Voodoo Blues

Rhythmic, improvisational, and conceptual potions.

Marty FriedmanTommy EmmanuelSteve VaiEric GalesEric Johnson

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Voodoo Blues

About this course

Take a half dropper of patchouli, a dash of valerian, a pinch of black poodle dog hair, a bit of spanish moss and then stir in nine crushed peppercorns and you've concocted a pretty powerful voodoo potion that'll do wonders for your love life but little for your guitar playing prowess. No worries; that recipe follows.

Ingest small daily doses of Steve Trovato's Voodoo Blues and then buckle up for frequent out-of-body experiences where your hands start doing things on the fretboard that your head only dreamed of doing before. That's the kind of voodoo you'll do after getting a grip on Trovato's signature style, which is blues-based and heavily spiced with country, rockabilly, twang, rock and jazz.

The real voodoo at work here is the relative ease and quickness with which you'll assimilate the key learnings and techniques that Trovato presents in this study program. You'll play your way through the entire course right from the start. No tedious theory. No boring exercises. No long drawn out technical lectures. Trovato gets you up and running without delay. In fact, you'll have something new, fresh and majorly cool to bring to the jam or gig within 15 minutes of digging in.

Steve guides you through 19 rhythm patterns and comping approaches; each immensely versatile and each featuring voicings, techniques and rhythmic nuances that will majorly round out your rhythm chops. Combine, mix and twist these ideas around and your bag will grow so deep and fat that you'll need a wheelbarrow to carry it around with you.

Steve then steps you through 23 soloing examples; each likewise packed with ample vocabulary, techniques and smooth moves to keep your solos fresh, innovative and highly interesting. Take those stock licks of yours to the cleaners and give your lead work an extreme voodoo makeover as Trovato passes on his approach for double-stops, pedal steel bends, palm muting, chicken pickin', vibrato, hybrid picking, release bends, whole and half-step bends, slides, chord punches and key learnings for keeping your solos and improvisations melodic, balanced and passionate.

All of the examples and lessons are presented in context over a rhythm track, which you will later use to practice with. Steve first performs the example and then breaks it down for you note-by-note, technique-by-technique. All of the examples are tabbed, notated and also formatted as Power Tab and Guitar Pro interactive tab/notation files.

The Voodoo Blues learning process is straight-forward, contextual, hands-on and highly effective. You will have a blast working with the material and every practice session with the course will yield immediate results. Get your voodoo on!

What you'll learn

  • Master over 40 Voodoo Blues concepts across 5 different shuffles
  • Develop proficiency with advanced techniques like hybrid picking and chicken picking
  • Understand how to order effects in a signal chain for optimal tone
  • Develop a philosophy of subtle, musical effects usage
  • Develop a three-tier gain structure (clean/mean/scream) for versatile playing
Release date: 03/15/2012 • 2h 00m runtime
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Sample lessons
DG's Boogie: Rhythm 5
DG's Boogie: Rhythm 5
Performance
DG's Boogie: Rhythm 5
DG's Boogie: Rhythm 5
Breakdown
DG's Boogie: Solo 6
DG's Boogie: Solo 6
Performance
DG's Boogie: Solo 6
DG's Boogie: Solo 6
Breakdown

What's included

103 lessons • 42 charts • 5 Jam Tracks

Voodoo Blues
Voodoo blues is a name that I've given to my style which has emerged from my love not only of blues but rock, jazz, country and rockabilly as well. When I put them all together it comes out as what I call voodoo blues.

Voodoo blues is also a name that I have given to the blending of ideas, styles, rhythmic feels and concepts put forth in this course, including licks that are bluesy but don’t necessarily fall into the standard minor pentatonic blues sound.

I've put together several play along tracks in various keys and tempos. I then created a half a dozen or so solos over each track.

I think that I've given you enough material to work with for a long time to come.
Voodoo Tonal Primer
In this section I’ll take you through a small pedal board that I used for the course. I’ll explain and demonstrate how I use each pedal and how I combine them to create the sounds that I use in this course.
DG's Boogie Rhythms
Every vintage guitar player needs an arsenal of boogie rhythms. My influences range from the innovators such as Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith to more contemporary players such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Danny Gatton and Jeff Beck.

Each example becomes slightly more challenging than the previous one. I’ll start off with a flat pick and evolve into more intricate examples using hybrid picking.
DG's Boogie: Rhythm 1
In this example you’ll learn the basic guitar boogie pattern. Be sure to mute the bass notes using the heel of your right hand for percussiveness. Dial in you delay at 125 ml with one repeat.

This simple way to play rhythm is an introduction to this popular feel.
DG's Boogie: Rhythm 1
This rhythm is on the bass strings. Set up the pattern on strings 6 and 5 for the I chord. Move the same pattern to strings 5 and 4 for the IV chord. The pattern changes slightly for the V7 chord.

Don't forget to mute the strings using the heel of your right hand.
DG's Boogie: Rhythm 2
Here’s a funky boogie rhythm over a 12 bar blues progression using hybrid picking and an octave run.

This one is fun to play and just sounds good.
DG's Boogie: Rhythm 2
For this one we're going to use hybrid picking. That is: pick, middle and ring fingers on consecutive sets of three strings.

The essence of this technique is to mute the bass notes and keep the notes very short and percussive. This allows the delay setting to work in your favor by setting up a classic slap back. It’s very important to pick every note. The effect will soften and lose its snap if you use hammer ons or pull offs.

+ 96 more lessons

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Reviews

15 results

FredRothe

Verified buyer

01/07/25

excellent course

kyushukev1

Verified buyer

08/17/23

Steve knows where the Voodoo is buried

I've honestly been enjoying this course. A great sale price piqued my interest, as did the word Voodoo. There's fun rhythms and leads. I haven't made it to the Jazz-a-billy, Double-Bump Jump or Shuffle Mania sections yet, but again, they look like fun. And Steve knows where the voodoo is buried.

Starglazer

Verified buyer

03/12/23

Great Tittle

Very precise lessons.and though .Explains the music very well. This course will take awhile but we’ll worth it. Steve is a excellent teacher and player. Thanks.

sindibad

09/21/22

Steve Trovato's Voodoo Blues

A lesson that brings subtlety to playing the guitar, you have to observe the teacher carefully. So goes the music.

MojoJeff

Verified buyer

07/24/22

Get this one! It has the magic.

Great program. Very well layed out and the concepts develop in a logical and easy to follow format.

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