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Blues Guitar Licks

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Blues guitar licks are a crucial aspect of any aspiring blues guitarist’s repertoire. Learning chords, scales, and popular blues tunes is obviously important, but if you want to be a master improviser, eventually you’ll need to commit several blues licks to memory so that you can use them in a variety of situations and in a number of keys.

If you want to improve your repertoire of blues guitar licks, there are several strategies you can use. If you haven’t started, you should work on transcribing some of your favorite blues guitar solos. Don’t worry about getting the entire solo perfect note-for-note. Just try to get a couple of licks that you can keep under your belt.

The easiest solution is to use some pre-organized books and video lessons that teach you blues guitar licks. This way, the hard work has already been done for you. Most of these books and videos have organized the licks according to key or chord progressions, so it’s easy to find licks that you can use in a variety of different scenarios.

When you learn a new lick, practice it in several different keys and even transpose licks from dominant to major, minor to dominant, etc. That way, you can get more mileage out of the licks you already know.

Line 6 Variax JTV-89 Review

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Several years ago, Line 6, noted for its amp modeling and effects, decided to start modeling guitars as well as amplifiers and effects. This guitar, the Variax 500, was a game changer in many ways. The sounds were incredible. Unfortunately, the guitar itself was absolutely awful. I owned it, used, and recorded with it, but it was almost embarrassing to play live. Fortunately, the company has upped the ante with its new line of Variax models designed by famed luthier James Tyler, including the JTV-59, JTV-69, and JTV-89.

I got my hands on a new Variax JTV-89 recently, and I was incredibly impressed by this revised Variax. All of the shortcomings of the original Variax 500, Variax 600, and Variax 700 have been addressed with these new models. Each model has its own niche, with the JTV-59 and JTV-69 paying homage to the Gibson Les Paul and Fender Stratocaster respectively. The JTV-89 is a definitive “shredder-model” with a fast, flat neck and 24 jumbo frets. It also features (thankfully) two hot PAF-style humbuckers. This addition specifically addressed the lack of magnetic pickups in the original models, which gave the guitar a unique look, but limited its sonic options and was definitely a problem if you ran into issues with the Variax electronics.

The Variax JTV-89 plays like a shredder’s dream guitar, and the guitar models are better than ever. It also includes numerous alternate tunings that are shred-friendly. The L. R. Baggs Hex pickup system also offers bridge-based acoustic tones if needed. If needed, there’s also a Variax Digital Interface so you can join all your Line 6 gear together if you use other Line 6 gear. The JTV-89 is light years ahead of previous Variax models, and at a price that’s wallet-friendly.

Blues Guitar Backing Tracks

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If you want to learn how to master blues guitar, you’ve got to master improvisation, and that means playing with a full band. If you’ve got access to a full group of musicians that you can jam with, then you’ll have no problem. However, if you’re just getting started or need to practice, then getting a full band together isn’t the easiest thing to do. That’s where blues guitar backing tracks come in.

You can use these backing tracks (which usually last four to five minutes) to practice blues guitar lead strategies, blues guitar licks, or other blues guitar patterns. You can usually get these backing tracks in a variety of different keys, which is good because if you’re learning to improvise, you’ve got to learn how to break free from playing only in your favorite or comfortable keys.

Also, the backing tracks are generally optimized for guitar players learning to play lead, so you won’t have to worry about a lead guitar track crowding your space. Generally, quality backing tracks will have drums, bass, rhythm guitar, and often piano or organ.

Best Electric Guitars for Playing the Blues

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If you’re interesting in playing or learning blues guitar, you’re probably wondering what the best electric guitars are for playing the blues. Well, to be perfectly honest, there is no single one guitar that’s absolutely, definitely a “blues” guitar. Albert Collins plays a Fender Telecaster, B.B. King plays a semi-hollowbody Gibson, Albert King played a Gibson Flying V, Stevie Ray Vaughan played a Stratocaster, Joe Bonamassa plays a Gibson Les Paul, and Robert Johnson played a Gibson L-1 acoustic.

So, there is no single “best” guitar for playing the blues.

However, with that said, it’s probably safe to say that more contemporary blues guitarists play Fender Stratocasters more than any other guitar. So, if you’re a beginning blues guitarist, you can’t go wrong with a Fender Stratocaster.

Behringer Digital Delay DD600 Review

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When writing working on this Behringer Digital Delay DD600 review, I was initially skeptical about the kind of quality I could expect from the Behringer pedal. After all, this company – to be honest – has made their mark by essentially copying companies like Mackie and Boss, and then offering cheaper equivalents. The Behringer DD600 is, obviously, modeled after a Boss DD-6 Digital Delay pedal.

But these issues aside, we have to ask ourselves how the Behringer DD600 sounds, and the sound is pretty darn amazing. I tested it with a Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster into a Fender Hot Rod III 1×12 combo. I also used a few overdrive and distortion pedals to test the noise level. In the end, I was very impressed with the quality of the sounds and the overall noise level. The casing itself is plastic, so I’d be slightly concerned about its durability over the long haul, but to their credit the plastic casing does seem very durable.

For the price, the Behringer Digital Delay DD600 is a good deal on a quality digital delay pedal.