These blues rock guitar licks cover essential vocabulary for any guitarist who wants to play convincingly in the blues-rock tradition — from classic 60s British blues to 70s American rock. Blues-rock is the foundation beneath most of rock guitar history and these licks go straight to the heart of that tradition.
About This Lesson
Blues-rock vocabulary draws from the pentatonic scale, the blues scale, and expressive techniques like bending, vibrato, and slides. These licks demonstrate how those tools combine into the language that players like Clapton, Page, Hendrix, and Gary Moore built their reputations on. Essential study material for any rock guitarist.
What You Will Work On
- Blues-rock pentatonic vocabulary — the foundation of all blues-rock lead guitar
- Expressive string bending — accurate, emotional, and well-supported
- Vibrato technique — adding sustain and character to held notes
- Blues scale application — adding the b5 for that essential blues tension
- Call and response phrasing — the conversational structure of blues
Tips for Learning
- Listen to Clapton, Page, Hendrix, and Gary Moore to absorb the tradition deeply.
- Practice each lick over a blues backing track in the correct key.
- Focus on feel — blues-rock is 70% attitude and 30% notes.
- Learn these licks and then improvise freely using the same vocabulary.
WANT TO PLAY BLUES LIKE THIS?
Private Blues Guitar Lessons via Zoom — Diego Fonseca
Blues & rock specialist with 20+ years of teaching. Phrasing, bends, feel and groove — built around the artists you love. Students across the US and Canada.
✔ Free 30-min trial lesson ✔ US & Canada timezones ✔ $240/month · 4 lessons
Fill out the form and Diego will reply within 12 hours.