foggywim
Verified buyer
11/21/25
Amazing course Amazing Teacher TRUEFIRE IS MY LOVE
Melodic Blues Soloing Guidebook
Essential Melodic Techniques & Approaches for the Blues Guitarist
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Marko Karhu
Educator
Genres
About this course
Take a moment and think about what you consider to be the most memorable solos and you’ll find that the vast majority of them are the ones with the strongest melodies running through them. B.B King's 'The Thrill Is Gone', Santana's 'Europe', Stevie Ray's 'Texas Flood', ZZ Top's 'La Grange', Gary Moore's 'Still Got The Blues’ are all great examples of a memorable, melodic solo.
Crafting compelling, memorable blues solos is the primary focus of Marko Karhu’s Melodic Blues Soloing Guidebook. To create memorable solos you will need to get out of the blues box and that's a challenge for many blues guitar players. You will need some fresh concepts, ideas, ways of looking at the neck, and a few very effective approaches to add some spice and colors to your solos.
”The set of tools I'm going to give you are part of the toolbox of many of the great players. Because I'm not your typical blues guitarist, I've used influences from other styles. Concepts like chromaticism influenced by Sonny Rollins, a creative use of thirds, which you don't see a lot in blues and a modern approach to the cliche Question Question Answer motifs that I learned from Scott Henderson. I’ll also show you melodic and harmonic sixths a-la Robben Ford, using open strings to create ringing chord-like melodies and playing straight 16th notes on a triplet shuffle groove.”
In the first section of the course, Marko will present 6 key concepts and approaches these concepts in a practical manner, showing you how to 'see' and play them across the fretboard.
Marko will explain and demonstrate all of the key concepts and approaches along the way. You’ll get standard notation and tabs for all of the key examples and performances. Plus, you’ll be able to use TrueFire’s learning tool to sync the tab and notation to the video and 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 get melodic with Marko Karhu!
Crafting compelling, memorable blues solos is the primary focus of Marko Karhu’s Melodic Blues Soloing Guidebook. To create memorable solos you will need to get out of the blues box and that's a challenge for many blues guitar players. You will need some fresh concepts, ideas, ways of looking at the neck, and a few very effective approaches to add some spice and colors to your solos.
”The set of tools I'm going to give you are part of the toolbox of many of the great players. Because I'm not your typical blues guitarist, I've used influences from other styles. Concepts like chromaticism influenced by Sonny Rollins, a creative use of thirds, which you don't see a lot in blues and a modern approach to the cliche Question Question Answer motifs that I learned from Scott Henderson. I’ll also show you melodic and harmonic sixths a-la Robben Ford, using open strings to create ringing chord-like melodies and playing straight 16th notes on a triplet shuffle groove.”
In the first section of the course, Marko will present 6 key concepts and approaches these concepts in a practical manner, showing you how to 'see' and play them across the fretboard.
Marko will explain and demonstrate all of the key concepts and approaches along the way. You’ll get standard notation and tabs for all of the key examples and performances. Plus, you’ll be able to use TrueFire’s learning tool to sync the tab and notation to the video and 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 get melodic with Marko Karhu!
What you'll learn
- Navigate a 12-bar blues progression using thirds and chord tones
- Apply hybrid picking to play thirds with root notes
- Execute authentic New Orleans-style turnaround licks
- Understand the gear setup used throughout the course
- Learn about a simple, effective signal chain for recording
Release date: 08/03/2019 • 1h 27m runtime
Sample lessons
Q-Q-A
Concept 1
Straight 16th On Shuffle
Concept 6
Henderson's Q-Q-A
Introduction
Henderson's Q-Q-A
Performance
What's included
28 lessons • 12 charts • 6 Jam Tracks
Melodic Blues Soloing Guidebook
Hi, my name is Marko Karhu, welcome to the Melodic Blues Soloing Guidebook.
Getting out of the rut of running up and down the blues box is a challenge for many blues guitar players. You need some fresh concepts, ideas, ways of looking at the neck to add some spice and colors to your solos. Strong melodies is what you want, and this course is going to get you there.
The set of tools I'm going to give you are part of the toolbox of many of the great players. Because I'm not your typical blues guitarist, I've also used influences from other styles: We'll look at concepts like chromaticism influenced by Sonny Rollins, a creative use of thirds, which you don't see a lot in blues, and a modern approach to the cliche question-question-answer motif that I learned from Scott Henderson. We're also digging into melodic and harmonic sixths á la Robben Ford, using open strings to create ringing chord-like melodies and playing straight 16th notes on a triplet shuffle groove.
These concepts are then illustrated by six live performances on jam tracks recorded by studio grade musicians: Sami Sallinen on bass, guitar and keys and Kai Jokiaho on drums. I'm going to include these with the course and all performances are tabbed and notated. So here we go!
Getting out of the rut of running up and down the blues box is a challenge for many blues guitar players. You need some fresh concepts, ideas, ways of looking at the neck to add some spice and colors to your solos. Strong melodies is what you want, and this course is going to get you there.
The set of tools I'm going to give you are part of the toolbox of many of the great players. Because I'm not your typical blues guitarist, I've also used influences from other styles: We'll look at concepts like chromaticism influenced by Sonny Rollins, a creative use of thirds, which you don't see a lot in blues, and a modern approach to the cliche question-question-answer motif that I learned from Scott Henderson. We're also digging into melodic and harmonic sixths á la Robben Ford, using open strings to create ringing chord-like melodies and playing straight 16th notes on a triplet shuffle groove.
These concepts are then illustrated by six live performances on jam tracks recorded by studio grade musicians: Sami Sallinen on bass, guitar and keys and Kai Jokiaho on drums. I'm going to include these with the course and all performances are tabbed and notated. So here we go!
Q-Q-A
I learned the concept of question-question-answer approach to a blues progression from Scott Henderson. It's a great way of keeping the audience' attention.
Chromatics & Targeting
Chromatics to me is "filling up the blues box", playing every note in between. For this to sound good, you need to target notes that sound good. Chord notes are strong, and upper extensions will sound weaker, lighter.
Thirds
Let's run down what thirds are and how you can use them creatively in blues.
Sixths
The sixth interval is a very versatile and open tool to arrange a melody or a backing part.
Open Strings
Using open strings in a melodic run can give you some great chord-like ringing sounds. It also makes it easier to switch positions without having a break in the melody.
Straight 16th On Shuffle
A great tool to create some rhythmic variation or tension is to play a straight 16th melody on top of shuffle groove - which has a triplet feel. Switching between both forms of timing can be somewhat of a challenge.
+ 21 more lessons
Reviews
17 results
Christian D.
11/04/23
Really useful and applicable teaching
Marko is one of my favourite Truefire instructor. His AAQ concept has unlocked some of the limitations I had when soloing at blues jams. His playing is melodic, sophisticated and inspiring.
tombruhin
Verified buyer
04/14/23
Useful modern blues concepts taught in a practical way
I always liked the Mad Professor Pedal and Amp Demos by Marko Karhu … and this course doesn‘t disappoint at all. Great and practical concepts and very good play along tracks. I am very pleased :-)
antonello v.
11/10/21
Great course, great sound, great taste
One of the best courses I've purchased. Such a fine musician with great sound, touch and superbe ideas to share with us. Great!
giosef
Verified buyer
10/18/21
Fresh and new!
Need new ideas to get out of the pentatonic box? You'll find it here, and much more! Marko explain concepts you may apply on your guitar almost in no time. Well Done!
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