Anybody Can Learn Acoustic Blues Guitar!

It all started with the blues… Jazz, rock 'n roll, soul, funk, and even country-western music have deep roots in the music originated by African Americans that came to be called "the blues."

learn acoustic blues guitar

So, if you're interested in learning guitar, it just makes sense that at some point you're going to want to learn some blues licks on acoustic guitar.

Blues can also provide help for learning bass guitar, in case you're interested in that, at some point. In fact, getting into the blues will also help you build a great foundation for almost any other style you decide to learn—well, except classical, maybe. But that's a whole different area.

Info on The Blues Scale

One of the distinctive features of the blues is the set of notes that most blues tunes are built on: the blues scale. Just like those major and minor scales that your piano teacher tried to get you to learn, the blues has a pretty standard alphabet. For example, if you start on the bottom string of the guitar, played "open," (the note "E"), you would play a blues scale like this:

·        E, G (3rd fret, bottom string),

·        A (2nd string, open),

·         B-flat (2nd string, 1st fret),

·         B-natural (2nd string, 2nd fret),

·         D (3rd string, open),

·        D-sharp (3rd string, 1st fret),

·        E (3rd string, 2nd fret).

If you really want to get fancy, keep going up from there:

·        E, G (4th string, open),

·        (4th string, 2nd fret)

·        B-flat (4th string, 3rd fret)

·        B-natural (5th string, open)

·        D (5th string, 3rd fret)

·        D-sharp (5th string, 4th fret)

·        E (6th string, open)

There! You just played a 2-octave ascending blues scale. Now, do it in reverse and go back down to the bottom string, open.

Practice that until you can do it fast, without looking at your fingers, and pretty soon you'll start sounding like Lightning Hopkins or Howling Wolf. You'll be well on your way to learning acoustic blues guitar.

Get Some Guitar Help

If the above instructions didn't make all that much sense to you on first reading, don't worry. There are tons of Internet sites dedicated to learning acoustic blues guitar that can take you step-by-step through the process. Some of these sites have video and audio helps to make learning acoustic blues guitar even easier.

No matter how you approach it, though, learning acoustic blues guitar—like anything else worth doing—takes time, patience, and practice. So stick with it, and good luck!