets up the listener for the start of the next chorus.
The 8 bar blues, as in the song “Key To The Highway,” also starts with a I chord. After that, Bar 2 is the V chord. Bars 3 and 4 belong to the IV chord. Bar 5 is back to the I chord. Bar 6 is the V. Bars 7 and 8 repeat that sentiment with the I chord on Bar 7 and the V chord on bar 8. Once again, the final bar has the V chord to setup for the next chorus.

A 16 bar blues, such as the Herbie Hancock tune, “Watermelon Man,” starts like a 12 bar blues. The first four bars are the I chord. Bars 5 and 6 the IV chord, and bars 7 and 8 return to the I chord. Even bars 9 and 10 share the V and IV chord usage like the 12 bar blues. The difference is in that bars 9 and 10 are repeated 2 more times for Bars 11 – 14. Finally, bar 15 returns to the I chord which also holds on for bar 16.

As a blues guitar player, remember that it’s not that important how you play the chords in a blues tune. You can play the same tune with several different comping styles and get several great results for the same tune. Similarly, when you find a good comping pattern that you like, don’t be afraid to stick with it for a lot of the tunes that you play. If it works well in one tune, chances are it will work well in others.

This is where I will post future articles, occasionally lessons, and tips about blues guitar in general. Check back often.