If you’re good at it, and you have something to say, a guitar solo is a wonderful thing. But here at The Drewsblues, we strongly feel that it’s rhythm playing that matters most. A tight rhythm section is what makes a song sound good. A sloppy one can undermine even the best soloist. And you, along with bass, drums, and maybe a keyboard, are a part of the rhythm section.

If you think about it, in a typical jam scenario — with a vocalist, another guitarist, a harmonica player, maybe a piano, and even a saxophone — you’ll probably get a couple-dozen bars to solo over in a given song (if you’re lucky), which means that the rest of the time, you’re playing some kind of rhythm. You should, therefore, be focusing as much time practicing your rhythm guitar as your lead playing. Probably more, when you get right down to it.

One of the most important skills a good musician has is the ability to keep good time. With that said, one of the most important tools a good musician should use when practicing is a time-keeping device. And the best is often the plain-old, stripped down metronome. Drum tracks and loops are fine, but a metronome keeps things simple and shines a harsh light on your mistakes, when you fall out of time. That’s what you want when you practice: honest self-critique. For that purpose, a metronome is your best friend.

I remember when I first started taking lessons, my teacher Will Brady told me to get a metronome, go home and practice the scales he had taught me that week. I did as I was told, and, on returning to my next week’s lesson, confessed, “I think this thing is broken, Will. It keeps speeding up and slowing down while I’m playing.”

Mr. Brady appraised my newly acquired tool wryly, looked at me and said, “No, Andrew. I think it’s the player that needs adjusting.”

And so it was.

When you first start playing with a metronome it can be a difficult exercise. You’re forced to think about things you might not have been aware of before, and all of your attention shifts towards the clicking box, away from your fingers. If you stick with it, however, you’ll learn to feel the metronome rather than listen to it. This is when your timekeeping starts to really solidify.

Start by using the metronome for playing scales or exercises that are fairly non-musical. Chromatic scales work great for this purpose. Then work slowly into using the metronome as your guide while practicing tunes, riffs, and licks. Ultimately, you should have that thing clicking anytime you’re working on something that you already have comfortably under your fingers.

The Berklee College of Music offers an excellent YouTube segment on using a metronome for practicing blues. By having each click count for the 2 and 4 of a measure, you get more of a back-beat feel while practicing. This method really swings at faster tempos. Check it out:

YouTube – Essential Blues Guitar Practice Tips [via YouTube user BerkleeMusic]

So… what say you? Do you practice with a metronome? What tips and tricks do you have? Let’s hear it!

The first gig I ever played with Stan Zabek (aka Laguna Slim), I was sitting in for another guitarist, and halfway through the first set Slim looked back at us, said, “Play a box in G,” and counted us off. The rest of the crew nodded, workmanlike, but I just froze.

Uhhh… Box? What’s that?

Luckily, “box” is a term used to describe a very common pattern used by bassists and guitarists in both major and minor blues tunes. Once the song got going, I recognized right away what he was after, and managed to fall in after a couple of bars.

A blues box is a rhythm pattern, typically played with a swing feel, where the bassist and/or guitarist cycle through the I, V, bVII, and octave notes, forming a “box” on the fretboard as you play. In the key of A, you’d be playing the notes A, E, G, and A again (only one octave higher). You can either play them in an ascending or descending pattern. Take a listen to a couple of samples:

Blues Box Pattern, Ascending, in A

Blues Box Pattern, Descending in A

This pattern sounds great at just about any tempo, and as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, works with both major and minor blues, because the third isn’t played. Without the third note of the scale there to tell clue you in, it’s “tonally ambiguous” (not to be confused with “totally bogus!”).

Take some time to get this pattern under your fingers, going up, and coming down. You’ll get a TON of mileage out of it, I promise you.

Here’s a quick video showing how the fingering works on a guitar:

For practicing, you can download more MP3 backing tracks in different keys and tempos over at the Loops page.

Have fun!

Ruth Brown is one of the great R&B singers of the 1950′s and 60′s. Known as “Little Miss Rhythm,” she was one of the primary artists to propel the upstart Atlantic Records label to greatness in the early days (You know: the record label that would later feature artists like Ray Charles and Led Zeppelin). She scored a bunch of hits with Atlantic — sixteen top ten blues records and five number ones — including “(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean” in 1953, which is the focus of this little post.

For those of you out there who’ve never heard of Ms. Brown, you oughta check her out. I think I’m going to add this song to my jam repertoire. It doesn’t follow the traditional I-IV-V pattern; the chorus is a 16-bar blues (with four extra bars of the one in there), the verse vamps between the I and the IV, before ratcheting up to the V chord. Here’s how you’d play it (loop track to follow):

CHORUS ("Mama, he treats your daughter mean"):

I  / / / I  / / / I  / / / I  / / /
IV / / / IV / / / I  / / / I  / / /
I  / / / I  / / / I  / / / I  / / /
V  / / / IV / / / I  / / / I  / / /

VERSE ("Mama he treats me badly.. etc.")

I  / / / IV / / / I  / / / IV / / /
I  / / / IV / / / I  / / / IV / / /
(as many times as you've got faults to point out... 
 wrapped up with...)

I  / / / I  / / / V  / / / V  / / /

Anyway, Ruth Brown: One of the greats in the R&B pantheon. This YouTube clip just KILLS me.

If you’re a fella’ who wants to play Ruth’s tunes, just give them a “sex change.” For instance, I’ll often do “Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean” as “Mama, She Treats Your Baby Mean.” In the end, romantic injustices go both ways; you can usually take a tune sung by a member of the opposite sex and spin it in your favor. Need an example? Bonnie Raitt did a marvelous job with John Hiatt’s “Thing Called Love.”

Ruth Brown, the so called “Queen Mother of the Blues”, died in 2006, which is too bad. In addition to her career as a vocalist and hit-maker, she was heavily involved in musicians’-rights issues and was instrumental in forming the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in the late 80′s: an organization dedicated to the historical and cultural preservation of rhythm and blues music and pivotal in assuring royalty rights for Blues musicians. Additionally, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. Her voice is missed.

You can learn more about Ruth Brown’s life and influence over at Wikipedia. Check her out…

Video courtesy of YouTube user BIRDIE29

Got an iPhone? Acoustic Guitar Magazine has a review of four different iPhone tuners. Pretty incredible stuff when you think about it: You can use YOUR PHONE to tune your guitar!

I am personally sold on Agile Partners’ Guitar Toolkit which, in addition to offering a very accurate chromatic tuner (for the uninitiated, the microphone that you talk into picks up the sound of the guitar string, and the app analyzes the frequency to provide tuning information in an attractive, familiar interface), works as a metronome and chord reference. Virtually indispensable nowadays. In app terms, it’s kind of pricey at $9.99, but I remember buying my first dedicated Sabine electronic tuner for $49.99 back in the day. So, by that comparison, it’s relatively cheap, and extremely practical. And we love us some practical stuff here at the DrewsBlues!

It has created a quandary for me, however. Now I find that I can’t go anywhere without my phone, and I use it for so many different purposes that keeping a decent battery charge is a constant challenge when I’m on the go. Nice problem to have, I guess.

This article only covers iPhone, which is too bad, as it ignores the excellent batch of Android and Blackberry devices out there. If you’re using one of those smart phones, I’m curious: What guitar apps are you using ?

Anyway, check out the article.

Acoustic Guitar: Four iPhone Tuners Review.

Looking for a jam on this holiday weekend? Check out JamCalendar, a service that highlights all of the local open mics, pro jams, hosted jams, and general free-for-all music throwdowns that are going on around town.

Right now, it’s pretty much focused on my neck of the woods (Southern California), but they’re always looking for jams. Anywhere. If you know of an event in your area, drop by the site and add it to the calendar!

JamCalendar.com – Local Live Music, Unscripted.

I’ve posted the first of many free blues MP3 loops for you to use for backing tracks and practice. You can find them by clicking the “Loops” link up at the top-left of the page. The inaugural pair consists of a 16, and 8 bar blues: Better known to most as Little Walter’s “My Babe” and “Key to the Highway,” respectively.

I’ll be creating and posting more in the coming days, but these should get you started:

Download 16-bar blues

Download 16-bar blues (no break)

Download 8-bar blues

Check out all of the loops!

Guitar Player magazine has a nice feature on guitarist/vocalist/phenom Jonny Lang. In it, Michael Ross covers Lang’s influences and focuses on his recent shift away from the typcial “SRV blues revival” style that has become de rigueur in the last decade, and focuses on his migration towards soul, funk, and rock.

While Lang’s material is hardly classic blues, it certainly draws its honesty and power from blues influences, including Lang’s heroes, the royal Alberts King and Collins, and, of course, B.B. King.

As one would expect from an entry in Guitar Player magazine, there is also ample shop-talk: Analysis and details of Lang’s guitar arsenal (Strats, Teles, and Les Pauls! Oh! My!), amp setup, and effects make up the later half of the article.

A good read for guitarists, gearheads, and Jonny Lang fans. Check it out…

Jonny Lang Brings His Own Blues [via: GuitarPlayer.com]

Image gleaned from GuitarPlayer.com.

Gibson has posted an enlightening interview with rock/blues/otherworldly guitar genius Jeff Beck. Beck is the guy who followed Eric Clapton — and preceded Jimmy Page — in that hugely influential blues/pop group The Yardbirds. But then, you knew that already. You also know that Beck is a musician nearly without peer; wildly inventive, defiantly individual, and notoriously demanding of himself and his colleagues. Heck, you may even know that he’s been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame TWICE (once with the Yardbirds, and once as a solo artist), and has an impressive FIVE Grammy awards.

Fair enough. You know your Jeff Beck. But when was the last time you got to listen to him idly ponder the wonders of his muse? On a red sofa. With his famous Oxblood Les Paul, no less.

So I suspected! Now, let’s dispense with the trivialities and get to the video.

Enjoy…

The Gibson Classic Interview: Jeff Beck [via: Gibson Guitars]

Thanks to Gibson.com for the video and image.

If you’re a musician who’s ever traveled with their instrument, you know it’s a hassle. If all goes well, you get to carry your axe onto the plane with you, safely stowing it in the overhead bin above your head. If all goes otherwise, your precious gear gets chucked into the bowels of the plane and subjected to who-knows-what kind of torture — wild fluctuations in temperature and humidity; cramped, shifting quarters; neanderthal baggage handlers — any and all of which can seriously compromise the its safe arrival at your destination. And that’s assuming that it ever shows up at all.

Add to that the maddening inconsistency form airline to airline regarding these policies, and traveling with an instrument is a real pain in the rear. It sucks, but that’s the grim reality.

The American Federation of Musicians is hoping to change that, as it pertains to stateside air travel. They’ve put a petition together that they’ll be presenting to the U.S. Senate which, if passed, would make it much easier for musicians traveling with most instruments:

[The] AFM fought for language to be included in the Senate version of the FAA Reauthorization Bill (S.1451) that will streamline the airlines’ carry-on policies regarding musical instruments. If this bill passes musicians will be able to carry most musical instruments on board and place them in the overhead compartment or in a seat (if a ticket is purchased).

This would be extremely good news, if it was approved! I strongly encourage you to head over to the AFM Website, fill out and submit the petition, then forward it to your musician pals.

Especially for professional musicians, this would make a world of difference in a time when it’s already tough enough to make a living.

Carrying Instruments on Airplanes [via The Official Website of the American Federation of Musicians]

Photo courtesy of @flyssy and GuitarCollecting.co.uk.

It’s hard to believe that two decades have passed since that tragic day when Stevie Ray Vaughan and four others died in a helicopter crash in Wisconsin. Much like his hero, Jimi Hendrix, Vaughan’s stature has only increased in the years since his death, as evidenced by, among other things, his recent #1 ranking in MusicRadar’s “25 greatest blues guitarists of all time” survey.

I still remember where I was when I heard: KLOS deejay Bob Coburn broke the news via the little Sony portable radio I was listening to at work. I remember at the time being devasted; and angry that Coburn sounded so relieved that it wasn’t Eric Clapton (who, along with Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, and Stevie’s brother Jimmie, performed at that evening’s concert at Alpine Valley ski resort) who died. It seems foolish now, but as a moody kid fresh out of his teens, it had a huge impression on me. See all the early-twenties photos of me clad in leather vest, string tie, and boots as painfully ample evidence. Hey: It beat grunge…

At any rate, it is worthy of speculation: what would a 55 year-old SRV be doing today, if he were still alive? Would he still be with his band-mates from Double Trouble? Touring with his brother? Performing Hacienda Brothers-style Tex Mex alternative country? All of the above? Lamentably, we’ll never know.

At least we still have the music he made while he was here. So, on a happier note, let’s enjoy some of that!

Finally, a couple of articles that provide perspective 20 years after the artist’s death; one from Wisconsin, where the crash occured, and from Oak Cliff, Texas, the Dallas suburb that was Vaughan’s home:

Even 20 years after the Alpine Valley crash, Vaughan’s influence remains [via The Walworth County Today]

Twenty years on: Remembering Oak Cliff’s Stevie Ray Vaughan [via The Dallas Morning News]

Media Credits

• Image: Guitar On The Edge
• Video provided by user YouTube user 53bluzer