If you have ever thought about becoming a guitar player, or have played guitar, there is no doubt you are familiar with the infamous Les Paul guitar by Gibson.

This legendary guitar has been played by everyone from Slash, Jimmy Page, and Gary Moore, to Warren Haynes, Joe Bonamassa, and Eric Clapton.  It is the sound of rock, and has been replicated by many, but never duplicated.

Today, Thursday August 14th Les Paul the inventor of the solid body electric guitar, has died from complications from Pneumonia at the age of 94.

Les Paul invented multitrack recording and made huge advancements in the way we record music. If it weren’t for Les Paul, we would have no Pro Tools I can tell you that. Read more »

Want to learn how to play a really cool blues guitar lick?  You’re in luck if you said yes.  I just recorded a FREE video on how to play a smoking blues guitar lick that your friends will drool over when you play it for them.

I decided to give you this totally free and with tab!  This is not some lick that you’ll find anywhere either.  It’s one of those that will make the hair on your neck stand up if you play it like you mean it.

So anyway at this point I guess you’re either watching the video and not reading this or you’re hanging on my every word like it’s the end of a  John Grisham novel.

If you’re still reading, then I just want to ask you to post a comment below the video if you like it.

Enough talk already!  Here’s the video.

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Have you worked through any blues guitar lessons on a DVD?

I know I have. I spent a long time trying to learn blues guitar from every source imaginable. There were not as many options as there are now, but there have always been videos. Back then they were VHS tapes though.

After studying a lot of different blues guitar lesson videos, I thought there was some material that a lot of videos didn’t cover. I had been teaching this stuff to my private students for years and they seemed to be picking up things pretty quickly using my techniques.

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First let me say that I am a huge fan of Eric Clapton.  His phrasing, songs, and blues guitar style are so easy and fun to listen to.  He doesn’t have tons of chops, but when did speed determine the skill of a guitar player?

In my opinion, Clapton’s blues guitar style is more cohesive and easier to listen to than Hendrix and SRV.  Don’t get me wrong, Hendrix and SRV are Guitar Gods, but I find that sometimes I can get tired of all the chaos.

This is where Eric Clapton shines.  Simply put, his style makes you feel good, and is also very melodic.  3 different guitar players with 3 different styles playing all the same licks and notes.  Makes you realize that phrasing and feel are really the essentials of playing the blues.

Now on to his tone.

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I just came across Rory Gallagher a few weeks ago, and man is he awesome!  If you haven’t checked him out, you’re missing out on one of the best blues rock guitar players ever!

I had not ever paid much attention to him, but when I watched a few of his YouTube videos, I realized where SRV got some of his licks from.  Rory just has killer licks, tone, and stage presence.  He really is that good.  His legendary 61 Strat looks cooler than anything.  I wonder if SRV though the same thing too?

His style is Roadhouse, in your face Blues like no other.  I really liked his rendition of “Bullfrog Blues”.  He simply has amazing chops, feel, and the willingness to try anything on stage.  It would of been awesome to see him live.  From what I’ve seen on YouTube, the guy put on a faboulous show.

Check out this video of Rory playing a blues.  It is really cool!

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If you’ve never heard of Joe Bonamassa, then odds are you are not current with what’s happening with blues music.  You owe it to yourself to check out this amazing guitar player.  He has chops like Stevie and Jimi, but can also play 3 notes that with the feeling of an old bluesman.

Joe Bonamassa has been playing and touring for years, and now he has finally reached a point that most would call pretty successful, which is pretty hard in the music industry these days.

BB King has played a major role in helping Joe keep his eye on what’s important to be become successful.  Joe first played with BB when he was around 13 and made a huge impression on the King of the Blues.  He would later record an album with Tom Dowd, the Legendary producer of “Live at the Fillmore East”.

Now Joe has reached another milestone.  He will be headlining the Royal Albert Hall in London on May 4, 2009. This is quite an achievement to say the least.  This is the same place Cream played their last 2 shows in 1968.  Now Joe will take a stab becoming one of the premier guitar players in the modern blues scene along side of Derek Trucks, and John Mayer.

If you have never heard Joe Bonamassa, then watch the video below and tell me your opinion of Joe.

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In this Blues Guitar lesson, I’m going to list my top 5 solos to learn the blues.  This is a very hard list to make, and there is no way I can satisfy everyone.  This is why you need to tell me what your top 5 blues rock solos are right underneath the video.

There are so many awesome blues guitarists, that it is really hard to decide on 5 but here I go.

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Everyone has that one album where that moment occurred.  This moment is when you realized you were now a blues fan.  If you’re a blues fan, then odds are you are a fanatic blues connoisseur.  If you’re not a blues fan, then you never had this experience and you should STOP reading now.

Every blues fan I have met is very passionate about their knowledge of blues albums, and considers their list the best.  I am the same way, and think my picks are the best as well.  I guess this kinda comes with the territory.

So anyway, back to the point.  For me, I became a lover of the blues the moment I heard Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Texas Flood”.

I was just out of high school and really wanted to be a rock guitarist like Steve Vai, and Van Halen.  I was hanging out around Gulf Shores one day and a friend of mine said, “You ever heard of this guy?”  It was SRV’s “Texas Flood”.  I put the CD in and WOW!  Now this guy had some serious chops, but there were some really cool blues songs as well.  From that moment on I was hooked.  I then proceeded to get every SRV album, and them learned about where he got his style from.  Albert King, BB King, Otish Rush, and many more.

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Do you want to make your blues guitar licks sound like the pros?

There is one specific thing you can do that will enhance your blues guitar playing without running scales everyday.  Am I crazy?  No. Well maybe a little, but you don’t have to practice scales all the time to improve this area of your blues guitar playing.  Although, I can certainly tell you that it cannot hurt, and you should be doing this anyway.  Anyways, so the #1 thing you can do to make your Blues Guitar solos sound pro is to develop a vocal-like vibrato.

Mastering vibrato when playing blues guitar will  allow you to play less notes with more feeling.  You will be able to emotionally connect with your listener with just one note.  Yes, one note!  All the blues guitar greats have excellent vibrato.

Here’s a list of some of my favorite blues guitarist’s vibrato.

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There are so many great blues guitar players that it’s hard to choose just 5, but I’m gonna try.  This list is going to be based on purely blues.  Not blues rock, but blues guitar players only.  I know the line is hard to draw, but I don’t want to include all the rockers in this list such as Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix.

With that said here’s my top 5 Blues Guitar Players.

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