- Where is the line between this and blues rock?
- In the center of gravity. Electric blues keeps twelve-bar form and blues phrasing at the core, drums on a shuffle, and volume contained inside band interaction. Blues rock maxes out gain and volume, straightens the drums and moves toward rock verse-chorus form. Improvisation and shuffle point here; power and hooks point to blues rock.
- How do I prompt for natural overdrive?
- Describe amp behavior rather than pedals: “solid-body guitar into a low-wattage valve amp driven to the edge of breakup, long sustain, cleaning up when picked softly.” Asking for distorted guitar usually returns high-gain metal tone, which is the wrong family.
- How do I make solos sound like phrases rather than scale runs?
- Legislate the breathing: “one phrase every four bars, a beat of silence at each phrase end so the rhythm section shows,” “each phrase closes on a long bend with vibrato.” The persuasion in a blues solo lives in space and in the treatment of single notes, not in note count.
