guitar1979
Verified buyer
06/06/26
The course was very easy to follow and practical.
Blues Rhythm Guitar for Beginners 1
Learn Your First Blues Chords, Strumming Patterns and Riffs
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About this course
This first module of Jeff McErlain’s Blues Rhythm Guitar for Beginners focuses solely on the chords, strumming patterns, progressions, riffs, and techniques required to form a solid foundation for playing blues rhythm guitar.
You will play your way through the entire course, which is what makes Jeff’s contextual, hands-on approach so effective — you don’t have to read music, learn tedious theory, or struggle through boring exercises.
You will practice everything together with Jeff using slow practice playalongs and then put your new skills to work by playing over full-band backing tracks for a real world musical context.
”Learning just a handful of basic chords, a couple of strumming patterns and a few bluesy riffs is really all you need to start playing blues rhythm guitar.
I’ll show you a handful of easy blues chords, a few key strumming patterns, and one of the most famous blues riffs of all - the Boogie Woogie. We’ll also cover key blues techniques like muting, picking, hammer-ons and pull-offs, arpeggiating chords and we’ll even touch on some rhythm improvisation.
Using TrueFire’s learning tools, you can slow down and loop any of the video lessons to learn at your own pace.”
Each lesson set includes an overview, demonstration, slow practice playalong, and a performance study using a blues backing track for real-world musical context.
In the last section of the course, you’ll put all your new skills to work by learning, practicing and playing four full-length blues songs.
You’ll get standard notation and tabs for all of the lessons. Plus, you’ll be able to use TrueFire’s learning tools to sync the tab and notation to the video lesson.
You can also loop or slow down the videos so that you can work with the lessons at your own pace. All of the backing tracks are included to work with on your own as well.
Grab your guitar and let’s play blues guitar with Jeff McErlain!
You will play your way through the entire course, which is what makes Jeff’s contextual, hands-on approach so effective — you don’t have to read music, learn tedious theory, or struggle through boring exercises.
You will practice everything together with Jeff using slow practice playalongs and then put your new skills to work by playing over full-band backing tracks for a real world musical context.
”Learning just a handful of basic chords, a couple of strumming patterns and a few bluesy riffs is really all you need to start playing blues rhythm guitar.
I’ll show you a handful of easy blues chords, a few key strumming patterns, and one of the most famous blues riffs of all - the Boogie Woogie. We’ll also cover key blues techniques like muting, picking, hammer-ons and pull-offs, arpeggiating chords and we’ll even touch on some rhythm improvisation.
Using TrueFire’s learning tools, you can slow down and loop any of the video lessons to learn at your own pace.”
Each lesson set includes an overview, demonstration, slow practice playalong, and a performance study using a blues backing track for real-world musical context.
In the last section of the course, you’ll put all your new skills to work by learning, practicing and playing four full-length blues songs.
You’ll get standard notation and tabs for all of the lessons. Plus, you’ll be able to use TrueFire’s learning tools to sync the tab and notation to the video lesson.
You can also loop or slow down the videos so that you can work with the lessons at your own pace. All of the backing tracks are included to work with on your own as well.
Grab your guitar and let’s play blues guitar 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
- Use ghost notes to create rhythmic feel
- Improvise freely using boogie-woogie pattern variations
- Lock in with backbeat rhythm (beats 2 and 4)
- Mix multiple variations within a 12-bar blues progression
- Understand and apply quick four variation
Release date: 11/11/2021 • 3h 26m runtime
Sample lessons
Boogie Woogie Riff with a Quick Four
Lesson Demonstration
Boogie Woogie Riff with a Quick Four
Playalong: Slow
Boogie Woogie Riff with a Quick Four
Playalong: With the Band
Improvising with Boogie Patterns
Playalong: With the Band
What's included
47 lessons • 25 charts • 5 Jam Tracks
Blues Rhythm Guitar for Beginners: 1
Hey I’m Jeff McErlain. Let’s learn to play the blues. As a beginner in anything, a strong foundation is the key to success.
Learning just a handful of basic chords, a couple of strumming patterns and a few riffs is really all you need to start playing the blues. You don’t need to learn theory, struggle through tedious exercises, or read music to get up and running quickly.
I’ve designed this course based on the way most pro musicians, including myself, learned when we were just starting out.
I’ll show you a handful of easy chords, essential strumming patterns, and one of the most famous Blues riffs of all - the Boogie Woogie. We’ll also cover some key blues techniques like muting, picking, hammer-ons and pull-offs, arpeggiating chords, a basic blues turnaround and we’ll even touch on some rhythm improvisation.
What makes this course really special is how you’ll learn these fundamental building blocks for playing blues guitar -- we’ll practice everything together!
Each lesson begins with an overview and demonstration. We’ll then practice together using a slow play along, and then we’ll play over a blues backing track for real-world musical context. Plus, using TrueFire’s learning tools, you can loop, slow down or sync the tab to any of the video lessons to learn at your own pace.
In the last section of the course, you’ll put all your new skills to work by learning and playing 4 full-length blues songs.
Ready to start playing the blues? Grab your guitar and let’s get started.
Learning just a handful of basic chords, a couple of strumming patterns and a few riffs is really all you need to start playing the blues. You don’t need to learn theory, struggle through tedious exercises, or read music to get up and running quickly.
I’ve designed this course based on the way most pro musicians, including myself, learned when we were just starting out.
I’ll show you a handful of easy chords, essential strumming patterns, and one of the most famous Blues riffs of all - the Boogie Woogie. We’ll also cover some key blues techniques like muting, picking, hammer-ons and pull-offs, arpeggiating chords, a basic blues turnaround and we’ll even touch on some rhythm improvisation.
What makes this course really special is how you’ll learn these fundamental building blocks for playing blues guitar -- we’ll practice everything together!
Each lesson begins with an overview and demonstration. We’ll then practice together using a slow play along, and then we’ll play over a blues backing track for real-world musical context. Plus, using TrueFire’s learning tools, you can loop, slow down or sync the tab to any of the video lessons to learn at your own pace.
In the last section of the course, you’ll put all your new skills to work by learning and playing 4 full-length blues songs.
Ready to start playing the blues? Grab your guitar and let’s get started.
What is a Blues?
What is a blues? Well it can be a number of things really, but most commonly it is a 12 bar form consisting of three chords. Most commonly dominant 7th chords. What's a dominant 7th chord? A chord like A7 can also be called A Dominant 7. So simply, A7, D7, and E7 are all dominant chords. A blues is made up if three dominant 7th chords place in a specific pattern that I show you in the video.
Blues Tone Tips
Now let’s talk about the physical guitar. All of the music you hear in this course can be played on both an electric or acoustic guitar, and I recommend trying out some of these techniques on acoustic because it can sound really cool and unique. In this lesson I’m going to talk about some of the concepts and techniques I use to get a nice bluesy tone on whichever guitar you decide to pick up.
Comfortable Playing Position
One of the more important things you should focus on when playing is where to position your left hand. Being comfortable when you can make a huge difference in how difficult or simple or difficult something is to play. So in this lesson, I will go over a few techniques that will help you position yourself as comfortably as possible when playing.
Blues with Seventh Chords
In this lesson we’re going to start off by checking out an A Blues. We’ll start things off with a demonstration, then jump into a slow playalong, and finally, finish things off by playing along with the band.
Blues with Seventh Chords
In this lesson we’re going to start off by checking out an A Blues. We’ll start things off with a demonstration, then jump into a slow playalong, and finally, finish things off by playing along with the band.
Blues with Seventh Chords
In this lesson we’re going to start off by checking out an A Blues. We’ll start things off with a demonstration, then jump into a slow playalong, and finally, finish things off by playing along with the band.
+ 40 more lessons
Reviews
52 results
Cdnmnt
Verified buyer
06/06/26
Highly recommended
An excellent teacher, he explains concepts clearly and shows exactly what he is doing on the guitar. He has an easy going yet precise teaching style and I learned at lot without having constantly rewind to figure out what he was doing. He is one of the best teachers I've experienced so far at Truefire.
Mscharfenaker
Verified buyer
05/19/26
Best online lessons
Moonkitty
Verified buyer
05/04/26
Improved my playing!
I really enjoyed the course. I liked the teacher - seems like a super nice guy! I also liked the small, bite-sized lessons so I could just do a little bit each day. The structure was good for me and made me play my guitar a lot more. I'm developing more of an interest in playing the blues. It's really fun!
macis
Verified buyer
03/14/26
Great Blues Rhythm Course
Bought this to compliment the blues soloing for beginner course and the blues rock soling course. I like Jeff's teaching style and his knowledge and explanation of the different rhythm styles for blues.
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