Do you want to play the blues? If you said yes, then the man to listen to is BB king. He has toured for decades, and still remains one of the leaders in the blues industry. He has signature licks that can be used in any kind of blues. These licks are the blues. If you’re serious about playing blues, then these licks are a must. Here are three things to keep in mind when learning these blues guitar licks.

1. Phrasing - the timing and placement of the lick
2. vibrato - where you shake a note up and down to produce a vocal like quality
3. space - give your licks room to breathe. A flurry of notes is cool, but stop and breathe sometime. Your audience will thank you.

The lick below shows one position that BB uses all the time. It’s basically the major pentatonic scale with the b5 included, the “blues” note. This is in the key of A.

All this should be played with your 1st, 2nd , and 3rd fingers. Take note of the vibrato as well. The “blues note” is the note located on the 11th fret. To hear audio examples of these kind of licks check out my podcast. Learning Guitar Now Podcast

When learning blues guitar, it is essential to learn from the masters. BB King is one of them. Without learning his licks you will be missing out on some of the great blues guitar licks ever.

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