grr808
Verified buyer
02/10/26
Jeff McErlain's 30 Authentic Blues Grooves
Jeff is one of the best online guitar teachers out there! His courses are well planned and musical. Very practical!
30 Authentic Blues Grooves You MUST Know
These 30 Authentic Blues Grooves reveal the very essence of electric blues
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About this course
Thousands of blues tunes draw on the core foundation of grooves and rhythm patterns spawned during the electric blues renaissance of the 50s and 60s. Unlike other genres of music from that time, there’s nothing nostalgic about these grooves — these same grooves and rhythm patterns have been used by every generation of blues player since right up to modern times. “Authentic” is the best way to describe them and Jeff McErlain’s 30 Authentic Blues Grooves You MUST Know is the best way to learn them.
For inspiration, Jeff dug deep into the music of Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon, Slim Harpo, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Charlie Musslewhite, Sonny Boy Williamson, Jimmy Reed, Freddie King, John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers, Peter Green, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and many other blues giants.
Jeff kicks things off with some blues authenticity inspired from Elmore James’ classic Done Somebody Wrong, Junior Wells’ tricky repeat pattern from Messing with the Kid, Howlin' Wolf's Smokestack Lightning (one of the most influential blues grooves ever!), the seminal swamp blues groove from I'm A King Bee and Sonny Boy’s Help Me with a tasty and nasty Charlie Musslewhite feel. These first five grooves will feed your blues bag for a lifetime but there’s much more to come...
Jeff then shows you how to correctly play a no-frills boogie woogie E grinder followed by tasty take-offs from another Howlin' Wolf classic must-know groove from Killing Floor (the definitive Chicago electric blues tune) along with the classic riff that outlines its basic I7, IV7, V7 progression. Then you’ll work through grooves copped from All You Love by Otis Rush, Muddy Waters’ Can't Be Satisfied benchmark blues groove, the awesome Little Red Rooster groove, and an uptempo swing blues feel you’ll call on over and over again.
You’ll also love learning the guitar grooves inspired from tunes like Freddie King’s Going Down, Willie Dixon’s Mellow Down Easy, Sonny Boy Williamson's On My Baby, Jimmy Reed’s High Heeled Sneakers and the Etta James tune, I’d Rather Go Blind. These ‘authentic’ blues grooves have been used a thousands times over in thousands of tunes to follow right up to present day.
Next up, a sweet minor blues variation with some cool changes to spice things up a bit on the turnaround, a tasty Peter Green-influenced groove, a classic 8-bar part ala Key To The Highway, an Elmore James-inspired part from Shake Your Money Maker, and an unaccompanied solo in the style of Lonely Years from John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers.
Jeff winds things up with seven more must-know grooves… Slim Harpo’s swamp blues classic groove from Baby Scratch My Back, a sweet groove inspired by Jimmy Reed’s Baby What You Want Me To Do?, the Hoochie Coochie Man groove (one of the greatest grooves of all time!), the folk-bluesy groove from Sitting on Top of the World as Howlin' Wolf approached it, Bo Diddley's She's Fine She's Mine, Slim Harpo’s Shake Your Hips with a Texas Boogie feel a la John Lee Hooker and a classic 8-bar blues with some extra changes to spice things up.
Jeff demonstrates all of the? grooves over killer rhythm tracks (recorded in the studio for real-world musical context), and then breaks down the techniques, rhythm patterns and creative approach in a clear and very accessible manner. All of the performance examples are tabbed and notated, plus you get all of the rhythm tracks to work with on your own.
For inspiration, Jeff dug deep into the music of Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon, Slim Harpo, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Charlie Musslewhite, Sonny Boy Williamson, Jimmy Reed, Freddie King, John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers, Peter Green, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and many other blues giants.
Jeff kicks things off with some blues authenticity inspired from Elmore James’ classic Done Somebody Wrong, Junior Wells’ tricky repeat pattern from Messing with the Kid, Howlin' Wolf's Smokestack Lightning (one of the most influential blues grooves ever!), the seminal swamp blues groove from I'm A King Bee and Sonny Boy’s Help Me with a tasty and nasty Charlie Musslewhite feel. These first five grooves will feed your blues bag for a lifetime but there’s much more to come...
Jeff then shows you how to correctly play a no-frills boogie woogie E grinder followed by tasty take-offs from another Howlin' Wolf classic must-know groove from Killing Floor (the definitive Chicago electric blues tune) along with the classic riff that outlines its basic I7, IV7, V7 progression. Then you’ll work through grooves copped from All You Love by Otis Rush, Muddy Waters’ Can't Be Satisfied benchmark blues groove, the awesome Little Red Rooster groove, and an uptempo swing blues feel you’ll call on over and over again.
You’ll also love learning the guitar grooves inspired from tunes like Freddie King’s Going Down, Willie Dixon’s Mellow Down Easy, Sonny Boy Williamson's On My Baby, Jimmy Reed’s High Heeled Sneakers and the Etta James tune, I’d Rather Go Blind. These ‘authentic’ blues grooves have been used a thousands times over in thousands of tunes to follow right up to present day.
Next up, a sweet minor blues variation with some cool changes to spice things up a bit on the turnaround, a tasty Peter Green-influenced groove, a classic 8-bar part ala Key To The Highway, an Elmore James-inspired part from Shake Your Money Maker, and an unaccompanied solo in the style of Lonely Years from John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers.
Jeff winds things up with seven more must-know grooves… Slim Harpo’s swamp blues classic groove from Baby Scratch My Back, a sweet groove inspired by Jimmy Reed’s Baby What You Want Me To Do?, the Hoochie Coochie Man groove (one of the greatest grooves of all time!), the folk-bluesy groove from Sitting on Top of the World as Howlin' Wolf approached it, Bo Diddley's She's Fine She's Mine, Slim Harpo’s Shake Your Hips with a Texas Boogie feel a la John Lee Hooker and a classic 8-bar blues with some extra changes to spice things up.
Jeff demonstrates all of the? grooves over killer rhythm tracks (recorded in the studio for real-world musical context), and then breaks down the techniques, rhythm patterns and creative approach in a clear and very accessible manner. All of the performance examples are tabbed and notated, plus you get all of the rhythm tracks to work with on your own.
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 thumb fretting for bass notes in chord voicings
- Use the minor line cliché to add movement to static minor chords
- Execute the flat 6 to V7 turnaround progression
- Play an 8-bar blues progression with jazz-influenced changes
- Create fills that don't interfere with other instruments
Release date: 03/03/2014 • 3h 29m runtime
Sample lessons
Smokin' Stack
Groove 3
Never Satisfied
Groove 10
Mellow Out
Groove 14
Seeing You Go
Groove 18
What's included
32 lessons • 30 charts • 29 Jam Tracks
30 Authentic Blues Grooves
Hello and welcome to 30 Authentic Blues Grooves You MUST Know. I am such a huge fan of classic blues from the 50's and 60's that I wanted to share with you some of my favorite and essential blues grooves and tunes. I have drawn from Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon, Slim Harpo, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Peter Green, Eric Clapton, and more to share with you the foundation of electric blues. As guitar players we are all familiar with these names I assume, but may not have dug into this era of blues. If you are like me you first heard these name through Led Zeppelin, The Stones, and Hendrix and started there. I realized how much I was missing not knowing these classic artists and the depth of knowledge I got from learning these tunes. These artists are the blues, they were the originators of the sound we know as electric blues. So let's get started and play some authentic blues!
Somebody Done Wrong
The Elmore James classic "Done Somebody Wrong" was recorded in 1960. Elmore James, although not quite as well known at Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker, was one of the most influential blues men ever. He had the whole package, great tunes, vocals, his own sound, and a master slide player. His slide playing has influenced just about everyone who followed, most notably Duane Allman and Derek Trucks. Some of his famous tunes are "Shake Your Money Maker" the "Sky Is Crying, Dust My Broom", and "One Way Out".
Don't Mess With The Kid
"Messing with the Kid" is probably the most most well known Junior Wells tune. First recorded in 1960 the tune is a blues classic with a cool intro. It's a little tricky due to the repeated 16th note pattern, so pay close attention to the picking pattern I show in the video. I must admit it's cool to hear Buddy Guy struggling with the riff here and there, makes me feel better! But who cares really? What I mean by that is it's about the feel, if you drop a 16th note here and there, as the authentic recordings do, it's fine. It's about the groove!
Smokin' Stack
Besides being co-opted for a Viagra commercial, Howlin' Wolf's "Smokestack Lightning" is one of the most influential blues tunes ever. It's a one chord vamp in E that is all vibe. The great guitar line throughout the tune is played by Hubert Sumlin, Wolf's long time guitarist. It is an art form to make a one chord vamp interesting, so please don't take this one for granted! Another interesting point about this tune is that it is neither major nor minor in tonality. This is a common and essential concept in the blues. It all comes down to how we treat the third of the chord. At no time am I really accentuating it, I may play over it, or tweak it a bit but I am never clearly defining it. This is an essential component to the sound of the blues.
King of the Bees
First recorded in 1957, Slim Harpo's swamp blues classic "I'm A King Bee" is seminal blues classic. Rerecorded countless times most notably by the Rolling Stones and Muddy Waters, this tune stands out not only for the great lyrics but its odd form. The tune is a 15 bar blues. This is extremely important to take note of as it can lead to many train wrecks on the band stand if everyone is not aware of the form. The track included is helpful as the drummer marks the top of the form with a big cymbal crash. Most good drummers will do this! I have come to realize most people will follow the vocals on this one to cue the changes, that's cool but nothing replaces counting measures. After a few times through, you'll just feel the form. Odd bar forms are difficult!
I Need Help
First recorded in 1963, Sonny Boy Williamson II's "Help Me" was clearly based on Booker T and the MG's Green Onion blues. In my 50 Eclectic Blues Licks course I show you how to play Sonny Boy's version which has a laid back swampy feel. This time around I borrowed Charlie Musslewhite's feel which is a little more straight and nasty. I really like both versions so learn them both! I dig the way Musslewhite chose to play up the b3rd (Bb) on this minor blues in between the riff. It's a bit tricky to nail as a single guitar player but well worth it. This version can be heard on his 1967 debut album called "Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musslewhite's Southside Band", an album I highly suggest checking out. I will say I am not sure why his name is spelled differently on that recording, Charley vs Charlie.
Grinder
Here it is, the no frills grinder in E. Never to be taken for granted, and easily overlooked. I know this is the basic blues boogie woogie pattern but the trick is playing it right! Sitting into the groove just right is the hard part. I also want to point out how hard I am hitting the strings, this is a big part of the sound. I also don't have too much gain on the amp because that'll ruin the sound. We are going for a big open blues tone. Don't be afraid to really dig in!
+ 25 more lessons
Reviews
19 results
purplesage72
Verified buyer
05/15/25
Blues Grooves
Jeff is absolutely one of the best instructors on TrueFire and I've got several of his courses for both rhythm and soloing. This is another great course for the variety of grooves and songs, the blues history conveyed, and Jeff's mellow but detailed instructional approach. Lotta stuff you need to know here -
Lennyv1971
Verified buyer
01/14/25
30 blues grooves you must know. Jeff mcerlains
Good lesson. highly recommend
Emilione
Verified buyer
09/17/22
Versatile blues lesson for beginners and advanced players
Nice licks and riffs, eligible for many jam sessions. Teaching videos are suitable for blues guitar beginners aswell as for advanced players.
Uschmed
Verified buyer
04/04/22
30 Authentic Blues Grooves
As in all his other courses, Jeff the talented musician and teacher presents well thought out lessons that in this case help you get these essential grooves under your fingers. With a course by Jeff McErlain you can never go wrong.
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