Читать книгу Blues Guitar For Dummies - Jon Chappell - Страница 29

Many people decide they want to play the blues because they want to perform. Of course, performing can mean simply playing with a garage band on evenings or weekends or playing in public to perform. But either way, you definitely want to put on your stage face even when you’re with a group of friends versus when you’re shedding a tricky rhythm alongside your metronome in your bedroom.

First things first, acoustics and electrics satisfy different objectives, and you really need to have both types of guitars to be a complete blues player. Although that advice may signal financial pressure, you’ll find that having any excuse to acquire and buy more guitars is worth its weight in gold. So you can say to your spouse or significant other, “But dear, I have to have this other guitar. It’s in the book. Look it up!”

Aside from getting a good axe, the best way to look like a blues player is to play like one. But you can take some external steps to help the illusion along:

1 Move your body in time to the music.Getting down not only makes you look cool, but also it reinforces the rhythms of the music and your instrument with the parts of your body. That’s essential for internalizing the music and making it your own, instead of a mechanical execution of technique. If you feel self-conscious about writhing around like a contortionist in public, try at first just moving your head along in time to the playing.

2 Close your eyes, open them, and squint occasionally.

3 Make little facial expressions when you play a soulful bend.Watch the greats when they play, especially B.B. King. One of B.B. King’s wives once described the look he sometimes gets on his face when playing as if he was eating a lemon.

As far as wardrobe goes, what you wear onstage should be different than what you wear normally. You can dress up or dress down to play the blues, but it’s a good idea to find your stage garb and keep it unique from the clothes you go to work in or grocery shopping. You might just don an extra ring, but you should make yourself look — and feel — a little special when stepping onto a stage. Even a flannel shirt, torn jeans, and cowboy boots can be a stage uniform — especially if you’re a stockbroker in your day job!