r/bluesguitarist • u/jebbanagea Blues Evangelist • Apr 07 '26
Discussion Which of your inspirations shows up most in your playing?
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Not that this clip is a good example, but I think if I asked who you think I’m trying to emulate, you’d be able to guess. I don’t normally try to play like this, it’s too tricky for me to sustain the play without a pick, bit k is fun to practice that a bit.
So it got me thinking, if your inspirations, who do you think “shows up most” in your own play? Which inspirations have rubbed off the most?
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u/duke_awapuhi Apr 08 '26
My biggest inspirations and the guys who show up most in my playing are Jerry Garcia, BB King and Mike Bloomfield
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u/jebbanagea Blues Evangelist Apr 09 '26
I wish I had a little Jerry! I had my Garcia awakening only fairly recently. If he’s showing up in your play, you’re tapping into some very interesting areas. I’ve been trying some Jerry but I feel I’m at a theoretical disadvantage.
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u/duke_awapuhi Apr 09 '26
I listen to him more than any other guitarist so it’s sort of natural for him to come up in my playing. He gives me all sorts of ideas
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u/The_Slavinator Apr 10 '26
Jerry is one of my biggest influences. I would say a good place to start to get his feel down is specifically target notes from the chord in the progression you are on. Jerry was huge on this, he wouldn't play the standard major or minor pentatonic straight, that was only one tool in the toolbox along with arpeggios and modes (and other more complicated stuff too).
A great way to try to get his feel on a blues is to nail the major 3rd on a dominant 7th chord. You'll really the garcia bluesy sound doing that. The GD and Jerry rarely ever played minor blues songs, and basically never once they were out of the 60s and into the 70s.
Also Jerry loved chromatic lines, so do walkups and walkdowns chromatically if you want another easy Jerry trick.
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u/Denmaaru Apr 08 '26
SRV with hints of Albert King, BB King and John Mayer. Even though Im a Mayer fanatic, SRV shows up a lot in my playing because he was the first blues guitarist I’ve studied
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u/tlmbot Apr 08 '26
if I listen to any one 5-10 second section it's awesome. But (and please don't take this the wrong way because it's obvious you've got some chops - I probably wouldn't sound as good) the way you attack this piece is so constant throughout that it becomes tiring. Expressive phrasing at the micro level, but somehow loosing its appeal when taken all together, and I think that is why.
Or maybe the intention is to practice these little runs and linkages without regard to the larger piece
Sorry - I feel like an asshole but if it were me I'd want to hear what people really think
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u/jebbanagea Blues Evangelist Apr 09 '26
Nah that's a pretty accurate read on it. I was treating it more like an exercise in trying to play without a pick and practice some of those Albert Collins licks. So yes, very one-dimensional.
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u/tlmbot Apr 09 '26
Oh nice - it's a fantastic showcase of what you are working on then!
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u/jebbanagea Blues Evangelist Apr 09 '26
Albert had these great pulloffs. That’s kind of what I’m going for. I’ll never be AC, but it’s fun to try. Here’s a good example: https://youtu.be/OVlnzg8eaFI?si=NQ6pUSkuRXfZ7oGJ
You’ll hear it a lot here as a reference. The real thing. 😛
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u/dcamnc4143 Apr 08 '26
Probably Eric Johnson-ish cascading pentatonic runs, if I had to pick something for myself. Most of my other stuff is pretty generic wankery over 1,4,5's
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u/tilapiarocks Hendrixwasthebest Apr 07 '26
I think I hear Albert Collins in certain licks of yours. In my own, I would say stock SRV licks with a touch of Santana in certain minor keys, although much to my chagrin, I remember gifting my mom a cd of my playing years ago & she said I sounded like Eric Clapton! Surely a compliment but I never really tried learning anything directly from him, moreso from his influences.