Description
In this week’s guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play a really fun Boogie Woogie style blues composition that doesn’t require any accompaniment. You can jam on this one all by yourself on acoustic or electric guitar. I’ll also walk through several useful takeaways that you can apply when playing rhythm or lead.
Part 1 - Free Guitar Lesson
Part 2 - For Premium Members
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Slow Walk-Through
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Video Tablature Breakdown
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sunburst says
I can always use a Chuck Berry and Brian Setzer boogie woogie ,, great intro explaining this rhythm style with the fill licks included,, really cool stuff, sure going to enjoy this too!
Brian H says
I agree… great walk through.. I’ve got it!!
Ben F says
Boogie Woogie is the best
RICK B says
This is the lesson that made up my mind to join, I want to learn to play these shuffles, this is a good start. thanks
Maxime B says
Yeah me too. Just joined today. I am French but still can understand absolutely everything. Thanx for the much varied lessons, it makes me wanna play again (15years learning by myself, 10 years without hiting a string) and…. i mean…. it’s like bicycles…. i m having a great time !!
Paul N. says
Same here. Just joined. This lesson is gold and Brian is truly an amazing teacher.
richard b says
Hey ,,Rick B,
Same here!!
Jeremy G says
Same here Rick, same here!!
Michael Allen says
Love that boogie woogie!
guinn e says
superb brian
where did you learn your basic skills ?
sunburst says
Actually hear while practicing along with soundslice SRV and a bit of George Thorogood too , I can see many having fun as much as I’m having with this lesson!
drutgat says
Amazing stuff. Love it, Brian. Thanks.
justin N says
I can see the swing dancers jiving to this. Can’t wait to learn it! Some good stuff Brian!
jimbostrat says
In my humble opinion we can never get enough ‘throwback’ early R&R concepts and Brian’s certainly captured this feel good jive here with his boogie rendition that would have made Bill Haley and the Comets proud!! No special electronics or synthesized anything……..just follow Brian’s lead and take the hour or so to get this all down and it become a great fun notch on all our guitar journeys!! Jim C.
Cliff Carbaugh says
“Hour or so.. ” ? I’m going on 2 months and I’m only half way through! 😮 😮 😮
Ken E says
Me too!
smilefred says
Super funny stuff
Tremelow says
Looks like I‘ll be having hours and hours of fun Boogie Woogying! I know, it will take a while before I get it up to speed, but this is a must have in my repatoire. As always, great how you explain everything.
Mirabel S says
Love it, having this one for the rest of my playing life.
Thanks Brian,
Myra.
JohnStrat says
Hi Brian,
It seems like you’ve read my thoughts or perhaps search info this week as I had been thinking I will try and get all the boogie woogie lessons up and running so for me this is ‘just the ticket’!
JohnStrat says
I started having a go at this and wow what a great lot of take aways in this one! Anyone who gets into it is gonna love it.
MYRX says
Oh Yes!.. Love it
MYRX says
Oh Yes! Love it
Raymond P says
What a fun lesson to learn, love the Boogie Woogie style music lesson. Great take info too,
Thanks Brian
Ray P
Don D. says
This is a super-great lesson, thank you, Brian! I’m still stoked about 279 too.
clay says
Yeah-this will be a really fun one……
San Luis Rey says
Can’t get enough of that boogie stuff! Thanks Brian
brian-belsey says
Every lesson is interesting, but this one is huge fun and just great! Seems to me that this is perfect to learn thoroughly and keep in our repertoire for when someone asks us to play!
Lights says
Great lesson, Christmas time is coming soon and this lesson is perfect to mix with EP-079 (Jingle bell). I hope I got plenty of time to do it and perform some day. Lot of exiting work again, Thanks!
Jim M says
Like that walk-up to B7 and then back home to E. Very nice Brian !
Robert R says
I love these “play alone” type lessons! I have spent too much time learning leads that require a backup band, so this is very refreshing and educational. Thanks!
Mark M says
Hey Brian…. EP 284 was a super lesson. I am a big fan of blues boogie, and some of the rhythm stuff in this lesson I guess I have been doing in some ways for years…but EP284 really brought it home to me ” where this stuff comes from”. I look at your lessons every week and have improved my playing a lot in the time I spend with you. Thanks.
Scott S says
Another homerun!
Even if this is above my skill level it’s a great piece to simply listen to and enjoy!
Andy N says
What are you doing to me Brian!
I’d secretly hoped I could open this weeks lessons and say ‘Nah! not for me’. Then I could work on my getting through my backlog (currently EP281, EP282 and a promise to go back to EP277) and seeing more of my wife! (ok maybe the wrong order there)
But no, you’ve produced yet another stomper and I’ve had to get stuck in right away!
At least I can justify to myself that it fits nicely with my crusade to improve my rhythm playing, and there are plenty of takeaways in there.
Nice work!
Rob M says
Great Stuff Brian. I’ve just signed up as a Premium member.
What is that cool guitar you’re playing here?
Ken M says
Little sister😉
Donald F says
Brian , Really great work , Thank you for helping me find my way back to the guitar , I’m a senior guy and travel around the world , and find myself glued to your superb teachings on my down time …Thank you again you are answering a lot of my long time questions . Please keep it up . ( In Kinshasa DRC )
itaylor says
Fabulous lessons. Really admire the rhythm playing on them and the effort that goes into coming up with great rhythm ideas .
IGNACIO L says
Thank you. Really nice stuff. Can you tell me de brand and model of your guitar? I love it.
Paul L says
Thanks Brian, great lesson. Is there any chance that you could give a mini lesson on the blues riff in A sharp? Or at least a tip on the patterns? I couldn’t replicate all of it.
John B says
Opening riff sounds like Hideaway
benny l says
GREAT LESSON BRIAN, THESE LESSONS ARE HELPING ME SO MUCH AND I APPRECIATE YOUR HARD WORK TEACHING US THESE LESSONS!!
Cary says
Another fun, inspiring lesson that keeps me loving my guitar! Brian, you truly bring a huge amount of happiness to your students — so glad I found Active Melody!
Cheers,
Cary
Terry H says
Great Stuff! Thanks Brian!
Steven L says
And they say there’s no new music. Well Brian, you amaze with the way you always seem to come up with something “new”. New wrinkles on an old theme perhaps. but inspiring all the same. Thanks!
T. Frolicker says
Once again, you awake the latent excitement that I have always had for music; with your great teaching, I can enjoy learning a good piece and improvising off it.
Thanks so much !
Jon M says
Great lesson – not terribly difficult to play, but very cool… This one is also great for developing the ‘soul’ aspects of rhythm, phrasing, dead-string technique, muting, etc. – which is one area where I struggle. Many thanks Brian!
T. Frolicker says
I didn’t mention earlier that I am 80 years old, and I am having the time of my life with two Fenders and the blues….
Ma Z says
The part after the walking base minute 16 with different rhythm, I did not understand. Too quick. Have You explained this in more detail elsewhere?
mike jams says
Great Stuff ,
I don’t see how you can do this week in and week out, but we are all glad that you do.
I love these great upbeat solo songs ,
This is a great addition to my song list.
If you are looking for any other ideas for new songs , how about something from “Roomful of Blues”
Have a great weekend.
Ron M says
Thank you,Brian for this great boogie woogie lesson!! Cheers, Ron
Eric D says
I love the lessons. My only complaint is the small size of the tablature in PDF format.
Ray B says
Brian, I am curious why the long bass run climbs up the hill to the E note and then descends down a different set of similar, but different, notes. Is there any logic or theory behind that? I would have guessed that it would retrace the path up.
Thanks for another great lesson.
FRANCIS C says
OH my, Brian, loved those moves around 12:40 , gave me goose bumps, I’m gonna get those down pat and look for more videos on that sort of stuff. Can you lead me to any of your like videos? Thanks, I’m a devoted fan forever…:)
serge s says
Is it possible to play the part 2 video at a reduced speed (0.75 or 0.5), like on youtube?
Hans says
Awesome, this led me to buy the premium membership, enjoying every second!
george z says
I agree!!
Conroy G says
I retired 3 years ago and found your site and bought in 2 years ago. Can’t tell how many times I’ve celebrated having joined up to Active Melody. After 50 years of being able to only strum a few chords and play a few tunes I now actually can say “yes” when people ask if i can play a guitar. Well worth the investment. Thanks Brian.
Cliff Carbaugh says
Watched Brian play this for the first time and instantly become an Active Melody Member and devotee! Since I’m an old-man beginner, I’ve been working on it for a week and hope to be better at it in a month or 2! Thank you Brian – your explanations are clear and thorough and the Slow Walkthrough and the OnScreen Tab are priceless!
Ray L says
So is it normal for someone to practice the same thing over and over for hours and hours?
Rüdiger L says
ja , vorausgesetzt du bist eine sog Übungssau.das merkst du wenn du 2-3 Std geübt hast u. das Gefühl hast gerade angefangen zu haben( wie im Zeitraffer )
u. wichtig , ” niemals aufgeben “. wichtig ist also mal 2-3 Tage sacken lassen . dann kommts oft wie der Blitz u. du weisst nicht wieso ??? vermutlich brainstorming ???
Niemals aufgeben Ray dann klappt es glaub es mir
Gruß Rüdiger aus germany Koblenz am Rhein River
raviraj e says
Awesome Brian. I now have premium membership and practice more. Thanks!
george z says
Fun music!!!
Michael G says
With a metronome I clocked your sample mp3’s at 105 slow and 154bpm regular(which for me is a
a bit brisk) A very playable speed is more like 115 as i was able to adjust on the tab player. Is there any program that i can use to adjust the file to around 115 and save it at that speed. I use the mp3’s as a jam track off my cell phone file player. Keep up the good work.
Peter C says
Aussie Pete
The boogy woogy is great, i am throwing it around and have kept up to speed, and it easy to loop and ad additional chords, it keeps resonating in my head all day, love the boogy beat. So hello Brian from down under been with you for awhile now your a great tutor to.
YOURS KINDLY
Peter c
Brad F. says
Really love this boogie woogie!! This is my 1st attempt at AM lessons as I’m a new member and have committed to be able to play it start to finish at a reasonable speed. Hope I haven’t bitten off more than I can handle. Brian, you are the Greatest teacher I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing, straight forward instruction and explanations. Love this kind of music and having lots of fun. Nice to be able to play a complete piece instead of random licks or covers offered on other sites.
Thanks sooooo much.
Brad F. says
Just thought I’d add, I love Blues, Rock and Country too and there are so many good compositions here I’m having a hard time not jumping all over the place. Have plenty of lessons on my Favorites list so I’ll be busy till the end of time.
JERRY H says
Great stuff
Mark E says
Hi Brian–Thanks so much for the lessons! Is there any way you can post the full-speed tempo you play at on each of the compositions? When I print the tablature, I there is a temp indication, but I think it is the slower walk-through played in the tab viewer. I’d love to have an easy way to tell what the full tempo is without trying to clock each lesson.
James M says
Great lesson. Not to difficult at first and great explanation of the shuffle timing. Just wish there was some way we could get more of the tab in the window at once. I keep looking ahead for what comes next and its not there yet.
Brian says
just launch it in full screen mode
James M says
forget the above post. fiddling around with it I finally got it all together. Thanks
patrick d says
love this, have you ever considered covering ‘i second that emotion’?
Jim L says
What brand of guitar was used?
Cary says
B&G, Little Sister, I think.
Michael D says
Clearly, measure 7 in the tab, which is the second iteration of the “boogie woogie blues” notes shown in measure 6, is supposed to be played differently compared to that shown in measure 6. My question is that Brian plays it a different way in the video around 10:27 and, then, plays it as shown here when he plays it at 11:40 in the video. Playing it as written seem to require moving the barre up to fret 5 early. Is my observation correct? And is it preferred to play it as written in the tab or as played in the video around 10:27? I am usually not this anal, but I have had to approach this piece note by note and noticed the discrepancy when doing so. Thanks
Gregory F says
Great lesson Brian. I’m struggling a bit with the ‘muting’ in bars 14-20. Any thoughts for a beginner?
Doug H says
I came back to this months after first trying to learn and I still cant get past about 50% speed.
Paul W says
Hi Brian,
I have been enjoy and using the free lessons for several years now but joined as a 2022 Christmas present from my kids.
Working on the this lesson at 75% so far. Great for timing and accuracy. There seems to bit a slight difference in end of bar 7 of what is taught and what is tabbed.
At about 10:17 Brian says to play 4 and 2 on D string but later on when he plays it he actually plays 4 and 2 on the A string (which is tabbed).
Anyway both sound ok.
Brian, you are a great teacher. Straight forward instruction and explanations. Love this kind of music and having lots of fun. Keep up the good work. Would love you to explain and play a few songs as well
Don B says
Always takes me forever to learn something new, playing this fingerstyle as I can’t get used to the pick. Great site, great lesson.
Don
Darryl M says
I love this boogie woogie. I have to admit, it took a while to get it into my thick skull, but once there, it rocks. So many cool licks I have learned from this and others of your lessons. Keep it up Brian. Thanks!
Confession: I took a few one on one lessons locally and never got as far as I have with your teaching style.