Guitar Hero Blues
Located in 2 routes
Guitar Hero Blues foregrounds electric blues guitar as the star: long solos, dramatic bends, high volume, sustain, vibrato, flashy stage presence, and tones designed to make one guitarist feel like a weather system. It is still blues-based, but it treats phrasing, tone, and instrumental personality as the main spectacle.
History
The style grew from B.B. King, Albert King, Freddie King, Buddy Guy, and Chicago/Texas electric blues, then expanded through the blues-rock era as Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Gary Moore, Jeff Healey, and Joe Bonamassa made blues guitar a concert-centered language. It drew from slide blues, Texas blues, British blues, and modern festival blues while sometimes moving close to rock. Guitar Hero Blues influenced guitar pedagogy, amplifier culture, blues festivals, rock soloing, and the modern market for virtuoso blues recordings.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Jas Obrecht, Rollin' and Tumblin'
- AllMusic
- Guitar Player archives
- The Blues Foundation