Saturday, 20 April 2019
Sunday, 14 October 2018
Friday, 14 September 2018
Thursday, 13 September 2018
Friday, 7 September 2018
Monday, 3 September 2018
Monday, 30 April 2018
Thursday, 19 April 2018
Eric Clapton
 |
| Slow Hand |
The Story of Eric Clapton, The Legendary Blues Guitarist
On this thirteenth birthday, an English boy - an illegitimate son of a soldier - picked up his first acoustic guitar from his grandparents.
Despite his love for blues music, he found learning to play so challenging he almost gave up. He practised for many long hours, hanging on to learn chords and trying to imitate and mimic the sounds and tone of his blues guitar idols like Big Bill Broonzy by listening to them on his tape machine.
Soon after finding that the study of stained glass design at England's Kingston College of Art wasn't right for him, he busked around Kingston, Richmond and London's West End before bringing together his first band at age 17 - the Roosters - an R&B outfit, in 1963. Fromthat point onwards, Eric Clapton went on to a sensational musical career as an incredibly talented guitar player, singer and songwriter.
His versatility is remarkable, with hits in genres from Delta blues ('Me & Mr Johnson'), pop ('Change the world') and reggae ('I shot the sheriff'). Nicknamed 'Slowhand' for his string-bending blues licks and riffs, Eric Clapton is known as one of the most successful musicians of the 20th century. Do you know that Eric was 'christened' Slowhand by the manager of The Yardbirds because when he broke a string [only had 1 telecaster] he took his time replacing it on stage ...and let everone wait...including the audience.
With his love of the instrument demonstrated in his amazing collection of about 750 guitars, Eric Clapton is hailed as one of the greatest blues guitarists of all time. How is your musical journey progressing?
On this thirteenth birthday, an English boy - an illegitimate son of a soldier - picked up his first acoustic guitar from his grandparents.
Despite his love for blues music, he found learning to play so challenging he almost gave up. He practised for many long hours, hanging on to learn chords and trying to imitate and mimic the sounds and tone of his blues guitar idols like Big Bill Broonzy by listening to them on his tape machine.
Soon after finding that the study of stained glass design at England's Kingston College of Art wasn't right for him, he busked around Kingston, Richmond and London's West End before bringing together his first band at age 17 - the Roosters - an R&B outfit, in 1963. Fromthat point onwards, Eric Clapton went on to a sensational musical career as an incredibly talented guitar player, singer and songwriter.
His versatility is remarkable, with hits in genres from Delta blues ('Me & Mr Johnson'), pop ('Change the world') and reggae ('I shot the sheriff'). Nicknamed 'Slowhand' for his string-bending blues licks and riffs, Eric Clapton is known as one of the most successful musicians of the 20th century. Do you know that Eric was 'christened' Slowhand by the manager of The Yardbirds because when he broke a string [only had 1 telecaster] he took his time replacing it on stage ...and let everone wait...including the audience.
With his love of the instrument demonstrated in his amazing collection of about 750 guitars, Eric Clapton is hailed as one of the greatest blues guitarists of all time. How is your musical journey progressing?
Stevie Ray Vaughan
 |
Stevie Ray Vaughan |
With his astonishingly accomplished guitar playing, Stevie Ray
Vaughan ignited the blues revival of the ’80s. Vaughan drew equally from
bluesmen like Albert King, Buddy Guy, and Albert Collins and rock &
roll players like Jimi Hendrix and Lonnie Mack, as well as jazz
guitarists like Kenny Burrell and Wes Montgomery, developing a uniquely
eclectic and fiery style that sounded like no other guitarist,
regardless of genre. Vaughan bridged the gap between blues and rock like
no other artist had since the late ’60s. From 1983 to 1990 Stevie Ray
was the leading light in American blues, consistently selling out
concerts while his albums regularly went gold. His tragic death in 1990
at age 35 cut short a brilliant career in blues and American rock &
roll just as he was on the brink of superstardom.
Born and raised in Dallas, Vaughan began playing guitar at age 7, inspired by older brother Jimmie. By age 12 he was playing in garage bands, and within a few years he joined semi-professional bands that occasionally landed gigs in local nightclubs. At 17 he dropped out of high school to concentrate on playing music. In 1970 Stevie was playing in a nine-piece horn band and then formed his first blues band, Blackbird, a year later. Blackbird moved to Austin and after a few more stints in various bands Vaughan joined Paul Ray and the Cobras in 1975. The Cobras were Austin’s Band of the Year in 1976. After paying his dues as a sideman Stevie formed Triple Threat Revue in 1977. Triple Threat also featured bassist W.C. Clark, and vocalist Lou Ann Barton. Barton left the band in 1979 and the group became Double Trouble, the name inspired by the Otis Rush song. Double Trouble featured Jack Newhouse on bass, Chris Layton on drums and Vaughan became the band’s lead singer. In 1981 Tommy Shannon joined on bass and the power trio was set.
Through the early 1980s Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble played the Texas club circuit, becoming one of the most popular bands in the area. In 1982 the band played the Montreux Jazz Festival and their performance caught the attention of David Bowie and Jackson Browne. After Double Trouble’s performance, Bowie asked Vaughan to play on his forthcoming album, Let’s Dance, which, with Stevie’s lead guitar on six of the eight songs, became Bowie’s best selling record to date. After an after-hours jam in the artists’ bar Jackson Browne offered the group free recording time at his Downtown Studio in Los Angeles. Shortly afterward, legendary producerJohn Hammond landed Vaughan and Double Trouble a record contract with Epic, and the band recorded its debut album in two days over the Thanksgiving weekend at Downtown Studios.
Vaughan’s debut album, Texas Flood, was released in the summer of 1983, a few months after Bowie’s Let’s Dance appeared. Publicity over Stevie’s management pulling him from Bowie’s 1983 world tour in order to support Vaughan’s own record earned him quite a bit of attention, but Texas Flood was a blockbuster blues success; receiving positive reviews in both blues and rock publications, reaching number 38 on the charts, and crossing over to album rock radio stations. Vaughan and Double Trouble set off on a successful tour and quickly recorded their second album, Couldn’t Stand the Weather, which was released in May of 1984. The album was more successful than its predecessor, reaching number 31 on the charts; by the end of 1985, the album went gold. Double Trouble added keyboardist Reese Wynans in 1985, before they recorded their third album, Soul to Soul. The record was released in September 1985 and was also quite successful, reaching number 34 on the charts.
Although his professional career was soaring, Vaughan was sinking deep into alcoholism and drug addiction. Despite his declining health, Vaughan continued to push himself to the point of collapse in Germany in late September 1986. Almost three weeks of the European tour were cancelled while Vaughan successfully rehabilitated back in the States. The band released the double live album Live Alive in November of 1986 and launched an extensive American tour in support. Although the band’s touring schedule slackened slightly, Vaughan performed many concerts in 1988, including opening for the Robert Plant tour, a headlining gig at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, a European tour and he still found time to record his fourth album. The resulting record, In Step, appeared in June of 1989, peaking at number 33 on the charts, earning a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Recording, and going gold just over six months after its release.
In the spring of 1990 Stevie Ray recorded an album with his brother Jimmie, which was scheduled for release in the fall of the year. In the late summer of 1990, Vaughan and Double Trouble set out on an American headlining tour. On August 26, 1990, their East Troy, WI, gig concluded with an encore jam featuring guitarists Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan, and Robert Cray. After the concert, Stevie Ray boarded a helicopter bound for Chicago. Minutes after its 12:50 a.m. takeoff, the helicopter crashed, killing Vaughan and the other four passengers. He was only 35 years old.
Family Style, the Vaughan Brothers album was released in September and entered the charts at number seven. Family Style began a series of posthumous releases that were as popular as the albums Vaughan released during his lifetime. The Sky Is Crying, a collection of studio outtakes compiled by Jimmie, was released in October of 1991; it entered the charts at number ten and went platinum three months after its release. In the Beginning, a recording of a Double Trouble concert in 1980, was released in the fall of 1992 and the compilation Greatest Hits was released in 1995. In 1999, Vaughan’s original albums were remastered and reissued, with The Real Deal: Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 also appearing that year. 2000 saw the release of the four-disc box SRV, which concentrated heavily on outtakes, live performances, and rarities.
Stevie Ray Live
Born and raised in Dallas, Vaughan began playing guitar at age 7, inspired by older brother Jimmie. By age 12 he was playing in garage bands, and within a few years he joined semi-professional bands that occasionally landed gigs in local nightclubs. At 17 he dropped out of high school to concentrate on playing music. In 1970 Stevie was playing in a nine-piece horn band and then formed his first blues band, Blackbird, a year later. Blackbird moved to Austin and after a few more stints in various bands Vaughan joined Paul Ray and the Cobras in 1975. The Cobras were Austin’s Band of the Year in 1976. After paying his dues as a sideman Stevie formed Triple Threat Revue in 1977. Triple Threat also featured bassist W.C. Clark, and vocalist Lou Ann Barton. Barton left the band in 1979 and the group became Double Trouble, the name inspired by the Otis Rush song. Double Trouble featured Jack Newhouse on bass, Chris Layton on drums and Vaughan became the band’s lead singer. In 1981 Tommy Shannon joined on bass and the power trio was set.
Through the early 1980s Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble played the Texas club circuit, becoming one of the most popular bands in the area. In 1982 the band played the Montreux Jazz Festival and their performance caught the attention of David Bowie and Jackson Browne. After Double Trouble’s performance, Bowie asked Vaughan to play on his forthcoming album, Let’s Dance, which, with Stevie’s lead guitar on six of the eight songs, became Bowie’s best selling record to date. After an after-hours jam in the artists’ bar Jackson Browne offered the group free recording time at his Downtown Studio in Los Angeles. Shortly afterward, legendary producerJohn Hammond landed Vaughan and Double Trouble a record contract with Epic, and the band recorded its debut album in two days over the Thanksgiving weekend at Downtown Studios.
Vaughan’s debut album, Texas Flood, was released in the summer of 1983, a few months after Bowie’s Let’s Dance appeared. Publicity over Stevie’s management pulling him from Bowie’s 1983 world tour in order to support Vaughan’s own record earned him quite a bit of attention, but Texas Flood was a blockbuster blues success; receiving positive reviews in both blues and rock publications, reaching number 38 on the charts, and crossing over to album rock radio stations. Vaughan and Double Trouble set off on a successful tour and quickly recorded their second album, Couldn’t Stand the Weather, which was released in May of 1984. The album was more successful than its predecessor, reaching number 31 on the charts; by the end of 1985, the album went gold. Double Trouble added keyboardist Reese Wynans in 1985, before they recorded their third album, Soul to Soul. The record was released in September 1985 and was also quite successful, reaching number 34 on the charts.
Although his professional career was soaring, Vaughan was sinking deep into alcoholism and drug addiction. Despite his declining health, Vaughan continued to push himself to the point of collapse in Germany in late September 1986. Almost three weeks of the European tour were cancelled while Vaughan successfully rehabilitated back in the States. The band released the double live album Live Alive in November of 1986 and launched an extensive American tour in support. Although the band’s touring schedule slackened slightly, Vaughan performed many concerts in 1988, including opening for the Robert Plant tour, a headlining gig at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, a European tour and he still found time to record his fourth album. The resulting record, In Step, appeared in June of 1989, peaking at number 33 on the charts, earning a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Recording, and going gold just over six months after its release.
In the spring of 1990 Stevie Ray recorded an album with his brother Jimmie, which was scheduled for release in the fall of the year. In the late summer of 1990, Vaughan and Double Trouble set out on an American headlining tour. On August 26, 1990, their East Troy, WI, gig concluded with an encore jam featuring guitarists Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan, and Robert Cray. After the concert, Stevie Ray boarded a helicopter bound for Chicago. Minutes after its 12:50 a.m. takeoff, the helicopter crashed, killing Vaughan and the other four passengers. He was only 35 years old.
Family Style, the Vaughan Brothers album was released in September and entered the charts at number seven. Family Style began a series of posthumous releases that were as popular as the albums Vaughan released during his lifetime. The Sky Is Crying, a collection of studio outtakes compiled by Jimmie, was released in October of 1991; it entered the charts at number ten and went platinum three months after its release. In the Beginning, a recording of a Double Trouble concert in 1980, was released in the fall of 1992 and the compilation Greatest Hits was released in 1995. In 1999, Vaughan’s original albums were remastered and reissued, with The Real Deal: Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 also appearing that year. 2000 saw the release of the four-disc box SRV, which concentrated heavily on outtakes, live performances, and rarities.
Stevie Ray Live
Master The Blues Guitar Scales for Blues Musicians
Come and join us as we take a look into what makes up a blues scale, and as we examine in depth the benefits of using blues backing tracks to perfect and hone our knowledge and skill for playing the blues.
One of the most emotional forms of music that is played on the guitar is blues music. Blues guitarists seem to bleed out their emotions through their fingertips, and interweave a soul-bearing story using six strings. Many individuals who fall in love with playing the guitar soon fall in love with blues music, if they weren’t already infatuated with it before.
One of the key elements to learning how to play blues music is learning the scales and chords that make up the foundation of what blues music is. There are a lot of different kinds of blues music and different styles within that genre that you can learn, so it’s important to just start with the basic simple chords and scales and work your way up to the more complex ones.
The basic blues scale is a pentatonic minor scale, but it has one additional note than the regular pentatonic minor scale. It’s this additional note that gives the needed amount of tension to create the signature blues sound. The scale consists of six different note names, but when you actually play the blues scale you will play all the places for those note names within that specific position.
Once you learn that particular scale, you are now ready to master the timing, structure, and improvisational aspects of blues music. This is best accomplished by playing along with blues backing tracks. Practicing along to blues backing tracks is like practicing along with an entire blues band accompanying you. There are a lot of benefits that can come from using blues backing tracks to improve your practice time.
One of the benefits to using blues backing tracks to perfect your skills is it helps you to understand structure and how the scale fits in with the rhythm section. By playing along with blues backing tracks, you’ll be able to combine the knowledge you have of the scale and apply what you’ve learned about music theory.
Another great benefit of blues backing tracks is the fact that it is a powerful weapon in mastering one of the trickiest parts of playing the blues, and that would be improvisation. With these guitar backing tracks you have the freedom to improvise a hot lead solo based on your knowledge of the scale and your own creativity. Improvisation is an important technique, one that is crucial for the blues guitarist to flourish in, especially during a live performance, which these tracks are also good for as well.
Friday, 30 March 2018
Blues chords and Rhythm Tips
Tips on Playing Blues Guitar Chords and Rhythm.
My favorite chords are blues chords. While some of them may be a little more complicated, you can really get a groove going with them
O= Play string.
X= Don't play string.
Most common blues guitar chords l have the same name tag of seven. These are known as dominant seventh chords. They sound great when played together and give you a great deal of possibilities. You can also play a G7 chord by moving your finger from the third fret to the first fret on the high E string. It will expect you to change your fingering. Strumming patterns for blues are usually fast in pace. To do this, we need to keep things simple and rhythmic. Here is a great strumming pattern to learn:
Down Down Up Up Down
Change things up a bit and try alternating the up and down strums. Keep practicing them and you'll be well on your way. You'll find that I used a lot of rest in-between chords. These little pauses can be handled moving your fingers somewhat off the fretboard and discontinue strumming at the same time. You can stop strumming for that short moment and pick right back up again without breaking the pattern.
This will be challenging at first but you will soon grow into it. In musical language, it can be described as a "shuffle" feel.
<b>Soloing Strategies</b>
When playing blues, you may experience a problem where everything you play begins to sound similar. You may find that you continually revert back to what you know. In other words, you're playing in a box. Here are some helpful hints to help you avoid this problem.
First, get yourself some blues guitar backing tracks. You can purchase professional tracks from companies such as 50Blues. Begin by with playing short bursts of music that last for roughly 10 seconds. These short "Bursts" should sound similar to a blues guitar solo. Vary the tempo and the pause time in between these short rests.
Secondly, try key changes. Move into a new key and incorporate the techniques that you are already acquainted with. Use dynamics. Going from something soft to something hard really has a great effect and will develop your brain to think outside of the box. I also suggest that you learn how to play 16th notes and 32nd notes in quick succession so you will be as equally prepared to play the fast notes as you are the slow notes.
Focus in on your right hand and ensure that you give it a good blues workout exercise everyday by using alternative picking and rapid picking techniques. I urge you to focus in on that last tip. Stop looking at your left and right hand as two separate entities. Rather, look at them as one. You may notice that when you strum hard with your right hand, your left hand becomes tense even though it's just holding a simple chord.
A problem like that can lead to serious health problems in the future such as carpal tunnel syndrome. To avoid that, practice playing with your left hand at ease while your right hand strums. This will also step-up speed and assist you to contribute texture to your blues solos.
Thursday, 29 March 2018
Blues You Can Use
Buddy Guy - Born to Play Guitar
George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues and has influenced eminent guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck and John Mayer. In the 1960s, Guy played with Muddy Waters as a house guitarist at Chess Records and began a musical partnership with the harmonica player Junior Wells.
Guy was ranked 30th in Rolling Stone magazine's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". His song "Stone Crazy" was ranked 78th in the Rolling Stone list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time". Clapton once described him as "the best guitar player alive".
In 1999 Guy wrote the book Damn Right I've Got the Blues, with Donald Wilcock. Guy's autobiography, When I Left Home: My Story, was published in 2012. Website
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)