brooks11ej
Verified buyer
06/21/26
I like the format of the lessons & the backing tracks that I can play along
Solo Factory: Texas Blues
Learn how to connect licks to produce compelling solos
Get this course and 1,000+ more with All Access
Try 14 days free. Cancel any time.
About this course
If you've ever traveled overseas, you also likely picked up one of those foreign language phrase books to help you communicate with taxi drivers, waiters, hotel staff or shopkeepers. You studied that phrase book long and hard before the trip, brushed up on the plane and felt pretty good about by yourself. That good feeling lasted about twenty minutes after landing, until you attempted to engage the taxi drive in conversation and everything got lost in translation. Kinda like what happens when you go to the jam with those killer licks you spent years perfecting but found you didn’t have a clue how to string them together into a full solo. Lost in translation baby.
Music is a language. And just like learning any language, you start by learning sounds, which you use to form words, which you combine into phrases, which you string together to tell stories. Notes, licks, phrases and solos. Simple concept. Up to the ‘string together’ part at least. Taking our hard-earned vocabulary of licks and connecting them seamlessly to form solos is where it starts to get a little tricky for most of us. Corey Congilio’s Solo Factory: Texas Blues will fix that in a hurry. In fact, you’ll be more than just a little amazed at just how easy it is.
Grab your guitar right now because you won’t be spending any time learning tedious theory or practicing boring exercises -- you will play your way through the course right from the start. Corey’s curriculum is the quintessential hands-on, contextual learning experience.
In the first section of the course, you’ll learn ten licks that can be used over the I chord, ten licks for the IV chord, ten licks for the V chord and ten licks that can be played anywhere over a 12-bar blues. Corey teaches you the lick and points out why that lick works harmonically over the prevailing chord. All in all, you’ll stoke up your vocabulary with 40 new Texas Blues licks, along with a solid understanding for where that lick works best in a 12-bar Texas blues progression.
In the second section, you’ll learn ten full 12-bar solos that constructed solely from the licks that you learned in the first section. Corey will show how to connect the I, IV, V and anywhere licks into seamless solos over a 12-bar Texas blues format. This is where you’ll have your ‘aha’ moment!
In the last section of the course, Corey steps you through a series of playalongs where you will mix and match your lick vocabulary to your hearts delight and put your new solo constructions skills to good work. This is where you’ll have your second ‘aha’ moment -- any and all of the licks you already have in your bag (including ALL of the licks from any of Corey’s 50 Licks You MUST Know courses!) can be connected in the same manner. Corey Congilio’s Solo Factory: Texas Blues is your gateway to blues soloing bliss.
All of the demonstrations are presented over a rhythm track for context. Corey then breaks down the licks and solos in a clear and very accessible manner. Everything is tabbed and notated, plus you'll also get all of the rhythm tracks to practice the licks and solos on your own.
Your ‘aha’ moments are just a click away. You’ll be able to travel to any bandstand at any blues jam and never be lost in translation again!
Music is a language. And just like learning any language, you start by learning sounds, which you use to form words, which you combine into phrases, which you string together to tell stories. Notes, licks, phrases and solos. Simple concept. Up to the ‘string together’ part at least. Taking our hard-earned vocabulary of licks and connecting them seamlessly to form solos is where it starts to get a little tricky for most of us. Corey Congilio’s Solo Factory: Texas Blues will fix that in a hurry. In fact, you’ll be more than just a little amazed at just how easy it is.
Grab your guitar right now because you won’t be spending any time learning tedious theory or practicing boring exercises -- you will play your way through the course right from the start. Corey’s curriculum is the quintessential hands-on, contextual learning experience.
In the first section of the course, you’ll learn ten licks that can be used over the I chord, ten licks for the IV chord, ten licks for the V chord and ten licks that can be played anywhere over a 12-bar blues. Corey teaches you the lick and points out why that lick works harmonically over the prevailing chord. All in all, you’ll stoke up your vocabulary with 40 new Texas Blues licks, along with a solid understanding for where that lick works best in a 12-bar Texas blues progression.
In the second section, you’ll learn ten full 12-bar solos that constructed solely from the licks that you learned in the first section. Corey will show how to connect the I, IV, V and anywhere licks into seamless solos over a 12-bar Texas blues format. This is where you’ll have your ‘aha’ moment!
In the last section of the course, Corey steps you through a series of playalongs where you will mix and match your lick vocabulary to your hearts delight and put your new solo constructions skills to good work. This is where you’ll have your second ‘aha’ moment -- any and all of the licks you already have in your bag (including ALL of the licks from any of Corey’s 50 Licks You MUST Know courses!) can be connected in the same manner. Corey Congilio’s Solo Factory: Texas Blues is your gateway to blues soloing bliss.
All of the demonstrations are presented over a rhythm track for context. Corey then breaks down the licks and solos in a clear and very accessible manner. Everything is tabbed and notated, plus you'll also get all of the rhythm tracks to practice the licks and solos on your own.
Your ‘aha’ moments are just a click away. You’ll be able to travel to any bandstand at any blues jam and never be lost in translation again!
Corey Congilio's Preferred Gear
Below is a list of Corey Congilio's preferred gear including guitars, amps, pedals, accessories, and more. What you see in Corey's lessons may or may not be this actual gear, but if you are trying to capture Corey's sound and tone, the gear listed below is recommended by Corey and it's a great place to start!
Guitars
Amps
Pedals
- J. Rockett Tim Pierce Signature Overdrive Pedal
- DOD Carcosa Analog Fuzz Pedal
- Dunlop DVP4 Volume (X) Mini Pedal
- Universal Audio UAFX Golden Reverberator Pedal
- Universal Audio UAFX Starlight Echo Station Delay Pedal
- Universal Audio UAFX Astra Modulation Machine Pedal
- Korg Pitchblack Custom Pedal Tuner
Accessories & More
What you'll learn
- Execute chromatic movement through chord changes using single notes
- Combine multiple lick concepts to create extended blues solos
- Connect previously learned licks into cohesive solos
- Learn to move linearly across the fretboard instead of staying in one pentatonic box
- Learn the thought process behind solo construction
Release date: 06/18/2013 • 3h 33m runtime
Sample lessons
Signature Spot
I Chord: Lick #3
Classic Chromatic
V Chord: Lick #3
Effective
12 Bar: Lick #2
Solos
Overview
What's included
72 lessons • 50 charts • 54 Jam Tracks
Solo Factory: Texas Blues
So you've been in the woodshed for weeks practicing your favorite Texas blues licks. You finally get together with your bandmates or, hit the open stage and are well prepared for the solos coming your way. It's time for you to strut your stuff and bam - you're locked up! All of those ideas you worked on just won't come out. Well my friend, you've been learning words and not sentences! Welcome to the Solo Factory, the place where you and I hammer out real blues solos using licks that I teach you. We're going to work on stringing those licks and ideas together to not only form musical sentences but, tell a memorable soloing story! We'll learn licks over the I-IV-V chords as well as licks that will work anywhere. Some exciting stuff lies ahead. Let's get to work in the factory!
I Chord Licks
This first series of licks will be used over the I chord. Grabbing the listener's ear with a great I chord idea is a great idea!
Let's Start Here
Here’s a basic lick in pattern one of the A minor pentatonic scale. One of the concepts I teach my beginning blues improvising students is to think root. The root (A in this case) is a safe place to begin or end a lick. It just has to sound good! What better way to build confidence in soloing than starting out with a lick you know will sound great right off the bat. Seek out the roots and try to move this (and all forthcoming licks) to all positions of the pentatonic scale. This lick starts with pickup notes into the root note A on the 4th string 7th fret. It stays almost strictly pentatonic until we get to the double stop on bar 3. The double stop riff adds an F# (6th degree of A) and an Eb (b5) to our normal pentatonic box shape. This lick is melodic and not too difficult so, seems like a good place to start!
Born To Shuffle
This lick will most certainly work in any rhythmic style but, shuffles are the backbone of Texas blues so, I thought we’d go heavy on the shuffle lick first. You’ll start this one out by sliding into a double stop on the first and second strings in pattern 1. You’ll slide into these double stops on the beginning of every triplet figure. The rest is straight up pentatonic. If you checked out 50 Texas Blues You Must Know, you’ll notice that I do a lot of 1/4 step bends. Stevie Ray does this all of the time so, it’s important that we talk about it and demonstrate it for this course. Notice how I execute the 1/4 step bend on bars 2 and 4. That little bend keeps things from sounding stale and lifeless. Work that technique into your playing!
Signature Spot
I gave this lick its name because it encompasses all of the tried and true blues bends and phrasing we’ve come to love from blues playing. Signature Spot not only is familiar to the ear, it’s also (after learning bends, etc.) familiar to the hand. The lick is entirely pentatonic and does not include any outside notes. We’ll get to those later but for now - bend away with this one!
Double Stompin’
Let’s play some licks over a straight blues feel. Think good ole fashioned rock n’ roll for these examples. I also would cite SRV’s tune “The House Is Rockin” as a good reference. This lick will be similar to the previous three shuffle licks but, notice how changing the feel and increasing the tempo dramatically changes phrasing and execution. It’s fair to say that the greats of Texas blues borrowed from rock n’ roll legends like Chuck Berry and even Bill Haley. Maybe we should borrow from them too.
I Chord Handful
We’re still in pattern 1 of the pentatonic scale but we’ve changed feels again. We’re playing over a funky rhythm for this one. We’re tackling a whole step bend on the first string which can be tough. Work on getting that bend as in tune as possible. The lick finishes up with a double stop bend which is a classic move. Work on getting your pinky to stay put while the third finger bends the D to an E on the third string.
+ 65 more lessons
Reviews
50 results
developer
06/02/26
Awesome
Corey is an absolute legend. Love this course.
Fimark
Verified buyer
02/15/26
Very interesting and explanations are very clear and easy to follow. It's a good choice!
icadjenovic
Verified buyer
01/13/26
The licks are very good, Corey's explanations are excellent! In my opinion it would be even better if one big solo was broken down into multiple licks and to go through all those licks one by one in the order they are in the solo. That would be easier to remember than going through multipe licks that are in the same chord. Also, providing a backing track would be great.
ijameson
Verified buyer
02/15/25
First class educator
If you want to learn some Texas Blues, you can’t go past Corey Congilio’s Solo Factory (and Rhythm factory). There are plenty of licks and solos to learn, from a great teacher.
…
Stop searching. Start improving with All Access.
Try 14 days free. Cancel any time.
