littlesister
Verified buyer
02/03/26
30 Blues Americana Licks You Must Know
Most fun you can have with your clothes on! A good, fun course of lessons by the great Mike Zito
30 Blues Americana Licks You MUST Know
A Collection of Blues Americana Licks Featuring the Best of Blues, Rock, and Country
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Mike Zito
Educator
Genres
About this course
Mike Zito was last seen cruising Will Rogers Highway, better known as Route 66, also know as the Main Street of America. His road-weary ’69 Chevy Camaro was stuffed with a jumble of guitars, amps, pedals and other tools of the touring bluesman trade.
Mike called in somewhere between Winslow and Flagstaff for an update on the launch of his first TrueFire course, Blues Americana. We urged him to get back in the studio as soon as possible because the course went #1 with a bullet and our inbox was full with requests for more of Zito’s take on electric blues guitar.
30 Blues Americana Licks you MUST Know celebrates the contemporary melting pot of electric blues styles infused with country and rock flavors. Rootsy to its core, Blues Americana also embraces more modern techniques and creative approaches and it's this contrast that keeps the style fresh and engaging for listeners.
This collection features a variety of techniques ranging from open-string pentatonics and hybrid picking to power double-stops, big bends and head-turning chicken pickin’ blues moves. The Blues Americana vocabulary is inspired from the fretboards of T-Bone walker, BB King, Robert Johnson, Johnny Winter, Albert Lee, Muddy Waters, Roy Clark, Duane Allman, Elmore James, Joe Maphis and other blues, rock and country giants of guitar.
Mike demonstrates all of the licks over rhythm tracks and then breaks them down measure-by-measure, technique-by-technique. All of the licks 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, Mike generously includes all of the rhythm tracks for you to work with on your own.
Dig in and get your kicks on Route 66…
Mike called in somewhere between Winslow and Flagstaff for an update on the launch of his first TrueFire course, Blues Americana. We urged him to get back in the studio as soon as possible because the course went #1 with a bullet and our inbox was full with requests for more of Zito’s take on electric blues guitar.
30 Blues Americana Licks you MUST Know celebrates the contemporary melting pot of electric blues styles infused with country and rock flavors. Rootsy to its core, Blues Americana also embraces more modern techniques and creative approaches and it's this contrast that keeps the style fresh and engaging for listeners.
This collection features a variety of techniques ranging from open-string pentatonics and hybrid picking to power double-stops, big bends and head-turning chicken pickin’ blues moves. The Blues Americana vocabulary is inspired from the fretboards of T-Bone walker, BB King, Robert Johnson, Johnny Winter, Albert Lee, Muddy Waters, Roy Clark, Duane Allman, Elmore James, Joe Maphis and other blues, rock and country giants of guitar.
Mike demonstrates all of the licks over rhythm tracks and then breaks them down measure-by-measure, technique-by-technique. All of the licks 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, Mike generously includes all of the rhythm tracks for you to work with on your own.
Dig in and get your kicks on Route 66…
What you'll learn
- Combine multiple techniques (chicken picking, bends, slides, hybrid picking) in one fluid phrase
- Master 30 licks spanning Blues Americana styles
- Play with triplet rock and roll feel while maintaining groove
- Balance technical density with musical feel and phrasing
- Develop versatility in applying licks across different musical contexts
Release date: 04/15/2015 • 2h 04m runtime
Sample lessons
Queen of Spades
Lick 2
Cannonball Travis
Lick 5
Roy The Hammer
Lick 7
How Blue Can You?
Lick 14
What's included
32 lessons • 30 charts • 30 Jam Tracks
30 Blues Americana Licks
Welcome to 30 Blues Americana Licks! I’m very excited to share this course with you and play some guitar together. These licks are not spot on, absolute copies of the originals.....you can do that yourself with the albums. These licks are my take on some great feels and vibes created by the best blues and country guitar players in history. I was never great at learning licks note for note, but I could usually get the idea and work it into my playing, and that’s what this is all about. Hopefully you'll find some new ideas and licks for yourself that will inspire your "Americana" to come alive.
To me, there is nothing better than the infusion of Country, Blues, and Rock ‘n’ Roll—it’s what America is all about. Country licks are not just for Country music and the same goes for Blues. I find it to be much more interesting to play some Country style licks over a standard Blues progression, or some down and dirty Blues over a real country vibe. That’s Americana! Let's dig in here with some classic licks and some personal favorites for what I hope is a fun Americana Guitar course.
Steady Rolling
This is my take on a Robert Johnson lick called "Steady Rolling Man," an Open A lick with some droning effects and double stops.
Queen of Spades
Another Classic Robert Johnson lick and turnaround from the song "Little Queen of Spades."
Hoochie Coochie
Here is the famous Muddy Waters lick “Hoochie Coochie Man.” This lick is great because it works really well through all of the changes with only a few simple modifications.
Muddy Waters Turn
This is another Muddy Waters lick that I call “Muddy Waters Turn.” This one is classic turn around lick in the key of A. The double stop and bend in this lick create a bluesy sound and can help give you some ideas for your own music.
Cannonball Travis
This is a Travis picking based lick on the tune “Cannonball Rag.” Using some hybrid picking and open strings, we'll get a cool banjo type effect.
Maphis Steel
Here is a Joe Maphis influenced lick in the key of G that uses some open string pentatonics and some slides and slurs. Speed this one up and you'll be rolling like Joe!
+ 25 more lessons
Reviews
12 results
kyushukev1
Verified buyer
11/19/23
Another Great Lesson from Mike
I love Mike as a teacher. He breaks everything down, shows exactly what has to be played, and then tosses in some extras to sweeten the pot. He's got such a great attitude I can't help trying to match his great big smile as he reels of one great riff after another. More swamp, more Americana, please.
Dave58
Verified buyer
07/13/22
Great!
A fantastic teacher and guitarplayer. I love this course. A mix of dirty blues, Rockabilly influences till Country and Southern rock. Nice examples and lick choices will be handled. Clearly well explained. This is a very helpfull course. Fun to learn on each playing level. Recommended!
mainaxe
08/09/21
truefire.com Rocks !
East to learn lessons with the teachers !
mainaxe
08/09/21
Zito you rock !
Love Mikes lessons ! Great teacher indeed !
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