Can you still be original playing blues nowadays?

28 Responses to “Can you still be original playing blues nowadays?”

1. John
   September 23rd, 2008 at 3:44 pm

   

   Hi again! What a question…”is there any room for being original in blues?”

   I suppose that depends on how you define the blues. Certainly, 12 bar blues with a 3 bar turnaround (cadence) is very familiar territory for most guitarists, but even at that, 3 bars is a pretty significant amount of space to express yourself musically. Add in the other 9 bars that give you room to explore with syncopated rhythm’s, extended chords (9th’s, 11ths), major/minor modulations, etc., you get a lot of room for creativity and personal expression, while still staying in the 12 bar format. Extend the definition of blues to include things like “Texas Blues”, “Jazz Blues”, 16 bar blues, shuffles, call/response, etc. the possibilities are almost endless.

   Oh, and then, add in different guitar sounds, from nylon string classical to full gain metal, and everything in between. There’s a ton of free space in blues that’s left to be explored. There are probably a number of blues variations out there left to be uncovered, like “Romanian Blues”, or “Blogger Blues Shuffle”

   I hope you’re having a great day!

2. Robert Fisher
   September 23rd, 2008 at 6:33 pm

   

   Blues is very formulaic.

   Yeah, there are plenty of examples of breaking out of the formulas, but I want to talk about the formulas.

   Being formulaic, to me, intentionally shifts the focus away from those formulated aspects: The chord progression, the turn-around, the scale, the licks, the intro, the rhythm, &c. It shifts the focus onto more subtle aspects of the performance. BB King’s vibrato. SRV’s attack. It’s not about coming up with an interesting chord progression, it’s about being interesting within the framework of one of the standard progressions.

   Although, personally, I get annoyed by the way we (& I definitely include myself) sometimes become “originality snobs”. Shouldn’t it just be enough to enjoy a performance without analyzing how original it is or isn’t?

3. Ovidiu
   September 23rd, 2008 at 10:15 pm

   

   But isn’t this formula sometimes constraining the artist? I mean being somehow forced to stay in that pattern gives a feeling of deja vu in most of the cases. I just ask myself how would I feel if I would hear the same pattern over and over in hard rock or heavy metal or in classic rock. OK, I don’t want to be an ass, I like blues and I like to play blues, but the question still remains and it is more difficult to be original in playing blues than other genders, I think.

   And, Roben, it is not artificial that we look for originality, because we are not always jamming, we need new things, this is what defines the progress in music as well as in other domains but OK, we should not make a target out of this.

4. Robert Fisher
   September 23rd, 2008 at 11:27 pm

   

   Well, obviously, nothing is forcing you to stay within the formulas. Plenty of people break them in little ways. Plenty of people break them in big ways (i.e. not playing the blues).

   In fact, I think Shakespeare’s most genius moments were often when he broke the structure he was working within. Because he didn’t do it arbitrarily. He did it for specific effect. Without the rule to break, the effect wouldn’t be possible.

   I think creativity thrives on structure. Even when you aren’t playing the blues, you are likely still working within the constraints of a musical tradition. Music that attempts to evade all constraints (which is actually a constraint itself!) tends to be…well… Do you see what I mean?

   Bo Diddly took a very specific rhythm, constantly repeated, and found ways to be creative around it. High gain heavy metal lost–to an extent–some elements of traditional Western harmony, and they made up for it by being creative in other aspects.

   With the blues, look to the aspects that are NOT prescribed by the formulas. They may be subtle, but formulizing the less subtle aspects is what allows the subtle to really shine. Listen to a Hendrix tune and then listen to SRV cover it. SRV often plays it very close to Hendrix, yet the differences–subtle though they may be–make it clear who is playing.

   And I’m sorry, but I am really sick of originality for originality’s sake. If you HAVE something new to say, then say it. Yes! And don’t obscure it by surrounding it with a lot of contrived attempts at more originality. Progress is made by understanding what came before and building incrementally upon it. And, even so, there’s more to life than progress.

5. Amazing Guitar Videos
   September 24th, 2008 at 1:41 am

   

   It just goes to show that we all have been influenced by a variety of roots in music. Everything is blending.

6. Ovidiu
   September 24th, 2008 at 9:59 am

   

   Well, that is true, because we have complex personalities and we can not just like one thing and that thing only. That’s exactly why music is so beautiful, isn’t it?

7. j
   September 26th, 2008 at 4:33 pm

   

   This is a great discussion, Ovidiu. Can the blues be effective without some connection point that artist and audience share? We have to share some element with artist (emotion, past experience,)…the fact that this sharing happens over the same basic chord progression is irrelevant. I think you could play the blues on bongos and it would really be blues.

8. Ovidiu
   September 26th, 2008 at 10:08 pm

   

   Well, I guess you can look at it this way, like in jazz, but sometimes I feel every blues player overuses this basic progression and no matter the variations, at some point becomes too much. However, I like this idea of sharing something with the audience, in this case this feeling that a “known” progression gives you, I have not thought about it this way.

9. Stratoblogster
   September 27th, 2008 at 6:53 am

   

   Great post and thread! You’re becoming the next IG!

   There really are a lot of faces to the Blues. If you listen to a good Blues program, i.e. Sirius Satellite’s CH 74, you’ll hear lots of variety. I don’t know if everyone can subscribe to that. But there’s also a lot of online stuff, like Pandora.com, where you can create your own stations which Pandora then builds from. Soon, you’re hearing all sorts of great music.

   An important thing to note about Robben Ford, is that he’s an accomplished Jazz musician, an alum of Miles Davis, who can step outside and do all sorts of turnarounds on the harmonic scale. Larry Carlton is another player who can use Blues as a spring board into other musical areas then turnaround back into the Blues like he never left.

   So another suggestion might be to play any kind of music with a Blues FEELING, and make it your own Blues.

10. Ovidiu
    September 27th, 2008 at 9:29 am

    

    From your comment I understand that you should play blues with an outside influence, like jazz, in this case, right? Indeed, if you do this probably will sound more interesting and exactly the mixture will become interesting and give you your trademark. That’s exactly why I love Andy Timmons (again, not blues, but serves my points)

11. J
    September 27th, 2008 at 1:38 pm

    

    Have you heard John Bonamassa’s album Sloe Gin? It’s all over the place! Some would say it crosses boundaries, others would say it extends them. Ever thought about reviewing new guitar albums?

12. Stratoblogster
    September 27th, 2008 at 6:16 pm

    

    I think about melody and progressions which support the melody. If the melody, chords and progressions hit me emotionally, I chase after it. If it also aligns with my Blues sense, I try to synthesize it all as best I can. Remember that Jazz comes from Blues, so don’t try to consider Jazz as an “outside influence” of Blues. Go back to earlier Jazz where it’s more identifiable with Blues, then move forward. But find a place where YOU recognize Blues shifting into Jazz. Those places exist because Blues is the root.

    “J” is so right about Bonamassa! Another is Derek Trucks. Both Bonamassa and Trucks are incorporating Jazz and even Eastern & Celtic influences into their music. But both anchor firmly to and from the Blues. But without getting too technical, I think they both also place melody & emotion at a very high priority.

    There’s a youtube vid of Bonamassa and Walter Trout trading solos on stage. Trout is eventually cycling through all his fastest runs, while JB still pauses here and there to phrase melodically or hold single notes. JB could out-shred Trout no problem, but he steps back and plays musically. So instead of resulting in a cacophony of 16th note craziness, JB continues to breathe.

    Sonny Landreth’s October PG interview mentions being a horn player and bringing that breathing aspect to guitar playing. In other words, sing a guitar solo as if you were taking breaths.

    So don’t separate your guitar solos from how you would sing. Then I think you’re playing closer to the heart.

    This is great stuff!!

13. Ovidiu
    September 27th, 2008 at 6:41 pm

    

    @Dr J: I don’t know the album, but I will try to listen it if you pointed me to it. I have thought about reviewing albums but I said that it’s not for me, honestly, I have really paid some thinking to this, because I have here in Romania a few examples and I have always considered those guys people with a vast musical culture. I have my own “musical culture”, if you want, larger or smaller, depending on where you look from, but I don’t think it is large enough to allow me to judge other people who did more than me, even if sometimes I can’t help it and I make judgment of one artist or another. I’m only human and I have my opinions. However, it is more to it when reviewing music, I think, and you hold a responsibility. Plus that sometimes I get excited quite fast about one song or another and this is never a good thing when writing reviews

    @Stratoblogster: I have listened some old music, but not that much that I could follow it’s development, as I was saying a bit earlier, I have my culture, but I can’t say it’s wide and covers all aspects I would like to. It’s my own and it’s quite fragmented, you know…However, I had a friend once that used to make judgment of music of the 50′s, 60′s, music that I didn’t listen that much, and I was always amazed of how deep he went into judging music and comparing it to what other have done before it, as in 40′s, 50′…

    I will look for that video you speak about of Bonamassa and Trout on YouTube

14. wullie
    September 27th, 2008 at 7:35 pm

    

    One of the biggest pitfalls for longtime players of the blues and particularly the I, IV, V format is the tendency to fall into your collection of fast licks and play on automatic. My wife pointed this out to me after hearing me at a gig some time ago. After that I started to deliberately slow down and inject more feel into the standards rather than all out look at me i am playing fast!!

15. Ovidiu
    September 27th, 2008 at 8:05 pm

    

    It may be, I guess that if you play over an over on I IV V progression you develop some standard licks that you automatically insert into your playing. A few months ago I had here a post about repeating yourself and trying to not sound like…yourself and constantly trying to find and discover new lick so you never repeat yourself. Playing slow is a first step to this, I guess.

16. wullie
    September 27th, 2008 at 9:55 pm

    

    Picking up on the “not sounding like yourself” theme, i think as a guitarist you should strive to sound like you in any given format, having a noticeable sound and style, something that people will remember you for.

17. Ovidiu
    September 27th, 2008 at 10:25 pm

    

    I think I didn’t explain it well, see this post, I think you’ll get my point http://www.guitarflame.com/2008/what-do-you-do-when-you-fing-yourself-repeating-the-same-things/

18. grasshopper james
    September 29th, 2008 at 3:07 pm

    

    This is a very tough question. While many such as SRV, Buddy Guy, BB, EC play 12 bar blues, they do bring on a unique sound and touch.

    The question should be, “how to play 12 bar blues without sounding like a 12 bar blues”.

    Just my 2 cents.

    grasshopper james from http://guitarbites.com

19. Ovidiu
    September 29th, 2008 at 7:04 pm

    

    Good point, grasshopper.

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    [...] I started to think again about my post of a few days ago about being original in playing blues. I think this is one of the most down to earth examples of how you can take a song and give it your [...]

21. MG
    October 7th, 2008 at 8:18 am

    

    I don’t know man…for me you have to have those blues roots-I’m talking about for rock and roll. Yes it can get boring if its played in a similar style, key, and progression, but there are a lot of players who add just a little spice to it to make it interesting-tone, gain, tempo, etc.
    But I always enjoy hearing the “straight” blues players-BB King, Buddy Guy-its just powerful music. For me, I would rather hear someone playing simple blues, played with lots of feeling, than the Satch or Vai kind of playing. Don’t get me wrong, I think those guys are great players, but sometimes the feeling isn’t there so much for me.
    I think that combo of the blues influence and other influences is what I like in heavy guitar.
    I would second Stratoblogster’s rec. about Pandora! It is an excellent way to see styles and differences in different genres!

22. Ovidiu
    October 7th, 2008 at 10:50 am

    

    Yea, I used Pandora a lot in the beginning of their service, then they stopped providing services to Romania based visitors so I quit.

23. MG
    October 8th, 2008 at 5:02 am

    

    Oh that sucks! Maybe they can start again. Maybe it has to do with all the copyright issues Pandora is having?

24. Ovidiu
    October 8th, 2008 at 9:07 am

    

    Yes, that’s the issue, but I really used to enjoy Pandora and the self-learning radio there, I loved it, until they closed the door for me. Well, I looked for alternates and I find a few, but not the same.

25. russv
    October 24th, 2008 at 1:56 pm

    

    It’s difficult to be original in the blues but it’s refreshing to hear. Jeff Becks ‘Brush with the blues’ track achieves this (in my opinion). It doesn’t follow a standard chord sequence and he avoids most of the usual cliched licks but it still retains a blues feel. He sometimes goes off at a tangent with live!

26. Ovidiu
    October 24th, 2008 at 1:59 pm

    

    I must listen that piece, to see what you mean.

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    [...] know what I’ve thought at that moment? I have thought about my post of a few months ago about being original in blues. You commented there saying that blues actually offers the common ground that both musicians and [...]

28. Chris Goulden
    April 9th, 2009 at 5:46 pm

    

    I just happened upon this article when searching for “playing the blues” on Google…and I think it’s a great question! I’ve listened to them all, from Robert Johnson, to Otis Rush, B.B. King, Muddy Waters, SRV, Clapton, KWS, Keb Mo, Joe Bonamassa, etc…so I know what you mean about the fact that they all start to blend together.
    However, there is one CD that no matter how many times I put it in my car stereo, it makes me smile and sing and revitalizes my interest in the blues. It’s the first CD by Jonny Lang “Lie to me”. Right from the title track, to the moody “Still Wonder” it was (and still is) a fresh take on the blues by a very eager artist. That kid was trying to prove a point and he did it in spades!!! All the songs on that CD are winners in my book, and I can’t pinpoint why…I just feel it!!!!! If he or someone else can reproduce that same feel again (and I’m sure it’s possible) that’s the ticket…you gotta have something to PROVE!