How do you play the blues?

Do you have rhythm to go with your blues?

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As a guitar instructor for over 25 years, the question I have been asked the most by my students is, "How do I learn how to play the blues?" The funny thing about that question is that most novice guitar players have this preconceived notion that playing the blues on the guitar is somehow difficult. It's actually quite the opposite. But first, let's talk about what the blues means in music.

All American music comes from the blues. If you think about a tree, the blues is the trunk of that tree. You go up the tree, the tree splits into large limbs. Those limbs are rock and roll, country/bluegrass and jazz. The rock and roll branch has several branches itself. Think of all of the different genres of rock music there are. From Hard rock to Soft rock, from Progressive rock to Metal, from Punk rock to Grunge, and from Gospel to Rhythm and Blues. The combinations are numerous. Now, the country branch also has several branches as well. From country and western to bluegrass, from pop country t…