“Once you learn how to do that, any blues solo will fly”: Joe Bonamassa shares his top tip for blues players looking to level up – and it’s not to learn more solos

Joe Bonamassa has shared his top tip for players looking to supercharge their blues guitar solos, and it has nothing to do with studying the greats.

In his latest Guitar World interview, he was asked if budding blues players should learn a classic solo to truly understand the blues. He dismissed that idea, but said there is one particular area that can help sharpen your chops which shouldn’t be ignored.

“If you truly want to understand the blues, you do it through experience and getting up there on open-mic nights,” he states. “It all starts there.”

It’s about putting yourself in the firing line, he stresses. It’s about survival.

“When I was a kid, a band called me up and said, ‘Okay, kid, we'll give you a shot. Here's one song.’ So you need to learn quickly how to communicate with the instrument and to get people's attention and draw them in,” Bonamassa relays.

“Once you learn how to do that, any blues solo will fly. There's not a series of notes you can point to, like, ‘If you complete this solo, you'll have the Rosetta Stone of the blues.’ That's not quite the case. It's how you communicate through the instrument.”

It follows a string of gear-centric advice from the bluesman on how to avoid buyer’s remorse when shopping for your next electric guitar, and how to pick the right amp for guest spots.

He’s also revealed the game-changing advice he got from the late Leslie West.

Bonamassa released his latest Epiphone signature guitar earlier this week, a recreation of his “extremely rare” 1959 ‘Black Beauty’ Les Paul Custom for under $1K.

Bonamassa’s full interview features in the latest issue of Guitar World with Guns N’ Roses on the cover. Head to Magazines Direct to pick up a copy.