Blues Guitar Greatest Hits - Vol. 4

Hindenburg is a video guitar lesson presented by Jeff McErlain and is sourced from Focus On: British Blues

One of the trademarks of British blues is a killer riff played into a cranked amp. For this concept we are going to take a look at something similar to what Eric Clapton plays on the tune "Lawdy Mama" from Cream. The riff defines the tune; much like when we hear Cream's version of "Crossroads," we know it immediately. On this tune, if you could imagine it played with a singer, you'd see that I am not playing the riff while the singing is happening. This would be too much in many cases and would overshadow the vocals. That's not something we want to do, unless the singer isn't very good. ;-) But seriously folks, it is important to let the vocals have space, we can fill in the holes, but there is nothing more annoying than a guitar player stepping on the vocalist. Or vice versa...

Hindenburg is a video guitar lesson presented by Jeff McErlain and is sourced from Focus On: British Blues

As I said earlier, the best way to learn this and any solo is piece by piece. This one is pretty chopsey so take your time and break it down. It opens with a classic repeated lick that you should definitely know! Please pay careful attention to the picking pattern on the first repeated triplet figure. I start with a down pick followed by another down pick in one motion then an up pick on the last note on the A. This makes this repeated lick mush easier to play, especially quickly.  I especially love the A major pentatonic lick I threw in on bars 3 and 4 as it moves  beautifully across the fingerboard and classic Jimmy Page fashion. On the IV7 chord we go right into a D major pentatonic scale. This produces a nice bright sound that you should really experiment with in other blues tunes. We cap off the solo with the classic arpeggio figure similar to what we hear Page play on "Heartbreaker".

Space & Common Tones is a video guitar lesson presented by Larry Carlton and is sourced from 335 Blues Motifs

Using a blues track in Bb minor, Larry reiterates the importance of using space but this time he teaches you how to use common tones to bridge and enhance that space.

In essence, using the common tones shared by the I, IV and V chords to connect your motifs creates seamless transitions over the changes and leads the listener to your story in a highly engaging way.

Space & Common Tones is a video guitar lesson presented by Larry Carlton and is sourced from 335 Blues Motifs

Using a blues track in Bb minor, Larry reiterates the importance of using space but this time he teaches you how to use common tones to bridge and enhance that space.

In essence, using the common tones shared by the I, IV and V chords to connect your motifs creates seamless transitions over the changes and leads the listener to your story in a highly engaging way.

A Modal Blues is a video guitar lesson presented by Andy Timmons and is sourced from Electric Expression: Blues

In this performance, I'll play another A blues, this time focusing on modal ideas and a few chromatic ideas, exploring other ways of thinking about what notes work over the blues progression.

A Modal Blues is a video guitar lesson presented by Andy Timmons and is sourced from Electric Expression: BluesIn this performance, I'll play another A blues, this time focusing on modal ideas and a few chromatic ideas, exploring other ways of thinking about what notes work over the blues progression.