Blues Guitar Course

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Become an Ace Blues Guitarist!

In this driven, focused training program, you will, in only 12 weeks, learn the scales, rhythms, theory, vocabulary, and improvisation techniques of the blues language.

The course is designed to give you maximum progress, in the least amount of time possible.
This program is simultaneously theoretical and hands-on.

You will come out of this course with a deeper appreciation for blues, and with all the rhythm and improvisation skills necessary to perform in any blues style in any performance setting.

Why Do You Want to Take This Course?

Blues is typically what musicians choose to play when they never played with one another before.
It’s for various reasons, a style that lends itself really well to jam on.

There are quite a number of different rhythm guitar approaches to both major and minor blues.
The blues rhythm guitarist can find himself playing ostinato-type bass lines in 1 song, and honky-tonk-like rhythm parts in another blues song.
The more diverse your knowledge of the different blues rhythm styles, the more fun playing blues becomes.
You might only know 1 or 2 ways to play blues rhythm guitar: at the end of this course, you will know every blues rhythm.

You might feel limited in your blues soloing.
This course will cover an extensive amount of blues vocabulary. You will know how to construct a solo combining the blues phrases EVERY blues guitarist uses all the time in all their solos.
We will of course also cover the pentatonic scale, blues scales, dominant arpeggios, and how to use these to come up with great solos.

Who Benefits from Taking This Class?

If you want to become great at blues guitar: this class is for you.
Anybody who would love to learn more about blues, or who would love to improve his/her blues playing, will love this class.

This class is not for people who start out on guitar.
You want to have a minimum of 6 months of regular practice to be able to keep up with this class.

Prerequisites

  1. At least 6 months of guitar playing/practice.
  2. Speak and understand some English.
  3. For in-studio lessons: the only thing to bring is your guitar
  4. If you take the course from the comfort of your home through video conferencing: you need a computer, a working webcam, an internet connection, and Skype
  5. Recommended practice time: 45min a day. If you can do more, that is even better, but you’ll get great results with only 30 minutes of practice a day.

Course Objective

In 12 weeks’ time, you will be able to play great, interesting-sounding blues guitar solos with a great feel.
You will understand the blues feel.
You will also become a much better blues rhythm guitarist, with a solid understanding of all the major and minor blues rhythm guitar styles.

The material we’ll cover in those 12 weeks, will keep you practicing for many more months after the course.

The 12-Week Blues Guitar Course

  1. Week 1
    1. The 12-Bar Blues Form
    2. The 12-Bar Blues Form Variations.
    3. The I-IV-V Progression
    4. The Chords in a Major Blues and in a Minor Blues
    5. Why you wouldn’t play blues with bar chords
    6. 7th chords version
    7. The A Minor Pentatonic Scale
    8. Why the minor pentatonic scale works over both major and minor blues

  2. Week 2
    1. Quick review past week + testing.
    2. The 6 Major Blues Rhythm Guitar Styles
    3. Swing vs. straight.
    4. The Blues Scale
    5. Feedback, corrections, pointers and guidance for maximum results.

  3. Week 3
    1. Quick review past week + testing.
    2. Assessment of your progress. Further feedback to boost your current results, if required.
    3. The Minor Blues Rhythm Guitar Styles
    4. Soloing techniques and expressiveness
    5. Feedback, corrections, pointers and guidance for maximum results.
    6. Theory: the relative major-minor scale.

  4. Week 4
    1. Quick review past week + testing.
    2. Assessment of your progress. Further feedback to boost your current results, if required.
    3. Blues Cliches
    4. Blues phrasing
    5. Stringing the blues cliches together into full blues solos.
    6. How the Blues cliches are also Country cliches.
    7. Lines with 4ths intervals
    8. 6th Intervals
    9. Feedback, corrections, pointers and guidance for maximum results.

  5. Week 5
    1. Quick review past week + testing.
    2. Assessment of your progress. Further feedback to boost your current results, if required.
    3. Pentatonic and blues Scale Sequences & Patterns.
    4. More Blues cliches and phrases
    5. The importance of repetition in soloing
    6. Double stops
    7. Feedback, corrections, pointers and guidance for maximum results.

  6. Week 6
    1. Quick review past week + testing.
    2. Assessment of your progress. Further feedback to boost your current results, if required.
    3. The 9th and m9th chords
    4. The 6/9 chord
    5. Different types of 7th chords for blues
    6. The m11 chord
    7. Freddy Green comping chords
    8. Walking bass lines over blues
    9. Feedback, corrections, pointers and guidance for maximum results.

  7. Week 7
    1. Quick review past week + testing.
    2. Assessment of your progress. Further feedback to boost your current results, if required.
    3. Texas Blues technique
    4. Texas blues lines
    5. Stevie Ray Vaughn Soloing ideas.
    6. SRV Pride and Joy Riff
    7. Feedback, corrections, pointers and guidance for maximum results.

  8. Week 8
    1. Quick review past week + testing.
    2. Assessment of your progress. Further feedback to boost your current results, if required.
    3. Learn “The Thrill is Gone” by BB King.
    4. The bVI chord.

  9. Week 9
    1. Quick review past week + testing.
    2. Assessment of your progress. Further feedback to boost your current results, if required.
    3. The G7 dominant arpeggio
    4. The 4 fingerings
    5. Soloing with G7 arpeggio fingerings
    6. Adding the b3 Blue note
    7. Adding Chromaticism
    8. C7 and D7 arpeggio fingerings
    9. Major blues soloing with the arpeggio fingerings

  10. Week 10
    1. Quick review past week + testing.
    2. Assessment of your progress. Further feedback to boost your current results, if required.
    3. The A-7 arpeggio
    4. The 4 fingerings
    5. Soloing with A-7 arpeggio fingerings
    6. Adding Chromaticism
    7. CD-7 and E-7 arpeggio fingerings
    8. Minor blues soloing with the arpeggio fingerings

  11. Week 11
    1. Quick review past week + testing.
    2. Assessment of your progress. Further feedback to boost your current results, if required.
    3. Freddy Green comping chords minor
    4. Minor blues with walking bass lines
    5. Jazzing up the blues with added chords
    6. Walking bass lines through the added chords
    7. Feedback, corrections, pointers and guidance for maximum results.

  12. Week 12
    Last week of the program.

    1. Quick review past week + testing.
    2. Assessment of your progress. Further feedback to boost your current results, if required.
    3. All scale options in blues improvisation.
    4. Guitar tone and sound. Using overdrive.
    5. Being more expressive
    6. Dynamics
    7. Call and Response
    8. Groove and note placement in soloing.
    9. Feedback for further practice, including pointers and guidance for maximum results.

If you want to become a much better blues player in only 12 weeks’ time…
If you want to become a much better soloist and musician…

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