tomac
Verified buyer
12/10/25
The lessons are clear, well-structured, and truly inspiring
30 Smokin' Blues-Rock Guitar Licks You MUST Know
Inspired by the genre's greats!
Get this course and 1,000+ more with All Access
Try 14 days free. Cancel any time.
About this course
Take any ten of your favorite blues-rock players and you’ll likely find that while they all have their own distinctive sound and vibe, they also all share a few common qualities; solid rhythm work, tasty solos, and a big bag of head-turning licks to punctuate their improvisations with. You can never have too many of these head-turners at your command, which is why you’ll get a lot of mileage out Jeff McErlain’s 30 Smokin’ Blues Rock Licks You MUST Know!
”All of the great guitar players will spice up their solos with some faster, flashier licks to grab the listener’s attention. Having a collection of these smokin’ licks in your bag is an essential element of your vocabulary, which is why I’ve pulled together this collection of 30 Smokin’ Blues Rock Licks You MUST Know. They range across a variety of keys, tempos and varying degrees of difficulty.”
These 30 licks will keep you busy in the shed for a while but each of them is a gem that you’ll be able to call on anytime for maximum impact.
For example, Jeff will show you a killer blues lick using a laid back triplet feel, a full-on smokin’ repeated lick using the E-minor blues scale, and a rockin’ string-skipping blues lick just to kick things off.
You’ll also learn a rippin’ descending pentatonic pattern over a shuffle groove, a slick bendy lick with a flashy slide at the end, a heavy double-stop lick played in two octaves, and a smooth minor pentatonic lick that incorporates some rapid pull offs.
Then there’s the rapid-fire open string pentatonic lick, a twisted blues lick in G, and Jeff will even show you how to use the vibrato bar for some ear catching, quantized pitch bending. And that’s only 10 of the 30 priceless licks you’ll take away from the collection.
Jeff demonstrates all of the licks over rhythm tracks and then breaks them down note-by-note emphasizing the techniques you’ll need to get a grip on to play them correctly.
All of the licks are tabbed and notated for your practice, reference and study purposes. You’ll also get Guitar Pro files so that you can play, loop and/or slow down the tab and notation as you work through the lessons. Plus, Jeff generously includes all of the rhythm tracks for you to work with on your own.
Grab your guitar and let’s get smokin' with Jeff Mcerlain!
”All of the great guitar players will spice up their solos with some faster, flashier licks to grab the listener’s attention. Having a collection of these smokin’ licks in your bag is an essential element of your vocabulary, which is why I’ve pulled together this collection of 30 Smokin’ Blues Rock Licks You MUST Know. They range across a variety of keys, tempos and varying degrees of difficulty.”
These 30 licks will keep you busy in the shed for a while but each of them is a gem that you’ll be able to call on anytime for maximum impact.
For example, Jeff will show you a killer blues lick using a laid back triplet feel, a full-on smokin’ repeated lick using the E-minor blues scale, and a rockin’ string-skipping blues lick just to kick things off.
You’ll also learn a rippin’ descending pentatonic pattern over a shuffle groove, a slick bendy lick with a flashy slide at the end, a heavy double-stop lick played in two octaves, and a smooth minor pentatonic lick that incorporates some rapid pull offs.
Then there’s the rapid-fire open string pentatonic lick, a twisted blues lick in G, and Jeff will even show you how to use the vibrato bar for some ear catching, quantized pitch bending. And that’s only 10 of the 30 priceless licks you’ll take away from the collection.
Jeff demonstrates all of the licks over rhythm tracks and then breaks them down note-by-note emphasizing the techniques you’ll need to get a grip on to play them correctly.
All of the licks are tabbed and notated for your practice, reference and study purposes. You’ll also get Guitar Pro files so that you can play, loop and/or slow down the tab and notation as you work through the lessons. Plus, Jeff generously includes all of the rhythm tracks for you to work with on your own.
Grab your guitar and let’s get smokin' with Jeff Mcerlain!
Jeff McErlain's Preferred Gear
Below is a list of Jeff McErlain's preferred gear including guitars, amps, pedals, accessories, and more. What you see in Jeff's lessons may or may not be this actual gear, but if you are trying to capture Jeff's sound and tone, the gear listed below is recommended by Jeff and it's a great place to start!
Guitars
- Gibson SG Guitar
- Gibson Les Paul Goldtop Guitar
- Fender Stratocaster Guitar
- Tuttle Carve Top Supreme Guitar
Amps
Pedals
- Fulltone Octafuzz OF-2 Fuzz / Octave Pedal
- Strymon Flint Tremolo and Reverb Pedal
- Xotic EP Booster Pedal
- Ibanez Tube Screamer Overdrive Pedal
- Fulltone OCD Distortion Pedal
- Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face Pedal
- TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb Pedal
- MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay Pedal
- TC Electronic Flashback 2 Delay and Looper Pedal
- Fulltone Supa-Trem Tremolo Pedal
- Boss Super Chorus Pedal
- MXR Flanger Pedal
- MXR Phase 90 Phase Shifter Pedal
- MXR Dyan Comp Compressor Pedal
- Ernie Ball VP JR Volume Pedal
- Dunlop Original Cry Baby Wah Wah Pedal
- MXR M199 Tap Tempo Pedal
Accessories & More
What you'll learn
- Master mixed picking technique
- Execute minor pentatonic scale descent in groups of six
- Learn chromatic blues lick
- Develop Eric Johnson-inspired lead guitar approach
- Develop relaxed blues phrasing
Release date: 09/21/2016 • 1h 09m runtime
Sample lessons
Blueski
Lick 7
Spoonful of Cream
Lick 18
EJ 6's
Lick 22
Down A Scale
Lick 24
What's included
32 lessons • 30 charts • 14 Jam Tracks
30 Smokin' Blues Rock Licks
Hi, I'm Jeff McErlain, and thanks for picking up 30 Smokin' Blues-Rock Guitar Licks You MUST Know. In this course, I tried to come up with licks that are challenging to downright difficult - hopefully most of them are pretty playable. There are lots of courses out there focused on shredding, but I felt there was not that many that focused in on solid ripping blues-rock licks. So, here's my take on those licks.
I've chosen many of my favorite licks and concepts and distilled them down to 30. These are not in any particular order (due to difficulty, etc.), so please feel free to poke around and find the licks that jump out at you and learn those first. Play each lick slowly at first and gradually build up the tempo. This is the only way to get these under your fingers. The key is to be patient and diligent.
Okay, let's start with lick number one!
I've chosen many of my favorite licks and concepts and distilled them down to 30. These are not in any particular order (due to difficulty, etc.), so please feel free to poke around and find the licks that jump out at you and learn those first. Play each lick slowly at first and gradually build up the tempo. This is the only way to get these under your fingers. The key is to be patient and diligent.
Okay, let's start with lick number one!
Alvin!!!
Lick 1 is called "Alvin!!!", inspired by one of my earliest guitar heroes, Alvin Lee from the band Ten Years After. My first introduction to him, like most people I think, was from the Woodstock concert and the song "Goin' Home". He actually repeats this lick and number of times in that song, and it's a common theme in much of his soloing. I played fairly slowly here, but try it over a faster groove and it sounds just as cool. Notice how it's the same lick melodically just in different octaves. Definitely take a look at it in different keys.
G Man!
This one ain't easy, but it is cool! The lick is actually a repeated pattern taken through a G minor blues scale. Melodically, it's something you might hear someone like Eric Johnson or Michael Schenker play. Work through the pattern slowly to ensure you know exactly what the notes are. Pay close attention to the hammer-ons and picking, as that's what allows us to play the lick quickly. I know I couldn't pick all of these notes! Maybe Eric Johnson could...
Laid Back
Here's a fun one in the style of Michael Schenker, one of my all-time favorite guitar players. If you're not familiar with his work, and you are a fan of blues-rock, I highly suggest you check him out. This is an example how he would lay back on a lick just enough to where it feels a little bit behind the beat.
It's often hard to explain how this is done, so just listen to the track. Note-wise it's pretty simple, just a G minor blues scale. I really like the first part as we're using the sixth note of the G minor scale, which is not contained in the pentatonic scale, and bending it up a half-step to the b7. This is a really cool sound and less obvious than bending the b7 to the root.
It's often hard to explain how this is done, so just listen to the track. Note-wise it's pretty simple, just a G minor blues scale. I really like the first part as we're using the sixth note of the G minor scale, which is not contained in the pentatonic scale, and bending it up a half-step to the b7. This is a really cool sound and less obvious than bending the b7 to the root.
MSG
One of the hallmarks of blues-rock is the mixture of the major and minor tonalities. Often times in hard rock and metal it is mostly minor based. That's cool of course, but in this particular tune we're working more out of a major/Mixolydian sound. The lick is a mixture of a major and minor pentatonic scale and is actually quite common. I have heard B.B. King, Eric Clapton, and Peter Green play similar licks. Apart from note choice, the swing of the lick - how it fits into the groove - is what makes it to really cool. And frankly, that's the hardest part!
Victimized
In the intro to this course, I said some of these licks would be a bit more challenging, and this is one of them! This is right out of the Michael Schenker playbook of ripping cool blues licks. Note-wise, this is fairly easy - the concept is to use the blue note, Bb in this case, to add tension. Pay close attention to my picking on this one as it's very important to getting it up to tempo. Like all the licks in this course, check it out at slower tempos (tempi) as well. This one is a real head turner and a ton of fun to play once you get it together. The trick is to take your time and keep on doing it. Repetition is key.
Wire Act
"Wire Act" is similar to a lick Jake E. Lee plays in the song "Highwire" by Badlands. Jake's fame started when he landed the gig replacing Randy Rhoads in Ozzy Osbourne's band. Those were big shoes to fill, but I think Jake did a great job. After unceremoniously being kicked out of the band, he started his own group called Badlands, which to me were one of the best blues-rock bands of the era. As a visual performer, Jake still stands as one of the coolest guitar players to watch. After a long sabbatical from music, I'm happy to say he is back on the road again. I know he has long been plagued by personal problems. I still think he's one of the coolest rock guitar players ever!
+ 25 more lessons
Reviews
22 results
Kevin7678
Verified buyer
01/04/25
not easy but very useful and fun, these licks speed up my playing; and Jeff is great teacher as always
jmsaz
Verified buyer
09/07/24
Great Licks
A fantastic array of licks that inspire, and are great for improving your technique and musicality!
Afchine
04/27/24
OK licks
Jeff is a great educator and the course is well crafted. Maybe it's just me but I found the licks a bit underwhelming or I should say... run-of-the-mill. A little too straightforward for me, even though some are very challenging to learn because of their speed. As always, YMMV.
Ric219
Verified buyer
12/06/22
Best licks ever!!!!
Stop searching. Start improving with All Access.
Try 14 days free. Cancel any time.
