Like a lot of guitar players, you might have what you consider to be a pretty simple goal – to be able to play some songs.
Seems easy enough, right? We practice all these skills and drills… isn’t that so we can play some music at some point?
The answer, of course, is absolutely!
But the problem quickly becomes, how?
And more importantly, how do you take the fragments you learn in Blues Guitar Unleashed, or How To Build Blues Songs, and turn them into those songs?
Blues music is unique, along with jazz, in that there is a “standard” set of tunes. In fact, these “standards” are so common that you can take 6 people who have never met each other (a drummer, bass player, keyboard player, harmonica player, and 2 guitar players) and put them up on stage and call one of these tunes and they’ll probably play it pretty well with what appears to be a minimum of effort and a whole lot of fun.
The first part of that, the apparent lack of effort, is because the guys learned their skills and basics already before they got there… and they are comfortable with the elements of the blues song form (things like the 12 bar blues, intros, endings, bridges, breaks, etc.. like we talk about in How To Build Blues Songs.)
And the whole lot of fun part is so very true (I just threw that in to hopefully encourage you to do it.)
But let’s talk about what it means to play a song… and we’ll put together some recipes for how to “cook them up.”
There are literally hundreds of versions of this first tune as I’ve mentioned before.
I’m Tore Down
Recipe 1 –
- Lesson 6 From Blues Guitar Unleashed… one of the most common versions is Clapton’s on From The Cradle, and that’s the inspiration for lesson 6 in Blues Guitar Unleashed.
- And that lesson also contains one of the 2 most popular blues endings on the planet that can be used for pretty much any song at all!
Recipe 2 –
- 2 Note Chords for the groove instead of “The Tore Down Groove” You can use either “chicks” or “the comping pattern” from How To Build Blues Songs as your rhythm figure.
- Same breaks and ending as in Lesson 6
Recipe 3 – (and this is how I usually play it these days)
- Take it “From the V” using the “Blues In C” groove at a midtempo pace (that’s all in Lesson 8 but there it’s “Blues In D” so you move it down 2 frets.)
- Use the Little Chords shapes (from Lesson 4) and the rhythm from Lesson 2 for the main groove… or, again, use the comping pattern from How To Build Blues Songs
- Same breaks and ending as Lesson 6
Stormy Monday
What makes this tune unique is the variety of chords that might get used. Of course, they are all covered at some point in Blues Guitar Unleashed, but there are more than a few variations floating around out there.
Recipe 1 –
- Use “The Stormy Slide” from Lesson 7 in Blues Guitar Unleashed (also in How To Build Blues Songs) as the basic groove
- Standard 12 Bar progression (from lesson 2) in the key of G.
- Don’t forget solo 3 slowed down and/or licks (or the whole thing) from solo 4 in Blues Guitar Unleashed. If you want something easier, try the slow blues option from 5 Easy Blues Solos, works great!
- use the Tore Down ending from Lesson 6 in Blues Guitar Unleashed, just slower. That ending is also shown in How To Build Blues Songs.
Recipe 2 –
- Use The Tore Down Rhythm from lesson 6… it even works over a slow blues (check Albert King do it about 2 minutes into The Sky Is Crying.)
- Add in the standard Allman Brothers changes from Fillmore East
- Use a blues half step for the ending from How To Build Blues Songs.
Let The Good Times Roll
Shoot, I can think of several versions of that just off the top of my head that don’t sound even remotely similar, but let’s say you want to play it something like BB King plays it…
Recipe 1 –
- Stick with the Little chords (lesson 4) but make a 2 bar groove – the first bar is the rhythm from lesson 3 (don’t forget those 9th chords) and the 2nd bar of the groove is the rhythm from Lesson 1.
- Solo? Drop Solo 3 in and enjoy… but extra bonus points for Solo 5 🙂
Recipe 2 – (more Chuck Berry style)
- Your groove is now Lesson 8, “Blues In A” or you can move it whatever key is comfortable.
- I have to admit, though, the perfect solo for this recipe is the Straight Rock and Roll solo from 5 Easy Blues Solos, though you could drop Solo 1 in from Blues Guitar Unleashed easily enough.
Recipe 3 – (basically the same as above but with a swing to it like Brad Paisley does it with BB King…)
- Same groove as above, just in a swing feel (covered in Lesson 16 if you don’t quite understand the difference.)
- Solo 3 is darn near perfect here… but if you can swing it solo 6 would be really cool!
- As with all the others… the lesson 6 ending is the way to go.
Of course… I’d love for you to find some other recipes to classic tunes and post them in the comments below. There are zillions of them out there if you start to look.
And if you don’t already have Blues Guitar Unleashed (shame on you 😉 then you might want to start with these 3 Classic Blues Rhythms and The 4 Note Solo.
Now go play!
Want to have access to all of the lessons I mentioned in this article? Try out the Blues Guitar Unleashed All Access Pass…
33 replies to "Some Recipes For Blues Songs"
Hey Griff, Since I wrote the comment above back in 2016, I have progressed quite well with all the BGU Courses in bits & pieces Now that I understand the structure of the BGU Courses etc I am going through them at my pace in order to complete them. Once I have got through all these courses I will be looking at the All Access Pass.
What I like most about the All Access Pass is the online Workshop twice a week and about Gear and How you record lessons with Video Camera etc for a Youtube etc and How to prepare for a BGU Live etc. BUT in Australia we have a pathetic Internet speed and the New NBN will only be FTTP at the next election in 2019. So to have All Access Pass would have to wait until we get faster Internet speed to particpate.
But AAP is a great idea.
Michael-Sydney-Australia 3 May 2018.
Cheers Griff
For the advice
Rustles opinion is in my mind out of order he doesn’t seem to complain about the free videos you send out everyday
Once I Finnish the courses that I have purchased from you I will be looking into the full access
😎🎶
hey Griff Though I am not an “all blues all the time”guitar player I do enjoy playing them along with all the “Big Band pop” songs from the 1940’s & western swing ( Bob Wills…& many others) ..The old Rock & Roll songs ie Chuck Berry.. Jimmy Rodgers …yodel songs,, Bing Crosby Perry Como …Now before I continue with ( all about me rhetoric) I am 85 yrs old ..got my first guitar when I was 14..I liked (like) all types of music thought I could play well until I heard Chet Atkins & Merle Travis play! That “ruined”me! I had to learn that style! Playing rhythm on the bass strings and the melody on the treble strings at the same time! Now back to you Griff & the passion you have for the blues..I really admire your knowledge & the way you teach ( as if each student needs all the details and we do!) I am most interested in your chord construction and it really helped me to teach how to take known ( basic chords) & form more complex chords ..ie…C to become Cmaj7 by lifting the fore finger.. or add the 5th note for C7..these are the most elementary examples…but your instructions go on for many more chords..6ths,9ths,11ths …these you take and build extended chords ..how to build flat/sharp 5ths..9ths etc. By knowing your method…I don’t have to go get my chord manual and look up a chord in a song …I can use your method & construct it! I have your “guitar theory made useful”and easy( of course I know you don’t mean easy without studying & practicing! But I highly recommend this course for any guitar player regardless of his/her type of music preference! BTW! I know that you don’t condemn the guitar player that described your “marketing as strong armed presentation! You say all the time..” Let me know your(our)THOUGHTS…on anything…opinion…agree or disagree…I know you mean this BC that’s what a good teacher does! Thanks for keeping the love for the guitar alive and well..Jack Maxey.
Man, lots to say. First and foremost, I didn’t like the comment about Griff being a high pressure salesman. Jeff handled that comment more than adequately, so I won’t go there. I have several courses from Griff. I’m an old guy that played 80’s Metal most of my life. I started to enjoy Blues and found BGU Online. Felt I could relate to Griff and bought Beginning Blues Guitar. I had already been playing for 35 years. It was the best investment I ever made. The people on the Forum are second to none. When Griff came out with BGU 2.0, one of the members on the Forum was GIVING away his 1.0 course. I asked him for it as I was strapped for Cash at the time, and he sent it postage paid! My financial picture has changed since then and I’ve bought many other courses from Griff. I guess the point is….Not only is Griff top-notch, so are the members of BGU. If you feel the need to bad mouth either one, get the f*%k off our page. Just my .02🎸
I found this article inspiring. It is not a hard sell. For owners of BGU like me it provides practical advice on how to apply what you have learned. It invites us to get out and play and it shows us how to do that.
I see this message as Griff adding value to his community for free. It seems to me that he is genuinely interested in the blues movement and wants his students to get out and play, have fun and be better players.
If you don’t own BGU, I think you can find most of what Griff is talking on his YouTube posts or on YouTube and apply his ideas.
Why is it inspiring for me? It shows me a path out of the basement to friends I can informally jam with. It removes my fear of taking that first step.
Griff Take this idea and expand it. Pull out one for your backing tracks and show us how you would play the rhythm to it using “stuff” from your courses (like the blues stew video you did but with a specific song).
This new(ish) hard sell approach you’ve been using recently isn’t particularly endearing Griff. You need to back off a little if you don’t want to lose a lot of your followers. Keep the sales pitch to a reasonable level and keep your fans.
What hard sell? He has a new service and a new product that he is promoting. Capitalism is a VERY good thing.
Griff, I got this…
Rustie: Girff isn’t selling anything, okay? He doesn’t have to. His stuff sells itself.
Now, think about this. A large percentage of people who read this thread already have some, if not all, of the courses Griff refers to. My guess is that an overwhelming percentage of the people who read this thread already have most or all of the courses Griff refers to in this thread.
So all Griff is doing is saying:
“Hey, if you need some examples of practical application of the materials in the courses, here you go. You can use the stuff you learn in my courses like this…and it’s real world songs you know and like. And the songs are popular. So if you put the stuff you learn in the courses to use like this, you can go to an open jam or open mic and use it in the real world.”
If you don’t happen to have access to the courses, then you aren’t invested. You don’t have to worry about what to do with the knowledge you’ve gained, and you can disregard this thread.
On the other hand (wait a minute, here comes the arm-twisting hard sell) if you are intrigued by how Griff’s courses can be used to play real songs in the real world, you might want to consider taking him up on his offers.
You can get access to everything he offers for only $20/mo and if after 30 days you find it’s not for you, just ask, he’ll regund your $20.
If you want get one (or more) of his full blown courses to own, Griff has a 365-day money back guarantee. He’ll refund ALL your money in a year if you ask for a refund. No. Questions. Asked.
My personal experience with Griff’s is as follows. I bought Blues Guitar Unleashed 1.0 for FULL PRICE. (I forget what it was, but I want to say it was nearly $200, maybe $197). Before the 365 days was up, Griff came out with Blues Guitar Unleashed 2.0 for only $65 (or something close to it). I felt a little bad about doing this, but I did it, I had Griff refund me the $200 on BGU 1.0 and I bought BGU 2.0. There were no hassles. I asked for a refund. The refunded me my $200 for BGU 1.0. Then I bought BGU 2.0 for the low roll-out price.
Griff’s courses are worth WAY more than he charges if you consider the cost of private lessons. Griff’s courses are well organized and they take you step-by-step, progressing each step of the way as you go. You know what you’re buying before you get it. And if you don’t like it, ask for your money back. With a private teacher, I never had a teacher explain to me before hand what he had in mind for what I was going to learn. I would just show up and get a lesson. Never knew what the context was–how it would fit in the big picture. Never got my money back. And in 3-4 lessons I spend more than one of Griff’s most expensive courses. And when a lesson with a private teach is gone, it’s gone. I can go over Griff’s lessons again and again and again. Already paid for.
You know what Rusty? What do you do for a living. What’s your job? Do you work for free? Do you give your labor away for free to countless thousands of people you don’t know? I didn’t think so.
You don’t owe Griff a thing. You don’t have to buy anything. You can stay on his email list for free. You can check out his 100’s of free videos. You don’t have to buy anything.
But what you can do is to shut up about Griff being a high-pressure salesperson. If you don’t like Griff get off his mailing list and don’t come back.
*Here’s a hack. Wait for Griff’s next 40% off everything sale, he’s does them several times a year.*
Have a good day.
Good job Jeff, well put my friend. I posted a comment as well, but didn’t beat up Rusti’s comment too much as you already handled it. Good job!🎸
very confusing. what should I do know.?
Hey Griff,
These are all good and now that I am progressing through BGU Vol 2 and BGIAB Vol 1 & 2 as well as 5 Easy Blues Solos and many bits of your other courses it is now all falling into place.
Thanks
Michael-Sydney-Australia May 2016.
An excellent way to focus more on what’s not only fun but popular.
Solo 5 from 5 easy blues solos works great with Sweet Home Chicago or Before You Accuse Me. Slight adjustment is needed because those two are a quick change and the solos are not. Just showing others how to make those adjustments would be a good lesson.
I’ve always been fascinated by, but don’t really “own” many 1 x 12 licks, ala Further on Up the Road, where one lick works throughout the changes…Got any plans, recipes, in that direction?
The latest slow and shuffle blues formula course is aces, btw…thanks!
I use several practically note for note in some songs.
like
5 easy Blues Solos – Solo 3 & Walking by Myself – Gary Moore and
5 Easy Blues Solos – Solo2 for Red House again the Gary Moore version, but nearly identical rhythm wise as Hendrix.
On the BGU Forum, we have an entire thread specifically dedicated to “Griff’s solos and where they work”
Griff, this is awesome and very much needed.
If you made a course of recipes I’d buy it.
Griff, this is an outstanding motivational lesson, you cover a lot of ground here as you normally do. Please keep it going. I’ve got BGU and a couple other courses of yours and their all great. Re-learning things I forgot a long time ago and learning things I never thought of before.
You always make it so interesting – you are the best motivator- How about really mixing it up and offer up some of the English Blues bands stuff from the mid 60’s to mid to’s – Chicken Shack , John Mayall
This is great; but it will be fantastic if you can produce another edition of “Blues Gig in a Box”.
BGIAB is a fantastic tool for those like me that are starting to find the “Blues Groove”
Keep doing the great work
All the best
Hey Griff,
I just wanted to say THANKS for the daily motivation! I look forward to the daily email, whether its a blog or lesson or promotion or just saying check out a video by some blues artist. I’ll say I definitely pick up the guitar more often because of that. Keep it coming.
Thanks
DB
More good stuff thanks!
Dave
Wow there’s a whole lot here – take a month to digest, but hey thanks
BEEN THROUGH BGU 3 TIMES AND A WEEK LATER IT’S LIKE GONE!. LOL. I FOUND THAT MY MEMORY HAS GOTTEN BAD. ALL THOSE LICKS AND THE SECTIONS YOU MENTIONED ARE CLUES TO ME. NOW I HAVE TO PUT THE DVD BACK IN THE PLAYER AND “FIND MY WAY HOME” (TRAFFIC, STEVE WINWOOD)
Correction: Blind Faith. Not Traffic. 😉
Great stuff Griff I have the 2 CD box set of the Allman Bros live at the Fillmore East so the whole stormy lesson hits home for me now using that slide in my solos many many thanks !!!!
Nicely done Griff! As always, you combine that rare talent of being an AWESOME TEACHER AND PLAYER!! It was great to see you last week for BGU Live. Keep Bluesing on my friend.
Bob Utberg (Denver, CO)
Boffo
How about “The Ultimate Country Song ” by David Allen Coe. Has all the ingredients for a blues song : rain,momma,prison,trains, pickup trucks,etc. The other title is “You Didn’t Even Call Me By My Name” If you have never heard it, it is a scream!
This is one of the reasons I keep telling my friends and family about you. You make something sound approachable; not too technical or beyond the realms of possibility for a serious student. I unfortunately do not place myself in that label but I do try. Thank you Griff. I for one would welcome a similar approach to other tunes that, in part, might be in keeping with some of the many courses I have purchased from you.
Have just received my blues guitar unleashed and am really looking forward to getting started,will let you know how much I improve.cheers for now.ray
I just was saying to you that the courses allways leave me wanting more.
This is pretty much the “more” I was alluding to. Well put. And when I get
home tonight, I’m picking up my guitar and gonna cook! Or at least try!!
Genius!
This is an absolutely brilliant idea.
I hope there’ll be more!
Thanks,
Dave