finally got an electric... now what?

[Thomas]

I got my first electric this week, just a standard strat along with a 15 watt marshall amp. and i must say, this is the most fun i've had playing guitar in a LONG time.

so i've spent the last couple of days learning a bunch of random rock songs and while it's fun i really want to do it right this time because all i ever learned were tabs on my acoustic.

I'm trying to lean towards a bluesier sound like john mayer's new album or even heavier like henry garza from los lonely boys. does anyone have any advice on how to start?

[RunsWithBuffalo]

Wait are you talking about how to get bluesy tone or how to play blues?

If youre talking about tone, first use the pickups closest to the neck. It also helps to have a pedal like the boss blues driver. Just something to muddy the tone a little.

As to how to play the blues, you need to learn the blues scale which is essentially like other scales but with some added "blue notes." Ultimate guitar is a place to start.

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/ ... _form.html

Good luck

[Beauford33]

If it is tone you are looking for, judging by the two names you mentioned, youre going to need texas special pickups, use the neck pick up and turn your amp all the way up to 10. Thicker strings help (11's or 13's).

[RunsWithBuffalo]

I dont know if you necessarily need texas specials, though they do sound bad ass, especially trying to emulate SRV.

But if you have the money, they are a worthy upgrade.

[taparoo]

The position next to the neck pickup (on the five-way p-up selector switch) sounds especially SRV-ish

[Beauford33]

The guy from Los Lonely Boys uses Texas Specials and John Mayer had a SRV strat in the earlier days so that is why I suggested them.

[Thomas]

oh sorry i didn't mean to be unclear. I'm looking to learn how to play like these guys. a pickup upgrade is definately on my list of things to do, i'll probably get a new neck eventually too, but for now i'm just looking to learn first.

As to how to play the blues, you need to learn the blues scale which is essentially like other scales but with some added "blue notes." Ultimate guitar is a place to start.

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/ ... _form.html

thanks man, i'll definately be looking into this

[Brian M.D.]

Sounds like you're off to a great start. One thing I would point out is your amp. When I first started playing electric guitar, I had a 15W Behringer amp, essentially a practice rig, and I was often frustrated because it just wouldn't match the tone of any artist I was hearing. As you get more into guitar, I would say an amp upgrade is right behind (or in front of) a pickup upgrade. Good names include Vox, Marshall, Fender, and the brand I swear by, Mesa. Though there is obviously a ton of variation among models in each brand.

[geo3217]

I've never heard of a Mesa Boogie being used for blues. I thought they were more for a rock type sound, a la Pete Townshend.

I would say Fender amps are the best if you want a bluesy sound.

[halofan00]

I got you covered dude. You're not talking about tone, your talking about the scales that these players use. I have a strat myself and not to long ago got into playing blues, and improvising is about as much fun as you can have.

First, learn the minor pentatonic scale. This is the A-minor pentatonic, so it will work with any song in the key of a-minor, which a lot of blues songs are in. This is a moveable pattern, so it will work as long as you move the tonic(the 5 on the 6th string) to whatever minor key the song is in. So if the song is in C minor, it would start of 8 11

1- 5 8
2- 5 8
3- 5 7
4- 5 7
5- 5 7
6- 5 8

then, you can figure out the patters that are used on the other part of the neck, because they are the same notes.

If you need the other patterns and cant figure them out, i'll make something up, but this should be a good start.