I know how frustrating it can be to try to play a blues solo and feel like you don't even know where to start. There are so many things that you could work on. 

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I spent years thinking that if I just kept practicing scales, it would eventually click. It never did, until I stopped and picked apart what my heroes were actually playing.

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There are three foundational things that make learning the blues easier now and in the future.

 

First, you need to know the 12-bar blues progression inside and out and in your sleep.

 

Second, you need to have one small scale fragment down so you can play something, not five huge scale shapes.

 

Third, you need to develop your ear to play over the chords as they go by.  

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If you can do those things, you will be poised to go much further. If you're ready to dig into the blues, you're in the right spot.

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Nate