Hey all,
ive been playing guitar for 3 years now, practicing non stop, played tons infront of 1000 of my fellow schoolmates, won my high schools talent quest (in which i won it with a wild solo behind my head to Jimi's Hey Joe), and im in the first year of high school, and im pleased with how ive progressed, but im starting to get bored of firing around the pentatonc scale fast as heck. I want to learn to play some nice SRV style blues, but i dont know where to begin. Can anyone help me? Give me a starting point, or point me to a good website?
Thanx for any help,
Alex
Personally, I'd go back and listen to some of the earlier blues guitarists, especially the ones SRV was influenced by. Plenty of transcription books exist and they all have TAB.
I'd recommend T-Bone Walker to get some snappier blues licks. Many scoff when they hear his playing as, compared to many modern players, it's 'technically lacking'. However, he's one of those guitarists whose licks sound great when under the fingers and you gain a lot more respect for the bloke when you've got a few under your belt. Easy to learn too! He's also the father of the 'modern' guitar style (huge influence on the next generation of guitarists).
http://www.io.com/~tbone1/blues/bios/tbone.html
Albert King was a huge influence on SRV. Hubert Sumlin too if I recall.
http://www.cascadeblues.org/History/AlbertKing.htm
http://www.hubertsumlinblues.com/biografy.html
Cool, thanx for that. Does anyone have any ways of making me stop repeating myself. I seem to always play the same way, and it gets boring...
Go to http://www.powertabs.net/. There are some really good tabs of SRV (and not only of him).
Honza
P.S. Don't forget to download the editing/playing software
http://www.power-tab.net/downloads.php
QuoteTraditional (Celtic) - %^&* Up Your Beaver Cap
Reminds me of that other poignant Celtic ballad 'Lick My Love Pump'
Quote from: Alpha579Cool, thanx for that. Does anyone have any ways of making me stop repeating myself. I seem to always play the same way, and it gets boring...
maybe it's time to learn to sing ... all your guitar heros sang, right?
repetition never hurt anyone - check out Neil Young's Cinnamon Girl solo. I don't recall that repetition stopped Elmore James from getting famous ...
anyway who's getting bored? you or your audience? Probably 90% of the time people don't want anything original anyway
Know any Metallica?
The SRV stuff is mostly just variations on the same pentatonics that you're probably already doing. But with a different feel, and tuned down a half-step with big ass strings(try a 12 or 13 little E to a 52 or 56 big E).
Albert King is a good place to start.
RDV
A little OT for this thread but; A good person to try to emulate for a little something different is Pink Floyd's David Gilmour. I've found that his stuff can work on many different styles of music and is probably my greatest influence. This web page(my band's) below will play a tune where I play a combination of SRV & Davd Gilmour licks through both solos. Check it out(be patient, you'll have to sit through some of my singer's self-absorbed lyrics first :wink: ).
http://www.theintention.com/the_band
Regards
RDV
Quote from: gezReminds me of that other poignant Celtic ballad 'Lick My Love Pump'
In D/minor, the saddest of all keys.
RDV
Write songs with only 2 or 3 notes in them. The lyrics should cause slight inflections in the music.
John Lee Hooker is a master of this.
By slightly altering the timing, or even reversing the order, you find all kinds of the 'inbetween's of those 2-3 notes.
Play very slowly...add timing inflections. Think about stuff like wrongful deaths, hangovers, lost love, the woman that teaches you stuff you didn't want to know...like that. One of the main tricks is to maintain a simple riff, while morphing it slightly to 'fit' the lyrics.
Miles Davis: "Play like you don't know how to play".
Play like you've just walked 5 miles with nothing but a bag leg and a hangover, and you see no end in sight...
Honza, That's a very cool site, thank's for showing it to us, if I would had stuff like this when I was a Teen I'd now be livin in Graceland, LOL !,
JD 8)
You need to listen to some Albert King!!! He was SRV's prime influence, first time you'll listen to his stuff and go HUH?!? who's this slow playing fat guy? but just TRY to duplicate some of his licks. Damn near impossible.
I took my mum to see Albert King once (how rock and roll is that?!). Widdle meister Walter Trout was his backup and I wasn't the only one in the audience whose eyes glazed over after a few numbers. When Albert came on he said more in the first few seconds of his playing that old Walt had during his entire set.
Even my mum thought he sounded wonderful (she thinks anything 'modern' is just noise). What he 'lacked' in technique he made up for in feel. The most popular guitarists all have one thing in common, they're all good communicators and King was definitely among them.
You need and I mean NEED to own or at least view the SRV Live at El Macambo. I believe this is the defining masterpiece of a Texas Blues performance.
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6305019681.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/6305019681/qid=1084901168/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-5794415-9844126?v=glance&s=dvd
I'd also like to suggest two from Johnny Winter. Progressive Blues Experiment from @ 1968 and Guitar Slinger from early 80's. The Blues Experiment is Resnophonic Slide in the hands of a master. The Guitar Slinger is "shredder's blues". You think Eddy and that Malmstein guy were fast, check out Johnny's 80's material.
Try to get hold of an old Cream bootleg called Renovating the Blues. On it you will find in appalling quality Eric Clapton at his peak. One man, one Gibson Les Paul and one Marshall amp. Listen and learn!
The best exercise you can do to avoid repetition is to use your ears, and listen to a wide variety of music.
Lightning Hopkins
Albert King
Albert Collins
T-Bone Walker
Gatemouth Brown
Guitar Slim (!!)
Johnny Guitar Watson
is the short list of where to start for *Texas* Blues. Guitar Slim's solo on "Things I Used To Do" is a great lesson on telling a story with a solo. "Lonely, Lonely Nights" by Johnny Guitar Watson shows what you can do with just one note. Watson's solos on his later *disco* era tunes like "Real Mother For Ya" are great too. Don't limit yourself to a narrow style of music though. You will find that many good musicians listening habits involve a wide range of music. As far as learning the blues from tab... hmmm :roll: . The blues is *in between the notes* and does not translate well to tab. Listen, listen, listen...
Kerry M
Quote from: StephenGilesTry to get hold of an old Cream bootleg called Renovating the Blues. On it you will find in appalling quality Eric Clapton at his peak. One man, one Gibson Les Paul and one Marshall amp. Listen and learn!
That's probably a good one but I usually don't put Clapton in the Texas Blues camp.
Quote from: Alpha579Cool, thanx for that. Does anyone have any ways of making me stop repeating myself. I seem to always play the same way, and it gets boring...
I think this is something everybody has to work hard at.
Try playing to different kinds of music than you normally do. Work through the frustration as it forces your lead rythms and voicings to be different.
Also, try playing with different tones that bring about a different feel. Want a real challenge? Try playing clean! :shock: Turn the distortion off and force yourself to play licks that sound good without all the noise hiding things.
We grow by finding things that challenge us. I like a new lick that I can't play, because I realize that tackling that is the path to getting better. If I only stick with those things I can do I'll never advance.
Just my two cents,
Bill
Best thing to do is learn the some basic blues progressions, and learn how to play by ear. Blues is a lot of licks and phrasing. Like anything you'll get better with time. Listen to what you want to learn.
Quote from: Rain DogYou need and I mean NEED to own or at least view the SRV Live at El Macambo. ... I'd also like to suggest two from Johnny Winter. Progressive Blues Experiment from @ 1968.
I heartily second that !! ... was just listening to PBE yesterday - one of my faves ... SRV at the El-cambo doesn't have one bum note in the whole show - simply killer :o
I got a bootleg video of Johnny playing Toronto in the early 80's with John Paris doing great bass and harp stuff and an awesome wild-double-kick drummer who's name I can't remember ... wow !! ... that stuff sure sets a high standard for a three piece ... at one point Johnny's using what looks like a Vibration Technology "Phasor Twin" transistor amp and it sounds awesome ... (** anyone got the schematic for it ??! **)
Quote from: Eb7+9Quote from: Rain DogYou need and I mean NEED to own or at least view the SRV Live at El Macambo. ... I'd also like to suggest two from Johnny Winter. Progressive Blues Experiment from @ 1968.
I heartily second that !! ... was just listening to PBE yesterday - one of my faves ... SRV at the El-cambo doesn't have one bum note in the whole show - simply killer :o
I got a bootleg video of Johnny playing Toronto in the early 80's with John Paris doing great bass and harp stuff and an awesome wild-double-kick drummer who's name I can't remember ... wow !! ... that stuff sure sets a high standard for a three piece ... at one point Johnny's using what looks like a Vibration Technology "Phasor Twin" transistor amp and it sounds awesome ... (** anyone got the schematic for it ??! **)
The interesting thing about those two albums is they have the same bass player. Tommy Shannon, the bassist in Double Trouble was Johnny Winter's bass player in the 60's. He is on Progressive Blues Experiment and backed Johnny at Woodstock! The dude's got one hell of a history. I always laugh when someone says "blues bass is easy". Yeah, it may be easy the way you or I play it but it isn't easy the way Tommy plays it. It's a study in taste and groove.
Someone who hasnt been mentioned thus far is Otis Rush who I first heard of in the middle 60's, he's really well worth a listen for pure feeling and note selection. I would also highly recommend Buddy Whittington who plays with John Mayall again for the same reasons.
A good place to go...
http://comp.uark.edu/~scherry/srv/
And I would take a look at TrueFire and buy a few lessons, some are even free.
http://truefire.com/list.html?store=dvd_instruction§ion=new_arrivals&orderby=&offset=0&item=5658
Check out Gatemouth Brown, Chris Duarte, and Jimmy when he was doin the Fab Thunderbirds, sometime's it's not how much you can say but the way you say it, learn to slow down and feel what you do know how to play, I was never a great guitar player, but I had no problem drawing a crowd when I did play, I played for the people and I feel the music I play very emotionally, A good song done right can still thrill me as much as it did when I was a teen, and that's been many Moon's ago.
JD
Don't forget Freddy King. Great Player!! He was a bigger influence on Clapton than SRV, but he was still one of the great masters. Look for the old 17 greatest hits package.
Completely different style than Albert King, who, by the way, played right handed guitars, left handed without restringing. Picked with his thumb too. Part of the reason his phrasing and bending sounds so different. Where he bent down, we bend up, and visa versa. Nothing cooler than the old pic of him smoking a pipe, playing a V, with the strings upside down.
Albert Collings used a different tuning, with a capo between the 5th and 12th frets. Also played with the thumb.
Some of Hubert Sumlin's best stuff was with Howlin' Wolf. Check out the Chess Greatest Hits CD. Stuff like Spoonful and Killin' Floor are awesome. The combination of the Wolf and Hubert was amazing. Total blues.
For slide, Elmore James and Houndog Taylor (crazy, bad-ass, buzz-toned, blues slide man)
You must also listen to Jimmy Reed. Not much of a soloist, but you'll understand where most of the rock rhythms came from.
Most of the old masters have unusual techniques because when they started they didnt know the rules, so they just made em' up. What you are learning from them isnt technique, like when you study up on guys like Yngwie. It's the tone, feel, phrasing, attitude, and guts. And when not to play.
Funny, the Supreaux by Runoff Groove brings something to mind. The old greats had killer tones, many by using the smaller budget amps dimed out, most couldnt afford the Fenders.
BTW, another good, later Johnny Winter cd is Third Degree.
Fret Wire, How bout Derek and the Dominoe's recorded mostly with Tweed Champ's,
JD
Yup, so how about it?
I guess you missed what I meant. Many of the old blues guys great tones came from the cheaper amps dimed out. Just pointing that out. Of course, you can get a great tone from the old tweeds, just different. You can hear the difference between a tweed and a Supro, Monkey Wards, Sears, etc., can't you?
Quote from: george
maybe it's time to learn to sing ... all your guitar heros sang, right?
Hey Alpha
I just re-read my post and I think it might have come across a bit like "why not give up and take up singing instead?"
Believe me that is NOT what I meant. What I meant was that it might help you also sing thru your guitar instead of just playing riffs that you've practiced.
Singing the song (even when you're just practising) should also get your leads sounding more a part of the song.
Learning solos off records will help develop your ear - lotsa people done that. I remember reading that Dickie Betts started off learning all of Chuck Berry's solos - and he certainly doesn't sound like him now! (Try and pick out the rhythm parts too!)
All the other suggestions BTW are GREAT - I've got some listening to do!
You're right so George, singing is a big help with the call-and-response lead style of the blues.
BTW, on Atlantic's The Blues Vol. 1, Chuck Barry does a nice version of "Worried Life Blues", with Matt "Guitar" Murphy on lead. Good cut.
Quote from: Fret WireDon't forget Freddy King. Great Player!! He was a bigger influence on Clapton than SRV, but he was still one of the great masters. Look for the old 17 greatest hits package.
Doh! I knew I was forgetting a major Texas cat when I posted! And we open every gig with "Hideaway" too! I also neglected to mention Blind Lemon Jefferson, the *Father Of Texas Blues*. Also wanted to second listening to Jimmy Vaughn. Keep in mind I was specifically refering to TEXAS blues players. If you open things up to blues players in general, things could get out of hand. And to the original poster- if you want to break out of a rut in your guitar playing, STOP LISTENING TO GUITAR PLAYERS! Listen to Mahalia Jackson sing or something. I have gone through many self-imposed bans on listening to guitar players, and I think my playing is better for it.
Kerry M
Thanx 4 all these great replies!
I definetley want to learn to sing. Im taking lessons @ school, and im in the junior choir :( , but at least i think im getting better :? .
Ill try and get some cds of the ol guys, and have a listen...Just a little short on cash right now....
Probably not quite the thing you are looking for but for sure you can get some new ideas: David Fiuczynski/Screaming Headless Torsos. And he also uses analog stompboxes!!
Here's some techniques you may find useful
bend notes in the scale you normally don't bend.
add notes not in the scale.
use your index finger to bend notes.
pull down on heavier strings with index finger to bend notes.
use the side of your pick to pick with.
try to use more down strokes then use alternating up strokes when trying to pick up speed on the same pattern.
bend the B string into the G string then pick G
try to use the lower stings E A D more to finish runs etc...
don't practice crap playing, meaning don't shit out the same stuff as yesterday if you know its not good. The muscle memory in your hands will go back to the default value so make it a good default.
be patient and determend and confident
don't just sit at home and practice, experience life so you have something to say when you play
Dev
Quote from: Alpha579
Ill try and get some cds of the ol guys, and have a listen...Just a little short on cash right now....
Not sure where you are, but "In my day" the local library was where you went when you couldn't afford to buy the album. I spent many hours strapped into the headphones at various libraries listening to everthing from Leadbelly to Led Zeppelin. Luckily, I've always had access to some great radio in the Boston area, but these days many college stations provide streaming audio to the whole world. Check it out.
(my favorite station: http://wmbr.org )
Kerry M
Quote from: Alpha579Ill try and get some cds of the ol guys, and have a listen...Just a little short on cash right now....
Sampler CDs are always a good place to start. They're cheap and can avoid you making costly mistakes (if you don't like one artist it's no big deal as there are umpteen more).
I don't know what public libraries are like in your neck of the woods but mine has a CD lending facility. I've even got them to order stuff in for me in the past. Great way of introducing yourself to new music!
The other King...
Best boost my playing got was when I read the links at About.com on the playing style of BB King, and then listened to some of his classic cuts. No, I don't play in his style, but it helped me break out of the 'first position minor pentatonic' trap.
Speaking about the old guys.
Do not just listen to them. Try to find an old guy to play with.
That's what Johny Lang did to get his Blues feeling. Well, he also learn from them, from what I remember.
What I learned about playing Blues live came from an older Bluesman (over 60 now). I learned more (and still do) from playing with him than playing with younger guys. The feeling man... the feeling!
Here's a few things that might help:
1. Fall madly in love with a woman, then give everything you have, only to have her run off with some other guy(or girl) & gives them your stuff. Do this over & over.
2. Lose your job(gig), get another, over & over.
3. Become substance addicted, kick it, become addicted again, kick it, etc. etc. ad nauseum.
4. Get thrown out of your place to live, roam the streets, start over.
5. Smoke a pack of whiskey, & drink a carton of cigarettes.
6. Put on a terribly lousy performance on stage, then hate everyone who tells you how great you are.
7. Drive a horribly beat-up old car, cause you just had to have that 3rd Les Paul.
8. Get mad, throw down guitar & break it, only to look down & see that the headstock is sticking through your calf.
9. Be hungry, really, really hungry.
10. Be young enough, but not good enough to be a rock star, then eventually get good enough, but too old to be a rock star.
Then you can be me.
RDV
Oh wise folks of the Former Colony of the British Empire - do tell me what's special about Texas Blues. I have this vision of some old guy with no teeth, playing an out of tune copy telecaster, sittin' under the X in Texas. In England, blues is blues is blues!
Finger AND phrase every note like it was your last you'll ever play 8)
Also, check out Albert Collins.. the Iceman!
Quote from: StephenGilesOh wise folks of the Former Colony of the British Empire - do tell me what's special about Texas Blues. I have this vision of some old guy with no teeth, playing an out of tune copy telecaster, sittin' under the X in Texas. In England, blues is blues is blues!
Until fairly recently most indigenous American music had a strong regional identity. During the Big Band heydey, each region had an identifiable style, and this was true for other types of Jazz and Blues. Texas blues has a different style and feel than Chicago blues. The old guy with no teeth image is not terribly accurate for Texas Blues. Many Texas blues performers were famous for fancy suits and wild stage antics, such as one guitar player sitting on the another's shoulders, while they stroll into the audience with super long cords, trading licks back and forth. Picture this guy with his hair dyed to match his suit instead:
(http://thepatmurphyband.com/guitar%20slim%20promo%20a.jpg)
The blues is not monochromatic at all
Kerry M
Hey my band played El Mocambo on the last day of them being in business!
He he. Heritage... :)
See what it can do. I used to do this alot when I was younger. You can increase your strenght and range by excersizing your vocal chords/it's analagous to body building/strength training.
Many noteworthy vocalists are not 'good' singers, but can use the voice as an instrument to portray a feeling or attitude [sometimes] more effectively than 'good singers'.
We had a singer that could hit all the high notes of DIO or AC/DC etc., but sang like he didn't understand what the lyrics were written about...innate ability [range] and technique are secondary to portraying a interesting vibe, IMO.
Many noteworthy 'singer's...[vocalists] have limited ability in terms of range, even pitch accuracy, these quilities aren't absolutely necessary for an excellent vocal performance.
Find the ranges you can stretch to hit, and the tones that fit your voice, I'm often told" "Sing This" and reply ...ok...'I'll try it'...always looking for more material I can use and portray vocally, ...and screening for ones I'm well suited for vocally...A "Real' singer chooses his or her own 'territory'.
Quote from: StephenGilesOh wise folks of the Former Colony of the British Empire - do tell me what's special about Texas Blues. I have this vision of some old guy with no teeth, playing an out of tune copy telecaster, sittin' under the X in Texas. In England, blues is blues is blues!
Dude??? That's like saying," Rock is Rock". I suppose if you only like classical or opera, then rock is rock, but if you like rock then you know it comes in a million different flavors.
Your question also reminded of the quote "Talking (or is it Writing) about music is like dancing about architecture". :)
Texas Blues IS special, as is Chicago Blues, Gospel Blues, Country Blues, Cajun Blues, Gut-Bucket Blues, .................. e.t.c.
If you are a blues fan all the flavors ARE special. There are a thousand great "Texas Blues" bands, many of which are listed in this thread, but I stand by my opinion. If you want to SEE the defining performance of the style known as Texas Blues then SRV "Live at el Macambo" is what you need to watch. He incorporates many styles of blues but the way it is played and performed is very Texas Blues. I urge any guitar player, blues fan or not, to watch this performance.
So
StephenGiles, if you are just smarting off then I'm sorry for wasting my time, but if you are really curious then cross that great divide and study up on the many flavors of American Blues.
Here's a great link Harry's Blues Lyrics & Tab http://blueslyrics.tripod.com/
I point this out because it has a Blues Language Dictionary. http://blueslyrics.tripod.com/blueslanguage.htm#the_blues
I mean do you really know what it means to "Dust my Broom" or what a "Killin' Floor" is? Maybe but how about Ballin' the Jack?
Sorry about getting long winded. I know this is a DIY effects forum and not a music forum. I just have a passion for this stuff.
-RD-
Rain Dog - no, I just try to see the lighter side of life and it always makes me laugh to read about so many different categories of what, at the end of the day, is really one type of music. Having just trawled through the Eurovision Song Contest which was dominated by Balkan disco....well need I say more? Actually, I suppose the bluesness of being hard done by originated in the slaves your side of the pond, and now it is completely mixed up with other roots. My reference to that particular Cream bootleg is for a reason, which is that it was a gig in November 1966 shortly after EC left John Mayall, and to my ears he had reached his peak in power blues guitar. I saw him perhaps 5 or 6 times at the end of 66 and early 67 before his playing changed into the extended solos more usual in Cream out of which came possibly his most famous solo in Crossroads.
QuoteI'm gettin' up soon in the mornin' I believe I'll dust my broom
I always thought this was a euphemism for doing the ‘hand jive’…nudge nudge, know what I mean?! :wink:
Balkan disco - Well you've got me on that one.... :D
These micro genre's can get pretty ridiculous that's for sure. When asked what music I like I usually say Experimental neo-Pagan Noise Gospel and Honkey-Punk. Then I just smile blandly like I just said something perfectly mundane. I actually do like punked-up country tunes like the stuff Hank III (Hank Williams III) does and as for the other, hopefully it doesn't really exist.
Quote from: Rain DogBalkan disco - Well you've got me on that one.... :D
The Eurovision Song Contest has to be seen to be believed. A good fifty percent of the time you watch it slack-jawed thinking that it can't get any worse...but it always does (last year the UK entry sang the majority of their song in a DIFFERENT KEY to the backing!!!). The other fifty percent of the time you're falling off your chair laughing. I'm reminded of one entry (Greece?) a couple of years ago where the group were dressed like Orwellian thought police and sporadically broke out into military drill-type 'manoeuvres' in time to the...er, 'music'.
A truly awful experience...but I wouldn't miss it for anything!
Hi.
This is a common problem and most people seem to have provided relavent advice. But can I say that I personally follow a different path. At one time a fellow named Jimi Hendrix (ok this is not just about Texas blues) was saying the same thing. He didn't want to copy people, he told people not to copy him. One guitar teacher I had used to refuse to tech me ANY "licks". The idea is that to REALLY do something with music, you gotta do it YOURSELF. BB King says to "fool around with scales, playing them endlessly until something "clicks"". I think that's a really good idea.
Also, although great blues players had many influences, they usually only did 2 things with them - 1. added something to their own, well-defined style, and 2. got inspiration from the "feeling" and "tone" (ie NOT the notes).
I think Pete Moore said
QuoteWe had a singer that could hit all the high notes of DIO or AC/DC etc., but sang like he didn't understand what the lyrics were written about...innate ability [range] and technique are secondary to portraying a interesting vibe, IMO.
In summary, most guitarists I hear would be better off playing half as many notes, not playing someone else's "licks", and playing every single note with twice as much feeling.
But heck, I'm a really sh** player. :wink:
Half hour programme about Lightnin' Hopkins
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio2_aod.shtml?r2_blueslegends"
My favourite CD by him is Lightnin' And The Blues: the Herald Sessions (Buddha records). Shambolic, reckless...but perfection is boring and the man could boogie!
A bit of remote viewing helps.
Also, if you have a surprize experience like seeing your closest partner, your very beloved brothers 'end scene', which involved a stretch of rope, and his face just above the loop facing you...oh yeahhh that'll kick the 'licks' in like you've never heard...I'm talking about a blue that really hurts. WHAM/Notes you don't have a clue about abound...light bulbs pop or turn themselves on...now that's is the kind of blues that seems to make perfect sense, for a moment at least...a collage of related/unrelated phrases that capture absolute horror, and joys of memories.
With absolutely no doubt it's his spirits influence, finally being able to play the guitar the way it is 'supposed' to be played. You cannot rely on this to pump out hits though !!!
PLayed for attentive people, the question arises..."What happened there", and questions about the 'event' get asked.
It's a one shot deal, I tried and tried to reproduce/recreate the 'live band' feel I'd made by myself in the bedroom with the Motif' Workstation and the "haunted' EZ Vibe...[with auto 's weep fade'mode 'mistake] Only one recording I did actually sounded just like a clairvoyant live band keying off eachothers nuanced cues...way beyond coincidence how that turned out...on the first shot, but the second, third, fourth, fifth were way 'behind the curve', when compared to the first multitrack recording of the musical representation of the event...I think I could try a thousand times, and none would equal the take made during the frenetic information flow.
Oh Yes, an event like this WILL inject Blue directly into you, if you let it, how the hell could I not let it???...It's very hard to describe what happenned there, and there's no way back.
Just have to wait till a catastrophic event takes place,,,you'll have more blues than you understand or can really deal with,,,with such a powerful flow of positive and negative vibe swings like that, you can't miss. :cry:
My advice is: Don't wish for it, it is simply the contrast of the silver lining on a very dark area, something way too real to bejust 'dreamed up'.
When pain follows everywhere you go, a way to transcend must be found.
Try figuring out some of Scott Henderson's lines. Brainteasing and very tasty. A lot of what he plays is blues based, but his approach is a lot different than the average guitar player. He is one of my all time favorites.