Blues Guitar For Dummies

Jon Chappell

John Wiley & Sons, May 23, 2011 - Music - 384 pages

Do you wish you could play your favorite blues music on guitar? Even if you don’t read music, it’s not difficult with Blues Guitar for Dummies. With this hands-on guide, you’ll pick up the fundamentals instantly and start jamming like your favorite blues artists!

Blues Guitar for Dummies covers all aspects of blues guitar, showing you how to play scales, chords, progressions, riffs, solos, and more! It’s packed with musical examples, chords charts, and photos that let you explore the genre and play the songs of the great blues musicians. This accessible guide will give you the skills you need to:

• Choose the right guitar, equipment, and strings
• Hold, tune, and get situated with your guitar
• Play barre chords and strum to the rhythm
• Recognize the structure of a blues song
• Tackle musical riffs
• Master melodies and solos
• Make your guitar sing, cry, and wail
• Jam to any type of blues

In addition to this must-have book, a bonus CD is included so that you can listen to famous songs, practice your riffs and chords, and develop your style as a blues musician. It also features a quick guide to musical notation and suggestions on albums, artists, and guitars for further enjoyment. With Blues Guitar for Dummies, you can re-create the masterpieces of the blues legend without the expensive lessons!

Contents

• Positioning the Right Hand for Rhythm and Lead 71: 97
• Musical Riffs Bedrock of the Blues: 121
• Beyond the Basics Playing Like a Pro: 137
• Sounding Like the Masters: 191
• Introduction 1: 252
• Effects 289 Juicing Up Your Sound 290 When your sound is too hot to handle Distortion 290 Toying with Tone Quality 291 EQ The great tonal eq...: 301
• Acoustic Roots Delta Blues and Its Country Cousins 193 Chapter 12 The Birth and Growth of Classic Electric Blues 213 Chapter 13 Blues Rock The I...: 315
• Ten Great Blues Guitars: 321
• Appendixes: 329
• Index: 349
• You Got a Right to Play the Blues: 7
• Setting Up to Play the Blues: 55

About the author

Jon Chappell is a multistyle guitarist, arranger, and author. He grew up in Chicago, attended Carnegie-Mellon University, and earned his master’s degree in composition from DePaul University. He was Editor-in-Chief of Guitar magazine and played and recorded with artists such as Big Walter Horton, Billy Branch, Pat Benatar, Judy Collins, Graham Nash, and Gunther Schuller. Jon has also contributed numerous musical pieces to TV and film.
Jon served as Associate Music Director of Cherry Lane Music, where he transcribed, edited, and arranged the music of Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Steve Morse, Bonnie Raitt, and Eddie Van Halen, among others. He has more than a dozen method books to his name and is the author of Guitar For Dummies, 2nd Edition, and Rock Guitar For Dummies (both published by Wiley), Blues Rock Riffs for Guitar (Cherry Lane), as well as the textbook The Recording Guitarist — A Guide for Home and Studio (Hal Leonard). Please visit Jon’s Web site at www.jonchappell.com for more info.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Blues Guitar For Dummies
• Author: Jon Chappell
• Edition: unabridged
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2011
• ISBN: 1118050827, 9781118050828
• Length: 384 pages
• Subjects: Music / General; Music / Musical Instruments / Guitar