Blues lessons - newbie

Hi all, I am a new member to GT. I consider myself to be a beginner, but have had an old acoustic guitar loafing around for a few years now, so I have some chords under my belt and do have a bit of music theory behind me.

I recently bought my first electric guitar and want to get a bit more serious about progressing.

I am really interested in learning to play the blues, and have started into the blues lessons. I really enjoy them, and have made some progress.

Thing is, I want to play songs (doesn't everyone!!??!!). I decided to start with "Baby please don't go" (Muddy Waters) because I like the song and it listed as one of the easiest Blues songs in GT.

I have progressed to being able to play all the parts reasonably well, but there is no way I can play it at the pace the jam track/performance video play at. I get bits of it, but playing the whole thing at that pace seems way off for me. I'm sure that in a few years I might come close.

My real issue is that this is rated as "beginner" tune (2 guitars difficulty). If that's so, then there is no way I can attempt a 3 guitar difficulty song anytime in the forseeable future! I really love to play the song, just wish it was playable at a "slightly" slower pace.

Has anyone else struggled to keep up with this beginner level song? Can anyone recommend another Blues song from the list that might be more doable for a person of my meagre abilities?

Alf

I've noticed the same thing, as most of the songs are geared towards those who can laready play, they are comletely forgetting that part of learning to play is to have a large selection of songs for which are really playable by true beginer.

I've asked why they really only even have less than 20 beginer songs availble to us and I got the basic reply with no answers or insight to what might be in the works.

Thanks for the reply!

Yeah, there is nothing wrong with the instruction, and I like the music! It is probably just my skill level at the moment. Absolute beginner level bored me a bit, and there didn't seem to be any Blues songs in that category. The next step up (2 guitar difficulty) seems a quantum leap. I seem to be in between there somewhere.

I know there are good sounding slower Blues numbers out there. I'm just a little surprised none of them appear on the list at GT, and I think they would be a good bridge from lessons to song playing.

Well, I guess they can't fill every niche requirement ehhh! I'll just keep on trying.

Perhaps , You could use software to slow the song down to a pace that you feel comfortable with..I personally import the mp3 song into Amplitube 4 software and you can choose what speed to play the song at and play along with it and then just gradually speed it up a bit at a time...perhaps there is oter software out there that can do the same thing...I would suggest you go through the Blues courses on GT (they are quite good) and by the time you finish those (they are quite long and challenging by the end) you should be a more capable player and the speed should come easier.

Good Luck in your journey :)

I would have to look at the song, but if you say you can play it, I suggest give yourself some credit. It might take a little while to master it, but I bet you will find that you are close to having it figured out in 2 weeks, if you stay on that song. I tend to work on a song until I have it memorized and then move on to the next one, but that being said, I also notice that some times if I do that, I make NO progress. Example: I know House of the Rising Sun really well but I was having trouble with arpeggiating the intro. Rather than focus on that song only, I moved on to another song, but kept practicing the arpeggiating until I got it down. Now I have it, and the work on the next song continues. My opinion, you're doing fine!!

Thanks for the encouragement. Yes, I will persist with the lessons as well as the songs. Interesting, the perception of speed. A while ago I learnt a "tribute to B.B.King" version of "The thrill is gone". It had been arranged with the beginner in mind, so the jam track was recorded at quite a slow tempo. I was able to play this o.k and quite enjoyed it. Recently, after trying to play "Baby please don't go" at about 126 bpm I went back to play the B.B tribute and found it [u]very[/u] slow and rather easy. Still enjoyed it though!

I see a B.B King song on the GT list running at 86 bpm. It is rated harder (3 guitars) than "Baby please don't go" so I guess it is more technically difficult. Am going to have a look at that.

Will persist with "Baby please don't go". Maybe if I just try to play certain parts for a start rather than the whole thing I might be able to build it up to tempo.

Thanks again.

Alf

I know it's been almost a year now but I'll add it anyways. Get a metronome. Set the beat per minute lower than what the track is played at and work your way up. It'll make a night and day of a difference!

You can play along at 50% slower. At the bottom of the screen under settings just click on .5

Hope this helps. Great song.

Thanks for your replies guys. Yes, there is the 50% speed option. I have used it, but personally don't like it much, it's a bit too slow and of course distorted.

What I'd really like is some of that slow dirty down delta blues!!

Anyway, I'm moving on. Tackling Jimmy Reed "Ain't that Lovin' you Baby".

No, not slow!!!

Alf

Anytune is a great program I also use. You can control the speed, pitch, and loop plus other functions.

Good luck and have fun.

John