Focus On: British Blues

While British Blues had its hey day back in the 60’s and 70’s, it contributed an indispensable vocabulary and a timeless influence for virtually all contemporary blues and blues-rock guitar players. Eric Johnson, Joe Bonamassa, Gary Moore and even John Mayer are just a few of the modern players that pay homage to, and at times directly quote, British Blues guitar giants like Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.

If you dig playing contemporary blues, then you must likewise embrace it’s characteristics and stylings. Jeff McErlain's Focus On: British Blues is an insightful examination of the key elements and techniques that define the British Blues genre.

"This is a great course and has improved my blues/rock playing. The lessons are well thought out and build on each other in a logical manner. There is lots of great information in this course, but I'll pull out 3 of my highlights. First there is a good section on getting great tones from just your guitar and amp. This course is also a great place to start learning how to mix minor and major pentatonics in your solos. There is some really good stuff on articulations to help you get a really bluesy sound. Jeff also nails the difference between Page, Clapton and Green's playing, so you can add more variety to your approach. There is so much good stuff in this course you'll keep coming back to it. Super!"
- Terry F., TrueFire Student

Jeff organized the course into four sections. In the first section, Jeff gives you a little background about British Blues, its history and the key guitarists that ignited the movement. Jeff also rundowns how to dial in that British Blues tone tone and suggest the gear that best captures that distinctive British Blues sound.

In the second section, Jeff shows you Essential Soloing Concepts covering the key characteristics and progressions of the style: The I7 Chord, The IV7 to I7 Change, The Turnaround, Bend That String, Key Phrases in British Blues Soloing. He’ll also demonstrate important techniques such as bends, vibrato, scales and phrasing approaches that are signature to the British Blues genre.

In the third section, Jeff focuses on Essential Rhythm Concepts: Riff Based Shuffle Blues, Riff Based Straight Blues, Typical Chord Voicings and Putting It Together. You’ll learn how to play a riff-style shuffle blues, a straight-on rock style blues a la Led Zeppelin, and a number of useful chord voicings you’ll need to know to have a solid grip on British Blues rhythm guitar.

In the fourth and final section, you’ll put all of the techniques and concepts, from the first three sections, to work across four Performance Studies. You'll check out a Peter Green-influenced slow blues, A mid-tempo Clapton-esque shuffle, a mid-tempo straight rocker ala Jimmy Page, and an uptempo shuffle nodding to Fleetwood Mac.

Performance Study #1: I Need It Bad (Sweet Slow Blues) - "This tune is similar to one of Fleetwood Mac's hits from that era called "I Need Your Love So Bad" on which Peter plays brilliantly. The song and soloing really shows his love of BB King as well as his own style. I love the chord changes, so please learn those as well because there is some really cool sounds going on that you can take advantage of as a player."

Performance Study #2: The Londoner (Mid-Tempo British Style Shuffle) - "In the solo I'm going to mix major and minor pentatonic scales, along with some cool bends, vibrato, and aggressive phrasing. I'm channeling Eric Clapton on this one as best I can!"

Performance Study #3: Hindenburg (Full-On Rocker with a Straight Groove) - "All self respecting blues/rock guitar players must pay tribute to Jimmy Page and his legacy. His influence as a player, songwriter, producer, rock God, cannot be overlooked."

Performance Study #4: Messin' Around (Uptempo Shuffle in C) - "[This one] is based on Fleetwood Mac's "Stop Messin' Around" from the Mr. Wonderful record released in 1968. It's an awesome midtempo rockin' blues that makes a great addition to any set of blues. I highly suggest checking out the original of course as Peter Green's playing is so darned good on it.”

Jeff demonstrates all of the Performance Studies over rhythm tracks and then breaks them down measure-by-measure, technique-by-technique. All of the key examples and performance studies are tabbed and notated for your practice, reference and study purposes.

You’ll also get Guitar Pro files so that you can loop and/or slow any section down as you work through the lessons. Plus, you'll get all of the rhythm tracks to work with on your own.

Grab your guitar, dial in that British Blues tone, and dig in!

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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

• Two-Rock Amps
• Fender Super Reverb Amp
• Universal Audio OX

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

• Dunlop Guitar Picks
• D'Addario Strings