Different Ways To Play Blues Guitar   by Paul Gian

in Entertainment    (submitted 2010-06-15)

There are various ways in which you can play blues guitar. But if you are a beginner all these different styles might sound confusing. So, it will help if you know a few important distinguishing characteristics of each style and here is a guide that will help you to do so.

The first major distinction can be made between the acoustic blues and the electric blues. As the name suggests, the acoustic version is based on acoustic guitar and might involve a solo performing singer with a guitar in his or her hand. The electric blues, made more popular after the Second World War, is certainly more flamboyant.

Blues can also be guitar based or piano based. The piano blues include the ragtime, boogie woogie, barrelhouse and the New Orleans blues. The Chicago blues had popularized the usage of guitar but the usage of piano is also seen within the recitals.

There are also urbane and the rural varieties of blues music. The traditional rural blues like the Delta and Piedmont styles are still quite popular. But the more urbane versions like the Classic female urbane are also quite prominent within the blues tradition. The likes of Ma Rainey, and Bessie Smith are iconic figures from this style of music.

One must also mention the British blues in this regard. This was a kind of hybrid between rock and blues tradition. The great representatives of this music style include John Mayall and Eric Clapton. So, blues can be divided in to many subgenres and if you want to play blues guitar, you should develop a basic idea about the more popular ones.

Blues music in general has been clubbed with 'race music' and 'black music'. Many people say that the only difference between country music in general and blues is that the mainstay of the latter tradition is the African American population. However, the later varieties of blues have been heavily influenced by other musical genres like Jazz and rock.

If you want to play blues style guitar, then knowing a little bit about your favorite sub genre might come in handy. You can pick a lesson which gives more stress on the type of music you like. This is likely to include your favorite songs and will be more interesting for you. So, if you follow such simple guidelines, your learning process will be far more exciting and enjoyable.

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