Blues Speak: Rhythm

In the first two editions of Matt Schofield’s Blues Speak masterclass series, Matt guided you through a wide range of ear-opening techniques, creative concepts, soloing studies, and how to “play the changes” over blues progressions in a variety of feels. In this Rhythm edition, Matt focuses solely on rhythm playing across five core blues feels.

”In this Rhythm edition of Blues Speak, we’ll drill deep on playing the “backing” role vs the “feature” role. I think about playing rhythm in the context of an ensemble performance within a band. What can I add rhythmically, harmonically, and tonally in the context of the song to contribute to the overall performance? We'll discuss how to inform your rhythm playing by listening and imitating the greats, fitting in with the band, matching your tone to your rhythm parts, and more.

Then we'll explore five commonly encountered blues feels where I'll first discuss the “core” rhythm feel and harmonic foundation, followed by performance studies to show you how I might play and embellish a part over the track.”

You’ll start your learning journey where it all begins in the blues… a shuffle in E. Next, you’ll dig into a New Orleans style second-line groove followed by a jam based on “Trouble Maker” with a fast swing shuffle feel.

Of course, Matt includes one of his favorites — a slow blues in A. You’ll work on some rhythm embellishments over a minor blues in F and wind up the rhythm performance studies with a funky blues-based on Matt’s version of Black Cat Bone.

Matt 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 included to work with on your own as well.

Grab your guitar and let’s "speak" some blues with Matt Schofield!