Blues Licks, Blues Guitar Lessons

How do you play the blues with feeling? How do you get those blues licks to mean something when they come out of your guitar? The closest thing I have found to an actual “secret” is simply this:

Learn to sing with your guitar.

I don’t know if it’s true, but I once heard that jazz great Miles Davis said that he’d learned more about soloing from listening to Billie Holiday sing than anywhere else. Whether it’s true or not, this is an idea every blues guitarist should think about.

When Billie Holiday sang, all the happiness and pain, the hopes and disappointments of her life, all the experiences that made her who she was when she sang that song could be heard in her voice.

It’s the same when when you play a guitar solo. At least it should be.

You have to be brave to play the blues well. You have to go deep down to the depths of your soul where the sunshine and the muck are stored. You have to have the guts to put it all out there for everyone to see. That’s how Billie Holiday sang. She was fearless.

Remember: the only soul you have to play with is your own. It all comes from you. Like Charlie Parker said, “If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn.”

But how do you get that point? Well, I can’t tell you how to live, but I can give you these suggestions to help you channel that soul through your guitar.

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