Learn To Play Blues Guitar

If you want to learn to play blues guitar you are going to have to get your head and hands around damping eventually.

Even if you have your sights firmly set on being a lead guitarist you will find yourself beginning to start dampening naturally eventually.

By playing dampened strings, you are able to create a driving percussive sound, which combined with some pinch harmonics makes for some real attitude.

There are 2 ways to dampen a string you are to need to master when you learn blues guitar.

Right Hand Damping

Most often the heal of your hand will be used for damping with the right hand. Although some people find it easier to use the edge of their hand.

Right hand dampening produces the percussive, staccato form of sound, great for those down and dirty blues shuffle rhythms, and for blues rock inspired rhythms.

Right hand damping also works very well for acoustic blues players, as the resonance in the hollow body allows the note to sound out fully, although with a dampened tone.

Left Hand Damping

I am going to admit right now that I am terrible at this technique, I am far too sloppy. Left hand dampening is all about precision.

By using the fingertips or edges of the fingers to damped some strings, whilst allowing other to ring out clearly, you can play a combination of driving rhythm and complex treble loaded passage.

In contrast, if you are playing guitar barre chords, you can simply lift the bar slightly to dampen the entire chord. Even I can manage this!

A technique much loved by the rock players.

Damping For Perfection

Here is a very cool tip for all your people who want to learn blues guitar.

Damping can hide your mistakes!

Personally I developed this habit very early on, I naturally dampen anything that isn’t supposed to be happening. By this I mean that if I am playing a series of complex double-stops on the top ¾ strings, I will automatically damped the bass strings so that even if I strike them by mistake, they will not ring out. With a little practice this becomes second nature, and can really tidy up your playing.

If you are serious and want to learn how to play blues guitar, then jump on these techniques straight away, incorporate them into your personal playing style as early as possible, so that they become a natural thing to you.

Most players begin to dampen automatically, without being taught, it is far from easy but it is a very natural thing to do, if you are having problem with your dampening techniques, try a shuffle rhythm, testing out the effects of both right and left hand dampening, and the sounds it can achieve, rinse and repeat until you have it down.

Filed under: Learn To Play Blues Guitar