January 20, 20207Comments

Borrowing Arpeggios…

This is a concept that I hear a lot in playing by modern blues players like Matt Schofield, Robben Ford, Larry Carlton, and others. It involves using a bit of music theory to...

by Griff

Lessons

January 17, 202011Comments

Jazz It Up – The I VI II V Turnaround (and more)

In a previous video we talked about using a ii-V instead of the V-VI in bars 9 and 10 of the 12 bar blues…. And in that video, I mentioned that the ii-V is often...

by Griff

Lessons

January 15, 20206Comments

That ii V Move In A Blues…

In this blues guitar lesson we’ll talk about one of the common-er jazz/jump style variations. It’s a ii-V (two-five) move over bars 9 and 10 of the 12 bar blues...

by Griff

Lessons

Practicing

Tones

January 14, 202018Comments

Pick, Fingers, Claw… Yes!

Albert King always used his fingers to pluck the strings… Stevie Ray Vaughan pretty much always used a pick… Robben Ford uses sort of a “claw” with...

by Griff

Lessons

January 10, 202013Comments

Brown Sugar Tweedly Noodling

This is kind of hard to explain, but I think you’ll find it fun… One of my students was asking about the intro to ZZ Top’s tune, “Brown Sugar,”...

by Griff

Lessons

January 8, 20206Comments

A Beginning Fingerstyle Pattern

I know it’s not blues, but sometimes it’s just fun to try a little something different… This is a simple fingerstyle pattern that is a good way to start to...

by Griff

Lessons

January 6, 202014Comments

Pentatonics With Interval Patterns

A lot of times my students will learn box 1 (and maybe box 2) of the pentatonic scale really well… But then when it comes to boxes 4 and 5… not so much....

January 2, 202017Comments

5 Tips For Better Blues Solos

Over the last few years I’ve found a few things that most every blues player can do to up their game just a bit. None of these require using something new, just...

by Griff

Lessons

December 31, 201918Comments

3 Easy Box 1 Blues Licks

Many, if not most, new blues players learn good old “Box 1” of the minor pentatonic scale, but that’s just a small part of the puzzle… In fact, you...

by Griff

Lessons

November 7, 20196Comments

Playing Steady Eighth Notes To Improve Your Aim

You have probably heard me talk about phrasing on more than one occasion… And I’ve certainly expounded upon the need to “leave some space,” in your...

by Griff

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