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These 17 tunes come from King’s most fertile period, his 1966-68 tenure at Memphis’s Stax Records. Stax chief Jim Stewart had been reluctant to sign blues artists because he felt straight blues wouldn’t mesh with Stax’s patented Memphis soul. Ironically, the fusion of King’s sharp guitar wails with the dynamic rhythms of Booker T. & the MGs–the Stax house band–was what set King apart from other bluesmen. The unique blend produced classic after classic: Booker T. Jones’ rolling piano propels “Laundromat Blues.” Al Jackson’s drum shuffle supports “Crosscut Saw.” The driving horns of Andrew Love, Wayne Jackson, and Joe Arnold accent “Born Under a Bad Sign.” King’s ripe and mellow vocals are a perfect match for the soul-drenched music while his dramatic string bends leap out. –Marc Greilsamer

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The House of Blues and producers of The Rock House Method® join together to bring you this unique and comprehensive Blues Guitar Course!

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Most of us who took piano lessons as kids are all too familiar with scales, and most of us hated practicing them with a passion. But understanding scales and what they do is critical to the process of improvisation as well as key orientation and just a general understanding of what’s happening in the song we are playing.

The word “scale” comes from the Latin word “la scala” which means “the ladder”. So a scale is a ladder of notes that starts at the bottom — called the root note — and proceeds upwards to the top of the ladder — called the octave note.

There are several kinds of scales, the most common being the major scale, followed by three different types of minor scales. After that there are several specialty scales, including the blues scale used widely in jazz, R&B, blues, and quite a bit in pop music.

The “blues scale” is really a combination of the major diatonic scale (the “regular” scale we all grew up with) plus three additional notes:

The flatted 3rd;

The flatted 5th (or sharp 4th — same thing);

The flatted 7th

As a result the blues scale really contains 11 notes — the 8 of the normal diatonic scale — and the 3 “blue notes”. These are used in various combinations, as we shall see, to create a “bluesy sound”.

The blues started not as a piano style, but as a vocal style, and of course the human voice can sing “in the cracks” between the notes on the keyboard. So when we play blues on the keyboard, we try to imitate the human voice by playing BOTH the 3rd and the flat 3rd — BOTH the 5th and the flat 5th — BOTH the 7th and the flat 7th. We would play in the cracks if we could, but we can’t, so we do the best we can by combining the intervals to imitate the quarter steps that a human voice can sing. (Certain instruments can do that too — for example, the trombone. Since it has a slide, it can hit an infinite number of tones between any two keyboard notes.)

So in the key of C, for example, the blues scale would include:

C, D, Eb, E, F, Gb, G, A, Bb, B, and the octave C.

In the key of F the blues scale would include:

F, G, Ab, A, Bb, Cb, C, D, Eb, E, and the octave F.

In the key of G the blues scale would include:

G, A, Bb, B, C, Db, D, E, F, F#, and the octave G.

So in improvising you can craft a melody out of any or all of these notes. Start by creating a motif out of just 3 or 4 notes, then repeat that motif as you change chords.

For example, if you were in the Key of C, you might create a motif such as C, C, G, Bb C and repeat it in various rhythms as you play the C7 chord in your left hand, then again as you move to the F7 chord, and so on.

With practice and experimentation you can play your own variety of the blues as you master the blues scale.

Ah, the blues. One of the most well known forms of music. There’s no other music style quite like it, that has carried such an influence on other music styles and that has such a rich heritage. Surprisingly, though, the Blues isn’t that difficult to play.

The Blues as an oral tradition can be traced back to the mid 1800s, and finds its roots from Europe and Africa. However, the Blues as we know it today is purely an American style of music. It first began to be popularized in the early 1900s, with guys like WC Handy writing songs such as “Memphis Blues” & “St. Louis Blues.”

In the 1920s and 1930s, guitarists used slides from broken bottle necks to create the slide sound (which is something any guitarist should learn when wanting to play the Blues) and in the 1940s Big Band began to take over. This meant that guitars moved primarily into the rhythm section. Then, the 1950s arrived, where piano blues and guitar blues began to develop into rock and roll and other forms of music. This is also when amplifiers and electrified guitar music became more and more common.

The Blues is primarily guitar and piano focused, but it can be played on other instruments too. To play the Blues, there are a few tips and tricks that can get you started quickly. Firstly, the Blues must be played with FEELING. It’s a very less technical style, which you will especially find once you get used to a few progressions, chords and scales. Secondly, get comfy with a Blues rhythm when practicing (most blues is in 4/4 time signature.) Then, learn to play the Blues Scale and a Blues Progression, and you’ll find yourself soon able to play the Blues with feeling and ease.

Let’s look at the Blues Scale. It’s actually quite easy to play and works off the major scale. All it is, really, is the major scale with an added flattened 3rd, 5th and 7th. So, if you were playing in the key of C, the Blue Scale would look like this : C D Eb E F Gb G A Bb C. That’s it. The scale is ideal for improvising over a blues progression, which you should also practice and learn to play.

Typically, Blues progressions are done over 12 measures (bars) – which is why it is known as 12 bar blues. If you were playing in the key of C, for instance, you would play the first 4 bars in the root chord (C), the 5th and 6th bars in the 4th interval (F), the 7th and 8th bars back to the root note (C), the 9th and 10th bars in the 5th interval (G) and end off the last two bars in the root note again (C.) If you wanted to play chords over this progression, you would stick to dominant 7th chords- and to improvise you would just play the Blues Scale as above. Guitarists can add a few tricks – using a slide, or “wriggling” notes for some extra feeling.

Blues has this marvelous ability of getting you addicted to it very quickly. It really is a unique style for jamming and improvising, and one song can carry on for (literally) hours. Not only that, but since other forms of music find their roots in the blues, learning to play the blues will increase your ability in those styles as well.

From the ManufacturerManufacturer’s Description (December 10, 2008)Fender Starcaster Strat Packs deliver a great-sounding, sleek-looking Stratocaster electric guitar paired with a compact but still-mighty guitar amplifier and a host of essential accessories. This Strat Pack includes a candy apple red Stratocaster guitar, strings, picks, a strap, Squier SP-10 amp, a 10-foot cable, a tuner, a gig bag, guitar stand, and an instructional DVD. The legendary Fender Stratocaster electric guitar. The Squier SP-10 amp. The highly versatile Stratocaster guitar offers legendary Fender tone combined with classic styling, and it’s suited for all styles of music. It features a 22-fret rosewood fingerboard with dot position inlays, three single-coil pickups with 5-way switching, sealed die-cast tuners for consistent tuning stability, chrome hardware and a three-ply white pickguard. The synchronous tremolo bridge can be used for subtle shimmery manipulation of chords or hard-core whammy-b (more…)

Product Description
The Hal Leonard Blues Guitar Method is your complete guide to learning blues guitar. This book uses real blues songs – no corny arrangments of nursery rhymes here! (well, except “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” but this is NOT the version you learned in kindergarten!) – to teach you the basics of rhythm and lead blues guitar in the style of B.B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, and many others. Lessons include: 12-bar blues; chords, scales and licks; vibrato and string bending; riffs, turnarounds, and boogie patterns; hammer-ons, pull-offs, and slides; standard notation and tablature; and much more! Songs include: Boom Boom * Born Under a Bad Sign * Double Trouble * Killing Floor * Sweet Home Chicago * You Shook Me * and more. The CD includes over 70 tracks for demo and play-along.

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Now you can enjoy the classic style and killer performance of the famous Epiphone SG-Special Electric Guitar without destroying your budget. Features include two open-coil humbuckers, stopbar tailpiece with tune-o-matic bridge, chrome hardware, and rosewood fingerboard. Limited lifetime warranty.

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