The importance of the blues for new guitar players

Baxter and Jonathan discuss why it is so important for a new guitar player to learn the blues and why the blues really has touched every aspect of rock and roll.

[@benlogan430]

The thing is you have to play the blues beyond just learning the notes. It’s about learning to feel and hearing the music and not ripping techniques. It’s the feel, interaction, tones and creativity within a simple outline. The simplicity in the form and scales let’s you focus on the more musical aspects of the music. The simplicity makes it a good starting point. Everyone needs to learn the blues. This is exactly correct.

[@thesmellycatjazz]

Blues and metal are the two most important genres for having a successful KZbin channel

[@kitano0]

"After I graduated from Berklee, I was interested in discovering more about the blues. I listened to all the records of B.B. King and T-Bone Walker, and I started playing with blues bands. I could play blues technically, but emotionally I couldn't connect myself to the music. I tried to connect my soul with the guitar, to get away from any theory or technique, to stop thinking too much. I started playing gospel music at a Baptist church every Sunday. There were no charts; for every song, all I got was the key. It taught me a lot about feeling, and I thought, 'That's really what music is all about.' You hear things, and you have to feel things." -Tomo Fujita

[@AmericanVetMusic]

I’m a blues musician. I grew up in the south, working incredibly hard my whole life. I’m yet to stop. I don’t know how. I’ve just transferred it to my music career.

[@sixstringfrenzy238]

I made the switch after 20 years of on and off playing metal and punk to now pretty much focused on traditional Texas blues

[@ElectromagneDikk]

Rock, especially butt rock, spawned out of jazz bebop music, but metal without question came from the blues. Whei started playin my teacher taught me blues, little did i know it would be the most important thing anyone ever taught me

[@joshuajkoplin]

For me it started with Nirvana and Soundgarden when I was 16 in the 90’s. The guitar took me to Texas. SRV first Then Albert King, Albert Collins, Freddie King, Johnny Guitar Watson, JLV and the Fabulous Thunderbirds first record WHOO! Jimmie Vaughans playing on girls go wild is insane. So tasty.

[@stratplayer2]

This is awesome. Would u consider to do a part b with a lesson/demo? U guys could do a joint jam/demo!

[@semvandenheuvel2653]

Started with the blues and stayed with it ;)

[@1968joseph1]

Being an 80s kid, I was introduced to the Blues through the words of SRV, George Thorogood and ZZTop. Pre-internet, it was hard to hear anything not on Mtv or hit radio without alot of money to spend on records. Once I broke that seal though, the Blues is all I wanted. Muddy Waters, John Lee hooker and RL Burnside are always on my playlist.

[@shanewalton8888]

I love it how Johnathan has almost nothing to say but to reaffirm Baxter "Yep. Yep. Aw yeah. You love history. 1-4-5 yeah. There you go. Sweet." Give that man a raise already!

[@CasinoGuitars]

He’s a yes man :)

[@itsamemikeg]

He doesn’t have to speak. His beard speaks for him. Do your thing Johnas.

[@zbqb84a]

He is Puffy to Baxter’s Biggie.

[@edpetrik501]

He just has to figure out how to make Baxter take a breath and..stop..talking ..

[@msspi764]

1, 4, 5. Three chords and the Truth. Well spoke.

[@mars6433]

A lot of people don't know exactly what a 1-4-5 is and how it comes from the major scale. Once I explain it, they always say, "OMG !! THAT'S SO STUPID EASY !!" btw, Wild Thing and Louie Louie are both 1-4-5.

[@mars6433]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/j3iYYaCjq8umpbc See if this helps.

[@harrysachs2274]

I recently got into theory after ignoring it my whole life. I now understand the guitar better than I would have thought. I've also switched towards a blues/country style and it's opened my mind. I could have been a much better player sooner.

[@Jaysteenn]

Well said!!

[@craigdonovan5068]

everyone here should listen to the John Mayall trilogy blues breakers, A hard road and crusade. Clapton, Green and mick Taylor. IMHO it started the real rock music revolution.

[@WorldsOkayestGuitarPlayer]

Those are incredible albums!

[@harrysachs2274]

Grateful Dead and others in the bay area were playing blues based rock at the same time. There was something in the air and it was coming from both sides of the atlantic.

[@rdmkeytohwy]

I would agree with this. In my extensive comments above I failed to mention John Mayall and what a list of guitarists! Peter Green definitely deserves recognition. Clapton already has been recognized over and over, and rightly so. But Mick Taylor.....he gets overlooked so much and he is just a killer guitar player. Arguably the best Stones albums were the ones with Mick on lead guitar.

[@JDMVman]

Learning blues foundations has improved all other aspects of my playing.

[@jmanxoom]

I immediately shared this video. Thank you for the lesson.

[@SimpleManGuitars1973]

It's important to learn the blues. No doubt about it. The even more important thing is to not get "stuck" there though. I've always thought if I had it to do over again I might have started with jazz instead of working my way there. The guys that learn to "mix" other things into their blues playing will always be the ones that really catch your ear.

[@cameronduffy8115]

Did you say minstrel cycle? What period was that? 😋

[@jarmentor1731]

I heard that TOO! I'm sitting there thinking, "Wait...... what? Oh, right not that mistrel....... Was that on purpose? Wait.... no smirk? Nope."

[@DadRockAndGuitars]

I had to rewind to make sure I heard what I thought I heard 😂

[@AndyDion]

So much of American music has roots in the Blues. Great video guys!

[@JustPlayingBass]

Good call chaps. Totally agree as I'm sure most guitarists/bass players would. When I first picked up bass many years ago, the tuition book I learned from was all blues bass. It gave such a good grounding, which didn't become evident until later on my bass journey. Thanks for another top vid.

[@dsan3516]

It’s important for all guitarists and musicians. Life sucks so in the words of Buddy Guy “Damn Right I Got the Blues”

[@WorldsOkayestGuitarPlayer]

I've got tickets to see Buddy Guy in Mississippi this year. Along with Kingfish, I can't wait!

[@dsan3516]

​@@WorldsOkayestGuitarPlayer What a show that will be!

[@savethedandelions]

@@WorldsOkayestGuitarPlayer jealous! Buddy Guy is a living legend.

[@WorldsOkayestGuitarPlayer]

@@dsan3516 I can't wait! It got pushed back a year already!

[@WorldsOkayestGuitarPlayer]

@@savethedandelions no kidding! It's gonna be awesome!

[@mark106t9]

Great topic! Love you guys!

[@tonymesser6988]

You guys are simply amazing! I love this video! Thanks

[@hamishsummers8585]

Rambling yet informative. Always a pleasure.

[@Eric_K_Sr]

Suggested listening, the "Super Session" album, featuring Mike Bloomfield, AL Kooper, and Stephen Stills. Some incredible blues on that record!

[@mma1st105]

Great record!

[@Eric_K_Sr]

Yeah it is!!

[@kayvenerlend8856]

Albert's Shuffle is Mind Blowing, Man

[@happyads9439]

Music has always healed my wounds,, cant play the blues if youve never been down

[@miketregle]

I want to know more about what Baxter meant about the 5th string being the launching point for major and the 6th string for minor. 6th string for minor I get because you just start on the root note, but I don’t get the major correlation on the 5th string.

[@84kjk]

I would Love a video on that too

[@javierservigon]

To me Gilmour is the one that I went "i gotta learn the pentatonic scale". Now, since you mentioned Elvis... have you seen that video Bill Blur and his wife argue about Elvis? if you're into this sort of thing.

[@xxGriff]

Hubert Sumlin's stuff grabbed my attention early and reading liner notes led to an education.

[@nicolamontoro]

Great video guys!

[@LeanBackMac]

I was digging through my parents Vinyls that they haven't touched in 30 years. Found An original Dark side of the moon, Still with the Posters and the stickers. Keeping it alive and in good shape. I also Framed the poster as to keep it nice and enjoy it every day. For me knowing that my dad was listening to this album at the same age as me just carries weight that can never be matched. Another great video from Casino!

[@blues62751]

I totally agree with you guys the blues is essential for learning guitar. 🎸

[@markedgar5901]

Love to hear your views on jazz guitar.

[@permanentwaaaves8787]

Another great video. Thanks!

[@ShineDawg]

This is a touchy subject, but I think music has a way of bringing us together. You guys could have a radio show

[@chris_2714]

Baxter, you need to watch "Devil at the Crossroads" on Netflix. Biography of Robert Johnson and his incredible influence on modern blues. Interestingly, blues was looked at as devil's music by the church initially because too many late Saturday nights in the clubs listening to music and drinking lead to missing Sunday service.

[@84kjk]

That would be great if you could go over the 6th string vs 5th string thing

[@ColinStuart]

At 69, I have been blessed to have seen most of the older artists when they were still new and different, and for less than $5 each! I was self taught, and never learned things by proper names, my first introduction the music was when I saw the Black Watch, at a VERY young age! In the '50's the most interesting things were the blues!

[@michaeleaster1815]

Great video! The big thing about the blues is that it is a constant backdrop for which players can find their signature sound. For a long time, I didn't understand still-life painting (e.g. a bowl of fruit), until I realized it was the same thing: "here's something familiar, and here is _my spin on it_ ... here is why I'm DIFFERENT". Just understanding how the legends defined their own sound (in blues guitar) is a profound musical education.

[@rdmkeytohwy]

Very good introduction to why the blues are so important. It is the root of all American music. Our ancestors brought the various music styles, especially folk and other derivatives from England and the rest of Europe but the blues started here. One of the main reasons we know so much about blues music is the education we got from the influences of English guitarists. Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck are the four key players in this story and I’m sure you could argue that others are also in that mix but these four were from the same general area of England. They were drawn in around the same age and the same time. I can’t fail to mention Michael Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield here in the U.S. White kids that hung out in the black blues clubs in Chicago at a time when that was certainly not the norm, dangerous even at times. But artists like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and their band members could see their genuine passion for the music and so here we are. The story is still unfolding and it is up to all of us to keep this music alive. Larkin Poe is a sister duet that have based a lot of their recent songs on the old Delta blues. They are absolutely great and everyone should check them out. Gary Clark, Jr is another one carrying the torch. I could go on and on.....

[@BillAltman]

Blues cant be overstated as the common element to nearly all American music

[@jerryvahnknight218]

The Kenosha Kickers? Kiss Me Polka? Acapulco Polka? Polka, Polka Polka? Nothing? Those were some pretty big hits for us. ...regionally.

[@stephanematis]

And let's not forget Weird Al! Polkas on 45!

[@matthewtayloryowieresearch1912]

SRV's version of Little Wing at the El Mocambo in Toronto '83, which makes Hendrix's take seem a garden-variety pedestrian mess by compare, is the primary reason I became maniacally terminally obsessed with guitarchaeology. Didyabringyabongalong Station, Central Queensland, Australia.

[@davedavid7061]

My dad was never one of those "your generation of music" guys, especially at 15 when I i got into KISS. then to discover pictures of him from @ 56 with his 56 ford and his viceroys rolled up in his sleeve and finding out how big of an Elvis guy he was.

[@DadRockAndGuitars]

13:12 The black keys on the piano are the pentatonic scale. Coincidence? Probably not. 🤔

[@idhott]

“The Lead Roses” is genuinely a cool band name

[@BockwinkleB]

People always dismiss Celtic influence on the beginnings of blues. You kind of touched on it, but it goes back further.

[@ryanfulldark2775]

What bands has Baxter been in? I wanna hear it!

[@ricbrunner3880]

You know I can agree with you on most of this. But how old was your mother because Elves want playing high schools in the 70s. I’d like to know more about your time in NYC. I don’t recall ever seeing there, but considering there is at least a ten year gap in our age. Metal really has far more in common with classical music then blues. If you grew up in the 60s and 70s your first experience into the guitar world would have been blues. Coming out of that time I had a classical background in piano and a strong blues infusion in guitar, as well as being in the hi school jazz crew. But then when I was young I lived life with a guitar in my back all the time. Noodling was all I did and yes playing scales who’ll watching was always happening in my house.

[@wrobinson1702]

No question! You guys need to come to New Orleans on a Monday night for the Blues Jam at D Macs' Bar and Grille. You will hear exactly what you are talking about in this video. The history of American music is reproduced between 8-11pm every Monday night!

[@pierheadjump]

Thanks Casino. ⚓️

[@seanharrison2928]

The last band that I was in was a Muddy Waters tribute. What we called pre British American blues. This band sold tickets! Jazz and Blues are American and African. What blew me away learning note for note Hubert Sumlins licks is how The Stones, Led Zepplin, and Beatles straight ripped melodies from Muddy, Howlin, Little Walter and Jimmy Reed. If you know the blues you know the history of America. As BB said “you don’t have to have the blues to play the blues!”

[@WorldsOkayestGuitarPlayer]

The blues is the whole reason I wanted to play guitar in the first place. Devil at the Crossroads on Netflix is an awesome documentary about Robert Johnson and the originals who created the genre.

[@AndyDion]

Amen to that

[@WorldsOkayestGuitarPlayer]

@@AndyDion in blues we trust! 😂🤘

[@overdriveguitarchannel3403]

I get incredibly frustrated at all of the people who say blues is simple and boring. They have no clue

[@skentmar105]

A classic example of the pentatonic scale is "Amazing Grace". The melody can be played on the black keys of a piano. Wintley Phipps has a little history lesson of that song on YT in a Gaither video.

[@jambajoby32]

The blues is America’s gift to the world! Anywhere in the world, if you play the blues, you know exactly where it’s from!

[@jerryodom7358]

Does anyone have all the correct cords to Robert Crays “I was Warned” song? Great song but hard to find learning material.

[@alexwoolridge94aw]

I was raised on the blues and rock n roll so thats what I play but I'm in a country band and you know what? It works. Our drummer is a hard rock drummer but we can go from a George Strait tune to Nothing But a Good time by Poison and kill it. Idk. Its cool and having learned from the blues it helps me with soloing over country tracks which sounds weird but it works

[@bobbyhancock3347]

I've partied with the Spin Doctors on a few occasions. Poon hounds for sure.

[@jeffharper2661]

YAY FOR THE BLUES

[@dubdelay]

True words. I didn’t learn guitar I learned the blues, sort of had em anyway...

[@markpickardlife]

The Blues rules!

[@rstuartcpa]

Just learn Rumble by Link Wray and you get it all...with swank and grit...and the riff between the verses is a declining E minor Pentatonic. If you’re heard the song, you know the scale.

[@mikegreen2417]

You said minstrel cycle.

[@ehiracheta]

I never learned the blues. I do know the blues scales and pentatonics...but I never gravitated to blues music except for live blues. For some reason I love it live. I'm weird. Hmm...maybe it's just hearing a well played guitar that gets me going haha.

[@proteus2103]

Blues is in almost all forms of music. Alot of Dimebag's guitar solos from Pantera are literally just blues solos with a lot of gain.

[@joshuajkoplin]

Dime used A LOT of Texas blues licks in his leads.

[@MartirosHakopianMarHak]

POLKA you guys are funny LOL Love it ....

[@jfar3340]

After spending years learning 1-4-5, it's now time to graduate to 2-5-1.

[@derekeboyd]

Did Baxter say, "minstrel cycle?"

[@ThePandaProcrastinates]

Also the big appeal, is that blues is about life stuff both good and bad. It is applicable to all.

[@stephenrich8808]

Doesn't everyone still have their original Sgt Peppers and White Album inserts?

[@CasinoGuitars]

:) Oh I somehow doubt that:)

[@stephenrich8808]

I still have my Live/Dead insert!

[@2000SkyView]

Organ Center - I remember those organ shops in the shopping malls.

[@overdriveguitarchannel3403]

Have you guys ever heard the music of African nomads called Tuaregs? Not sure if I spelled it exactly right, but if you listen to their music you can hear that the blues came right from their music.

[@harrysachs2274]

They're actually from the sahara region and wouldn't have had contact with the coastal sub-saharan africans who were captured by their rival tribal leaders and sold to the portuguese. Africa is a huge place, to think it's a mono-culture is extremely racist.

[@overdriveguitarchannel3403]

@@harrysachs2274 what are you talking about. Take your attempts at virtue signaling somewhere else. Nobody brought up anything about racism but you. That stuff has no place on a guitar channel. Take that crap somewhere else

[@mitchmatthews6713]

Get a Doc Watson album.

[@jaturi3897]

Van Halens licks were basically hyper sonic blues licks.

[@mattjackson7859]

I’ve had the blues so long all the color is faded.

[@kevingunderson8905]

Baxter! 🤣 the “minstrel cycle” hahaha. Yes, that is a very important historical event in the history of the Blues….

[@SuperBakersk8er]

Seen black keys on tv at triller a week or so ago they were sick! Cant say the same for the rest of the show tho aha

[@CarrotBallSquash]

I always just play the chromatic scale... the right notes are in there somewhere

[@brothersgrimandgrimy]

sound advice... har har har

[@davidpalmer9014]

Damn I wish I had guitar teachers like you guys. It's important to stress WHY you need to know this stuff, and not just how to play it.

[@savethedandelions]

yup yup! i know i quit guitar the first time because my teacher sucked as a teacher.

[@seanschweska856]

There are Was some actual advice in here somewhere

[@tlister67]

Pentatonic can be a vortex that is hard to escape, learn other things too or you get good at one thing

[@edpetrik501]

I got a serious case of the blues when I found out Robert a Johnson couldn’t shred or tap ..☹️..

[@stevenumbers4027]

"You got to suffer, if you want to play the Blues " !

[@ryanbloom1738]

Beer barrel polka will have barrel of fun.

[@BockwinkleB]

Polka Rock is great, just listen to QOTSA

[@shanewalton8888]

Playing the blues will land you more women than just playing thrash. 'nuff said.

[@colebowman2833]

Lol. I love the blues brother but idk about that anymore. It's a cosmic joke that by the time I got good enough no one cares about the blues anymore lol.

[@kurtb3260]

Is that hair a cultivated look? What a hoot.

[@richardlewis1243]

Blues means more solos for me the harp player

[@kitano0]

A good blues harp player knows when to stop playing...those are rare.

[@limpindug]

A wee bit oversimplified fellas, very very few can convey the emotions that are ingrained in the Giants of the Blues. Respect and stay healthy all.

[@jl61046]

“The blues grew into a Menstrual cycle”. -Baxter Wise words, sir. Wise words… Hilarious, yet also ironically true. I’m sure many a blues tune has come as a result of a rough Menstrual cycle 😂🤣

[@keithbland1746]

Minstrel not menstrual

[@phillippitts6294]

I’m old and poor! I live the blues daily! But they can’t stop me now ! ☠️☠️☠️

[@TREVORJB101]

Anybody interested in face melting Blues-Rock, check out Anthony Gomes

[@jdl2180]

It's all the blues as for as I'm concerned.

[@BockwinkleB]

Minstrel Cycle? What?

[@gtedeschi8850]

Baxter has to be high in this video.

[@epistemologicaldespair68]

Why you say minstrel cycle lol

[@BlackDogOriginal]

I want to meet the one and only Kitty Litter

[@tigerstripe8049]

🌍☯️🎶

[@mma1st105]

"It grew into this menstrual cycle" I know what he meant but couldn't help it.

[@davec8776]

5:38 Lol I did a double-take at that as well...

[@comajoebuck999]

😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂

[@larrylambert2727]

of course it had a menstrual cycle- that's how it was able to give birth to all the other music. #sciencefacts

[@lipptech1]

Learn Black Sabbath and you will know the blues !!!