5 T-Bone Walker licks every blues guitarist needs to know By Andy G Jones published 12 June 23 A trailblazer of blues guitar, a born entertainer, T-Bone Walker has influenced generations of players. Here, we look at how he added a jazzy flair to his solos for maximum effect
Joe Bonamassa, Joanne Shaw Taylor and Carmen Vandenberg play an electrifying game of blues tag in this cover of B.B. King’s Ain’t Nobody Home By Matt Parker published 9 June 23 The three players trade licks and smiles – all backed by Josh Smith – on this classic King cover, albeit seemingly unaware of the irony that they’ve crowded in a room to do so
Eric Gales on his jam with Stevie Ray Vaughan: “Right at the end I asked him to sign an autograph for me – and he said, ‘Only if you sign one for me first!’” By Amit Sharma published 5 June 23 Eric Gales looks back on the time when he was just 15 years old, a young blues-rocker with talent to burn, and had the chance to jam with his hero
Learn the guitar stylings of the pioneering Hubert Sumlin – essential learning for any aspiring blues player By David Gerrish published 2 June 23 The six-string lieutenant to the immortal Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters, Sumlin is one of the authors of the electric blues sound, and he was no slouch with country styles, either
Blues guitar techniques you can learn from Telecaster master Roy Buchanan By John Wheatcroft published 31 May 23 Take a deep dive into the style of one of the best players to have ever picked up a Telecaster, in a lesson that will whip your hybrid picking chops into shape in no time
How to use chromatics in a blues guitar solo By Richard Barrett published 25 May 23 A working knowledge of the in-between notes can get you out of a jam when in a jam
Joe Bonamassa shares his favorite Gibson ES-335 licks in this exclusive lesson By Joe Bonamassa published 10 May 23 Learn some soloing tips from Mr Bonamassa as he takes his 1961 Gibson ES-335 up the dusty end to show you what the legendary semi-hollow can do
Stevie Ray Vaughan swapped his Strat for this Guild 12-string acoustic in his virtuosic MTV Unplugged performance – now it’s up for auction By Matt Parker published 5 May 23 The Texan blues dynamo used the model to perform the likes of Rude Mood and Pride and Joy in the 1990 performance
John Primer: "When I played with Muddy Waters, he set my amp tone up for me. I use the same settings he gave me back in the mid-'70s" By Andrew Daly published 5 May 23 The blues veteran discusses his love of Epiphones (and why he never clicked with Strats), what he learned as a sideman to Muddy Waters and Magic Slim, and the secret to his enviable tone
Hear unreleased Rory Gallagher track Continental Op – a rampaging live performance from the Stratocaster great's previously undocumented period By Matt Parker published 5 May 23 A new Rory Gallagher live album, All Around Man – Live In London, is on the way and it features 23 unreleased recordings
Eric Bibb: “I find the most effective songs, the ones that resonate most with the people who hear my music, are songs that come fairly quickly” By Jamie Dickson published 4 May 23 With his new album, Ridin', Bibb paints moving, historical portraits of people on the road to a better life – with help from a six-string banjo and a host of acoustic possibilities
How to solo using compound time – the secret behind some of Frank Zappa and Robben Ford's most out-there leads By Andy G Jones published 3 May 23 Open up some all-new possibilities for your lead strategies with these fresh rhythmic soloing approaches
How to use chords in a blues guitar solo By Richard Barrett published 1 May 23 We all think of the blues solo in terms of which notes sit atop which chords, but reversing that proposition – and building chords into the solo itself – generates some tasty new phrasing ideas
Joe Bonamassa plays AC/DC’s Back in Black like you’ve never heard it before in this soulful rhythm ’n’ blues reimagining By Matt Parker published 28 April 23 The blues-rock ace has teamed up with funk band Scary Pockets and vocalist Joanna Jones to offer a new take on Angus Young’s iconic riff and solo
Ana Popovic: "The cancer took a lot out of me, and so did working towards getting better. I had to spend every atom of energy on playing guitar and writing songs" By Andrew Daly published 27 April 23 How the Serbian blues virtuoso battled cancer to record the most accomplished playing of her career – and why nothing beats her '64 Fender Strat
Derek Trucks names 11 guitarists who shaped his sound By Andrew Daly published 25 April 23 The Tedeschi Trucks Band slide maestro reveals his formative influences – from the obvious to the obscure – what he thinks is the "fiercest" guitar solo of all time, and why rhythm guitar is a lost art
Learn Gary Moore’s soloing secrets By David Gerrish published 18 April 23 The blues-rock great’s solos were expressive, emotive, peerless: this lesson unpacks the dynamics, phrasing and power behind his approach
Meet The Curse of K.K. Hammond, the spooky resonator blues connoisseur who prefers modern guitars and gives them names like “Hell’s Belle” and “Swamp Bitch” By Ellie Rogers published 3 April 23 The Robert Johnson and Skip James enthusiast acknowledges there will be “some lovers of vintage Nationals out there who’ll be horrified”, but she thinks her heavily customized contemporary resonators “just sound better”
Joe Bonamassa makes a strong case for fitting your Gibson Les Paul with P-90s as he shares his favorite ’54 Goldtop blues licks By Joe Bonamassa published 30 March 23 The first in a series of exclusive lessons from the Mayor of Nerdville that will not only teach you something to play but also demonstrate what a classic vintage electric guitar can do
How to play acoustic blues in open D tuning By Richard Barrett published 24 March 23 Open minds with open tunings can bring new shades to the blues, and in this acoustic piece inspired by Molly Tuttle and Jimmy Page, we bring bluegrass, blues and folk to the party