Who is the course for?
This course is designed for anyone who wants to improve their guitar playing ability in general and their improvising skills in particular.
You don't need to have any previous knowledge to enjoy the course, but more experienced players will also find plenty of new ideas and useful tips and will have plenty to gain by working through the exercises.
What does the course cover?
Whether you aim to become an ace rock guitarist, a cool jazz player, or branch out into country, funk, reggae or soul, it is widely acknowledged that a thorough grounding in blues improvising is the essential first foundation.
The course starts out by familiarising you with the blues scales. By the end of the 10-part course you will have the ability to find these scales in any key at any position on the fretboard - this is a thorough approach that leads to real mastery of the subject in an area where so many guitarists remain stuck with a rather patchy command of it.
By combining left hand technique with a knowledge of the scales and an awareness of root note resolution (matching notes with underlying chords) you will learn to play some of the more commonly used blues licks.
The course then takes you through a series of exercises enabling you to create your own licks - the beginnings of developing your own unique playing style!
A major theme of the course is that, everything you learn, you are able to reproduce in other keys. You will also find you are equally able to play anywhere on the fretboard in each key. This helps you develop into a truly versatile musician who will be able to adapt to the demands of fellow band members or studio producers to come up with the goods on demand.
Once all these foundations are in place, the course shows you how they can be applied to othe rhythmic styles. You can use the backing tracks supplied with the course to move your playing into the Rock arena, or to chill out with some Jazz improv, a bit of reggae, soul or funk - a command of the blues scales is the key to the doors to all these musical worlds!
What form does the course take?
The course has a modular design. This means you can choose to study just one part of the course at a time or you can download the whole course in one go. It's up to you!
To help you decide, here is a breakdown of each module's contents:
Module 1
Target 1.1: Establishing the basics of good picking technique
Target 1.2: Command of first position blues scale patterns in E and A
Module 2
Target 2.1: To establish the basics of good left hand technique
Target 2.2: To be able to integrate left hand technique into blues scales
Module 3
Target 3.1: To learn some popular blues licks
Target 3.2: Learn how to transpose a lick
Target 3.3: Learn how to create new licks
Module 4
Target 4.1: To learn how to resolve phrases on root notes
Module 5
Target 5.1: To learn five positions for the blues scales in the key of E
Target 5.2: To learn the blues scale in E five-position warm-up drill
Module 6
Target 6.1: To learn two new licks in each position
Target 6.2: To learn to pair licks together in each position
Target 6.3: To transpose positional licks into the key of A
Module 7
Target 7.1: To complete the practice of blues scales in five positions in each of twelve keys.
Target 7.2: To learn how to instantly find the first or fourth position blues scale in any key
Module 8
Target 8.1: To be able to play blues rhythm in any key using the ‘E7’ shaped barre chord.
Target 8.2: To be able to jump from rhythm to lead in any key without disorientation.
Module 9
Target 9.1: To be able to play in any key from one end of the fretboard to the other.
Module 10
Target 10.1: To be able to play through the blues scales using a variety of different rhythmic feels.
About the Author
This course has been developed by veteran guitar teacher Nick Minnion. Nick has more than 35 years experience of teaching people how to play guitar and more than 10 years of experience in training guitar teachers. He has also written several books both on how to play and how to teach guitar.
You can find out more about Nick from one of his other websites:
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