any advice and tips on my blues playing? (video)

[masterexploder9]

Hey everyone, i just wanted to see if i could get some feedback/advice about my blues improvisation. i've been playing guitar for 6ish years and im mostly into blues rock funk and jazz. anyway here's a video i just made of me playing some blues, its not my best but i'd appreciate any tips or advice.
thanks alot, and I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place, this is my first post on this forum

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8RHrKRY7o0

[MikeJackal]

Tell us a bit more about yourself master, don't want us thinking your just spamming a forum to promote your video ;)

[masterexploder9]

well im a highschool kid whos likes to play blues guitar, and i was looking for some tips and criticism from people that know what they're doing. for instance when i listen to my own stuff i feel like sometimes my solos get a little cluttered, but thats just me im probably the most objective when im listening to my own stuff. any sort of observations and tips like that would be great! not trying to promote my video i dont really care how many views i get or anything like that, just trying to become a better player

[MikeJackal]

I had a listen and there are some points where it's really good. I think my main advice (and i'm no expert) would be to slow it down, the blues doesn't need to be super speedy like your video was in some places unless your SRV or Gary Moore and can play it with feeling at the same time. Don't get me wrong i like to play fast too and pretend I'm Luther Allison, but to really understand the blues you need to slow down and put the emphasis on playing the right notes at the right time, which could be 2 or 3 instead of cramming 8 or 9 in.
I enjoyed watching your video and you pulled some very good blues faces at some points so your in the right direction!

[masterexploder9]

thanks alot, thats great advice. and i practiced my blues faces alot too :) Yeah lots of times i have many ideas of things i want to play and i end up playing way to many notes, ill make an effort to slow down and pick out the most important ones. Any advice about the scales i used/ playing the changes? i was trying to use a major pentatonic over the one chord, a minor pentatonic over the four chord and bits of an E7 arpeggio over the five, though sometimes i strayed from that a little

[MikeJackal]

Hopefully someone else can answer your questions about scales and progressions. I don't know much about it, I know i'm playing mostly minor pentatonic blues and sometimes a bit of major. Recently started adding Aeolian in the mix to add some colour. But other than that it's just made up as i go along and play whatever notes fit the song. You've been playing twice as long as i have actually and what i lack in experience and technical knowledge i make up for in living with the blues everyday.

[masterexploder9]

well thanks alot i really appreciate the help!

[VikingBlues]

to the forum. Like Lynyrd I have to pass on the questions of scales and progressions, and although I've been playing guitar on and off for far too many years it's only in the last two I've become properly aware of, and tried to play, blues. I guess what's important is what it sounds like - if you like it and feel it sounds good, then it doesn't really matter if it fits in with any theory.

It seems to me that there is a lot of very "bluesy" playing in your video and there is a lot of fluency and blues tones there. Like both you yourself and Lynyrd have mentioned there is the issue of maybe getting too cluttered, but there's a lot that isn't and overall it certainly sound to me as if you know what you're doing. Maybe more emphasis here and there on single note lead lines with some long one note vibratos and bends would be good (something more like at 1:00 to 1:08) to bring out more feeling, also there's some great help to a blues solo to be had from the spaces where nothing is played at all and the next note that comes in has heightened impact - one of those classic cases of "less is more". But then I fall into the "the only real blues is a slow blues" Peter Green camp, and there are a lot of very successful and skilled blues guitar players who do play a lot of rapid fire notes.

I find myself thinking what do I know? I could not play what you've just played on that video so don't consider me to be a reliable judge. I also suspect that you've been listening to blues a lot longer than I have as well so I don't even have the credibilty of an expert listener to blues.

What a lot of words to say "I don't know"! In essence I enjoyed watching and listenng to your video, so to these relatively untutored ears it sounds to me like you're doing a lot right - keep playing, and keep listening to other players.

It's a never ending road of learning blues but it's a really enjoyable journey.

[Blindboy]

Not bad... As others have said, try leaving some spaces..."breathing room". Blues leads should have a "vocal" quality. Let me guess... you listen more to contemporary white blues/rock players... Try listening to some Albert Collins, Freddie King, Gatemouth Brown, Albert King, Buddy Guy, etc... Learning to play some of that stuff will definitely infuse your playing with some blues feel.
You've got a good foundation... lots of chops. Think of those licks as vocabulary... now what do you want to actually say?

[Bluesmole]

First of all, Welcome!
I enjoyed parts of the video and there were some interesting riffs/runs, but there were also too many scale runs at high speed, which I find distracting and boring. They left me thinking:'this young man is showing what he can do technically, but mostly without 'feel' for the Blues. Playing the notes is not the same as playing the Blues.
You need to do lots of listening (as advised by others here) to different styles of the Blues.
It's not your technical playing that needs working on, but your emotional input and empathy with the old Blues guys.
Buddy Guy's "Living Proof"cd would be a good starting point for you, with lots of 'bits' to try out. Listen to the fatness of the tone.
Bottom Line: You are already a good guitar player and I'm sure you can be a good Blues player.
Good Luck

[Golfxzq]

Welcome to the forum... that's some pretty good playing there, I enjoyed listening to your video. I'm certainly no expert, I have learned most of what I know right here in this forum so take heed of what is written here and you will go far. I agree with all the advice already given, slow it down and work in more "feeling" in your phrasing. Blindboy gave a great bit of advice that I have been given as well... and it seems to help. Listen to a wide variety of real blues music, listen to what you like. You tend to play similar to the sounds that you listen to... it's all in your head and just tends to come out. I have to warn you, the average age in this forum is quite a few years older than you so most of us go for the slower blues. But that's all right, it's probably the best place to start because you can work on your feelings and phrasing. Then if you are really into the contemporary blues you can work up to that. I believe that you've got a bright future of playing blues, you've certainly got the skills and you started early enough in life to really develop those skills. Keep at it and keep on posting here... sounds great.

[Golfxzq]

Sorry for the double posting... Don't know what happened there. I tried the edit, delete post check box but it would not delete. You might want to check that feature, Gerd. Or then, mabe it's just me?

[masterexploder9]

thanks for all the advice! It is true that i dont listen to older blues very often, in fact the majority of music that i listen to is classic rock. Ill definitely try to emphasize picking out the more important soulful notes and play 3 or 4 of them instead of many of my faster runs.

[12bar]

Sorry for the double posting... Don't know what happened there. I tried the edit, delete post check box but it would not delete. You might want to check that feature, Gerd. Or then, mabe it's just me?

Maybe a broken cookie - log out, delete cookies and log in should work.

Oh, and to the 12bar community! I'll second what BB said - don't overplay (although you have the chops), try to tell us something.