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Guitar Lab: Slow Blues Principles, Vol. 5

Take your slow blues chops to the next level

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Guitar Lab: Slow Blues Principles, Vol. 5
Brad Carlton

Brad Carlton

Educator

—

Genres

About this course

Guitar Lab: Slow Blues Principles Vol. 5 takes everything we’ve explored so far and pushes it further—focusing on deeper expression, more refined phrasing, and greater control across the fretboard. With Brad Carlton guiding the way, we’ll expand our understanding of slow blues through new shapes, textures, and melodic approaches that bring even more nuance to our playing.

We’ll dig into phrasing that breathes, articulation that speaks, and dynamics that respond to the moment. As always, Brad delivers a clear and methodical approach, helping us internalize each concept so we can make more musical choices in real time.

Whether you’re continuing to build your voice or looking to unlock the next level of feel and control, this course is packed with insights that will sharpen your instincts and elevate your slow blues storytelling.

What you'll learn

  • Master the technique of comping and soloing simultaneously
  • Execute simultaneous comping and soloing technique
  • Learn to add chord tones and extensions to basic blues vocabulary
  • Strengthen groove and time feel through integrated rhythm and lead playing
  • Develop ability to move from pentatonic/blues scale approach to sophisticated dominant arpeggios
Release date: 09/01/2025 • 1h 39m runtime
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Sample lessons
Arpeggio Approaches | Targeting Guide Tones
Arpeggio Approaches | Targeting Guide Tones
Lesson & Demonstration

What's included

10 lessons • 1 charts • 1 Jam Tracks

I’m Brad Carlton with Slow Blues Principles Volume Five. In this course, I’ll be talking about the importance of guide tones—and from those guide tones, how to add other chord tones and extensions to move from gritty blues, like the minor pentatonic and blues scale approach, all the way up into dominant arpeggios, including the 9, the 7, the 6, and the 13.

You’re going to learn a lot of great things about how to practice, and you’ll also learn a very important principle: how to comp and solo back and forth, which will help strengthen your groove.

So grab your guitar, and let’s play some slow blues.
In this lesson, we cover how guide tones form the backbone of our comping and soloing, especially in blues. We’ll learn to identify and visualize the 3rds and flat 7ths in dominant 7th chords, using them to create melodic lines that strongly outline the harmony. By shifting between rhythm and lead using these tones, we gain a deeper sense of groove, phrasing, and harmonic clarity.
In this lesson, we’ll learn how to build and apply the basic dominant 7 arpeggios for each chord in a 12-bar blues progression. We’ll explore different fingering patterns, rhythmic phrasing, and practice approaches to help us internalize the sound and feel of each chord while maintaining a strong connection to the groove and chord changes.
In this lesson, we cover how to add the 6th into our dominant 7 arpeggios to expand our melodic vocabulary. By incorporating this tone, we’re able to infuse a sweeter, jazzier flavor into our lines and give ourselves more phrasing options during solos or comping. We’ll practice hearing and targeting the 6th so we can use it with confidence.
In this lesson, we explore the 7 add flat 3 arpeggio—one of the most powerful tools for blues soloing. Adding the flat 3 gives us that essential blues color while still outlining the chord clearly. We’ll use this shape to blend the sounds of traditional blues phrasing with strong harmonic targeting, helping us sound soulful and intentional.
In this lesson, we cover how to spice up our arpeggios even more by combining the flat 3 with the 6th. This gives us access to expressive melodic textures that blur the line between minor pentatonic and dominant chord sounds. It’s a great way to bring contrast, tension, and release to our phrases while keeping the harmony in focus.
In this lesson, we learn how to extend our dominant 7 arpeggios by adding the 9th, giving us a wider, more sophisticated sound. We’ll work on connecting this arpeggio to the chords we already know and using it to outline the blues form in a way that feels fluid and musical. This opens the door to smoother lines and richer harmonic movement.

+ 3 more lessons

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Reviews

2 results

Steviefloyd

Verified buyer

10/12/26

Slow but dynamic course

Very good course as usual with Brad. I don't stop to play it, from easy to more advanced lesson. Brad is always of a very good advice. I thought slow blues were regular blues but slower, Brad tought me not and I realy understood why. Thanks Brad and thanks Truefire

DavidAtWoodhorn

Verified buyer

10/12/25

Slow blues

An in-depth study of slow blues that I use as a follow-up to the previous minor blues studies.

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