GuitarManac

Intermediate

The blues

Play a 12-bar blues: the shuffle, seventh chords, a turnaround and your first blues lead.

10 lessons in 4 chapters

Start the course

What you'll learn

The 12-bar blues, rhythm and lead.

  • The shuffle
  • The 12-bar
  • Seventh chords
  • The turnaround
  • Blues licks and bends

What's inside

Chapter 2 · Seventh chords

  1. 3A7, D7 and E7A7, D7 and E7: one extra note each, and they sound like the blues.
  2. 4The 12-bar, strummedAll twelve bars strummed with a shuffle.
  3. 5The turnaroundThe lick that ends every chorus the way the records do.

Chapter 3 · Blues licks

  1. 6The blue noteOne extra note in the box, and your lead starts to sound like the blues.
  2. 7Licks that follow the chordsLicks that land on each chord, so the band hears you follow along.
  3. 8Bends in the bluesPush the string up and it cries. Bends, the blues way.

Chapter 4 · Two choruses

  1. 9Rhythm, then leadOne chorus of rhythm, one of lead: both jobs in a blues band.
  2. 10A slow bluesA slow blues, where every note and every gap counts.

Good next courses

Questions

How long is The blues?

10 lessons in 4 chapters, about 47 min in all. Each lesson takes 4 to 5 minutes, so one a day fits around anything.

What do I need before I start?

Reading tab, and box 1 from Your first solos helps for chapter 3. A guitar in standard tuning; the tuner in the app gets you there.

Is The blues free?

You can try the start of it for free, no account needed. The lessons marked with the pick come with Pro, which opens every course.

What should I learn after this?

Good next courses are Riffs and rock, Your first solos.