This is Part 3 (of 3) of a blues phrasing mini-series for guitar. If you've ever struggled with not knowing what to do with all of the scales and information that you've learned for guitar, this mini-series will be perfect for you. It's designed to give you some essential tools to get you improvising right away. This lesson builds on the information that you've learned in the first 2 parts of this mini-series (EP311 and EP312) by adding "playing the chord changes", which is when you change … [Read more...]
Blues Phrasing Mini-Series (2 of 3) Mixing the Major and Minor Pentatonic Scales – EP312
This is Part 2 (of 3) of a blues phrasing mini-series for guitar. If you've ever struggled with not knowing what to do with all of the scales and information that you've learned for guitar, this mini-series will be perfect for you. It's designed to give you some essential tools to get you improvising right away. This lesson focuses on combining the major and minor pentatonic scales so that they can be played in the same area, as opposed to 2 separate areas on the neck like we learned in the … [Read more...]
Jazzy Blues Lead Guitar Lesson in a Minor Key – EP308
In this week's guitar lesson, you'll learn how to play (and improvise) a blues lead (with a little jazz flavor) over a minor key jam track. You'll be playing the chord changes over the verse, alternating between a minor and a major chord. … [Read more...]
Learn a Jazzy, Blues Composition That You Can Play By Yourself on Guitar – Blues Guitar Lesson – EP289
In this week's lesson, you'll learn a solo blues composition (no accompaniment required) that isn't the typical 1, 4, 5 blues format. This has a jazzy chord arrangement to keep things interesting and give you ideas for other ways to play the blues (similar to Lonnie Johnson's approach). This also uses the "call & response" technique to allow you to alternate back and forth between chords and lead. Los of takeaways in this one! … [Read more...]
Slow, Country Lead and Rhythm Guitar Lesson in the key of D – EP274
In this week's guitar lesson, you'll learn how to play a slow, country rhythm and lead over a simple chord progression. Most country guitar lessons online tend to focus on fast, chicken picken' techniques, but this is more in line with what a slow country pedal-steel player might perform. I'll refer back to the CAGED System in quite a few spots as well so this is a nice refresher to last week's EP273 lesson on CAGED. … [Read more...]
Jam Band Blues Lead Guitar Lesson – Using the Major and Minor Pentatonic Scales – EP245
In this week's guitar lesson I'll show you how to play a lead on top of a jam band style jam track (think Allman Brothers). You'll learn to do a lot with just 5 notes out of the major pentatonic scale. The first half is all major pentatonic, the 2nd half is minor pentatonic. MP3 jam track comes in 2 tempos. Also, I created a MicroLesson that has the rhythm part that I played on this, you can access it here: Jam Band Style Rhythm Guitar Lesson ML051. … [Read more...]
Drop D, Heavy Blues Guitar Lesson (With No Accompaniment) – EP190
This week's guitar lesson is a slow and heavy sounding blues that's played fingerstyle in Drop D Tuning. I'll show you how to play this composition note for note and will also show you how easy it is to improvise in this style (giving a few examples). Also, this lesson works really well on acoustic or electric guitar. … [Read more...]
Slow, Laid Back Groove (Bluesy) – Rhythm and Lead Guitar Lesson – EP188
This week's guitar lesson is a slow, laid back groove that's played in the key of D. You'll be learning some J.J. Cale, Mark Knopfler, and David Gilmour licks in this composition. All 3 of those guitar players have one thing in common, and that is that they all are experts are saying a lot with just a few notes. Think "less is more". So we'll be exploring that style in this lesson, as well as revisiting the Dorian Mode. … [Read more...]
Bossa Nova Style Rhythm With Fill Licks – EP137
In this guitar lesson, you'll learn how to play the Latin Bossa Nova style rhythm with no accompaniment. I'll break down the rhythm in detail and show you exactly how to count it. In addition, I'll show you how to improvise and play some fill licks in-between the chords so that you can have your own mini jam session. … [Read more...]
Country Blues Guitar Lesson – EP131
In this guitar lesson, you'll learn how to play an original composition which alternates back and forth between a D5 chord and a C. In addition to learning the strumming pattern for the rhythm, you'll also be playing several lead fill licks in between the chords (and learn what scales they come from). I titled this "Country Blues Guitar Lesson" because I thought the rhythm part sounded country, whereas the lead fills sounded bluesy. This piece is played with no accompaniment - solo guitar. … [Read more...]
