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The Bottom Line

Blues guitar, to be honest, can be as easy or as complicated as any individual player desires. While jazz musicians, for example, sometimes look down their nose at the standard 12-bar musical structure of the blues, the style is in fact more forgiving and supportive of individuality and innovation within the traditional structure than just about any other style of music. Blues music encompasses guitarists as diverse as Robert Johnson, Lightnin' Hopkins, B.B. King, and Duke Robillard, to name but a few, the music rich with both heritage and invention.



Pros

• Easy-to-follow lessons teach the rudiments of blues guitar

Cons

• Text-heavy instruction may frustrate some advanced students

Description

• 13 lessons in blues guitar
• 144 pages, 9" x 12" trade paperback songbook
• Includes instructional CD with audio examples of licks

Guide Review - Jesse Gress - Blues Lick Factory (2007)

Blues music isn't the most difficult style of music to learn and play, but it is an important building block in playing both rock 'n' roll and many styles of jazz music. While the traditional 12-bar blues form is the standard for just about every beginning blues guitarist, it also provides a foundation for one to build upon, experiment with, and innovate.

Guitarist Jesse Gress is a seasoned performer, playing on stage and on recordings with Todd Rundgren and Tony Levin Band, among others. Gress is the former music editor of Guitar Player magazine, a respected music educator, and the author of six instructional books for the guitar, including The Guitar Cookbook, Guitar Lick Factory, and Blues Lick Factory.

He first began transcribing songs back in 1986, and his folio includes material from such blues-rock stalwarts as Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Gary Moore, and many others. Suffice it to say, Gress knows his stuff when it comes to guitar.

Blues Lick Factory, Gress's latest book, is a great introduction to blues guitar for the beginning or intermediate player. Gress breaks the technique down into 13 easy-to-use lessons, starting with blues scales and chord progressions before moving on to multi-note licks, rhythmic structures, and solos. Each lesson is provided extensive commentary alongside the traditional tablature. For those players cued more towards audio reinforcement, the book includes a CD with over 100 examples of the licks and riffs described in the book, performed by Gress.

Blues music isn't difficult to learn, but it can be difficult to learn well. Gress makes it easier to pick up the style with Blues Lick Factory, the book building upon the blues lessons laid out in his previous Guitar Lick Factory book. By starting with the instruction provided by Gress in Blues Lick Factory, the beginner can start a lengthy and satisfying lifetime playing blues guitar. (Backbeat Books, published May 1, 2007)

Guide Disclosure: A review copy of this CD, DVD, or book was provided by the record label, publisher, or publicist. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.