How to play blues on an electric guitar like John Lee Hooker

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If you've ever wanted to play blues like the greats, MusicRadar shows you their style. Just pick up your electric blues guitar and think of what blues guitarist you want to play like.

This video tutorial will teach you to play blues on an electric guitar like John Lee Hooker. The native Mississippian John Lee Hooker got his first exposure to music was via the religious songs approved of by his preacher father. All other music was forbidden in the house, and it wasn't until his mother married William Moore, a blues singer from Louisiana, that John was introduced to the guitar.

These examples below take their style from the classic tracks "Boom Boom" and "Tupelo". Hooker would often play with one chord, playing bass strings with his thumb and jagged ringing melodies with his fingers, but we've used a standard 12-bar blues pattern.

You'll find that some of the examples are hybrid picked. This means that the pick takes the place of Hooker's thumb, which gives more attack without having to spend years toughening it up like the man himself. Use an almost clean tone through a humbucking bridge pickup to capture his sound.

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