boilermaster
Verified buyer
05/17/26
I've had a good time and learned much from this course. Thank You!
Essentials: Advanced Blues Rhythm
Take Your Blues Rhythm Guitar Skills to the Next Level
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About this course
Guitar players spend 90% of their time on stage locked into the rhythm section supporting a vocalist or other soloists. That’s why a player’s rhythm guitar skills are the key determining factor for getting and keeping a gig. It’s also why those guitarists get a lot more playing time at the jam. If you’re itching to take your rhythm guitar skills to the next level, dig deep now into this Advanced Blues Rhythm edition of Essentials from Jeff McErlain!
Robben Ford, Larry Carlton, David Grissom, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Freddie King, Billy Gibbons, Albert King, and Buddy Guy are just a few of the blues masters that might be known for their soloing skills but are all also highly respected for their rhythm guitar. Jeff will guide you through a series of rhythm guitar studies designed to equip you with many of the techniques, voicings, and rhythmic approaches of these and other legends of blues guitar.
”I've prepared ten performance studies that focus on the advanced rhythm skills that all of our favorite blues and blues rock guitar players use in their performances. We'll work on right-hand techniques like hybrid picking and muting. We’ll examine various chord inversions and the use of triads, sliding sixths, and partial chords. I’ll show you variations for each rhythm part to help you create dynamics like you would in a band setting.”
The ten performance studies cover a range of styles, tempos and feels including shuffles, funk, mambo, 12/8, country blues and Texas boogies. Jeff will first demonstrate the rhythm parts and then break them down for you.
All of the performance studies are tabbed and notated for your practice, reference and study purposes. You’ll also get Guitar Pro files so that you can play, loop and slow down the tab and notation as you work through the lessons. Plus, Jeff includes all of the backing tracks for you to work with on your own.
Grab your guitar and let’s turbocharge our blues rhythm chops with Jeff McErlain!
Robben Ford, Larry Carlton, David Grissom, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Freddie King, Billy Gibbons, Albert King, and Buddy Guy are just a few of the blues masters that might be known for their soloing skills but are all also highly respected for their rhythm guitar. Jeff will guide you through a series of rhythm guitar studies designed to equip you with many of the techniques, voicings, and rhythmic approaches of these and other legends of blues guitar.
”I've prepared ten performance studies that focus on the advanced rhythm skills that all of our favorite blues and blues rock guitar players use in their performances. We'll work on right-hand techniques like hybrid picking and muting. We’ll examine various chord inversions and the use of triads, sliding sixths, and partial chords. I’ll show you variations for each rhythm part to help you create dynamics like you would in a band setting.”
The ten performance studies cover a range of styles, tempos and feels including shuffles, funk, mambo, 12/8, country blues and Texas boogies. Jeff will first demonstrate the rhythm parts and then break them down for you.
All of the performance studies are tabbed and notated for your practice, reference and study purposes. You’ll also get Guitar Pro files so that you can play, loop and slow down the tab and notation as you work through the lessons. Plus, Jeff includes all of the backing tracks for you to work with on your own.
Grab your guitar and let’s turbocharge our blues rhythm chops with Jeff McErlain!
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
- Master hybrid picking technique
- Create authentic funk rhythm guitar groove
- Advanced blues chord voicing techniques
- Understanding mambo/rumba rhythmic feel
- Learn alternative ways to play blues progressions
Release date: 07/26/2017 • 2h 01m runtime
Sample lessons
Shake A Little
Overview
Shake A Little
Performance
Shake A Little
Breakdown
Affordable Shuffle
Performance
What's included
32 lessons • 10 charts • 10 Jam Tracks
Essentials: Advanced Blues Rhythm
Hi, I'm Jeff McErlain, and welcome to Essentials: Advanced Blues Rhythm. This course is a direct result of many emails I received from you. People have asked me to do a more advanced blues rhythm course, so here it is!
In this course, I'm going to cover 10 essential blues grooves with each one containing at least two variations upon the theme. I had a great time putting this one together as all the ideas and techniques are what I use on a daily basis.
I'll perform every piece, and then break it down for you pointing out everything you need to know. And of course, you'll also get the standard notation, rhythm tracks, and tabs to work with as well. So, grab your guitar and let's get started!
In this course, I'm going to cover 10 essential blues grooves with each one containing at least two variations upon the theme. I had a great time putting this one together as all the ideas and techniques are what I use on a daily basis.
I'll perform every piece, and then break it down for you pointing out everything you need to know. And of course, you'll also get the standard notation, rhythm tracks, and tabs to work with as well. So, grab your guitar and let's get started!
Shake A Little
This etude is based upon Little Walter's "Shake Dancer". When I first hear this tune, it kinda blew my mind it was so cool. The amount of cool info in the original and the number of variations on the rhythm part make it a fantastic study in what can be done on a blues.
I've simplified the parts a little to get you going, but please listen to the original very closely and learn it. It's one of those tunes I love exposing people to as it's one of the best performances I can think of. It's also a great tune, so that helps!
I've simplified the parts a little to get you going, but please listen to the original very closely and learn it. It's one of those tunes I love exposing people to as it's one of the best performances I can think of. It's also a great tune, so that helps!
Shake A Little
There's a lot going on here and it moves by pretty quickly. As with all the studies in this course, and in pretty much anything you'd like to learn, take some time and just listen to it first. Take it in and know what it's supposed to sound like before you tackle it. That may seem obvious, but I often have to relearn that little thought!
A lot of the motion and rhythm of the song comes from the right hand. We'll see that on just about every tune in this course. My right hand is consistently playing the eighth note rhythm whether I'm playing the strings or not. By keeping my right hand moving, I hopefully never lose the overall feel of the song. This can be little tricky, and my advice is to keep a nice loose wrist. That will help quite a bit. If the wrist is stiff or if the motion is primarily coming from the forearm, it won't groove!
A lot of the motion and rhythm of the song comes from the right hand. We'll see that on just about every tune in this course. My right hand is consistently playing the eighth note rhythm whether I'm playing the strings or not. By keeping my right hand moving, I hopefully never lose the overall feel of the song. This can be little tricky, and my advice is to keep a nice loose wrist. That will help quite a bit. If the wrist is stiff or if the motion is primarily coming from the forearm, it won't groove!
Shake A Little
We have three variations on this one, so three times through the form. For me, on any blues you want at least three variations you can mess with, which can really give you a lot to work with. Not all tunes call for it, but on something like this, we absolutely need at least three variations.
As you move through this course, you'll see a number of repeated chord voicings: Remember, you're not trying to reinvent the wheel. That does not mean things need to be boring or repetitive, but when playing in a classic blues style there are certain voicings that define the genre. Keep your tone fairly clean or completely clean when playing this one, that way we can hear all the chord voicings clearly.
As you move through this course, you'll see a number of repeated chord voicings: Remember, you're not trying to reinvent the wheel. That does not mean things need to be boring or repetitive, but when playing in a classic blues style there are certain voicings that define the genre. Keep your tone fairly clean or completely clean when playing this one, that way we can hear all the chord voicings clearly.
BBQ Boogie
You all know it, I'm a ZZ Top nut and here's a groove they're known for, a Texas boogie. Billy Gibbons rhythm guitar playing is pretty spectacular, and I've learned a ton from it. He's well steeped in blues history and is a huge fan of the instrument and players. The first six ZZ records are required listening for any rocker. In the 80's, they went a bit astray for my tastes, but made a fortune doing it and wrote some fantastic tunes in that period. The older stuff is timeless to me.
BBQ Boogie
What we have here is an A minor blues - it may not be the saddest of all keys, but it's close. This one has two variations, but of course feel free to experiment on your own. The first one is the basic boogie style riff: Pay close attention to my right hand as it's playing steady eighth notes. Note-wise, the riff is not that difficult, it's just all about sitting into the groove properly. In lingo, this is called "laying back", and it's hard to explain so I just try to visualize what Billy Gibbons looks like when he's playing. Super cool and relaxed. I use this sort of creative visualization all the time when trying to cop a groove that I particularly like. Just as if we think about what Keith Richards looks like when playing, that can influence our playing itself. So, pretend you're Billy!
BBQ Boogie
The second variation on this groove uses some very common voicings for minor seventh chords. It's important to keep the intensity of the song going while bringing down the dynamics. This is especially important when playing with musicians in any live situation; you always want to be looking at each other and making eye contact. This keeps the music a living and breathing thing. This is essential to being a good musician, especially in the blues. So, as you go through the song, experiment with playing with more or less intensity.
+ 25 more lessons
Reviews
15 results
scjames702
Verified buyer
05/01/21
Essentials: Advanced Blues Rhythm
Some of the offerings are a little basic, but there are lots of bits scattered, here and there across the selections, that make this blues/rock course worth the price--little aha! moments where I went "oh, that's how they do that!." Recommended.
Uschmed
Verified buyer
03/29/21
Top-notch again
Another great course by Jeff, a superb musician and extremely talented teacher. Like all the other of his courses I own highly recommendable.
Jo G.
04/20/20
Jeff McErlain's Essentials: Advanced Blues Rhythm
It's wonderful to learn from Jeff, a fantastic musician and teacher. I bought his Soloing-Course, too before and this is the ideal complement. My full recommendation. Thumbs up!
Eidolon
02/28/20
Great blues rhythm collection
This was exactly what I was looking for: different chord voicings, rhythms and styles. The riffs / licks are easy to digest, but still interesting and fun to play. And Jeff McErlain is not just an excellent guitar player, he's also a good teacher who explains the essence of the lessons in a very compact and understandable way.
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