Learning to Play the Wujifa Blues

Ever wonder how learning Wujifa is like learning to play blues guitar? No? Well, Check it out!

My all time favorite blues guitar instructor is Griff Hamlin over at Blues Guitar Unleashed. He's got great instructional materials and provides wonderful instructional tips on his blog. But the real gem for me as a Wujifa practitioner and as a guy learning to play blues guitar is Griff's member newsletters.

Now, what continually amazes me is that as I read his newsletters, I can't help but think that he's talking in code about martial arts and Wujifa. Why I do that? I don't know. Maybe I just see a connection...

Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

"But here's the thing... the blues is the blues - those 5 or 6 notes that make up the blues scales... and maybe you add one or 2 more in for flavor once in a while... that's pretty much it.

(Note: for those of you unfamiliar with music, there are 12 notes and so creating an entire sound and feel based on only 5-6 notes is really amazing!)

Going off and learning all kinds of modes and oddball sounds isn't going to make your blues playing sound more like blues - it's going to make your playing in general sound more like whatever sound you're incorporating.

I know that might sound simple and kind of, "well duh..."

But you'd be amazed how many years I searched for that "new sound" only to realize that when I was up on stage playing it was those same old notes that always sounded the best when I came back to them."

Well, gosh darn! Doesn't this sound familiar? Just like in learning to play blues guitar, learning Wujifa requires learning only a few notes of the entire Martial Arts Scale. Sure, you can learn all kinds of modes (martial arts styles) and oddball sounds (martial arts forms) but doing so isn't going to make your playing (your feeling of internal connection) sound more like blues. (Basically, you ain't gonna "get it" taking this route).

So, learning to play the Wujifa Blues... What do you really want to learn? If you want to develop internal connection, then stick to the few notes in the Wujifa Blues Scale. Learn them really well. Don't get distracted by all the other styles and sounds out there. In fact, the more you hone in on these few notes, the more you'll understand what others are doing with the notes they are using.

What sound are you looking for? The sound of internal connection? Then learn Wujifa.

What is the sound of internal connection? Wujifa!

Happy practicing everyone!