Top 5 Blues Guitar Licks Resources

Find a great site with great licks can be tough sometimes so I’ve compiled a handy list for all you out there who are looking for the same thing.

Blues Licks.org

By far and away, the best site I’ve found so far that features a good selection of blues licks is this place. They organize all the licks by different instruments and tag the licks with its key, the artist style, and what chord it works best over.

They seem to be just starting, but keep an eye on them. I expect very great things from this unassuming little website.

25 Licks You Must Know

This is a great little document that features a solid collection of blues licks for your learning entertainment. The great part is that you can download the file and print it off yourself if you want a hard copy. This is hard to do with a lot of other resources.

You Tube Search for Blues Lick

I know, I know, this one almost doesn’t count. But seriously, get in there and force yourself to learn some of them. I even recommend checking out the blues piano lessons and trying to figure them out on guitar and vice-versa. This may seem like a waste of time, but trust me, relying on your ear for once and not tabs is definitely NOT a waste of time.

Geetar Johnny.com Blues/Rock/Jazz Licks

This site has a pretty awesome selection of blues licks along with a ton of various rock and jazz licks. Comes with a handy assortment of mp3s for your play-along enjoyment.

Random Artists on 911 Tabs

I am surprised by how rarely people just download transcriptions of random blues songs. Try doing a search for B.B. King tabs on 911Tabs and download a few Power Tabs or whatever. Learn some licks! Here are a few more:

Is that enough for you?

Famous Guitars of Bluesmen

When it comes to music, the instrument is often an extension of the player behind it. The blues definitely agrees. Some of the famous blues guitarists have unique and recognizable guitars. Some styles of guitars even bring to mind their respective players. Without further ado, here are a few of the famous guitars of famous bluesmen.

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bb kind lucille guitar

Lucille played by B.B. King

The famous story behind the famous name is that one night in 1949, B.B. was playing in a bar when two men got into a fight over a girl and knocked over a kerosene heater (basically a barrel full of lit kerosene). The place went up in flames and everyone ran out. However, B.B. realized that he left his guitar inside and ran to save it. He nearly lost his life, but named his guitar and subsequent guitars Lucille after the girl the two men fought over.

The modern and most famous iteration of Lucille is a custom black Gibson ES-355 with Lucille printed on the headstock. B.B. has been playing this version for nearly 25 years. It’s pictured here.

eric guitar

Blackie played by Eric Clapton

Arguably the most famous stratocaster ever, Blackie was the nickname for a Frankenstein of a guitar assembled by Eric from three different strats. Purchased from Sho-Bud guitar shop in Nashville, Tennessee, he combined the best components to create Blackie. Eric played it live and in the studio from its creation in 1970 to 1985, when he retired Blackie. Contrary to the many rumors that state otherwise, Blackie was reportedly 100% playable during her retired years.

Blackie was sold at auction for a record $959,500 to Guitar Center, who proudly displays the guitar.

srv guitar

Number One played by Stevie Ray Vaughan

Stevie Ray’s Number One was a 1973 sunburst model traded for at Ray’s Music Exchange in Austin, Texas with Stevie’s old ‘63 strat.  Beaten and bastardized, the guitar remained his main axe since that day. Although the original had a white pickguard and strangely hot ‘59 pickups, Stevie replaced the pickguard with a pickguard featuring the now famous SRV lettering. Remarkably, Stevie had the frets replaced with jumbo bass style frets while he played on a reportedly .013 (going as high as .018) guage strings.

Number One now resides with Stevie’s brother Jimmie. It’s been permanently retired in memory of Stevie.

guy guitar

Polka Dot Strat played by Buddy Guy

While not as famous as the other listed here, this guitar deserves recognition if only for its unique paint job. Comprised of white polka dots on a black finish, this strat has been serving as Buddy Guy’s main guitar for years now. Originally a custom artist series, made especially for Buddy, Fender has recently created a similar guitar with an inverted paint scheme and lace sensors.

The Polka Dot Strats remain road worthy and accompany Buddy to most of his live shows.

rory left

Ex-Sunburst played by Rory Gallagher

Called the Ex-Sunburst by fans for its lack of a finish (worn away by heavy use and sweating) as much as for Rory’s refusal to give it a name, this famous guitar happens to be one of the first strats in Ireland in 1961. Rory bought it for an estimated £100. Heavily modified, the guitar had one different tuner, all new pickups, and modified pickguard.

The Ex-Sunburst resides with Rory’s brother, Donal Gallagher. It isn’t played.

Top 5 60’s Blues Songs

While the blues are a relatively ancient form of music that has roots in Africa, it came to blossom in American during the early 20th century. The 1960’s were an extremely revolutionary time for society and the effect of the 60’s on music can best be heard in the sudden adoption of electric instruments.

This list focuses on revolutionary blues music in the 60s.

5. Spoonful by Howlin’ Wolf

Written by Willie Dixon in the late 50s and recorded by Howlin’ Wolf in early 1960, Spoonful is widely considered a blues standard. The song is the beginning of the more modern blues genre that used electric guitars for biting lead lines that intertwined with the vocal lines that represented dark subject matter.

Later most famously covered by the rock band Cream, Spoonful has become a mainstay of blues musicians worldwide. It has been reported that Cream’s versions would often go on past 15 or 20 minutes.

4. Hide Away by Freddie King

Written by guitar man Freddie King, Hide Away is primarily a instrumental showcase for guitar. Freddie King would often switch between a standard shuffle feel under common blues lines and a straight feel that was more likely to be interpreted as a rock riff.

Later covered by guitarists like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Hide Away continues to make a mark on blues guitarists today.

3. The Thrill is Gone by B.B. King

Originally written and recorded by Roy Hawkins, this chilled and relaxed tune became a major hit for B.B. King and helped keep him in the blues scene well into the 70s. Smooth electric blues was never done nearly as well as B.B. did it in this hit.

Noticeably minor in tonality and dark, The Thrill is Gone can be a great song for blues guitarists to play with. A minor pentatonic scale fits perfectly within the framework of the song.

2. Born Under a Bad Sign by Albert King

Containing one of the most famous blues riffs in the world, Born Under a Bad Sign is hallmark Albert King. The leads are clean and slicing. Many consider Born Under a Bad Sign to by one of the greatest blues jam songs. The unique combination and mix of both minor and major sounds gave the song a tension unlike any other. Using a minor lick in the bass, a major tonality could be applied in the lead guitar or horn tracks.

Later covered by Jimi Hendrix in what was basically an extended guitar solo, Born Under a Bad Sign was another track by one of the three Kings that helped shape the modern face of blues.

1. Red House by Jimi Hendrix

While many consider Jimi Hendrix the original rock guitarist that pioneered distortion and wild guitar solos, most who really studied Jimi understand that he was a blues guitarist at heart. Naysayers need no more to hear a recording of Red House to be silenced. Considered by many to be the peak of 60s blues, Red House is a powerhouse of heavy blues guitar riffing.

Inspired by his first experience on the strong hallucinogen LSD, Red House changed the face of blues by reaching across dividing lines and delivering a masterpiece that could both sides on to the other.