Blues guitar lessons are one of the most popular styles today. Blues guitar is a very broad style with many sub-genres. Blues guitar lessons can be taken on an acoustic guitar with steel strings, but sometimes with nylon strings as well, or an electric guitar. The following are some examples of what you could expect to learn in blues guitar lessons.
*Delta Blues: Credited as the oldest blues style, named from its origin in the Mississippi Delta. Dating back to the 1920’s Delta blues is primarily a solo act on an acoustic guitar. In this type of blues guitar lessons you could learn open tunings and to use a slide, 7th chords and finger style. One of the most famous guitarists of this style was Robert Johnson.
*Piedmont Blues: This style became popular in the 1930’s originating in the Carolina’s, Georgia, and Virginia. It was derived from country and ragtime bands and is very upbeat. In this style of blues guitar lessons you could learn 12 bar progressions, finger style, and alternating bass lines. One of the most famous guitarists of this style was Blind Boy Fuller.
*Chicago Blues: In the 1940’s during the Great Migration the African American population moved along the Mississippi river to places like Chicago and Detroit for work. They took their Delta style to the big cities and gave it a makeover with electric guitars. Blues went from a solo act to a band with drums and bass guitar. In this style of blues guitar lessons you could learn 9th and 11th chords, major and minor pentatonic scales and to use a pick. One of the most famous guitarists of this style was Muddy Waters.
*Texas Blues: Derived from the Delta Blues by African Americans working in fields and oil fields of rural Texas after migrating to big cities like Houston in the 1960’s. With a mix of acoustic and electric guitars, Texas Blues spawned a new sound with bands like ZZ Top. In This style of blues guitar lessons you may learn major and minor pentatonic, finger style and using a pick, 9th and 11th chords, and shuffle rhythms. One of the most famous guitarists of this style was Stevie Ray Vaughan.
*West Coast Blues: Also known as California Blues came from Texas musicians that moved to California in the 1940’s. The style is very Jazz oriented and is very piano oriented and played on an electric guitar. In this style of blues guitar lessons you could learn 9th and 11th chords, major and minor pentatonic scales. One of the most famous guitarists of this style was T-Bone Walker.
As you can see blues guitar lessons can cover a large area of styles and techniques and could take a lifetime to learn them all.