Blues Guitar
Guitarists who know the blues have a natural advantage over those that don't. No matter what style they chose to play – jazz, rock, classical – having a blues background provides guitarists with a foundation in form, control, feel and harmonies that can be used to advance their playing in any genre of music. Blues Guitar Workshop begins by teaching the 12-bar blues harmony, basic rhythm guitar technique, and the pentatonic and blues scale in the open position up the neck. You'll learn to incorporate some of the nuances of the masters into your playing - from doubling the bass over a shuffle in the style of Buddy Guy, to combining major and minor pentatonic scales in the style of B.B. King and T-Bone Walker. Through call and response exercises and playing in other grooves and tempos, you'll learn to pace your solos to create tension and release – a technique mastered by all the greatest guitarists. You'll learn to reuse the concepts and musical elements to expand your musical foundation and enhance your ability, whether you're trying to bring a blues sound to your playing or adding more depth and feel to any other style.
In this course you will:
- Learn to play several styles of rhythm guitar, and solo over 8 and 12-bar progressions in E, G, and other keys, with varying tempos and grooves, including shuffles, straight eighth, and slow blues.
- Play pentatonic and blues scales in 5 positions up the neck, and use those fingerings while soloing.
- Play turnarounds, and use solo pacing and call and response techniques.
- Play examples and progressions from several styles of blues, including Chicago blues, gospel blues, jazz blues, and minor blues.
- Learn the techniques and licks of classic stylists, such as T-Bone Walker, Muddy Waters, Lightning Hopkins, B.B. King, Earl Hooker, and Magic Sam, whether you're trying to bring a blues sound to your playing, or interested in adding more depth to your own style.
- Learn basic finger style and slide techniques.
Ready to Enroll? |
Online Summer Term Starts July 1st
Course Info
| For-credit tuition: $1,400 |
|
Non-credit tuition: $1,200 Add 6 CEUs: $25.00 |
| Credits: 3 |
| Duration: 12 weeks |
| Catalog #: BMP-122a |
Course Faculty 
| Michael Williams Member of Grammy winner James Cotton's blues band. | |
Course Preview
Become a more versatile blues soloist and rhythm guitarist in several styles, keys, and at varying tempos and grooves. Learn pentatonic and blues scales, turnarounds, and chords, and listen to mind-blowing examples from some of the greatest stylists. Watch video demonstrations and get personalized feedback from instructor and Berklee professor Mike Williams, who teaches blues with personality and soul.
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Student Comments
In one of the writing sessions that we just had, I started playing one of the Blues licks that I learned in the Blues Guitar Workshop. And it morphed into something else, which then inspired one of the new songs we wrote together. I am now playing leads, and if I write a song I come up with the lead riffs. After the Berkleemusic experience, I am now a different player. Kristen Henderson, guitarist from Antigone Rising
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Berklee College of Music is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)
