“Although Guy King doesn’t share bloodline with B.B. or Albert, his crisp, clean, clear guitar surely does. Guy King is the velvet hurricane. Sinuous and generous, his playing is 100% convincing in every situation: slow blues, shuffles, funk grooves or jazzy R&B tunes and everything in between.”
We’re thrilled to welcome Guy King to the family with his first TrueFire masterclass, The Art and Heart of Guitar. Guy’s hands-on curriculum guides you through a wide range of creative approaches, techniques and concepts focused on expressing yourself and improvising over virtually any groove-based genre.
”Like any form of art, music triggers an emotional connection between the musician and the listener. If you tap into the song and the music’s authenticity, then you can express yourself on a deep and personal level, no matter what the genre might be.
If it’s played with conviction and you feel what you’re playing, it doesn’t matter how simple or complex the music is — that conviction and authenticity is what I call “playing from the heart.”
I’m happy to have this opportunity to pass on many of the key concepts and techniques that I use to express myself in a variety of musical styles.”
Guy guides you through a series of lessons and performance studies including soloing with intent, playing with the thumb, right-hand techniques, performing solo guitar, playing over changes, left hand touch and expression, playing fills and lead guitar around a vocal, chord melody and much more. You’ll apply all of Guy’s approaches over the provided jam tracks: 12-bar, 8-bar and minor blues, boogaloos, soul and gospel grooves, uptempo shuffles, funk, and R&B feels.
“Guy King’s guitar playing is dazzling. Everything he plays is fresh and original: his crisp, crystal sound, his incredibly subtle technique and his unpredictable rhythmic swing. An erudite musician, King succeeds in making his own the bends of Albert King, the slapped licks of Albert Collins, the elegance of B.B. King and the jazzy phrasing of Wes Montgomery.” - Ulrick Parfum, SoulBag Magazine, France
Guy 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 performance studies. 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 also included to work with on your own.
Grab your guitar and let’s “play from the heart” with Guy King!
What you'll learn
Learn to reharmonize simple chord progressions using substitutions
Develop the ability to lead chord changes by anticipating them in your solo
Understand how to integrate melody, harmony, and rhythm simultaneously in improvisation
Understand how to solo over a jazz standard progression with AABA form
Develop natural rhythmic interaction with the groove without forcing it
Hi I'm Guy King. Welcome to The Art and Heart of Guitar. Like any form of art, music triggers an emotional connection between the musician and the listener. If you tap into the song and the music’s authenticity, then you can express yourself on a deep and personal level, no matter what the genre might be. If it’s played with conviction and you feel what you're playing, it doesn't matter how simple or complex the music is — that conviction and authenticity is what I call “playing from the heart.” In this course, I'm happy to pass on many of the key concepts and techniques that I use to express myself in a variety of musical styles. I’ll first demonstrate each lesson for you and talk about some of my personal approaches to the technique or concept, and then I'll play you an example over a backing track that I've pulled from one of my own records. You'll have all of TrueFire’s learning tools to work with so you can work with each lesson at your own pace. We'll talk about soloing with intent, my way of playing with the thumb and some of my unique approaches to the right hand, performing solo guitar, playing over changes, left hand touch and expression, playing fills and lead guitar around a vocal, chord melody and more… We'll play over 12-bar, 8-bar and minor blues, boogaloos, soul and gospel grooves, uptempo shuffles, funk, rhythm and blues and other styles of music. So are you ready?! Grab your guitar and let’s go!
2Soloing with Conviction
Play what you mean and mean what you play: Play freely from your heart. Know what to play and the feeling, intensity, and intent to perform it with. Know what to leave out and what to play to make your point and to best fit the song.
3Guy's Blues
Referring to my Soloing with Conviction lesson, I'm explaining what I'm about to do in the performance of “Guy’s Blues” - a Blues in Eb with an intro and interesting chord changes and progression, taken from my album “I Am Who I Am and It Is What It Is”. I'm showing the chord changes and progression that I’ll solo over in the performance of the song.
4Guy's Blues
Playing a solo on a Blues in Eb with an intro and interesting chord changes and progression. I'm showing and using some
of the things I'm talking about in my Soloing with Conviction lesson.
5Guy's Blues
Referring to my Soloing with Conviction lesson, I’m analyzing and explaining my solo on the performance of “Guy’s Blues”. The things I play and some of the reasons I choose to play those things.
6The Thumb and the Right Hand
The way I play: My Thumb, my right hand, and different ways I use it to get different sounds and different feelings out of the guitar. Listening and learning from other players and the way I came up with my own individual way of playing to capture my own voice. Come on in and think of finding your own special way of naturally playing your individuality and feelings with your guitar.
7Up, Up, Up - Solo Section
Referring to what I'm talking about in my The Thumb and the Right Hand lesson, I'm explaining what I'm about to do on the performance of “Up, Up, Up”- a song from my album “Joy is Coming”. I'm showing the chord changes and progression of the song that I'm about to solo over.
So many great licks and tips. I've been working on integrating my thumb into my playing more and love the tonal variation I'm able to achieve. The course is well thought out and Guy is a natural teacher. I hope to see more courses from him in future.
P
Pat
02/11/22
This "Guy" is a Great Player!
Very Happy to seem him on Truefire. I'm excited to work my way thru his course. There is some great material here!
R
Roger W.
12/18/21
This GUY is the most soulful blues player out there today.
Guy's style is extremely expressive. Guy also sings very well which adds to his performances. This course is not about theory, so that is left for other classes here on truefire. But I really appreciate the insight to various techniques and subtleties that sets his playing apart from most players. Love his tone and the fact he uses his fingers. There is much to learn here, and Guys sincere personality and heart felt delivery makes this a must have for any blues player. Thanks to Guy and Truefire!
