Things / songs to learn to improve technique and ideas

My guitar teacher currently has me learning Peter Green's version of Freddie Kings "The Stumble". It's packed with loads of different techniques and as a tune, is ultimately just a collection of great licks.

I am only half way through at the moment as the tune also forces you to concentrate alot on phrasing and this takes time. If you have not had a stab at this yet then please have a go. If you have mastered it...I envy you.

Any other suggestions?

PS - playing the backing to the verse section of Claptons 'Layla' is also excellent Barre chord practice (at least for me) and good for swaping between barre chords and open chords as well.

Dr B:

I have no suggestions as currently I'm concentrating on rhythm playing. I suspect that Peter Green will keep you busy for a while however. I don’t know if I’ve ever learned a solo note for note but I have been pretty close on some. My problem has been that I don’t seem to incorporate any of the other player’s style or licks into my own playing, which is a real shame. I’d concentrate on a few of Peter’s licks, the ones that interest you the most, and work them into your repertoire. When they come to you naturally when you are soloing, that is success.

Tom

I can only speak for me, but in my early days when I was teaching myself guitar, I would pick a favorite player like, say, Mike Bloomfield and start listening and dissecting his solos and fills. I was kinda methodical about it, and I liked to start with their earlier stuff and progress thru all their different "periods" until I was "current" with them.

This would take me months, but I gained great insight into not only what they played, but why they played it, how often they played it and where they played it.

Early Peter Green is a great place to start. If you get a good foundation in blues, it'll make most other types of music easier to understand later.

My 2¢
WR

Love that tune. Freddie King is one of my favourite guitar players.

Helle-man is spot on too about the what, where, how and why thing.

I've kept coming back (for about 25 years now) to Book 1 of Mickey Baker's "Complete Course in Jazz Guitar - A Modern Method in How-to-Play Jazz and Hot Guitar". When I purchased it back in the mid-80s, the shop owner refused to sell me Book 2 at the same time, claiming that if I spent less than a year working through Book 1 I was cheating. I've worked through the first half of Book 1, which covers chord work, about two dozen times now and manage to have some epiphany or another each time. I still don't feel ready for the second half.

The most unique aspect of this method book in my opinion if its absolute lack of any discussion of harmony or jazz theory. It's just page after page of examples of connecting 3-4 chords, with instructions to "play all of these examples 2-3 hours per day for a month in all keys before going to the next page". With a little imagination, they can easily fit into just about any style of music (short of hard rock or heavy metal). The book hasn't been revised since the 1950s, so it really gets at the roots of the music that influenced a lot of early blues and rock guitarists.

Great advice from all. A great source to learn some licks and how to play is the Layla Jam Sessions. These were released with "special" anniversary edition of Layla.

RickT

Hey Rick

Thanks for that - any links to music or vids for that? I wil definately follow up on your suggestion and thanks for it

Here's a link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Layla-Sessions-20th-Anniversary/dp/B000001FZ5/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298240275&sr=1-1

This set is worth the price. There is some excellent guitar playing here. The jams are the best part of the package. The tone, the licks, and the overall musicianship is just superb.

RickT

This is a great post. I really need to work on my phrasing and timing. I was supposed to play this simple little intro to a song the other guitar player in my band wrote; it's super simple. when he plays it its so tasty, when I play it sounds stupid. I worked it like 10 min after practice and got it cooked up...But I felt like I shoulda been able to do it on the fly.

Thanks Sickbutnottired

I think phrasing is one of the most important aspects of playing electric blues guitar - and its probably (at least for me) the hardest to master.

Yesterday I had a lesson with my teacher where we spent an hour going over the classic opening bars of the solo to Black Magic Women - Peter Green version (Dm pentatonic / blues scale). I have no problem with 'playing' it (the notes) - but the area that needs considerable work to make it sound as sweet as the track is all phrasing. I just do not have all the bluesey inflections down yet - but I am enjoying the journey of learning. Some of the phrasing - like a quarter tone bend that is not quite a quarter tone some rake notes, and not returning all bends back to correct pitch but leaving a slight bend on them all add to that authentic blues feel. I am really happy spending time learning these ideas - so that I can pinch them for my own soloing. As a consequence, I am in no rush to learn the entire solo until i get the 'feel' down for the phrasing.

I would recommend Peter Green for anyone wanting to work on phrasing and inflections to add colour to their playing. The 'Hard road' album from the bluesbreakers (where he replaced clapton and this came after the beano album) is a classic, but if you want to cheat - he has an anthology album out at the moment with alot of the big numbers on there.

Check out
Black Magic Woman
The Supernatural
Man of the World
Green Manalishi