There are many books out there about how to play blues for guitar, but probably none as funny and tongue-in-cheek as It's easy to Bluff Blues Guitar by Joe Bennett, music teacher and session guitarist. Bennett is also a senior examiner in electric guitar for The London College of Music and Head of Popular Music at the City of Bath College, so he is no slouch!
What It’s Easy to Bluff Blues Guitar offers the Guitar Beginner
First and foremost, this book debunks the aura of separateness and superiority that surrounds the great Bluesmen and this musical style. It is a great book just for the cynicism and wit alone. Under a photo of the great John Lee Hooker, Bennett writes: the original bluffer manages to get away with using three chords, a couple of string-beds and some serious frowning – take note!
Bluffing? Bennett contends that anyone who wasn’t born into poverty in Mississippi or who paid their dues in the beer joints of Chicago is forced to bluff. Thus, he gives tongue-in-cheek instructions about what to wear (sunglasses are essential) and offers a collection of mix-and-match Bluff Phrasebook such as ‘feel’, ‘tone’, ‘classic’, ‘touch’ and, of course, ‘man’ which can be jumbled together into a meaningless and very impressive sentence about the blues. He suggests that anyone who voices disagreement with the statement can be told: 'you just don’t understand the blues, man.’ Nevertheless, despite this breezy approach which is supported by some great comic line drawings, the book has plenty for the budding muso.
History of the Blues
The book commences with a brief history of the blues and has sections on Early Influences, such as Robert Johnson Blind Lemon Jefferson and Charley Patton; the Electric Players including Muddy Waters, BB King and John lee hooker; and more recently, of course, John Mayall and Eric Clapton.
This is followed by mini-profiles of the great blues guitarists, starting with Robert Johnson and going through to Hendrix. Each profile looks at biography, the gear they play, playing style and ‘techniques to steal’, plus the author’s opinion of best album, finest moment and instant opinion.
Blues Riffs and Blues Tabs
The blues tablature and playing instructions offered are simple and well-chosen. Names of material used reflect the source material that can’t legitimately be copied. Thus, No Sweat Rooster is based on the moody style figure for ‘Little Red Rooster’, while Moore of Rory is a piece written to exemplify the playing styles of Rory Gallagher and Gary Moore. All pieces are offered in both traditional music staff style with tab underneath.
Guitarists will love this book for the incidental material such as full page photos of famous bluesmen and even a profile of the most common guitars used for this style of playing, with details of who plays that guitar model, its characteristics and ‘knowledgeable facts’. The book was published in 2000 by Wise Publications and is still widely available on Amazon.
SOURCE: Bennett, Joe, It's Easy to Bluff Blues Guitar, Wise publications, 2000.
