Lessons: Blues
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Top 10 Lessons of 2020
December 26, 2020
This year we looked into how to solo like Garcia, bend like the late Peter Green, and think deeper about the blues scale.
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Grant Green's Bebop Blues
December 19, 2020
Dip a toe in the jazz-blues pool with these simple chord subs.
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A Beginner’s Guide to Standard Slide
December 5, 2020
Just because you want to slide, doesn’t mean you need to retune.
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A Guide to Pedal-Tone Blues
November 28, 2020
Take your rhythmic independence to a new level and learn to become a complete solo guitarist.
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Peter Green's Magic Scale
November 21, 2020
Put some Green into your blues with the minor pentatonic major 6 scale.
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Johnny “Guitar” Watson’s Stinging Blues
October 24, 2020
Watson was a pivotal influence on Frank Zappa, Etta James, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, among others.
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Rethinking the Blues Scale
September 19, 2020
There’s way more than blues-rock fodder buried in the crevices of the most overused scale in music.
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Blues Arpeggio Tricks
September 12, 2020
A simple half-step slide is all it takes to spice up those vanilla arpeggios.
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The Building Blocks of the Blues
August 1, 2020
A back-to-basics approach to crafting a 12-bar solo.
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Slippery Half-Step Blues Bends
May 16, 2020
What makes some of your favorite blues players sound so tasteful and different? Here’s one concept to expand your vocabulary into their territory.
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Beef Up Your Bends
May 2, 2020
Fiery blues-rocker Chris Buck shares his top five ways to make your bends more meaningful.
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How to Play Bentonia Blues
September 14, 2019
Toss aside the rules and tune down your guitar.
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Poindexter at the Crossroads: The 5 Tonalities of the Blues
August 17, 2019
There’s way more to blues harmony than just major and minor.
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Beyond Blues: What Would Jimmy Raney Do?
August 10, 2019
A deep look into how a master combined hard bop with soulful swing.
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Did Robben Ford Invent a Scale?
May 18, 2019
Of course not. But he sure makes it sound good.
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Joe Gore’s The Subversive Guitarist: The Bruise Scale
March 23, 2019
If you whip out these licks at the ol’ Tuesday night blues jam, they’ll probably move it to Wednesday and not tell you.
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Beyond Blues: Nail Those Changes!
May 19, 2018
Fishing around for some new ideas to enhance your blues licks? Check out this step-by-step approach that covers everything from guide tones to scales.
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Dr. Molly’s Guitar Lab: The Badass Riffs of Sister Rosetta Tharpe
May 12, 2018
One of rock guitar’s pioneers could tear through double-stops, chromatic riffs, and fiery triplets with grace and attitude.
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