Jordu
Verified buyer
01/06/25
Gran curso!!
50 Eclectic Blues Licks You MUST Know
A fiery collection of blues lines, rhythms and artist-inspired licks
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About this course
Webster tells us "eclectic" means selecting the best from various doctrines, methods and styles. Gus from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, would tell you "the word eclectic come from the Greek word 'eklektikos' which is mean choose the best." Jeff McErlain would freely admit that he skipped his etymology classes to catch any and all blues artists playing in town but we can tell you that he certainly went to school cherry-picking this killer collection of eclectic blues licks.
Mix up a bit of T Bone Walker with Mike Stern, blend some Robben Ford with Jeff Beck, fuse Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix with Eric Johnson and David Grissom, spice heavily with the likes of Muddy Waters, Allman Brothers, Michael Landau and Roy Buchanan -- Voila! Eclectic blues.
McErlain has dedicated the better part of his life to exploring and analyzing all styles of the blues and fortunately for we students of the blues, he’s also the consummate instructor. Author of several TrueFire blues and blues-rock course, McErlain presents yet another fiery collection of tasty blues lines, rhythms, phrasings and artist-inspired lickage.
You'll learn how to apply techniques and bluesy moves for comping, tri-tones, hybrid picking, hammers, pull-offs, sixths and thirds, chromatics, diminished lines, intervallic lines, major-minor pentatonic phrases, double and triple-stops, open-string phrases, half and full bends, muting, scratches and all of the other requisite tools and tricks of the contemporary blues trade.
50 Eclectic Blues Licks You MUST Know has it all and much more; these 50 interactive video lessons will majorly round out and spice up your blues bag. Dig in!
Mix up a bit of T Bone Walker with Mike Stern, blend some Robben Ford with Jeff Beck, fuse Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix with Eric Johnson and David Grissom, spice heavily with the likes of Muddy Waters, Allman Brothers, Michael Landau and Roy Buchanan -- Voila! Eclectic blues.
McErlain has dedicated the better part of his life to exploring and analyzing all styles of the blues and fortunately for we students of the blues, he’s also the consummate instructor. Author of several TrueFire blues and blues-rock course, McErlain presents yet another fiery collection of tasty blues lines, rhythms, phrasings and artist-inspired lickage.
You'll learn how to apply techniques and bluesy moves for comping, tri-tones, hybrid picking, hammers, pull-offs, sixths and thirds, chromatics, diminished lines, intervallic lines, major-minor pentatonic phrases, double and triple-stops, open-string phrases, half and full bends, muting, scratches and all of the other requisite tools and tricks of the contemporary blues trade.
50 Eclectic Blues Licks You MUST Know has it all and much more; these 50 interactive video lessons will majorly round out and spice up your blues bag. Dig in!
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
- Use slides and hammer-ons to create smooth melodic movement
- Create expressive crying sounds using bend and release technique
- Apply melodic sequencing to create interesting phrases
- Connect pickup licks into any subsequent blues phrase
- Understand how to start a blues solo with a turnaround-style phrase
Release date: 04/27/2012 • 3h 17m runtime
Sample lessons
Greasy Fingers
Lick 4
Work For It
Lick 17
Taking Liberties
Lick 34
Open Ended
Lick 41
What's included
52 lessons • 50 charts • 49 Jam Tracks
50 Eclectic Blues Licks
Hello and welcome to 50 Eclectic Blues Licks You Must Know. For this course I have handpicked some of my favorite licks from many different genres of the blues. I am a fan of so many styles of music that I often have a hard time defining what I do, I see this as a strength. I love being able to add a country or a jazz lick to a traditional blues for example.
One of the greatest things about the blues is that there are so many variations of it, jazz, country, rock, funk, blues. The blues is the link between all of them, so how cool is it to be able to mix it up? Super cool.
I hope you enjoy the course, find a lick that gets you going and dig in. Most of all have fun!
One of the greatest things about the blues is that there are so many variations of it, jazz, country, rock, funk, blues. The blues is the link between all of them, so how cool is it to be able to mix it up? Super cool.
I hope you enjoy the course, find a lick that gets you going and dig in. Most of all have fun!
In and Out
Here is a cool lick to be used over a dominant 7th chord. It is a mixture of a minor and a major blues scale. The formula for this scale is R,2,b3,3,4,b5,5,6,b7. It can also be seen as a mixolydian scale with an added b3 and b5.
This sound is pretty common in the blues and jazz and a scale you should really get comfortable using! From Eric Clapton to Mike Stern, this sound is a must.
This sound is pretty common in the blues and jazz and a scale you should really get comfortable using! From Eric Clapton to Mike Stern, this sound is a must.
Steppin' Up
We can all use some cool musical devices to get us from point A to point B. The audience likes them, they are effective, sound way cool, and they give us time to think.
This example is just the interval of a minor 3rd moving chromatically in half steps until I reach my final destination of a chord tone or blues lick.
It takes a fair amount of time to master this kind of thing because it is all about the placement of the notes rhythmically. So loop the groove and keep on doing it.
This example is just the interval of a minor 3rd moving chromatically in half steps until I reach my final destination of a chord tone or blues lick.
It takes a fair amount of time to master this kind of thing because it is all about the placement of the notes rhythmically. So loop the groove and keep on doing it.
Slick Minor Lick
Welcome to Bb harmonic minor - Okay, it's not that tough, we have heard harmonic minor many times in tunes such as Hotel California and Bach's Toccata and Fuge in Dm. It is a great sound to get under your fingers in a minor blues where you have a V7 chord resolving to a I minor chord.
What I like about this lick in particular is that I am repeating the same line an octave below giving some continuity to the line. Very cool thing to try to add to your playing.
You really have to practice a lick like this because we can only use the harmonic minor scale on that V7 chord to be really effective, so we need to know exactly when it occurs!
What I like about this lick in particular is that I am repeating the same line an octave below giving some continuity to the line. Very cool thing to try to add to your playing.
You really have to practice a lick like this because we can only use the harmonic minor scale on that V7 chord to be really effective, so we need to know exactly when it occurs!
Greasy Fingers
I love this kind of lick, one of those licks that makes you make that "something smells in here" face. I often associate this sound with guys like Eric Johnson and David Grissom. The trick here is hybrid picking which means using my pick and fingers at the same time. This allows me to do the double stops that create that cool dissonance that makes the lick so greasy.
It is also important to not have too much gain on your tone as sometimes it can overshadow and bury the double stops. This is a great lick to get you into hybrid picking which has become commonplace in my playing.
It is also important to not have too much gain on your tone as sometimes it can overshadow and bury the double stops. This is a great lick to get you into hybrid picking which has become commonplace in my playing.
Bring It On Home
We can never have too many turnarounds under your belt. Turnarounds can be used as intros and endings of tunes, so the more you know the better.
It is very important to practice turnarounds at home because we are outlining the chords at the end of a blues and we want to be sure to nail it every time. This is where the enclosed jam track becomes so valuable. Learn the lick, then play it over the jam track A LOT. This way the lick becomes internalized and you can kill it on the gig.
It is very important to practice turnarounds at home because we are outlining the chords at the end of a blues and we want to be sure to nail it every time. This is where the enclosed jam track becomes so valuable. Learn the lick, then play it over the jam track A LOT. This way the lick becomes internalized and you can kill it on the gig.
Bad Boy Blues
Nothing like a gritty bad boy blues over a train beat to get me going. I love this roadhouse kind of sound and two masters of it are David Grissom and the late Eddy Shaver. Eddy Shaver passed away way before his time but left some great stuff behind, never heard of him? Well if you like this sound run to get the Unshaven album. What a player and what a tone.
A key element of this style is to stick to the triads of the I, IV, and V chords as opposed to using the full Dom7 voicings. This gives the blues a much more open sound.
A key element of this style is to stick to the triads of the I, IV, and V chords as opposed to using the full Dom7 voicings. This gives the blues a much more open sound.
+ 45 more lessons
Reviews
19 results
5peter5000
Verified buyer
12/27/22
Blues and blues rock licks can hardly be presented better than coming from Jeff - his area of expertise
EddieFast
11/10/22
Lots of ideas to nick of the master
Jeff is an excellent teacher because he gives you much more than theory, which he tricks you into receiving almost subliminally, Much more than history, which he sprinkles over his lessons like exotic spice. And much more than 50 licks because each lick gives ideas to help you to integrate it into your playing..He sends you off on tangents of transposing, listening, and experimenting. Times fifty. This is a valuable course. Jeff's examples of the playing styles and their exponents alone will send the student off to try and spot variations of them done by guitarists worldwide. Perhaps most important, taking them apart and putting them back together in different keys and tempos may well be a worthy life's work.
MikeAlan
12/31/20
You Had Me At Hello!
Jeff McErlain's "50 Eclectic Blues Licks You MUST Know" is a MUST Own! The more of Jeff's courses that I check out, the more of a fan that I become. Why do I say, "you had me at hello"? That opening riff in the intro is so slick! He calls it "Greasy Fingers", which is so appropriate! This may sound lame, but it alone was worth the price of the course to me. As for the many other (49, haha) licks that he shares in various music forms, this course is a valuable study of how the blues knows no boundaries.
tonylaurent
Verified buyer
12/06/20
Blues licks
GR8
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