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If you are a beginning guitar player or a seasoned player that wants to learn how to play the blues there are some guidelines to help you focus on the learning this soulful sound. If you lay out a practice format rather than bouncing from one artist or style to the next your progress will be much faster!

Some guidelines to the blues:

1. Give credit where credit is due!

The origins of rock and roll can be traced back to the early forms of the blues in the Mississippi Delta, and you will see many influences of the early blues in today's rock and roll, so it is important that your blues guitar lessons are treated as a separate and unique style.

2. The blues progression is unique!

The one four five blues chord progression is based on the 1st 4th and 5th steps of the major scale and is featured in the majority of blues songs. That is not to say that it is boring far from it and it is your job as a blues guitarist to give it feeling and life!

3. Master the blues scale!

As a blues guitarist you will be spending a lot of time playing the notes in the minor pentatonic scale, however there are many close neighbors that can add spice to your sound and reinforce your style. So live a little outside the box!

4. Get that beat down!

The 4/4 beat is very common in the blues, slow or fast the tempo laid down can set the mood for the song so whatever feel you are going for can be determined by the time signature you choose!

5. Can you hear me now?

Once you develop your ear and understand the one four five blues progression, you will be able to hear the changes and you will be able to recognize those changes in various musical pieces old and new.

6.Build those chops!

Listen and learn the blues licks from the past and present. If you study the various rock guitarist you will notice they have borrowed blues licks from the past that they have incorporated into modern rock sounds.

7. Think outside the box!

Listen and if you want learn some slide guitar many blues guitarist have incorporated slide guitar into their blues recording and slide guitar sound fits like a glove over the blues sound.

8. Lend an ear to the great ones!

Listen to the great blues artist from the past and pay attention to how the artist of today have taken the sound further.

9. Petty larceny and the blues!

If you are going to steal licks from the blues masters of the past make sure you do something with it and pay it forward, take the music further and give them their due.

10. Blues is a good man feeling down!

It has been said to play the blues you have to live the blues, it is all about the mileage and that can only come from the feeling something deep at some level and that will find its way to your strings.

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