richard.nealis
Verified buyer
03/30/25
Still learning but the lesson is very informative.
Guitar Lab: Solo 12-Bar Blues
Intensive Examination of 12-Bar Blues Approaches for Solo Guitar
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About this course
Hi, I'm Brad Carlton and welcome to Guitar Lab: Solo 12-Bar Blues. This course is organized to guide you through the basics of playing a 12-bar blues progression in the key of E with a fingerstyle picking hand approach. Each lesson examines specific rhythmic gridworks for both the bass (thumb) and melody (fingers). This approach will systematically increase your coordination, thus freeing you up to play unison as well as contrapuntal lines. So, grab your guitar and let's do this!
What you'll learn
- Combine bass and melody lines
- Develop chord tone targeting skills
- Learn multiple rhythmic patterns in blues fingerstyle
- Understand rhythmic coordination between bass and melody
- Develop fingerstyle techniques
Release date: 06/01/2017 • 1h 21m runtime
Sample lessons
Rhythm 101 pt. 1
1/4 Note Bass & Melody
Rhythm 101 pt. 2
1/8 Note Bass & Melody
Rhythm 101 pt. 3
1/8 Note Triplet Bass & Melody
Two Voices pt. 1
1/4 bass w/1/4 melody
What's included
17 lessons • 16 charts • 1 Jam Tracks
Solo 12-Bar Blues
Hi, I'm Brad Carlton and welcome to Guitar Lab: Solo 12-Bar Blues. This course is organized to guide you through the basics of playing a 12-bar blues progression in the key of E with a fingerstyle picking hand approach. Each lesson examines specific rhythmic gridworks for both the bass (thumb) and melody (fingers). This approach will systematically increase your coordination, thus freeing you up to play unison as well as contrapuntal lines. So, grab your guitar and let's do this!
Rhythm 101 pt. 1
The simplest rhythmic approach is to play quarter notes in both the bass and/or the melody. This lesson will focus on playing just the thumb or just the finger to prepare you for later lessons which will use them both at the same time.
Rhythm 101 pt. 2
This lesson will demonstrate shuffle 1/8 notes and how to apply them to the bass and melody.
Rhythm 101 pt. 3
This lesson will demonstrate 1/8 note triplets and how to apply them to the bass and melody.
Two Voices pt. 1
Whenever the bass and melody are playing notes of the same time value, it's beneficial to think of the thumb and finger(s) as playing "together" as opposed to the opposite scenario, where the fingers are "alone" (bass and melody playing opposite of each other). This lesson is an example of the "together" approach in a 1/4 note grid.
Two Voices pt. 2
This is the first lesson which involves "together" and "alone" picking hand moves. You'll play the bass and melody together and then the melody alone.
Two Voices pt. 3
In this lesson, you'll play the bass and melody together, then you'll play the two remaining 1/8 notes of the triplet with just the finger (melody).
+ 10 more lessons
Reviews
18 results
Roller06
Verified buyer
02/08/25
Excellent pour les débutants+ et qui veulent commencer à étudier le blues en partant du bon pied.
andywinskill
Verified buyer
10/21/24
Bringing my playing up a level
These are the lessons I've been looking for. This is really bringing my playing up a level and making me a better musician. One of the few courses I've gone back over the lessons and checked my learning.
John W.
12/17/21
Starting point for improvisation and songwriting
This is a great course. I'm just starting with fingerstyle guitar after playing with a pick for almost 20 years. It always seemed kind of intimidating, but this course started with a comment that seems obvious, but was something of a revelation for me. Namely, the concept that there are only two options, using the thumb and finger(s) simultaneously, or separately. Carlton starts off slow, but quickly gives a lot of options. It's been fun to try things out, and improvise new things from his ideas. My one criticism is that he rarely plays through 12 bars, but instead just plays through parts, and talks about options for each chord and chord change. Of course, when practicing by myself I do that, but it might be nice to have a jam track with baseline, or maybe occasionally just playing through the 12 bars a couple of times.
RedWhileBlues
Verified buyer
11/08/21
Excellent intro to solo 12-bar blues
Great course! I've been playing a lot more acoustic lately is this a an excellent introduction to solo blues playing. Teaching style is clear and concise and the learning level is appropriate.
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