Fergus sung it now I'm trying to play the blues

Following up on this… I am totally not into finding just the right tone, but the one thing I do when blues improvising is add some (not too much) overdrive. I have a pedal, but perhaps your amp allows you to add overdrive. This gives more body to the single note line, some more punch.

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It’s a good start, you only played a couple of notes that sounded a bit wrong that could have been cured with a bend but at your stage nothing to worry about. Just keep practicing and listen to some of the artists that you would like to play like, be analytical about what you hear and take note and try to emulate them. Once you get the significance of phrasing you will improve and find it easier.

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There really isn’t just one right tone, but I am kind of an outlier here in that I make sure I’m getting the tone I want before practicing or recording something. Matching the tone to the music and one’s mood is pretty important. Tone goes a long way in finding our own voice on the instrument as well.

@DarrellW Thanks for the listen and comments Darrell. I’ll keep at it and I guess the bends will be coming up and some point in grade 3.

Welcome to Club Noodle, Stefan! As you say great fun to take some time out from playing and singing songs.

You did ever so well for a first time out. Specifically I think you frequently targetted the chord tones and did well following the chord changes in the backing track. There is much to master in playing the blues, and following the changes is a biggie (I think).

Then you can work on playing shorter phrases, perhaps longer pauses, and get that conversation going.

For more helpful chat on tone shaping, perhaps share what amp you have. That said, take note of @CT’s comment about pickup selection, tone and volume on the guitar. Lots of goodness in just playing with those controls with the amp on a relatively clean setup.

Enjoy and look forward to more!

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If my memory serves me well Stefan’s got a Katana 50. It’s worth checking out this video:

Along with Juca’s YouTube Channel where he has quite a few videos goes through how to dial in various styles of tones. I found this a good one where he goes through just using the panel to get a blues tone:

He has videos on other amps too.

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In that case @SgtColon has a very nice tonal palette to work with. Rather than drop in other people’s patches, I would start by learning how to dial in your own tone. Your guitar rig (pick up selection, tone and volume) + room + playing style/skill level are truly unique to you. The easiest place to start is with finding a good clean tone. It’s less daunting than it might appear and gets you using your ears and developing your own style. In that case I would start with something approximating a Fender '65 twin reverb (with some delay and/or a touch of reverb). You can start anywhere you want to be sure.

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@DavidP Thank you David for the listen and comments. I need to get in to the thing that Justin said about it being a conversation and when I play the short bit that he teaches I understand it and it makes sense. It’s then just trying to get my own brain to do it when I’m noodling.

@Socio James is correct, I do have a Katana 50. Thanks for the link and the video James. I’ll give those a look at.

@CT Thank you Clint. I’ll start with a clean sound and have a play from there.

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Ohhhh yessssss…the blues. Oh i love the sound of it!!! Oh i will be hitting some blues up when i get to that part!! I do not know enough to say much in thatt respect! But it did have a nice smooth feel to it, even without the micro bends!!! From the blues i remember listening to, there seems to be quite a bit of that! Beyond my paygrade right now!! Brovo sir!! :star_struck:

Rock on Brother!! Cheers and Peace out!! :sunglasses: :fist_left: :v:

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Nicely done. I could tell you were listening to the chord changes and targeting some chord tones, as well as moving around the pentatonic boxes. Getting those sounds and shapes into your ears and fingers is essential, so keep it up.

One thing you could try is singing or humming a short phrase (and don’t be afraid to include some sliding or bending notes), and then playing the same phrase on the guitar. Sometimes (especially at first) you might need to “work that out,” (or work on specific technique to execute it), but the more you do it the easier it will get. It’s a good exercise for developing that connection between what you “hear” in your head and what your fingers need to do to reproduce it.

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@Dman74 Thanks for the listen Darren and the comments. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Lots of fun to be had once you reach that section.

@J.W.C Thank you Jason for the listen and the comments. I’ll give the humming a try and see how I get on. I’ll also try a bit of sliding and bending too.

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