|
Many a guitar legend has cut their teeth
and left their mark on the jazz-influenced blues style known as "West Coast
Blues" (aka "jump" blues): Charlie Christian, Clarence Gatemouth Brown,
Albert Collins, Johnny Guitar Watson, Duke Robillard, Hollywood Fats,
Little Charlie Baty are just a few. But T-Bone Walker is likely the genre's
definitive guitarist.
<< Click Player Below for David's Video Introduction>>
Relocating from Texas to Los Angeles in the early 40's, Walker's
"electrification and urbanization of the blues" and catalog of blues hits
for Capitol, Black & White, and Imperial would "popularize the use of
electric guitar in the form more so than anyone else." T-Bone's "distinct
jazzy jump blues" feel - Texas blues with a pinch of bebop, a dash of
rockabilly, and a whole lotta swing - would influence the music scene in
California during the 1940's and 1950's with many other Texas bluesmen
following the migration to the west coast.
 So many of the blues licks we play today, which we've copped from our
current and previous generation blues heroes, are actually rooted back to
jump and West Coast blues phrases - especially the tasty ones! We all pretty
much agree that implying changes, as opposed to just blowing pentatonic
runs, is what separates the men from the boys when soloing over standard
blues changes. Implying changes, targeting tones, applying extensions are
key elements of the West Coast style and good reason enough to study the
genre. But there's more.
Getting a solid grip on the phrasing and rhythmic qualities of West Coast
blues is also the key to achieving a real sense of boogie, swing, and jump
ala Texas blues. Good enough for Stevie Ray, Jimmy Vaughn, Anson Funderburgh,
and Johnny Guitar Watson - good enough for us. And what blues player worth
their salt doesn't have a couple of dozen jazzy bebopish lines to spice up
their solos and improvisations?!
 David Blacker's West Coast Blues delivers all of the above. Composer,
producer, and top NYC educator, Blacker has been featured on numerous
albums, commercials and radio spots. Blacker has studied and documented
"roots" styles of guitar for almost twenty years establishing him as one of
the few top experts in the field.
Blacker has pulled together an essential vocabulary of West Coast Blues
phrases, feels and techniques. Rather than just working through a collection
of "licks" and theory, Blacker has designed a contextual course of study;
you'll play your way through the course working with 10 rhythm tracks,
learning 30 choruses worth of West Coast Blues solos.
Blacker performs and then breaks down (with both technical and theoretical
insight) 3 individual choruses for each of the following grooves:
|
Uptown Stomp |
Blues in Rhythm |
|
Texas Twang Shuffle |
Juke Joint Jump |
|
Strat Cat Boogie |
Swing It Blues |
|
Slow Blues |
Minor Swing |
|
Rhumba Blue |
Country Guitar Boogie |
|
Master these 30 choruses and you'll have all the moves, feels, applied
theory and phrases needed to take on any Jump or West Coast Blues playing
situation. Better yet, your contemporary blues bag will explode with new
colors, tasty lines and improvisational possibilities.
|
|
VIDEO SOFTWARE
ORDER OPTIONS
Student Discounts
and TrueFire Cash
can be applied!
How to choose a format >>
* DATA-DVDs are software disks.
Join for Full Access Become a Pro or Master student and get all
access to videos, tab, jam tracks, and other course assets on TrueFire TV. Learn more »
WHAT YOU GET
Video software (Windows and Mac) with
TrueFire's
Lesson Player, PIP, full-screen,
looping, slow
motion, keyboard shortcuts, plus...
- 189 Minutes of Video
- Practice Rhythm Tracks
- Text Commentary
- Tab and Notation
- Power Tab
CURRICULUM
Intermediate-Advanced
|
"will immerse you in the
style while offering up a new vocabulary that is sure to become the
cornerstone of your blues approach"
|
