The blues is where most guitarists eventually end up, whether they start there or not. It’s behind rock, country, R&B, and a dozen other styles you already love. Learn to play the blues and you’re not just learning one genre — you’re learning the foundation of modern guitar.
The lessons on this page cover the essentials: the scales, the licks, the rhythmic feel, the techniques, and the theory that makes blues guitar tick. Start where it makes sense for where you are right now.
Start Here: The Blues Scale
If you already know the pentatonic minor scale, you’re one note away from the blues scale. That extra note — the flatted fifth — is what gives blues its characteristic tension and grit. These two lessons will get you there fast.
- The Box 1 Blues Scale — The pentatonic minor plus one note. Jonathan shows you exactly where the flatted fifth lives and how to use it without getting stuck on it.
- 12 Bar Blues Guitar — Progression and Riff — The I-IV-V blueprint behind almost every blues song ever written. Learn the chord changes and a riff you can jam with right away.
Blues Licks and Riffs
Blues is a language, and licks are the vocabulary. Learn a few solid ones and you’ll always have something to say when it’s your turn to solo. These lessons cover licks that actually get used — not exercises, but real phrases you can drop into your playing.
- 3 Chromatic Blues Licks in E — Three licks that step outside the scale on purpose. The chromatic approach is what separates blues from pentatonic noodling. 90,000 people have watched this one.
- An Awesome Little Blues Guitar Lick — A short, versatile lick built around a bend and a quick mute. Works between vocal lines or as a building block for longer solos.
- A Bread and Butter Blues Lick — A classic double-stop lick coming in from the blues note. Simple to learn, sounds great every time.
- Blues Guitar Riff on 3rds — The same riff SRV used in Pride and Joy. Built on 3rds in E, this one sounds huge with just two notes at a time.
Blues Technique
Scales and licks only get you so far. What makes blues guitar sound like blues is the technique behind it — the way notes are bent, the rhythmic feel, the spaces between notes. These lessons dig into the details.
- E Blues With Thirds — How to layer thirds over an E7 chord for a rich, classic blues sound. Major thirds, minor thirds, and how they interact with the chord underneath.
- Acoustic Blues Guitar Boogie — Colin breaks down the boogie woogie shuffle pattern in A — the kind of playing that sounds like a full band, even on a single acoustic guitar.
Slide Guitar
Slide guitar is its own world, but open D tuning is a great place to start. Once you understand how the tuning works and how to combine rhythm and slide playing, a lot of it clicks into place quickly.
- Slide Guitar in Open D Tuning — Colin covers the three primary changes in open D, the major sixth trick, and how to mix rhythm and slide so it sounds like two guitars.
Common Blues Guitar Questions
What scale should I learn first for blues guitar?
Start with the pentatonic minor scale — it’s the foundation of blues soloing. Once you’re comfortable with it, add the flatted fifth (the blues note) to get the full blues scale. That one extra note changes everything.
What is a 12 bar blues?
The 12 bar blues is a chord progression built on three chords — the I, IV, and V of whatever key you’re in. It runs for 12 bars and then repeats. Almost every blues song follows this pattern or some variation of it. Learn it and you can jam with virtually any blues player.
What makes blues guitar sound like blues?
Three things more than anything else: the blues scale (especially that flatted fifth), string bending, and the feel — particularly the shuffle rhythm. You can play all the right notes and still not sound like blues if the rhythmic feel isn’t there.
What are chromatic notes in blues guitar?
Chromatic notes are notes that fall outside your scale pattern. In blues, players deliberately step outside the scale to create tension and color before resolving back. It’s one of the things that makes blues guitar sound more sophisticated than straight pentatonic playing.
Is blues guitar good for beginners?
Yes — it’s actually one of the best styles to start with. The pentatonic scale is forgiving (almost everything sounds okay), the 12 bar blues gives you a simple structure to play over, and there are dozens of accessible licks that sound great with minimal technique. You can get something musical going pretty quickly.
Keep Going
The blues never really ends — there’s always another lick to learn, another technique to refine, another song to work through. If you’re serious about developing your blues playing, the Box 1 Blues Soloing course covers everything from the scale foundations through phrasing, feel, and building real solos over a backing track.
