Electric Expression: Blues

Blues is a mysterious series of contradictions. It’s one of the easiest styles to learn how to play, but its also one of the hardest styles to play really well. There are great guitar players that can play the blues really well, but there are also great guitar players that couldn’t play the blues really well if their life depended on it. Everyone uses the same simple progressions, chords and basic vocabulary of licks, yet everyone sounds so different doing it.

That’s why we love the blues here at TrueFire. There’s something new to learn from every educator! The basic harmonic framework is identical from blues course to blues course, but each individual educator brings their own approach, influences and vibe to the learning table.

One of the truly gifted guitar players, across a variety of styles, that can also play the blues really well is Andy Timmons. He rocked your world with his first TrueFire course, Electric Expression. We’re pretty confident that he will now blow your mind with his educational take on the blues, here in Electric Expression: Blues. At the very least, we’ll guarantee you a fresh collection of head-turning blues moves and improvisational approaches to take to your next blues jam.

“Blues is a great place to start playing guitar because the basics are easy, however it takes a lifetime to master. I’ve found that the journey has been the most amazing part! There’s several players that have been a huge influence on my playing from all different genres; rock guitarists like Ace Frehley and Joe Satriani, blues and jazz players such as Robben Ford and Larry Carlton, as well as country players like Danny Gatton and Albert Lee. They’ve all influenced my approach to the blues and I’m excited to have this opportunity to share it with you!”

"As Andy states in the preamble to his course, playing blues well requires navigating through contradictions and transforming simple progressions, chords, vocabulary of licks into music. All guitar players must learn the basics of blues and how to enliven a song. Andy doesn’t just present quickly a bag of tricks and then send you off to practice for hours and hours. He takes his time and gives you his perspectives, insights, and examples on why you use the concepts in the first section, just as if you were taking lessons from an outstanding player-teacher. You can then hear these concepts in action, begin to transform blues basics into music, and express yourself with the blues." - Tony J., TrueFire Student

Andy organized the course into two sections. In the first section, he presents and demonstrates 14 key concepts and techniques: Blues Comping Approaches, Bluesy Double Stops, Finding Roots & Going Home, Expressive Blues Note Ideas, Focusing on 3rds and 7ths, Power Of The Sixth, Modal Blues Playing, Open String Lines & Drones, Passing Tones & Outlining Chords, Expressive Bending & Vibrato , Building Blues Motifs, Using Rhythm In Your Leads, Single & Two String Groups, and Blues Influences.

In the second section, you’ll put everything you learned from the first section to work over 6 Blues Performance Studies: Comping In G, Sixths & Thirds, A.T. Home Tone, Get Ready To Rhumba, A Modal Blues and Floydian Slip. After each performance, Andy steps you through the key concepts, techniques and creative approaches he used to improvise the solo in the Performance Study. It’s here where you’ll glean the most impactful insights for crafting interesting and engaging blues solos of your own.

All of the key demonstrations, performances and examples are tabbed and notated for your practice, reference and study purposes. You’ll also get Guitar Pro files so that you can loop and/or slow any section down as you work through the lessons. Plus, Andy generously includes all of the rhythm tracks for you to work with on your own.

Dig the blues? Get Electric. Express yourself…