You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension -- a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Verheyen Zone.

We couldn't have said it better and so a big thanks to Rod for the perfect description. Carl Verheyen's SWAT Blues is indeed supernatural stuff. You will see and hear things within this series of 61 video lessons that will blow your mind from here to Timbuktu. And if you dig playing the blues, these 'special weapons and tactics' will inspire, excite, transform and invigorate your chops way beyond your wildest expectations.

Video Introduction

Click below for a sample video from the course

As impressive as Verheyen's pedigree may be, it doesn't even come close to accurately reflecting the monster technique, extraordinary intelligence and imaginative creativity that comprises his signature style. Carl Verheyen is the quintessential guitarist's guitarist and a quick Google will prove that pudding.

Fortunately for we students of guitar, he is also an incredibly articulate educator with a knack for making even the most challenging material very accessible. Consequently, SWAT Blues will take you deeper, wider and further than any blues course you've ever worked through by applying influences from bluegrass, rumba, rockabilly, jazz, rock, western swing, Texas-style, Delta-style and just about everything in between.

About the Guitar Lesson Plan

Interactive Video Guitar Instruction

Whatever your level of play, you will love how Verheyen steps you through his curriculum. You will work through six distinctive blues grooves ranging from low, down and dirty up-tempo shuffles to smooth and moody slow blues. Verheyen performs three solos over each groove, each solo demonstrating a distinctive approach.

After each of these 18 solo/demonstrations, Carl breaks down the 'special weapons and tactics' utilized in the solo including intervallic lines, double-stop soloing, Myxolydian thirds, melodic chords runs, slide lick emulation, open string leaps and ornamentation, vibrato, zing harmonics, open position leaps, timing, big major third bends, modern inversions and voicings, motific and melodic development, picking-hand techniques, mixing minor and major Pentatonic lines and many more modern blues tools.

You will certainly stock up on killer licks and other tricks of the Verheyen trade BUT you don't even have to pick up the guitar to reap the key rewards of SWAT Blues; Verheyen's concepts, creative approaches and harmonic insight alone will majorly fire up your blues bag.

FAIR WARNING! All of the solos and even many of the examples in the breakdowns are transcribed, tabbed and formatted as PDFs, PowerTabs and Guitar Pro files. You also get all of the rhythm tracks to practice with. Meanwhile, you will need to move your shed to the Twilight Zone and find some serious voodoo to nail everything you see and hear in SWAT Blues in less than 30 years. But it'll be worth it!

About Your Instructor

Carl Verheyen

In his 40-plus years of playing the instrument, Carl Verheyen has created a wildly successful, multi-faceted career. He is a critically-acclaimed musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, producer and educator with 11 CDs and two live DVDs released worldwide. Carl is commonly regarded as a guitar virtuoso capable of playing any style of music with remarkable mastery and conviction. He has been one of LA's elite "first call" session players for the past 25 years, playing on hundreds of records, movie soundtracks and television shows. Carl has graced the pages of countless industry publications and been the subject of numerous articles chronicling his rise to the forefront of the modern day guitar scene. Carl has won numerous polls and musical honors in the United States, Germany, France, Italy and the UK.

On the educational front, Carl has produced two instructional videos called Intervallic Rock Guitar and Forward Motion as well as various on-line lessons. He also has a book/CD detailing his unique "intervallic" style called Improvising Without Scales. Another book entitled Studio City is a compilation of all the columns Carl wrote for Guitar Magazine between 1996 and 1999. He has written a monthly column for Chitarre, Italy's #1 guitar publication as well as Guitar World and Guitar Jam Daily, a website devoted to serious guitarists. He currently writes a monthly column for Guitar Player, contributes to other guitar publications, and blogs regularly for GuitarPlayer.com and his own site. Carl also lectures and teaches at clinics regularly when not on the road.