Farid
05/07/26
Fantastic !!
Really a must course to watch ! It’s exactly what I was looking for!! Thanks !!
Take 5: Blues Comping
Blues Rhythm Essentials for Guitarists
Get this course and 1,000+ more with All Access
Try 14 days free. Cancel any time.
About this course
One of the most challenging skills, yet the most satisfying, is to become a great blues rhythm guitar player. Comping opens up a whole new world of creativity and allows you to become an integral part of the rhythm section.
Jeff McErlain’s Blues Comping edition of Take 5 kicks off with a quick primer on comping. He’ll then take you through what he considers to be the six essential chord voicings that you can use to take your blues guitar playing up a few notches. He'll also show you some right-hand techniques to help you lock in with the rhythm section.
Jeff will then guide you through five performance studies putting these chords and techniques to use. You'll start with some basic approaches and work your way through to more advanced applications.
"Comping is an often overlooked part of playing the blues, yet it's more important than soloing. I find it just as fun and actually more challenging than soloing in many ways - there's a real skill and art to playing within a rhythm section! You have to be a part of the music whether supporting a singer, soloist or just grooving."
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 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 the backing tracks are included to work with on your own as well.
Grab your guitar and let’s comp with Jeff McErlain!
Jeff McErlain’s Blues Comping edition of Take 5 kicks off with a quick primer on comping. He’ll then take you through what he considers to be the six essential chord voicings that you can use to take your blues guitar playing up a few notches. He'll also show you some right-hand techniques to help you lock in with the rhythm section.
Jeff will then guide you through five performance studies putting these chords and techniques to use. You'll start with some basic approaches and work your way through to more advanced applications.
"Comping is an often overlooked part of playing the blues, yet it's more important than soloing. I find it just as fun and actually more challenging than soloing in many ways - there's a real skill and art to playing within a rhythm section! You have to be a part of the music whether supporting a singer, soloist or just grooving."
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 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 the backing tracks are included to work with on your own as well.
Grab your guitar and let’s comp 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
- Play sophisticated blues comping using top three or four strings
- Use hybrid picking or fingerstyle for chord voicings
- Execute 1-6-2-5-1 turnarounds in a 12-bar blues context
- Comp effectively without interfering with other instruments or vocals
- Understand how to create melodic movement on top voices while comping
Release date: 07/24/2019 • 1h 32m runtime
Sample lessons
Level 3: Blues Comping
Overview
Level 3: Blues Comping
Performance
Level 3: Blues Comping
Breakdown
What's included
19 lessons • 6 charts • 5 Jam Tracks
Take 5: Blues Comping
Hi, I'm Jeff McErlain and welcome to Take 5: Blues Comping!
Comping is an often overlooked part of playing the blues, yet it's more important than soloing. I find it just as fun and actually more challenging than soloing in many ways - there's a real skill and art to playing within a rhythm section! You have to be a part of the music whether supporting a singer, soloist or just grooving.
In this course, I I'm got going to take you through five blues coming studies to help you learn the skills to become better at comping on the blues. All of the performance studies are tabbed and notated and you'll have the jam tracks to work with on your own. You can loop and slow down the videos so you can work with the lessons at your own pace. Let's get started!
Comping is an often overlooked part of playing the blues, yet it's more important than soloing. I find it just as fun and actually more challenging than soloing in many ways - there's a real skill and art to playing within a rhythm section! You have to be a part of the music whether supporting a singer, soloist or just grooving.
In this course, I I'm got going to take you through five blues coming studies to help you learn the skills to become better at comping on the blues. All of the performance studies are tabbed and notated and you'll have the jam tracks to work with on your own. You can loop and slow down the videos so you can work with the lessons at your own pace. Let's get started!
Blues Comping Approaches
I don't really see soloing and comping as two distinctly different things; the concepts I use are very connected.
I want run through these six essential chord voicings you really must know for solid and interesting blues comping. You can see them in the attached chord PDF. I'd highly recommend taking time to learn these fingerings first. Look where the root is, even if you aren't actually playing it. The more you know these voicing the more you'll realize how important and common they really are.
There's a lot of information in this section that will take a while to work through and implement, so please revisit this section often while working through the course!
I want run through these six essential chord voicings you really must know for solid and interesting blues comping. You can see them in the attached chord PDF. I'd highly recommend taking time to learn these fingerings first. Look where the root is, even if you aren't actually playing it. The more you know these voicing the more you'll realize how important and common they really are.
There's a lot of information in this section that will take a while to work through and implement, so please revisit this section often while working through the course!
Level 1: Blues Comping
Let's check out a minor blues using some to the voicings we learned in the first section. The tune is in Cm. The chords are Cm7, Fm7, and G7#9, otherwise known as the Hendrix chord. We are focusing in on beats 2 and 4. Follow the snare drum and lock in with that, that's the real meat and potatoes of the groove. When in doubt, play that - actually play that first!
Level 1: Blues Comping
This vibe reminds me of ZZ Top's "Just Got Back from Baby's" from their excellent first album, called ZZ Top's First Album. It takes some discipline to just play beats 2 and 4, but it's worth the time to JUST do that. Think of it like a meditation, enjoy feeling that groove and those hits. Listen to the drummer, listen to the bass player, listen to the keys...listen to the band and where they all sit and lock into that groove with them.
Level 1: Blues Comping
There's a lot to cover in this seemingly easy 12 bar blues in C minor. First thing I want to talk about is what we call the backbeat, that is beats 2 and 4. The bass drum is on beat 1 and 3, the term backbeat is extremely important understand and feel. Most rock 'n' roll is based upon the backbeat, which we can find by clapping on beats two and four to reinforce this feel. Just for fun, try clapping on beats one and three and you'll feel the difference right away. The majority of blues and rock are based upon the backbeat. Check out the few variations I show you in this video so you can apply them to any minor blues you encounter.
Level 2: Blues Comping
In this study we're going to check out the six essential chord voicings are discussed in the first segment. If you don't remember those, now is a great time to revisit it. I wouldn't play all these voicings in a row as I do in this demonstration; remember, this is a demonstration! The goal here is to take it on your own experiment.
Level 2: Blues Comping
These six voicings are like magic! Seriously. You'll hear these and see these voicings from now until the end of your blues playing days. So, memorize all of them! Be sure to figure out to where the roots are whether you're playing them or not.
As I stated in the introduction, I would take more time on each of these 12 bars before changing the register of the chord voicings. Hang out for a bit in each area to build up some excitement. I would not recommend more than two choruses per register, as it can tend to get a little static. That translates into boring. I'm playing very dry stylistically on this on purpose, the idea here is to solidify chords and the rhythm. Once you feel confident with those, then you can spread out on your own.
As I stated in the introduction, I would take more time on each of these 12 bars before changing the register of the chord voicings. Hang out for a bit in each area to build up some excitement. I would not recommend more than two choruses per register, as it can tend to get a little static. That translates into boring. I'm playing very dry stylistically on this on purpose, the idea here is to solidify chords and the rhythm. Once you feel confident with those, then you can spread out on your own.
+ 12 more lessons
Reviews
27 results
littlesister
Verified buyer
09/19/25
Take 5 Blues Comping
Another good insight into the blues. Enjoyed immensely and I will go back to it periodically
raytcampbell
Verified buyer
02/07/23
Jeff McErlain is amazing! I'm embarrassed that when I have played rythme on the blues in the past, I decend from the V to the I with a big old dom 7 chord chromatically - no more. McErlain explains substitutions and turn arounds that provide hard hitting tension while maintaining grace and dignity rather than sounding like an 18 wheeler in the break down lane. Simple as the blues can be, learning the right voicings and substitutions will allow you to bring some sophistication and elegance to the jam until it's your turn to solo. Great course.
chuck44118
Verified buyer
07/18/22
Coolest grooves!
Jeff teaches some of the coolest blues rhythm grooves around. Totally enjoyed this. Added a whole new layer of skill and experience.
RockyRoll
Verified buyer
04/18/22
Getting to grips!
Really great course. I'm learning lots of new grips. Great teacher.
…
Stop searching. Start improving with All Access.
Try 14 days free. Cancel any time.
