The Ghost of Blues Past

In which I am haunted by the ghost of Blues past

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Following advice from GPT-5.6, I raised a question at my guitar lesson with Stewart this afternoon which had long lain dormant in my mind.

“Stewart,” I said, “do you happen to teach lead guitar or bass guitar?”

“I teach both,” he replied. “Lead guitar is really my main interest. It’s what I play when I perform with the band.”

This was my opportunity to remind Stewart that, although fingerstyle is a more complete accomplishment on the guitar, far more agreeable to an audience than strumming, and a self-contained performance you can give anywhere you can carry the instrument, my true love is playing lead guitar in a blues-rock band. After a fifty-year lay-off, I would greatly appreciate a few lessons to get me back on track, even if I never play in a band again.

We had a brief discussion about electric guitars, once I had confessed that I did not currently own one. We both agreed that a Fender Stratocaster was the obvious choice; Stewart plays one himself and I played one in my university band.

“Send me some links to Strats and home amplifiers, and I’ll give you my opinion,” he said.

“So how does it work?” I asked. “Do you have a drum-and-bass machine to simulate the band, and do we wear headphones?”

Stewart shook his head in disdain at anything so anaemic.

Just play through the amp, he suggested, and work hard at it until the neighbours learn to enjoy it - it’s the only way to be rock and roll.

He does, in fact, provide MP3 backing tracks for his lead-guitar lessons.

So Stewart is keen to teach me lead guitar. Bass guitar will be postponed until 2028. I think we shall mix and match the lessons, since I am certainly not losing sight of my primary goal of mastering blues fingerstyle.

We should begin in the autumn.

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