Skeptical Guitarist

Author: Bruce Emery
Format: Book with Audio Online
Instrumentation: Guitar

First things first: the venerable Twelve Bar Blues chord progression, the backbone of the blues. You'll learn how to use the 1, 4 and 5 chords to do chordal accompaniment, the Blues Shuffle and the Guitar Boogie in the most common blues keys, A and E.

Then comes blues lead playing and improvisation. The Minor Pentatonic Scale in the Key of Em will be our first concern, with additional notes added as needed. Then we move on to the C-A-G-E-D box patterns that are found up the neck in the Key of Am and learn how to shape-shift. Finally come sections on slide guitar playing in standard, open G and open D tunings.

Table of Contents

• Comping for Twelve-Bar blues
• Blues Shuffle in the Key of A
• Swing Rhythm
• Variations
• Blues Shuffle in the Key of E
• Alternatives to the B riff
• Variations
• Syncopation
• Guitar Boogie in E - adding the 3rd
• The Major-Minor ambiguity
• Variations
• Harmonizing the Blues Shuffle
• Chordal comping for Blues in E
• Harmonizing and comping in A
• Blues lead playing Pentatonic Scale
• Em pentatonic box pattern
• Letter names of the notes
• Exercises
• Simple licks
• Extra notes
• Adding the 3rd
• Adding the b5th and the 7th
• Noodling with nine
• Adding the 2nd and the 6th
• Expanded box pattern
• Blues turnaround
• Singing the blues
• Hybrid blues
• Partial chord forms
• Here we go up the neck
• Movable Em box pattern
• Em shape of the Am
• pentatonic scale
• Exercises
• Simple licks
• Extra notesAdding the 3rd
• Adding the b5th and 7th
• Bending the 4th
• Adding the 2nd and 6th
• Double-stops
• Exercises in blues soloing
• Other box patterns
• Gm box pattern
• Dm box pattern
• Shifting between box patterns
• Cm box pattern
• Am box pattern
• Back to the Key of E
• Em box pattern / Em pentatonic scale
• Shape-shifting
• Major Pentatonic Scale
• Key of G
• Examples
• Here we go up the neck
• Keys of A and C
• Keys of D and E
• Slide Guitar
• Standard Tuning
• Am pentatonic scale
• Right-hand muting
• Open G Tuning
• Chords and accompaniment
• Playing lead
• Twelve Bar example
• Open D Tuning