What would make me seem bluesy to another guitarist?

[Eric***]

This past weekend, I went and jammed with a teenager I know at his house with some of his friends/siblings. He was absurdly good on the guitar, at least technically, and all of his riffs and solos seemed to be kind of metal, sort of reminiscent of Dream Theater I think.

When I would take a lead or solo, he would frequently comment "you like that blues stuff, huh?" Now, I don't really gravitate toward blues much when it comes to music. I would say my playing is decidedly rock-oriented, which from what I know does include elements of the blues.

So...why would this guy think I'm bluesy? What would I be doing that would scream "BLUES!" at him? Certain bends I keep going back to? Holding certain notes? Phrasing? I'm just not sure, but I'd like to know, because it might show me some of my influences that I didn't even know about. You know...that whole self-awareness thing.

Seeing how this forum is blues-ville, I thought it might be a good place to ask.

[Beerman***]

Might just be he's so young and doesn't know what he's talking about or could just be he doesn't know what the real blues are.
I had a guy tell me (one who I know is awesome) that I reminded him of Dickie Betts (Allman Brothers). I took the compliment and agreed I'm 'stuck in the 70's' in my style of playing but in no way think I either play that well or sound like Betts.
Hey, there's nothing wrong with the blue either.

[Katastrophe]

He was probably responding to your phrasing and scale choice, which may be decidedly "rock" in nature, but has some bluesy roots.

Remember, rock n' roll came from the blues, so there's a lot of common ground there. Hell, even metal has some roots in the blues. Tony Iommi, before Black Sabbath became "Black Sabbath", played blues and jazz. You can definitely hear it in his solos to this day. And, Clapton, Page, Beck and others were HUGE blues hounds, and played a lot of blues phrases in their soloing, just sped up a bit!

[FusedGrooves]

I've not been able to download many of your songs from here, so kinda hard to know what you were playing and why it sounded bluesy, do you have an example or a recording of that jam or do one up?

[Tig***]

Eric,
You woke up this mornin'
right?
There you have it. You got da' blues!

[Jx2]

How much soul to you play with?

To me that alone stands the blue's out from the rock. What I mean is watch a clip again thinking about how much soul they play with with say Slash or Jimmy Page, the list is endless of course. To me, most of todays metal was driven by the agression of early punk as rock was driven by the blues. That doesnt mean that guys like Dime or Zakk Wylde just for example didnt play with a ton of soul or that metal is all agressive punk rooted music. This is just how I see things from a generic point of view. A once over if you will before you'd really begin to break something down.

[otaypanky***]

Eric, you didn't wear the hat, the scarf, and use the strap with the big white notes on it, did you?

[Jimi75]

For young kids everything that is not shred is either Blues or Jazz.

[sunvalleylaw]

Maybe you were using the minor pentatonic scale so he called it blues?

[Eric***]

For young kids everything that is not shred is either Blues or Jazz.

I think that's probably pretty close to the truth.

[progrmr]

Flatted 3rds, 5ths, and 7ths will give you a bluesy tone - so if you were using those as passing notes or maybe just hitting them you will have that darker, sadder blues tone.

Focus your notes on the major scale and you'll automatically sound more rock - but look at it this way: It's a great thing to discover if you naturally gravitate to blues. If you have a natural "knack" for it and you work at the blues you'll probably get to be awesome faster

[markb]

Blindness? Alcoholism?

[marnold***]

Blindness? Alcoholism?

Or is your woman dead?

[wingsdad]

Blindness? Alcoholism?

Indeed It might have had nothing to do with your guitar playing.

It might have something to do with which guitarist considers you 'bluesy', as in whether or not they even know what "the blues" is all about.

The following isn't my doing; I forgot where I stole it from. That's kind of a 'blues' thang right there:

1. Most Blues begin with: "Woke up this morning..."

2. "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the Blues, unless you stick something nasty in the next line like, "I got a good woman, with the meanest face in town."

3. The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes - sort of:
"Got a good woman with the meanest face in town.
Yes, I got a good woman with the meanest face in town.
Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher
and she weigh 500 pound."

4. The Blues is not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch...ain't no way out.

5. Blues cars: Chevys, Fords, Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs, or Sport Utility Vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft and state-sponsored motor pools ain't even in the running. Walkin' plays a major part in the Blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.

6. Teenagers can't sing the Blues. They ain't fixin' to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. In Blues, "adulthood" means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.

7. Blues can take place in New York City but not in Hawaii or anywhere in Canada. Hard times in Minneapolis or Seattle is probably just clinical depression. Chicago, Memphis, St. Louis and Kansas City are still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the Blues in any place that don't get no rain.

8. A man with male pattern baldness ain't the Blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg 'cause you were skiing is not the Blues. Breaking your leg 'cause a alligator be chomping on it is.

9. You can't have no Blues in an office or a shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the dumpster.

10. Good places for the Blues:
a. highway
b. jailhouse
c. empty bed
d. bottom of a whiskey glass

11. Bad places for the Blues:
a. Nordstrom's
b. gallery openings
c. Ivy League institutions
d. golf courses

12. No one will believe it's the Blues if you wear a suit, 'less you happen to be an old person, and you slept in it.

13. Do you have the right to sing the Blues?
Yes, if:
a. you're older than dirt
b. you're blind
c. you shot a man in Memphis
d. you can't be satisfied
No, if:
a. you have all your teeth
b. you were once blind but now can see
c. the man in Memphis lived
d. you have a 401K or trust fund

14. Blues is not a matter of color. It's a matter of bad luck. Lebron James cannot sing the Blues. Sonny Liston could have. Ugly white people also got a leg up on the Blues.

15. If you ask for water and your darlin' gives you gasoline, it's the Blues. Other acceptable Blues beverages are:
a. cheap wine
b. whiskey or bourbon
c. muddy water
d. black coffee

The following are NOT Blues beverages:
a. Perrier
b. Chardonnay
c. Snapple
d. Slim Fast

16. If death occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's a Blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So are the electric chair, substance abuse and dying lonely on a broken-down cot. You can't have a Blues death if you die during a tennis match or while getting liposuction.

17. Some Blues names for women:
a. Sadie
b. Big Mama
c. Bessie
d. Fat River Dumpling

18. Some Blues names for men:
a. Joe
b. Willie
c. Little Willie
d. Big Willie

19. Persons with names like Michelle, Amber, Jennifer, Debbie, and Heather can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.

20. Blues Name Starter Kit:
a. name of physical infirmity (Blind, Mute, Lame, etc.)
b. first name (see above) plus name of fruit (Lemon, Lime, Kiwi, etc.)
c. last name of President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, Clinton, etc.)

For example: Blind Lemon Jefferson, Mute Lime Johnson or Lame Kiwi Clinton, etc.

(Well, maybe not "Kiwi.")

[poodlesrule]

Or is your woman dead?

Ran away with another dude, or gone back to her mother is good enough, most times...

The "Cash for Clunkers" has removed a lot of potential "bluesy" rides, sadly.
I gotta get rid of my Subaru.

[R_of_G]

The following isn't my doing; I forgot where I stole it from.

That describes a significant portion of Jimmy Page's career right there. Well, not really, because you admitted up front it's not your doing.

[jpfeifer]

Eric,

Maybe he just noticed that you actually stopped playing notes every now and then in your solo, to take a pause and actually use some phrasing :-)

Sometimes the whole shredding thing kind of wears out my ears because people play an un-ending stream of notes with no phrasing at all. (this is an over-generalization I know. not all shred players do this) But I can always spot these kind of players in GuitarCenter when I'm walking through the store. You can hear these kids with incredible technique who play a flury of notes that goes on forever.

In blues people tend to use more phrasing, or call-&-answer type of licks. Maybe this is what he was hearing.

--Jim

[Tig***]

It could be your appearance, Eric.

[DrumBob]

I don't know how you can possibly ask this question of us. Do you have a recording of your playing we can hear so we can discern your style to see if you're playing blues licks?

The kid probably listened to some old blues/rock at one point and heard some things you played that reminded him of that.