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Step-by-Step Courses
Flatpickin’ the Blues
If you're going to play Blues, there are some styles that you just need to know. Perhaps the best place to start is with the venerable E Blues Shuffle. Think: Before You Accuse Me, Sweet Home Chicago In this course, we'll expand on the material covered in Acoustic Blues Jumpstart and arm you with clever […]...
Delta Sliding in Spanish Tuning
It's hard to imagine Delta Blues without bottleneck slide guitar. Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, Son House and many others shaped the Delta Sound and frequently added sweet slide sounds to their hard-driving tunes. In, Delta Sliding in Spanish Tuning, we're going to get into Spanish Tuning and put it to use in a 24-bar Delta-tinged […]...
Delta Blues Trail
Powerful. It can be difficult to describe Delta Blues. This style of Blues is driven by many varied and often idiosyncratic players. But one common thread across the icons of Delta Blues is the sheer, honest power of the music. In Delta Blues Trail, we'll begin to explore the sounds that helped bring this powerful […]...
Essential Acoustic Guitar Techniques
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Fingerstyle Fundamentals
Fingerstyle guitar is difficult for most guitarists. Even if you’ve been playing with a flatpick for years, there’s something about fingerstyle that just doesn’t usually come easily. It’s frustrating that such a beautiful style of playing presents so many challenges. In this course, I’ll walk you through a step-by-step method that helps cut down on […]...
Country Blues in G
Country Blues is a broad term covering much of the acoustic blues played in the early part of the 20th century whether Piedmont, Delta or Texas Blues. One of my favorite Country Blues pickers, Blind Lemon Jefferson was a technical powerhouse. He was fast and idiosyncratic in his picking. A mix of skill that's fun […]...
Songbook: Jingle Bells
Looking for a little Holiday Fun to toss in your Songbook? This course will walk you through the classic tune, Jingle Bells. If you only know one Christmas song, it should probably be this one :) But beyond the novelty of this song, there's quite a lot that you can learn from this song to […]...
Pentatonic Blender
Scales, scales and more scales. There's a bunch of them. As Blues players, we can say a whole lot on the guitar with just two very powerful scales: the Major Pentatonic Scale and the Minor Pentatonic Scale. But once you know these two "Swiss Army Knife" scales, it's hard to know which scale to play […]...
Triads in Action
In this mini-course, we’ll continue working with simple 3-note chords (triads) in a real bluesy composition. We’ll make use of the basic major triad but also the pesky diminished and augmented chords as well. I strongly recommend checking out Tuesday Blues #213 along with this mini-course. Tuesday Blues #213: Multiply the Chords You Know with […]...
Songbook: Amazing Grace
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Major Pentatonic Scale Bootcamp
There's just no getting around it; you've got to know your scales. Luckily for blues guitarists, only a few extremely important scales rise to the top of the "must-know" list. The major pentatonic scale is one of those. The sweet sounds of major pentatonics are beautiful and unmistakable. Think: B.B. King and Dickey Betts. Unfortunately, […]...
Piedmont Pickin’
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Slide in Standard Tuning
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Slide Guitar Essentials
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Sunshine & Grits: A Modern Blues Tutorial
In this course, we’ll take a tour of a moving chord progression and a song structure that has a modern blues feel. We’ll accomplish this while learning a 63 bar original tune called Sunshine & Grits. UH OH, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU DON’T HAVE ACCESS TO THIS CONTENT! If you’re not yet a member of […]...
Lowcountry Blues
Lowcountry Blues is a dead bass style country blues tune in the Key of E. In this course, you’ll learn how to keep the pulse going while working in cool chord sounds and laying a cool melody right on top. This one is sure to get you pickin’ and grinin’ UH OH, IT LOOKS LIKE […]...
East Coast Rag
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Sweet Little Lady (In the Style of Kind Hearted Woman Blues)
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Traditional Blues: Stack O’Lee
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Songbook: Carolina Breakdown
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Essential Guide to Slide Guitar
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Open Up: How to Play a Fingerstyle Country Blues Song in Open D
Make sense of alternate tunings with this Country Blues tune from BGI called, Open Up. In this course, you'll learn how to get into Open D tuning, where the most important spots on the neck are and how to pluck out several choruses. There are a few easy licks for beginners and some very challenging […]...
Acoustic Blues Jumpstart
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Thrillin’ Groove
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Minor Pentatonic Bootcamp
Helpful Prerequisites This course will serve as a great way for the beginner guitarist to learn the all-important minor pentatonic scale. You won't need a ton of prior experience with scales to get the most out of this series of lessons. That said, you'll amplify your results in this course if you first know the […]...
Baker Blues
There are few things sweeter to my ears than the clean, snappy fingerpicking of Piedmont legend, Etta Baker. Etta had a simple approach, but yet coaxed so much beautiful music out of an acoustic guitar. She’s the inspiration for my quest to learn as much Piedmont blues as possible and she’s the inspiration for this […]...
Keep on Pickin’
Welcome to Keep on Pickin'! This course is designed to be an intermediate level Piedmont Blues course that will reinforce the picking fundamentals of Piedmont Picking 101 and take it to a whole new level. Keep on Pickin' is modeled after Blind Boy Fuller's classic tune, Truckin My Blues Away. In this course, you'll learn […]...
Blues Turnarounds You Can’t Live Without
There are a few common threads tying together blues of many different styles. One such commonality is the heavy use of turnarounds in the final bars of a progression. Whether a typical 12 bar blues progression like “Sweet Home Chicago” or the quintessential 8 bar blues of “Key to the Highway,” the last 2 bars […]...
Morning Cup: Country Blues Fingerpicking Tutorial
In this course, we’ll focus on building your skills in the Piedmont or Country Blues style of picking. This style of blues has always seemed snappy, upbeat and extremely melodic. We’ll work our way through a skill-building example song in the Key of D called Morning Cup. Here’s a quick overview of what you’ll learn in […]...
Sandpiper Stomp
About Sandpiper Stomp In Sandpiper Stomp, we'll focus on laying a solid foundation in the shuffle rhythm in the Key of A. Then we'll dress it up a bit with classic blues chord moves, licks and turnarounds. Playing the shuffle rhythm requires a little more dexterity from your picking hand thumb than a steady bass […]...
Back Porch Blues
Back Porch Blues is a multi-lesson course designed to give every fingerpicker something to work on. If you’re a brand new picker, you’ll learn the basic movements necessary to become a proficient finger picker. For the more intermediate to advanced player, there are plenty of licks to keep you forging ahead in your journey. The […]...