Blues Guitar For Dummies. Jon Chappell

key — a geared mechanism located on the headstock. Turning the tuning key is also how you tune the guitar, which is covered in Chapter 3.

      Electric guitars only: Pickups and amplification

Getting your sound out of your electric guitar and to your adoring masses requires you to have command over not only your touch and technique but also the features and functions provided by your particular guitar. Two important features of electric guitars (or plugged-in acoustic guitars) are the pickups and the amplification.

      

Pickups are the little metal bars that “read” the sound coming off the vibrating string and are important because they transfer the sound down the line. The amplification part of the system is what makes the almost inaudible signal loud enough to be heard.

      An acoustic guitar (or unplugged guitar) is pretty much a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of instrument. But when you bring the power of electricity into the picture, now that’s a whole other story. Although you strike the strings on an acoustic and a sound occurs by coming out of the body of the guitar and through the sound hole (or F-holes on an archtop guitar), when you play an electric guitar your sound filters through an amp and takes your sound to the screaming masses at Madison Square Garden. What the multitudes hear is the pickups underneath the strings “sensing” (they don’t “hear” because they’re not using acoustics) the motion of the string through disturbances in their magnetic field. That disturbance generates electrical current that gets sent through a wire out of the guitar to your amp (see Chapter 15 for more info on amps).

Performing and Looking Like a Blues Player

      Never forget that playing the blues is supposed to be entertaining — even if only to yourself. And after you engage in the business of entertaining, you are, by definition, an entertainer and a performer. So start thinking like a star! The following sections help you to get into the groove of being a blues performer.

      Expanding and filling your brain with know-how

      Besides having a guitar and a copy of Blues Guitar For Dummies, you can take several other key actions to help you become a better blues player.

       Groove to some tunes. Listening to the blues is about the best thing you can do with your time when you’re not practicing the guitar, so start expanding your blues library with CDs and mp3s of classic blues recordings. Listen to the blues not only as a casual observer but also as a musician. Listen to the chord changes and how the guitarist strums. Take note of licks or lead passages that are memorable. You may be able to use them in your own playing. (This is perfectly legal in blues.)

       Get your nose in a book. Read as much as you can in books and articles about the blues so you can sort out the history and discover the great artists who practiced this noble art. Knowing the different periods of the blues and the influences help in your appreciation. You can also check out Chapters 11, 12, 13, and 19 in this book. I cover a bit of history and the people who influenced blues guitar.

       Rock out in your garage. No matter how many records you listen to and books you read, you can’t replace human interaction as a vital component in your blues education. Invite some guitar-playing friends over for a few jam sessions in your garage or basement (or wherever the noise may be the least annoying to those around you). Pairing yourself with one or two strong players can help make you a better guitarist because you’re going to try to keep up with your friends.

       Seek help. Having a teacher is important because he (or she) can focus in on your particular weaknesses and bad habits and help bring those aspects of your musicianship up to snuff with your strengths. A teacher also guides you in your particular chosen style, recommending appropriate exercises and listening examples and providing an organized lesson plan on how to bring you closer to your goal. An experienced teacher or player can often help you pick out your first guitar and other gear purchases, too. Check out Chapter 14 for more info on buying guitars.

      Looking the part

      Many people decide they want to play the blues because they want to perform. Of course, performing can mean simply playing with a garage band on evenings or weekends or playing in public to perform. But either way, you definitely want to put on your stage face even when you’re with a group of friends versus when you’re shedding a tricky rhythm alongside your metronome in your bedroom.

      

First things first, acoustics and electrics satisfy different objectives, and you really need to have both types of guitars to be a complete blues player. Although that advice may signal financial pressure, you’ll find that having any excuse to acquire and buy more guitars is worth its weight in gold. So you can say to your spouse or significant other, “But dear, I have to have this other guitar. It’s in the book. Look it up!”

Aside from getting a good axe, the best way to look like a blues player is to play like one. But you can take some external steps to help the illusion along:

      1 Move your body in time to the music.Getting down not only makes you look cool, but also it reinforces the rhythms of the music and your instrument with the parts of your body. That’s essential for internalizing the music and making it your own, instead of a mechanical execution of technique. If you feel self-conscious about writhing around like a contortionist in public, try at first just moving your head along in time to the playing.

      2 Close your eyes, open them, and squint occasionally.

      3 Make little facial expressions when you play a soulful bend.Watch the greats when they play, especially B.B. King. One of B.B. King’s wives once described the look he sometimes gets on his face when playing as if he was eating a lemon.

      

As far as wardrobe goes, what you wear onstage should be different than what you wear normally. You can dress up or dress down to play the blues, but it’s a good idea to find your stage garb and keep it unique from the clothes you go to work in or grocery shopping. You might just don an extra ring, but you should make yourself look — and feel — a little special when stepping onto a stage. Even a flannel shirt, torn jeans, and cowboy boots can be a stage uniform — especially if you’re a stockbroker in your day job!

Blues Trivia For Dummies

      How much do you know about blues guitar? Take this simple test to find out. The following 5 questions test your knowledge of the genre. If you don’t know the right answers, don’t worry — read this book and you’ll end up a soulful, jiving, blues-playing machine (not that you aren’t in some way already).

      The questions

      1 By what name does B.B. King refer to his six-string soul mate (that is, his guitar)?BessieMaybellineLucilleLola

      2 The famed Mississippi Delta, birthplace of the blues, is where, exactly?At the mouth of the Mississippi River, in southern LouisianaIn northwest Mississippi and southwest ArkansasIn central Mississippi, in and around the capital, JacksonIn southern Mississippi and western Louisiana, along the Gulf Coast

      3 The legend of the “Crossroads” in blues lore describes what?The place where the