Blog

Blues Turnarounds

By: Frank Macri

Posted in: Blues Guitar Lessons

One element that all blues progressions have in common is the turnaround. The turnaround is the last two bars of the progression, where the tune gets ready to “turnaround” and go back to the beginning. Lets set the framework wit... Read Article

Variations Of The 12-Bar Blues

By: Frank Macri

Posted in: Blues Guitar Lessons

The 12-bar blues, using all dominant seventh chords, is the most common form of the blues progression. It’s 12 measures long and uses the first, fourth and fifth chords of a key. The chords are usually indicated with Roman numerals (I-IV-V) and... Read Article

The Pentatonic Major Scale

By: Frank Macri

Posted in: Blues Guitar Lessons

In the past I’ve written an article about the pentatonic minor scales, a basic foundation for developing a guitarist’s soloing. It’s only natural to focus this lesson on the pentatonic major scales. Like the pentatonic minor scal... Read Article

Gary Moore Blues Licks

By: Scott Gilliam

Posted in: Blues Guitar Lessons

The late Gary Moore (1952-2011) was one of the greatest guitarists of all time. As a young rock player, I had never heard anyone play the blues with such precision, passion, and such a robust tone. Gary’s music was soulful but still had the int... Read Article

Sixth Sense

By: Scott Gilliam

Posted in: Blues Guitar Lessons

When confronting the changes of a blues tune, the first scale the majority of players lean towards is the minor pentatonic. This generates some wonderful sounds but by itself it doesn’t provide all the chord tones in a typical I-IV-V. A few oth... Read Article

Using The Major Third In the Blues

By: Frank Macri

Posted in: Blues Guitar Lessons

Many blues players are very familiar with the pentatonic minor scale but fail to incorporate other sounds into their playing. This can result in a one-dimensional sound and also leave a player feeling like he’s in a rut with his playing. In thi... Read Article

Double Stops For Guitar Pt. 1

By: Scott Gilliam

Posted in: Blues Guitar Lessons

One of the most versatile techniques available on the guitar is the double stop. A double stop is two notes that are played simultaneously.  Because the guitar provides the ability to sound more than one note at a time, we in effe... Read Article

Double Stops For Guitar Pt. 2

By: Scott Gilliam

Posted in: Blues Guitar Lessons

This is the second installment of my lesson on double stops. For those who missed the first half of the lesson feel free to go here for a review. This time around we will check out some blues based double stops and delve into the Curtis Mayfield... Read Article

B.B Box

By: Scott Gilliam

Posted in: Blues Guitar Lessons

You know you have arrived as a guitarist when you have your own scale pattern named after you. Much like the “Hendrix Chord” a.k.a. E7#9 or the “Bo Diddley Beat”, blues guitar ambassador B.B. King has a scale fingering that ma... Read Article