Advanced Blues In 6 Weeks - Week 1

Embark on your blues guitar mastery journey with LickLibrary's "Advanced Blues In 6 Weeks - Week 1". This course is meticulously designed to enhance your blues guitar skills through comprehensive lessons on fast blues licks, hammer-on and pull-off techniques, left-hand strength for endurance, dynamic play, intricate phrasing, and expressive string bending. Each lesson is crafted to build foundational skills, necessary for any aspiring blues guitarist, aiming to elevate your playing style and inject soulful expressiveness into your performances. This course is taught by Stuart Bull.

Guitar Lesson Breakdown

Fast Blues Licks

Fast blues licks are the adrenaline of blues guitar playing, offering a pathway to exhilarating solos that captivate listeners. Learning these licks not only improves your agility on the fretboard but also enriches your musical vocabulary, enabling you to craft solos that breathe life into the blues' storied legacy.

Hammer-On and Pull-Off Techniques

The hammer-on and pull-off techniques are pivotal for fluid legato playing in blues music. These techniques enhance your playing speed without sacrificing clarity, allowing for seamless transitions between notes. Mastery of hammer-ons and pull-offs contributes to a more expressive and dynamic performance, embodying the soulful nuances of blues music.

Left Hand Strength and Stamina

Developing left-hand strength is crucial for maintaining stamina during extended playing sessions. This course emphasizes exercises that build endurance, ensuring your hand can comfortably navigate complex chord progressions and solos, thereby preventing fatigue and improving overall performance quality.

Dynamics and Digging In

Understanding dynamics and learning to 'dig in' allows for an emotive expression, varying the intensity and volume of your playing to convey feelings more profoundly. This course teaches you to manipulate string tension and picking strength, creating a rich tapestry of sound that resonates with the emotional depth of blues music.

Phrasing Ideas

Phrasing is the art of shaping musical sentences. It's what gives your soloing a voice. In this course, you'll explore various phrasing ideas that will help you break out of repetitive patterns, encouraging innovative solo constructions that tell a compelling musical story.

String Bending Techniques

String bending, including one and two-string bends, is a hallmark of expressive blues guitar playing. These techniques, when mastered, allow for the emulation of vocal-like qualities, adding a layer of soul and expressiveness to your playing that's synonymous with the blues genre.

Building Drama in a Solo

Creating tension and release through musical drama transforms good solos into unforgettable ones. This course delves into the strategies for building drama, teaching you to craft solos that capture the audience's attention and evoke strong emotional responses.

Performance Context

Each lesson includes a performance by the tutor, showcasing the practical application of the techniques covered. Witnessing these techniques in action within a performance context is invaluable, offering insight into how they can be integrated into your playing style, and highlighting the importance of context in music interpretation.

Practicing with a Backing Track

The inclusion of a backing track for practice is a significant advantage. It simulates a live playing environment, allowing you to apply the techniques learned in a realistic setting. Practicing with a backing track improves timing, groove, and interaction with other instruments, preparing you for ensemble playing and live performances.

Conclusion

"Advanced Blues In 6 Weeks - Week 1" is an essential course for guitarists looking to deepen their blues playing skills. With a focus on technique, expression, and musicality, this course sets the foundation for a comprehensive understanding and execution of blues guitar.

Guitar Techniques Used in This Course

• Hammer-Ons
• Pull-Offs
• String Bending

By immersing yourself in these lessons, you're not just learning to play the blues; you're becoming a part of its ongoing story, mastering the ability to express life's deepest emotions through your guitar.