Groove is Essential
You know how it goes. There are a million things to learn on the internet, and no way to be sure which things are worth investing your time in, or if they're really going to help you get better at what you want to play.
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Fingerstyle blues also has a lot of moving parts: just as you get your thumb to play the right bass notes, it's time to start adding in the melody, and how are you supposed to remember all that tab in the first place?
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I've been teaching fingerstyle blues for over thirty years – via articles for Guitar Player and Acoustic Guitar, books for Alfred and Hal Leonard, videos for Homespun and Truefire, and on my own Youtube channel. And if there's one thing I'm sure of, it's this: even the simplest things will sound infinitely better if you have a good groove.
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By the same token, all the hot licks and cool tunes in the world won't sound their best until you can play them with the confidence and conviction that comes from having great right-hand coordination.
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So in this upcoming free workshop, we'll focus on the three most important things it takes to play a great fingerstyle blues groove: laying down a solid bass with your thumb, turning melody notes into swinging, musical phrases, and how to develop your rhythmic coordination.
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Once you have a game plan for those three things, you can quit chasing every new hot lick and stop getting bogged down in complicated tabs. Instead, you can rely on a concise, results-oriented practice routine, make the best use of your limited time, and start seeing steady, regular progress with your playing.
A Three-Step Method to Transform Your Guitar Playing
Lay Down The Bass
Your thumb is the rhythm section: it delivers the tempo, the pulse and the chord progression. Master the bass line first, and you'll never get lost again.
Turn Notes Into Phrases
Those notes in the tab aren't just numbers – they're a series of musical phrases. Learn to shape licks and melodies phrase by phrase and you'll immediately start sounding better.
Coordination ––> Groove
Your thumb and your fingers have to work together. If you can count to four, you can synchronize your licks and your bass line, and play with new rhythmic confidence and expression.
Do Less, Play More
If you're not getting better, it might be because you're working on too many songs, in too many styles, at too-fast tempos, in too-long practice sessions.
If that sounds familar, the thought of doing less probably sounds like a terrible idea – won't that mean you just progress at an even slower pace?
Everyone's learning process is a little different, but it's a pretty safe bet that if you narrow your focus and work on doing a few things with more care and deliberation, you'll get better at those few things a lot quicker than when you were scattering your time and attention every which way.Â
The question is, what are those few things, and how should you work on them? If you feel stuck playing the same songs over and over without getting better, it could be time to work on your groove. And the first step to a better groove is to take a song apart, from bottom to top.
In this three-part series, we'll start by separating the bass from the melody, so you can make each individual part as strong as possible. You'll learn how to use the bass part to keep track of the chord progression, and how to turn the notes of the melody into distinct, complete phrases.
Once you're clear on how the thumb plays the bass, and how the fingers spell out the melody, you can put them back together, using the steady bass line as your foundation. Working from the bottom up, you'll learn how to synchronize your fingers with your thumb, so that even the most syncopated licks still feel solid and coordinated.
Finally, we'll look at how to use bass runs, triplets and other rhythmic devices to maintain a consistent and compelling shuffle feel, no matter what the melody is doing.
Throughout the workshop, the emphasis will be on learning a few things well, understanding the ideas involved, and applying them right away to your own practicing and playing. All of the examples and exercises presented on screen will be tabbed out in a downloadable PDF, which you can get your hands on right now and start looking at before the workshop even begins.
HOW IT WORKS
Sign Up
Use the secure form below to sign up for and attend the live online workshop (or watch the replay later).
Take The Workshop
Learn how to play the form, play phrase by phrase, and get your thumb and fingers coordinated.
Transform Your Blues
Work with the tab, organize your practice plan, and get better by doing fewer things with more focus.
I can't watch the workshops when they stream. Can I watch them later?
I just started playing fingerstyle guitar. Will this workshop help me?
I'm a long-time player and already know plenty of tunes. What will I learn from these lessons?
How long are the live streams?
Where do I go to watch the lessons?
Free? Really?
FREE WORKSHOPÂ starts 09/17/24
GROOVE MASTER CLASS
LEARN TO PLAY WITH CONFIDENCE AND EXPRESSION
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