rylwlf
Verified buyer
08/31/25
This lesson had was very informative and easy to understand. I have several lessons by Jeff he never fails to keep my interest. the choice of material in this lesson is outstanding!
Two Guitar Blues Grooves
Learn How to Craft Complementary Blues Rhythm Guitar Parts
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Jeff McErlain
Educator
Genres
About this course
More often than not you’ll find yourself playing with another guitar player at the local blues jam or on the gig, and you’ll both be playing rhythm guitar a majority of the time to support a vocalist or other soloist. The last thing you want to do is play the same or even a similar rhythm guitar part because that muddies up the rhythm section and does little to enhance the overall sound. So what should you do? Easy…
Start by digging into Jeff McErlain’s Two Guitar Blues Grooves and work through the 10 sets of rhythm guitar performance studies (20 rhythm guitar parts in total!) that Jeff prepared to expand your rhythm part vocabulary and impart priceless guidance for crafting two-guitar rhythm parts.
”As guitarists we play rhythm guitar much more than lead guitar in most settings. And when we’re in a two guitar situation, this can complicate matters as to what to play and how to best fit in. In this course, we’ll work through 10 of the most commonly encountered blues tunes and I’ll show you some really effective rhythm part approaches for playing with another guitarist. All in all, you’ll pick up 20 distinctive rhythm guitar parts that you’ll be able to use in hundreds of blues tunes, in any jam or band setting!”
Jeff will demonstrate, and breakdown in detail, two distinctive, complementary rhythm guitar parts for 10 blues progressions, in different feels and tempos, based on popular, commonly encountered blues tunes.
Each set of of these 10 rhythm performances features two multi-angle videos for both rhythm parts, two breakdown videos for each part, plus a playalong video displaying both parts being performed in split-screen view
Jeff 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, Jeff includes all of the rhythm tracks for you to work with on your own. In addition, you’ll be able to loop or slow down any of the videos so that you can work with the lessons at your own pace.
Grab your guitar and let’s dig in with Jeff McErlain!
Start by digging into Jeff McErlain’s Two Guitar Blues Grooves and work through the 10 sets of rhythm guitar performance studies (20 rhythm guitar parts in total!) that Jeff prepared to expand your rhythm part vocabulary and impart priceless guidance for crafting two-guitar rhythm parts.
”As guitarists we play rhythm guitar much more than lead guitar in most settings. And when we’re in a two guitar situation, this can complicate matters as to what to play and how to best fit in. In this course, we’ll work through 10 of the most commonly encountered blues tunes and I’ll show you some really effective rhythm part approaches for playing with another guitarist. All in all, you’ll pick up 20 distinctive rhythm guitar parts that you’ll be able to use in hundreds of blues tunes, in any jam or band setting!”
Jeff will demonstrate, and breakdown in detail, two distinctive, complementary rhythm guitar parts for 10 blues progressions, in different feels and tempos, based on popular, commonly encountered blues tunes.
Each set of of these 10 rhythm performances features two multi-angle videos for both rhythm parts, two breakdown videos for each part, plus a playalong video displaying both parts being performed in split-screen view
Jeff 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, Jeff includes all of the rhythm tracks for you to work with on your own. In addition, you’ll be able to loop or slow down any of the videos so that you can work with the lessons at your own pace.
Grab your guitar and let’s dig in 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
- Apply chord extensions (9ths, 13ths) tastefully in blues
- Use rootless dominant 9 voicings for rhythm guitar
- Apply sixth interval licks in blues context
- Create space and avoid clashing with another guitar player
- Use higher register voicings to complement lower rhythm parts
Release date: 09/27/2018 • 3h 11m runtime
Sample lessons
Stormy Days
Overview
Stormy Days: Part 1
Performance
Stormy Days: Part 1
Breakdown
Stormy Days: Part 2
Performance
What's included
63 lessons • 31 charts • 30 Jam Tracks
Two Guitar Blues Grooves
Hi, I'm Jeff McErlain and welcome to Two Guitar Blues Grooves. As we well know, in any situation we end up playing rhythm guitar more than lead guitar. If we are in a two guitar situation, this can complicate matters as to what to play and how to fit in.
In this course, I'll go through some standard and important blues tunes and show you some basic idea I'd use if while playing with another guitarist. In the beginning, this may require some discussion with your other guitar play as to who is going to play what part. The more you two play together the more intuitive it becomes. So let's dig in!
In this course, I'll go through some standard and important blues tunes and show you some basic idea I'd use if while playing with another guitarist. In the beginning, this may require some discussion with your other guitar play as to who is going to play what part. The more you two play together the more intuitive it becomes. So let's dig in!
Blues Chords You Should Know
I would almost say this section is worth the price you paid for this course (and thank you very much) as these are THE ESSENTIAL BLUES CHORD VOICINGS you need to really get rolling. I use these all the time, and they're the go to voicings for every player worth their salt! If you don't know them, you'll be pleasantly surprised at how much use you'll get out of them. Of course, I use them all throughout the course so you'll really get a good workout with them by the time you're done.
Boogie Woog-E
Here we have a classic boogie woogie blues in E. This is probably the first blues you ever learned, and if you have ever been to a blues jam, you've played it over and over! The last thing I want to hear is two guitar players playing this pattern in unison for more than one chorus of the blues, and I don't even want to hear that! A chorus is the lingo for one time through the blues form. I see Guitar 1 as the driver of the car, setting on top of the groove, and Guitar 2 fills it out. So, let's check it out.
Boogie Woog-E: Part 1
Here's one of the basic boogie patterns in the key of E. I'm not sure I even really need to show you how to play this, as I assume you may already know it. So, I'll take this opportunity to talk about Jimmy Reed and how important his music is to this particular style of blues. I've talked about him in just about every one of my courses here on TrueFire, so he's probably someone you should look into! :-)
As you can see, on this particular pattern I'm separating the notes as opposed to playing them in unison. This is a little more difficult but a fun and useful variation on the blues. Check out Jimmy Reed's Greatest Hits and you will easily see why I'm discussing him right now.
As you can see, on this particular pattern I'm separating the notes as opposed to playing them in unison. This is a little more difficult but a fun and useful variation on the blues. Check out Jimmy Reed's Greatest Hits and you will easily see why I'm discussing him right now.
Boogie Woog-E: Part 1
Man, there's a lot of great info in this video if I do say so myself! Humbly, of course...but seriously, there's some hard earned stuff in there I am happy to be able to share!
Playing a basic boogie can be frustrating as it can get somewhat boring, but to me, that means we aren't playing it right. That's from experience, believe me — I used to think, "Man, this is easy and boring." Until I got my butt handed to me a number of times on gigs by people who could really play the heck outta this. The trick is the groove, feel, and finesse that you add to it.
Playing a basic boogie can be frustrating as it can get somewhat boring, but to me, that means we aren't playing it right. That's from experience, believe me — I used to think, "Man, this is easy and boring." Until I got my butt handed to me a number of times on gigs by people who could really play the heck outta this. The trick is the groove, feel, and finesse that you add to it.
Boogie Woog-E: Part 2
So, you have the first part down, so let's take a look at the second part of our classic boogie woogie pattern. As you can see, I play a lot less in Part 2 as it's more to complement, or accompany, Part 1. Be sure not to overplay as that's what gets everybody into trouble. I am more or less punctuating the main phrase and adding to it as opposed to playing over it; remember Guitar 1 drives the car. What's cool is that if we're only playing with one guitar player, you can pick and choose from all of these options. One thing: Don't be afraid NOT to play!
Boogie Woog-E: Part 2
I start off by not playing the first time through the blues, letting Guitar 1 set up the groove. When the second time through comes around, then we can jump in with the riff I first show you here. That simple partial chord riff is ubiquitous and a must know — it can be used just about anywhere and is also an excellent lead idea.
Very often, the difference between soloing and rhythm playing is very thin, so keep that in mind when working through all of this. As you can see, my next variation is much simpler than the first. This time around I'm really just punctuating the chords as they go by as if someone were singing. Keep it nice and simple.
Very often, the difference between soloing and rhythm playing is very thin, so keep that in mind when working through all of this. As you can see, my next variation is much simpler than the first. This time around I'm really just punctuating the chords as they go by as if someone were singing. Keep it nice and simple.
+ 56 more lessons
Reviews
17 results
Steviefloyd
Verified buyer
08/04/23
Highly recommended
As usual, Jeff, s course i's really enjoyable. Each session is very attractive and it covers many situations where you and your best friend don't really know what to play and when. This course brings you efficiency and your playing becomes more fluent. Thanks to Truefire, Jeff and many other great teachers, I have reached a higher level that I couldn't imagine some years before ! Grab your guitar...and have fun !
rryder67
Verified buyer
04/03/23
2 Gtr Blues Grooves
Jeff's lessons are always challenging. When I take the time to study his material my playing improves. I can't wait to get to this course.
PeteMc
Verified buyer
03/29/23
I'm still yet to put real study time into the course but I'm looking forwards to getting to grips with it. I enjoy the instructors teaching style, and both rhythm tracks for each example are musical and complement each other well. After not really playing for 10years, I'm sure I'll enjoy this course as I get stuck back into guitar
bigtd
Verified buyer
09/13/21
Great Course
I thought I owned enough TrueFire courses, but after checking out this one, it is for me. Great instruction on how to fit in tastefully with other players or just one player. Mr. McErlain teaches this in steps that are easy to understand. If you play with others or play along with records, this is for you.
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