Acoustic Blues Guitar Unleashed

Acoustic Blues Guitar Unleashed TM
“Playing On The Porch” Style Blues
By
Griff Hamlin
Thank you to my wife, Laura, and my family for your continued support and patience. Also, a special
thanks to all of my students, past and present, who continue to push me in discovering new and better
ways to teach. Thank you to all of my customers and fans of my music. Without you, none of this would
be possible.

Griff Hamlin's Guitar Unleashed, Inc.
387 Magnolia Ave., Ste. 103-412
Corona, CA 92879

Copyright © 2012 by Griff Hamlin
International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved

No part of this publication (music, video, audio, or written) may be reproduced in any form or by any
means without express written consent of the publisher.

Revised December, 2019

Acoustic Blues Guitar Unleashed – Playing On The Porch Style Blues Griff Hamlin
Contents
CD Track Listing .................................................................................................................. 5
CD 1 .............................................................................................................................. 5
CD 2 .............................................................................................................................. 5
About the Author ................................................................................................................. 6
Introduction (DVD 1) .......................................................................................................... 7
How To Use This Course (DVD 1) ....................................................................................... 8
Lesson 1 – Tuning (DVD 1) ................................................................................................ 11
Tuning Notes (CD 1, Track 1) ...................................................................................... 11
Lesson 2 – Picks, Fingers, Pick And Fingers (DVD 1) ...................................................... 12
Example 1 ................................................................................................................... 12
Example 2 ................................................................................................................... 13
Example 3 ................................................................................................................... 13
Example 4 ................................................................................................................... 13
Example 5 (CD 1, Track 2) ......................................................................................... 14
Example 6 (CD 1, Track 3) ......................................................................................... 15
Example 7 ................................................................................................................... 16
Example 8................................................................................................................... 16
Example 9 ................................................................................................................... 16
Example 10 ................................................................................................................. 16
Example 11...................................................................................................................17
Example 12 ..................................................................................................................17
Example 13 ..................................................................................................................17
Example 14 ................................................................................................................. 18
Example 15 ................................................................................................................. 18
Lesson 3 – Learning Note Names (DVD 1) ....................................................................... 19
Lesson 4 – Basic Timing And Counting (DVD 2) ............................................................. 20
Example 16 (CD 1, Track 4)........................................................................................ 23
Example 17 (CD 1, Track 5) ........................................................................................ 24
Example 18 (CD 1, Track 6) ....................................................................................... 25
Example 19 ................................................................................................................. 26
Example 20 ................................................................................................................ 26
Example 21 ................................................................................................................. 26
Example 22 ................................................................................................................. 26
Example 23 ................................................................................................................. 27
Example 24................................................................................................................. 27
Example 25 (CD 1, Track 7) ....................................................................................... 28
Example 26................................................................................................................. 29
Lesson 5 – Timing And Counting in 12/8 And Eighth Note Triplets (DVD 2) ................ 30
Example 27 (CD 1, Track 8) ....................................................................................... 31
Example 28 ................................................................................................................ 32
Example 29................................................................................................................. 32
Example 30 ................................................................................................................ 33
Example 31 ................................................................................................................. 34
Example 32 ................................................................................................................. 34
© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 2

Lesson 6 – Blues Chords In E (DVD 3) ............................................................................. 35

Example 33 (CD 1, Tracks 9, and 10 for Slow and Full Speed) ................................. 37
Lesson 7 – The “Blues In E” Rhythm (DVD 3) ................................................................. 39
Example 34 (CD 1, Tracks 11 and 12) ......................................................................... 40
Example 35 (CD 1, Tracks 13 and 14) ........................................................................ 41
Lesson 8 – The E Minor Blues Scales (DVD 3)................................................................. 42
The E Minor Pentatonic Scale ................................................................................... 42
The E Minor Blues Scale ............................................................................................ 42
Example 36 ................................................................................................................. 43
Example 37 ................................................................................................................. 43
Example 38................................................................................................................. 43
Example 39 ................................................................................................................. 44
Example 40 ................................................................................................................ 44
Lesson 9 – Extending The Blues And Pentatonic Scales (DVD 3) ................................... 45
E Minor Pentatonic, Box 2 ......................................................................................... 45
E Minor Blues, Box 2 ................................................................................................. 45
Example 41 ................................................................................................................. 46
Example 42................................................................................................................. 46
Example 43 ................................................................................................................. 47
Lesson 10 – Little Chord Shapes (DVD 3) ........................................................................ 48
Lesson 11 – 9th Chords (DVD 3) ........................................................................................ 49
Lesson 12 – The Turnaround (DVD 4).............................................................................. 50
Example 44................................................................................................................. 50
Example 45 ................................................................................................................. 50
Lesson 13 – The 12 Bar Blues Form (DVD 4) ................................................................... 51
Lesson 14 – ”Down To The Station” Blues (DVD 4) ......................................................... 53
Down To The Station (CD 1, Tracks 15 and 16) ............................................................. 53
Lesson 15 – Keeping The Bass Going (DVD 4) ................................................................. 56
Example 46................................................................................................................. 56
Example 47 ................................................................................................................. 56
Example 48 ................................................................................................................ 57
Example 49................................................................................................................. 57
Example 50................................................................................................................. 58
Driftin’ Away Blues (CD 1, Tracks 17 and 18) ................................................................ 59
Lesson 16 – Thump Bass And Solo (DVD 4) .................................................................... 61
So Low You Can’t Hear It (CD 1, Tracks 19 and 20) ..................................................... 62
Lesson 17 – Box 3 Of The Blues Scale (DVD 5) ................................................................ 63
Example 51 ................................................................................................................. 64
Lesson 18 – Rambling All My Days (DVD 5, CD 1 Tracks 21 and 22) .............................. 65
Lesson 19 – Like Stevie Does It (DVD 5) .......................................................................... 67
Example 52 (CD 1, Tracks 23 and 24) ....................................................................... 67
Example 53 (CD 1, Tracks 25 and 26)........................................................................ 68
Sweet Little Lady (CD 1, Tracks 27 and 28) .................................................................. 70
Lesson 20 – Blues In A Rhythm (DVD 6) ......................................................................... 73
Example 54 (CD 1, Tracks 29 and 30) ....................................................................... 73
Example 55 (CD 1, Tracks 31 and 32) ........................................................................ 74
Lesson 21 – Chords And Blues Scale In A, And The Old Mississippi Blues (DVD 6) ...... 75

Old Mississippi Blues (CD 1, Tracks 33 and 34) ........................................................... 76

A Minor Pentatonic, Box 1 ......................................................................................... 79
A Minor Blues, Box 1 .................................................................................................. 79
A Minor Blues, Box 2 ................................................................................................. 81
A Minor Blues, Box 3 ................................................................................................. 82
A Minor Pentatonic, Box 4 (high register) ................................................................ 83
A Minor Pentatonic, Box 4 (open position) ............................................................... 83
A Minor Blues, Box 4 (high register) ......................................................................... 84
A Minor Blues, Box 4 (open position) ....................................................................... 85
A Minor Blues, Box 5 ................................................................................................. 86
Example 56 ................................................................................................................. 87
Example 57 ................................................................................................................. 87
Lesson 22 – Mean Old Woman Blues (DVD 6, CD 1 Tracks 35 and 36) .......................... 89
Lesson 23 – Key of G and the 8 Bar Blues (DVD 6) ......................................................... 92
Example 58 (CD 2, Tracks 1 and 2) ........................................................................... 93
Lesson 24 – The Major Blues Scale (DVD 7) .................................................................... 97
Example 61 (lick 1) ................................................................................................... 100
Example 62 (Lick 2) ..................................................................................................101
Example 63 (Lick 3) ..................................................................................................101
Lesson 25 – Using The Major And Minor Blues Sounds Together (DVD 7).................. 104
Long Time Coming Blues (CD 2, Tracks 7 and 8) ....................................................... 105
Lesson 26 – Jazzy G Blues With Walking Bass Line (DVD 7, CD 2 Tracks 9 and 10) ... 107
Lesson 27 – Almost Alone, Solo 1 (DVD 7, CD 2 Track 11).............................................. 112
Lesson 28 – Almost Alone, Solo 2 (DVD 8, CD 2 Track 12) ............................................ 115
Lesson 29 – Almost Alone, Solo 3 (DVD 8, CD 2 Track 13) ............................................ 119
Lesson 30 – Alternating Bass Notes (DVD 8) ................................................................ 122
Example 64............................................................................................................... 122
Example 65 ............................................................................................................... 122
Example 66............................................................................................................... 123
Example 67 ............................................................................................................... 123
Example 68 .............................................................................................................. 123
Example 69............................................................................................................... 124
Example 70 ............................................................................................................... 124
Example 71 ............................................................................................................... 124
Example 72 (CD 2, Tracks 14 and 15) ...................................................................... 125
Lesson 31 – The House Of The Rising Sun (DVD 8, CD 2 Tracks 16 and 17) .................127
Lesson 32 – Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out (DVD 8, CD 2 Tracks 18
and 19) ............................................................................................................................. 130
Lesson 33 – Amazing Grace (DVD 9, CD 2 Tracks 20 and 21)........................................ 131
Lesson 34 – Deep River Blues (DVD 9, CD 2 Tracks 22, 23, and 24) ............................ 132
Lesson 35 – St. Louis Blues (DVD 9, CD 2 Tracks 25, 26, and 27) ................................ 134

CD Track Listing
CD 1
1. Tuning Notes 21. Ramblin’ All My Days, Slow
2. Example 5 Speed
3. Example 6 22. Ramblin’ All My Days, Full Speed
4. Example 16 23. Example 52, Slow Speed
5. Example 17 24. Example 52, Full Speed
6. Example 18 25. Example 53, Slow Speed
7. Example 25 26. Example 53, Full Speed
8. Example 27 27. Sweet Little Lady, Slow Speed
9. Example 33, Slow Speed 28. Sweet Little Lady, Full Speed
10. Example 33, Full Speed 29. Example 54, Slow Speed
11. Example 34, Slow Speed 30. Example 54, Full Speed
12. Example 34, Full Speed 31. Example 55, Slow Speed
14. Example 35, Full Speed 33. Old Mississippi Blues, Slow
15. Down To The Station, Slow Speed Speed
16. Down To The Station, Full Speed 34. Old Mississippi Blues, Full Speed
17. Driftin’ Away Blues, Slow Speed 35. Mean Old Woman Blues, Slow
18. Driftin’ Away Blues, Full Speed Speed
19. So Low You Can’t Hear It, Slow 36. Mean Old Woman Blues, Full
Speed Speed
20. So Low You Can’t Hear It, Full
Speed
CD 2
2. Example 58, Full Speed 16. House Of The Rising Sun, Slow
3. Example 59, Slow Speed Speed
4. Example 59, Full Speed 17. House Of The Rising Sun, Full
5. Example 60, Slow Speed Speed
6. Example 60, Full Speed 18. Nobody Knows You, Slow Speed
7. Long Time Coming Blues, Slow 19. Nobody Knows You, Full Speed
Speed 20. Amazing Grace, Slow Speed
8. Long Time Coming Blues, Full 21. Amazing Grace, Full Speed
Speed 22. Deep River Blues, Slow Speed
9. Jazzy G Blues, Slow Speed 23. Deep River Blues, Medium Speed
10. Jazzy G Blues, Full Speed 24. Deep River Blues, Full Speed
11. Almost Alone 1 25. St. Louis Blues, Slow Speed
12. Almost Alone 2 26. St. Louis Blues, Medium Speed
13. Almost Alone 3 27. St. Louis Blues, Full Speed
14. Example 72, Slow Speed

About the Author

Hello, my name is Griff Hamlin. I have been a professional
guitarist and guitar teacher for over 25 years. I’ve been
fortunate enough to have taught tens of thousands of
people – all over the world – how to play the guitar.
And many of those students had never picked up the

instrument even once before starting lessons.
In addition, I have been a performing musician since the

age of 15, and have performed as many as 200 concerts per
year at some points of my career. I’ve been fortunate
enough to tour all over the world including Poland and
Eastern Europe, Turkey, Italy, Korea, and of course all
over the United States. I have released 2 albums so far,
and played on releases by several other artists.
As for my academic background, I studied music at the

prestigious USC Thornton School of Music, and I have taken private lessons from some
of the best guitarists in the world. I continue to try and improve and practice every day. I
get enormous joy from playing the guitar and making music, and I hope you will too.
I currently reside in Southern California with my wife and son. I teach and perform
regularly all around Orange, Riverside, and Los Angeles counties. You can find out more
about me, and what’s going on with me currently, by visiting my website at
http://www.griffhamlin.com.
I also have additional Blues Guitar courses available. Check out

http://bluesguitarunleashed.com for more information.

Introduction (DVD 1)
It’s important to understand the method to my madness on something like this. In
designing this course and how it would go together I had to take a few interesting things
into account:
1. Not everyone is at the same level. I’m assuming you’re not a total beginner,
but past that I’m not 100% sure where you are and what I have to work with.
In my experience, if I take 10 guitar players with 2 years experience each…
each guitar player will have big differences in what they know and don’t know.
2. Maybe you’re coming from an electric background, and maybe you’ve never
picked up an electric. This may be all new, or simply a change of pace from
what you usually play.
3. Maybe you play with a pick, maybe you use your fingers, and maybe you want
to be able to use both. Personally, I believe you should be able to do things
either way. So I’ll use whatever makes sense for the music we’re playing.
So with those things in mind, I’ve designed the course to go in order as best as I can. But
you may find that some sections are really easy for you.
However, I encourage you to at least watch the sections that are easy for you and work
through the examples, no matter how simple.
You might learn some little trick or some new little way of looking at something that will
help you at some point. But also, you’ll get used to me and my mannerisms and how I
look at the guitar. This will help with later explanations that might not be so clear.
Knowing how I approach easy things will probably help you in understanding how I
approach harder things.
The first few lessons will be foundational and not as musical. I can’t really just throw a
song in front of you if you can’t actually do the stuff in the song! Again, I don’t know
where you are so I’m going to go through the stuff that you need to know that you may
not know already.

How To Use This Course (DVD 1)

This is where I have to get on my soapbox and talk about “the good old days…” for a
minute. It won’t take long, I promise… and I urge you to read this story as it really will
make the difference between success and failure in many cases.
When I was a kid learning to play the guitar, there was no internet as we know it. In
addition, I lived in a small town. Getting access to recorded music was difficult and
expensive. (If you think about it, a record in the 1970s didn’t cost a whole lot less than a
CD does today. But when you factor in inflation, music has gotten really inexpensive.)
So when we (and I mean kids of my age at the time) heard a song that was cool and we
wanted to learn it, we listened to it over and over and over again. Usually we had the
whole song memorized backwards and forwards before even attempting to try and play
it.
Now the next problem was that the sheet music to the song A) didn’t exist B) couldn’t be
had because there were no music stores in town, or C) was only in Piano/Vocal/Guitar
arrangement which meant there were just words, chord symbols, and piano music. None
of which was going to be what the guitar player actually played on the recording.
So we had but one choice… drop the needle on the record, grab a guitar and try to figure
it out as best as we could. Sometimes we made it, sometimes we didn’t.
It wasn’t until I had been playing guitar for a few years already that Guitar magazines
started publishing song transcriptions. What an incredible day that was! No longer was
the music a piano player’s “arrangement” but somebody actually figured out what the
guitar player was playing and wrote it out note-for-note.
But even at that, the magazine showed up once per month, and had 4 songs. Not bad
when you think about it, but I usually was only interested in 1… maybe 2 songs. So there
still wasn’t much available.
Fast forward to today, and my, how things have changed. You can visit any number of
different web sites and have instant access to literally hundreds of thousands of songs
and probably at least as many guitar TAB arrangements.
There is no shortage of information on just about any subject you can think of. In fact,
there is too much now… especially in the area of learning musical instruments.
When I first came out with my original Blues Guitar Unleashed course, I took it from all
of my years of teaching privately. But there was one thing I had not factored in because
in a private environment I didn’t’ see it nearly as much…
This new “X Factor” was the missing, yet critical component to successfully learning
how to play an instrument – something I call active listening.

With such a huge availability of music, most students no longer have to listen to the
same song over and over again. So they never internalize the rhythm and the pulse of
the music. They just jump in and start playing.
That can be okay for a good musician who has training and/or experience to guide the
way. I, for example, can look at a tab to a song I don’t know and, assuming it is written
well, I can turn it into something musical on the first or 2nd pass even if I’ve never heard
the song.
But I have training and experience… something most students do not have or they
wouldn’t be crawling the internet in the first place looking for new songs to learn.
So what ends up happening is students sort of learn a song, but they never can play it
exactly right because they don’t really have the timing and pulse internalized.
After a while they figure it’s just too hard, or they get to a section they just can’t play,
and they give up on it. After all, there are hundreds or thousands of other songs snippets
a few mouse clicks away.
Most of us know, this is not a way to really improve long term. But we fool ourselves…
often for years.
The worst part is that at the very beginning, you can make what you perceive to be
progress. You may have a natural sense of rhythm and timing and you may actually
learn some things and make some progress.
But at some point, that progress will stop if you don’t learn to slow down and listen to
the music.
So now that I’ve said that, let’s return to the heading of this section, How To Use This
Course…
Step 1 should be to put in the DVD and just watch through a lesson one time first. Get
the birds-eye view of what to do.
Step 2 should be to grab your guitar and open up this manual to the pages that go along
with the lesson you are watching. Now go through the lesson a 2nd time with the book
and the DVD (use the book to give you the TAB in case you cannot see my fingers quite
right.) Play along with me on the slow sections and make sure you count out loud
whenever you hear me count out loud.
I can go into a whole new rant about counting out loud but please, take my advice and
just do this. I have years of experience and hundreds of private students that have
taught me one thing above all else – counting out loud works and counting “in your
head” does not.

Step 3 is the “secret sauce” of the recipe. Grab the CD and find the track for the lesson
you are working on and listen to it… a lot! Rip the disc and put it on your iPod, your
phone, your tablet, your computer, in your car… everywhere.
And when you listen to it, tap your foot, tap your fingers, nod your head, count out loud
if you can. Tapping and counting along with the pulse of the music will work to
internalize the beat and start to develop that natural “inner clock” that we all need as
musicians to really make music.
Step 4 is where you try to “own it.” It’s one thing to memorize the notes, then another
to be able to play them reasonably up to speed with not a lot of mistakes. When you
“own it” you play it as if you wrote it. You play it easily without mistakes and anyone
who heard you play it would swear you wrote it.
Step 4 takes a lot longer than you might think, so don’t expect it to happen on each
lesson before you move on. If you get the notes memorized, and you can basically play
the lesson without too many mistakes – even if it doesn’t sound like me when you do it –
that’s okay. That’s probably as good as it’s going to be for a while.
The subtle things that make it sound like you “own it” can take weeks or months to
develop. But I can assure you that when you incorporate some listening time into your
day each day, your brain will take in those little subtleties and over time they will come
out in your own playing.
So… now that we have that out of the way, let’s learn to play some blues, shall we?

Lesson 1 – Tuning (DVD 1)

In This Lesson: In this lesson we’ll cover some different ways to tune your guitar
depending on your situation.
Tuning Notes (CD 1, Track 1)
Obviously there’s not a lot for me to go into here… it’s mostly all on the DVD.
On the DVD I’ll give you some tuning notes to work from so that you and I sound the
same when you play.
But also, I’ll show you some ways that you can tune your guitar “to itself” when there
isn’t anyone or anything around to give you the pitch you need.

Lesson 2 – Picks, Fingers, Pick And Fingers (DVD 1)

In This Lesson: In this lesson you’ll learn about alternate picking, fingerpicking, and
using a combination of the pick and fingers.
I often get asked the question, “should I learn to play with a pick, or with my fingers?”
My answer is always the same… “yes!”
Really, why limit yourself? There are some things you’ll want to play with a pick. It can
sound bigger and fuller sometimes that you can achieve with just fingers or with a
thumb pick.
There are some passages that you really have to use your fingers on your right hand (or
left if you are left handed) for. There really isn’t any way, for example, to play a
thumping bass line while you play a melody at the same time if you use your pick by
itself. At the very least you’ll need to use your pick and fingers.
So we’re going to cover:

1. Alternate picking vs. playing down or up strokes all the time
2. “strict” alternate picking vs. “sweep” alternate picking
3. Using Your Palm To Muffle Bass Notes
4. Using your pick for bass notes while you use your fingers for higher notes
5. Using just your fingers in a variety of ways.
I’m going to work through these licks with you on the video and I’ll count them out for
you without actually explaining how the counting works yet.
Please, please, please… count out loud with me at all times. It will make
lessons 4 and 5 ahead way easier if you already have some experience with this.
Example 1

Example 2
Example 3
Example 4

Example 5 (CD 1, Track 2)


Example 7
Example 8
Example 9
Example 10

Example 11
Example 12
Example 13

Example 14
Example 15

Lesson 3 – Learning Note Names (DVD 1)

In This Lesson: In this lesson you’ll learn my system for learning the names of the
notes on your guitar.
At the least… the very least, you need to know the names of the notes on the 6th and the
5th strings of your guitar.
These are the 2 strings where most chords are built. And when we use moveable chord
shapes down the road, you’ll need to know where to put them to get the sound you’re
looking for.
The technique is demonstrated on the DVD, but this fretboard “roadmap” will probably
help if you don’t know where some of the notes are.
The method that I use is to memorize the notes in this order… it comes from something
called the circle of 5ths. You don’t have to know about the circle of 5ths, just know that I
use this so that you don’t just do notes that are next to one another.
If you wish, start with just the 6th and 5th strings and learn all of the notes there. But at
some point, learn them all. It really won’t take that much longer. Especially when you
employ the idea of octaves to find notes based off of notes you already know.
Here is the “Line Of 5ths” I refer to in the video:

C – G – D – A – E – B – F# - C# - Ab – Eb – Bb - F

Lesson 4 – Basic Timing And Counting (DVD 2)

In This Lesson: In this lesson you’ll learn how to count and feel all of the common
note subdivisions and rest. We’ll cover whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, eighth
notes, triplets, and sixteenth notes.
As I set out to write this part I really had to take a deep breath. As I mentioned in the
introduction, timing and counting problems are such a widespread problem that for
many people they are difficult to fix.
Out of all of the students I see, about 5-10% have a really solid internal clock. When they
play even simple things they just sound… well, better.
When you play music if you find yourself in a situation where you’ve memorized all the
notes and can play them up to speed without making mistakes – but it still just doesn’t
sound like it’s right – then this is for you.
I won’t lie to you, it’s often a struggle for people who have been playing for a long time to
“go back to the basics” and learn how to count properly.
So often I hear “I just can’t count and play at the same time.” My response is simple,
“then you really haven’t learned how to play yet.”
Counting out loud and playing the notes are not different, separate things. They are one
in the same and all part of the music making process. If you’ve concentrated only on the
finger movements and neglected counting or being conscious of and internalizing the
beat and the pulse of the music… well then I’m afraid you are likely in for a rude
awakening.
Playing solo acoustic guitar, meaning playing alone and not with a group, makes this
even more vital. There is no band to fall back on. There are no audible cues from some
other instrument. If you can’t keep time, no one else will do it for you. The music just
won’t sound good and the only one who can fix it is you.
But enough of the doom and gloom... there is good news here… we can fix this together
and we can set that internal clock of yours so that it keeps time like one of those clocks
at NASA they use to blast rockets into space.
Now when you see the notes below, don’t freak out… we are not going to be learning to
read notes here and you don’t have to read notes to do this.
There are just a few symbols that we use to show certain types of notes and how long
they last. This just allows us to communicate with one another, nothing more. It’s just
easier to put a little note on a page instead of write “eighth note” every time I want you
to play an eighth note.

Believe me, in no time at all these few symbols will seem perfectly normal and part of
your everyday vocabulary.

What I hope you can see once you watch me go through this is, is that all of these
different combinations of notes add up to one measure or 4 beats.
Don’t confuse the count and the beat. Remember that even though you may have 4 beats
in a measure, you might be counting 8 or even 16 times.
I always use the smallest note of the measure as the count. I often think of counting like
a ruler. The smallest note is the value of the lines on the ruler and you just move along
the ruler, striking the notes as you come to them.
My ruler looks something like this when the smallest notes I have to work with are ¼
notes:
If the smallest notes I was working with were 1/8th notes, my ruler/timeline would look
something like this:
Watch the DVD and I’ll explain how to count the different types of notes. Then try these
little “exercises” that follow. Once you’ve got the hang of the rhythms and how they
work, we’ll add some notes and turn them into real blues licks.
First, we’ll start simple with the quarter note being the smallest note, and therefore the
count as well as the beat.

Now, we’ll move down to the eighth note as the smallest note. Since it is smaller than a
quarter (the beat) we have to increase the count to allow for the notes that will happen
between beats. This is why we have the “and” in addition to the numbered beats.

The good news is that this is where we live a lot of the time. Eighth notes are, by and
large, the foundation for just about everything. It’s rare that we get into sixteenth notes.
One thing that does happen a lot, however, is that notes have to ring out past their given
beat and into the next beat. To do this we sometimes tie notes together so that you can

still see where the beats are even though a note might last an odd duration of time (like a
beat and a half, for example.)

Alright, now that you’re getting the hang of it without having to think about the notes
themselves, let’s see how some of these rhythmic figures turn into licks when you change
up the notes a little bit.
Example 19
Example 20
Example 21
Example 22

Example 23
Example 24
One thing we do a lot is to tie a note to the note half the size. For example, we tie a half
note to a quarter note… that’s the only way to get a 3 beat long note.
We often tie a quarter note to an eighth note, an eighth note to a sixteenth. In fact, it is
so common we have a shorthand notation for it, a dot.
Dotted notes are equivalent to the note tied to the note half as big. So a dotted half note
is like a half note tied to a quarter and gets 3 beats (which may be 6 counts if you’re
counting eighth notes.)
A dotted quarter note is equal to a quarter tied to an eighth note and gets 1 ½ beats
(which would be 3 counts if you are counting eighth notes.)
So let’s try out some dotted notes and make sure you’ve got the hang of that before we
learn some licks with these.


Example 26
And with that, you should have the basics down pretty well. I realize we didn’t spend a
whole lot of time on the dotted notes, but that’s because they really happen a lot more in
a different time signature… 12/8 time to be exact.
So once you have these basics down, it will be pretty easy to change over to 12/8 time for
the real down-home style blues.

Lesson 5 – Timing And Counting in 12/8 And Eighth

Note Triplets (DVD 2)
In This Lesson: Here we’ll get more into the feel that is more common in the blues…
especially for slow blues. It can be written as 12/8 time, which is easier, or in 4/4 time
as we’ve done before but using metric modulation and a lot of eighth note triplets.
First, remember that in 4/4 time there are 4 beats in a measure (the top number) and
the quarter note (the bottom number) is equal to 1 beat.
That means that when we use eighth notes (and remember 1/8th notes are sort of the
standard count) there are 2 eighth notes to each beat.
There’s nothing wrong with that, but it gives us a certain feel… a “straight” feel as it is
often called.
What if, instead of putting 2 eighth notes in each beat, we put three?
If we do that, we get something that feels like “1 and uh 2 and uh 3 and uh 4 and uh.” It
“swings” a lot more.
And in fact, this is exactly what 12/8 time feels like.
Now I realize, that’s not using the definition… by definition 12/8 should be 12 beats per
measure (the top note) and the 1/8th note (the bottom number) gets one beat.
That’s true, and you could count it that way. But you’d be missing the point a little.
12/8 is what is called in theory-geek circles a compound meter. Anything where the top
number is divisible by 3, you divide it by 3 and count that many beats as groups of 3
(triplets) instead of counting to the actual number.
So instead of counting “1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12” we count “1 and uh 2 and uh 3 and uh 4

and uh.”
Same number of beats, same number of counts, but the feel is much more pronounced.
And as before, 2 eighth notes = 1 quarter note. And now a dotted quarter (which is 3
eighth notes) is the full length of 1 triplet group is 12/8 so they get used a lot.
So again, let’s try some examples without having to worry about notes and just
concentrate on rhythm.

And of course, that’s great and all. But let’s do some real blues playing and put this to
use.

Example 28
Example 29
Now you can do the same thing in 4/4 time, but we write it using what are called eighth
note triplets. These next 2 lines would count and sound exactly the same:

Example 30
Is the same as …
But notice in this one we have the little “3” down below each group of 3 eighth notes.
That indicates what are called eighth note triplets and it simply means to play 3 eighth
notes in the span of 1 beat instead of 2 eighth notes in the span of 1 beat like you
normally would.
So the first question to come to mind is probably “why?”
It’s a matter of convenience on the part of the person writing out the music. If you find
yourself constantly having to create little eighth note triplets and you’re in 4/4 time, you
might find that it looks nicer if you write it out in 12/8 and then you don’t have to create
all those little triplet groups.
Here’s one of those examples, and it uses something called a metric modulation to
indicate a change of feel.
Let’s say I have this in 12/8 time:

Example 31
This looks much cleaner and neater in 4/4:
Example 32
But from what you know already, this could not possibly sound the same! The secret lies
in the little marking above the first note… the 2 little eighth notes that equal a quarter
note eight note combination in a triplet group. That’s the same thing we were using in
12/8 time before so it’s perfect.
This is so common that it’s usually just called a swing feel. It means that while you see 2
eighth notes on the page, instead of playing them straight “1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and” you
play them as if they are a quarter and an eighth note in 12/8 time “1 and UH 2 and UH 3
and UH 4 and UH.”
So you get the exact same sound, but it’s easier to write. You’ll notice that from here on
out I’ll use both 12/8 and 4/4 with a swing feel depending on the tune and what makes
the most sense. Sometimes it’s a toss-up and I’ll just pick one.

Lesson 6 – Blues Chords In E (DVD 3)

In This Lesson: In this lesson we’ll cover the primary blues chords in the key of E.
E is a very popular blues key on guitar because it allows us to take advantage of some
open strings and we can get the maximum range out of the instrument.
The first chord in any key is the chord that shares a name with the key itself… we call
this the I chord.
So if our blues is in E, then the first chord is going to be E. And usually the chord
quality, or the type of chord, is dominant 7th which we abbreviate as just 7.
7 is different from major7 (maj7) or minor7 (min7) which are other different chord
qualities.
Here are the best ways to play E7 in open position
For the 2nd string note (D) in the 2nd voicing, you can use your 3rd or 4th finger to play
that note. I’ve notated it with my 4th finger, but do what’s comfortable. And in fact, for
any chord where I suggest a fingering, the fingering is always adjustable to suit your
needs and comfort level.
Now for our IV chord, we’ll walk up through the E major scale to the 4th note. Don’t
worry if you don’t know how to do that… there’ another easy way.
Simply take the note from your I chord (E in this case) and go up a string. What note are
you on? In this case it’s A. So our IV chord is A7.
Here are some of the best ways to play A7 chords

And finally, we need a V chord for a blues. Just like before, even if you don’t know how
to find the 5th note of a major scale, you can just take the IV chord you found and go up 2
more frets.
So 2 frets up from A is B… that means our V chord is B7.
There’s really only 1 way to play a B7 without a barre… and there’s no need to do any
barre chords right now.
So now that you’ve seen how to play these chords, let’s have a little fun and do a simple
country-blues using alternating bass notes.
This is a great way to do 2 things – learn how to alternate bass notes in common chords
(which is popular in a lot of country and blues music) and gain a little more facility with
your picking hand.
Also, it’s important that you start being aware of the 3 parts that you are covering when
you play by yourself. You’ve only got 2 hands to cover bass, chords, and potentially
melody at times as well… but don’t worry, that’s down the road for us.
I’m going to demonstrate 2 ways to play this… one with your pick and one with your
fingers. Do what works best and is most comfortable for you first.
But then don’t limit yourself… try it the other way. As I’ve said before, it’s good to be
able to play in various ways.

Example 33 (CD 1, Tracks 9, and 10 for Slow and Full Speed)


Lesson 7 – The “Blues In E” Rhythm (DVD 3)

In This Lesson: In this lesson you’ll learn one of the most common rhythm figures
that gets used instead of just playing open E7, A7, and B7 chords.
You may remember a while ago I mentioned that you have to keep some motion going
since you’re the only one carrying it.
Often instead of just strumming open E7 and A7 and B7 chords, we use something I just
call “Blues In E.”
Here’s what’s funny… if you just sit down with someone and say “let’s play blues in E,”
this is what they’ll play. I’ve never seen it called anything else but I have no idea how it
came to be the standard.

Example 34 (CD 1, Tracks 11 and 12)

Also, there’s a common variation of this idea. These 2 are interchangeable:

Lesson 8 – The E Minor Blues Scales (DVD 3)

In This Lesson: In this lesson you’ll learn the one scale that is responsible for about
95% of all the blues licks you hear – the minor pentatonic and minor blues scale.
The E Minor Pentatonic Scale
The E Minor Blues Scale

Here are a couple of licks very similar to what we’ll be doing in “Down To The Station.”
Example 36
Example 37
Example 38

Example 39
And look again at one of the licks we did a while back to see how it fits in this pentatonic
and blues scale mold…
Example 40

Lesson 9 – Extending The Blues And Pentatonic

Scales (DVD 3)
In This Lesson: We’ll learn how to extend the blues and pentatonic scales out past
the open position to cover some of the other licks in “Down To The Station.”
E Minor Pentatonic, Box 2
E Minor Blues, Box 2

Example 41
Example 42

Example 43

Lesson 10 – Little Chord Shapes (DVD 3)

In This Lesson: In this lesson we’ll learn some cool new chord shapes and partial
chord shapes that I call “little chords.” These are very useful because they stay out of
the bass range and can be inverted and moved easily.
First, the shapes in E7
Now if we move them up to A7 they rotate around a little bit. The A notes are not in the
same place and we have to wrap the octave around to make it work out.
It doesn’t take much to go from A7 to B7… but again since we run out of frets we’ll move
the top voicing down an octave:
To be sure you have them all down, be able to play them through at 60 beats per minute
without stopping. I’ll show you how that’s done in the video.

Lesson 11 – 9th Chords (DVD 3)

In This Lesson: In this lesson we’ll cover the most common “color chord” used in the
blues – the 9th chord.
9th chords aren’t really complex, but they can be a little tricky to finger. It’s just that they
are so common and so cool… you’ve got to figure out a way to make them work for you.
Here are the most common voicings, but on the video I’ll show you a lot of ways to work
with them.

Lesson 12 – The Turnaround (DVD 4)

In This Lesson: In this lesson we’ll talk about the turnaround in general, and learn a
couple of Robert Johnson style turnaround licks
The turnaround is one of the most “signature” portions of a blues. Everyone has their
way of doing things.
The turnaround is the last 2 measures of the blues form (which we’ll cover next), and the
chords can vary quite a bit depending on who you listen to. But the most common
turnaround is the I chord (in our example, that’s an E7) in bar 11 and the V chord (in our
example that’s B7) in bar 12.
Here are a couple of great turnarounds you should learn. You’ll want to just keep these
in your back pocket for when you need them. These are “plug and play.”
Example 44
And this one is also a favorite…
Example 45

Lesson 13 – The 12 Bar Blues Form (DVD 4)

In This Lesson: In this lesson we’ll finish up what the 12 bar blues is all about and
what goes where in the form
The most common blues song form is the 12 bar blues. This blues consists of 3 chords,
a I, a IV, and a V chord (notice how we always use Roman numerals when we talk about
chords.)
Once you have your I chord (and that’s easy, it’s the same as the key you’re in) it’s easy
to find the IV and V. The IV is always just the same fret on the string above the I, and the
V is 2 frets above that.
Or, if you have the I, you can count up 5 frets to get to the IV, and 2 more frets to get to
the V. Either way will work.
But just to make things easy, here’s a little table of the I,IV and V chords in every key:
A B C D E F G
I Chord A7 B7 C7 D7 E7 F7 G7
IV Chord D7 E7 F7 G7 A7 Bb7 C7
V Chord E7 F#7 G7 A7 B7 C7 D7
If for some strange reason you need a key like Bb, just take the key of B and lower
everything by 1 fret. You’d get Bb7, Eb7, and F7.
So remember that in the 12 bar blues, there are 12 measures (bars) in the form. That
means we literally repeat the same 12 measures over and over with possible exceptions
(and a lot of possible exceptions.)
Here is a basic layout of a 12 bar blues:
This is very straightforward and most blues songs will vary this in some way.

In our “Down To The Station” example, the I chord is E. We know that simply because
it’s a “blues in E” and the I chord is always the same as the key.
That means that the IV chord will be A and the V chord will be B. Because it’s a blues we
know to make the chords dominant 7 in quality.
Sometimes you’ll run into a minor blues which will have minor 7th chords, but major 7th
chords are rarely used. Dominant 7th is the primary blues chord quality… that covers
probably 90% of the blues tunes out there.
As I mentioned we typically modify the 12 bar progression to at least go to the V chord

on the last bar which sets up the repeat nicely:
One variation that is also common is called the “quick change” blues which goes to the
IV chord in bar 2, then right back to the I chord to finish out those first 4 measures.
So now that we have all of that under your fingers… you should be able to play the tune
pretty easily… I’ll walk you through it in the next lesson and show you where it all comes
from.

Lesson 14 – ”Down To The Station” Blues (DVD 4)

In This Lesson: In this lesson, we’ll learn a tune called “Down To The Station.”
Down To The Station (CD 1, Tracks 15 and 16)



Lesson 15 – Keeping The Bass Going (DVD 4)

In This Lesson: In this lesson we’ll learn how to keep the pulse of the music going
with what I call “thump bass.”
Playing solo – as in by yourself with no accompaniment – poses some interesting

challenges for a guitar player.
If you’re playing piano, you’ve got use of 2 hands – all 10 fingers – so keeping everything
going isn’t so bad.
But on a guitar, we have to keep time (meaning the bass part,) keep the harmony up
(meaning chords,) and keep the melody up (meaning the highest single notes.)
If that’s not obvious from me writing it… that’s tough to do! It’s no wonder so many
bluesmen sing as well… that way the melody is covered by the voice.
Many of the original delta blues players used a technique that I call “thump bass.” I’ve
never heard it called anything else and it’s basically where you keep quarter note time
with your thumb.
It looks something like this:
Example 46
Notice that’s in 4/4 time… if we write it out in 12/8 time we have to use dotted quarters
to indicate a group of 3. Remember, a quarter note= two 1/8th notes always.
Example 47

When you get the feel of just doing the bass, we have to add the top part. This requires
reading the rhythms in 2 parts.
Quite literally, the notes with stems going up are 1 voice, while the bass notes with the
stem going down are a different voice.
That means that while you’re counting, 2 sets of things can be going on. As you can
imagine that can get pretty complicated!
Fortunately, you can just remember that the bass notes hit on the downbeats and forget
about counting them any more than that. That makes it much easier
Example 48
Let’s now add in a little more rhythm to the top part…
Example 49
And also take a look at what this would look like written in 4/4 time. It actually reads a
little easier this way… but if more triplets were added in it could get ugly pretty fast.

It’s common to use all 3 parts of the triplet groups. Here is what that would look like in
12/8, followed by a 4/4 representation as well.
Example 50
In 4/4

When you’ve got the hang of moving your thumb and fingers independently from these
exercises, it’s time to put this into some music…
Driftin’ Away Blues (CD 1, Tracks 17 and 18)


Lesson 16 – Thump Bass And Solo (DVD 4)

In This Lesson: In this lesson we’ll do a simple single note type of solo while keeping
the thump bass going on.
So far we’ve learned one scale that could be used for soloing – the E minor blues scale
(pentatonic is the same thing for our purposes, so I’ll usually just call it blues.)
The simplest way to solo over a blues tune is to pick the minor blues scale that matches
the key – so for blues in E you use E minor blues scale… for blues in A you use A minor
blues scale.
I know we haven’t talked about how to change keys yet… but we will soon.
There are more complex ways to solo over a blues also, but they require us to change
scales when the chords change.
At this point, you don’t have the other scales and that would be pretty tough to do. So
we’ll stick with what’s easy at this point. But don’t think that just because it’s easy it isn’t
cool. Many guitar players over the years have made their entire careers out of just this
sound we’re using.
There’s nothing in this next example that’s really new to you. We’ve learned the blues
scale, we’ve learned how to do the thump bass. What’s tricky is separating your thumb
from your fingers and being able to play it.

So Low You Can’t Hear It (CD 1, Tracks 19 and 20)

Lesson 17 – Box 3 Of The Blues Scale (DVD 5)

In This Lesson: In this lesson we’ll add some more notes from the 3rd box of the
minor blues scale
We’ll start with the Pentatonic Minor, box 3 in the key of E minor
And the blues sound…

Example 51

Lesson 18 – Rambling All My Days (DVD 5, CD 1

Tracks 21 and 22)


Lesson 19 – Like Stevie Does It (DVD 5)

In This Lesson: In this lesson we’ll learn how to do Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Texas
Shuffle” rhythm that he uses on songs like “Pride And Joy” among others.
First, let’s start of simple just doing the rhythm with the up strums, and muting on the
down strums…

Now if we add in the bass notes, it starts to go something like this:

And finally, let’s add some licks from the E minor blues scale, some cool chord voicings,
and create a solo tune out of it all. (By the way, Stevie did an acoustic version of “Pride
And Joy” on an MTV Unplugged episode in the 1980’s and played it on a 12 string!)

Sweet Little Lady (CD 1, Tracks 27 and 28)



Lesson 20 – Blues In A Rhythm (DVD 6)

In This Lesson: In this lesson we’ll move away from the key of E to the key of A,
another popular key for acoustic blues.


Lesson 21 – Chords And Blues Scale In A, And The

Old Mississippi Blues (DVD 6)
In This Lesson: In this lesson we’ll learn the “Old Mississippi Blues” which will
include some new pentatonic and blues scale patterns, as well as some new chord
shapes.
One of the best parts about having gone through the blues in E stuff is that by changing
the key… well we really haven’t changed much.
The pentatonic and blues scales finger exactly the same way… just on different frets.
The “little chords” are also exactly the same shapes… just on different frets.
The 9th chords look the same… just on different frets (are you seeing a pattern here?)
So this allows us to pick up the pace a little bit because we really don’t have to go back
through all the timing and counting stuff or the chord shapes or the pentatonic and
blues scales.
However, I am going to add a few things that are new so that you can keep learning
while you go through this next song.
It’s called “Old Mississippi Blues” and I’ve written it to be similar to a

Mississippi/Louisiana kind of feel.
What’s the different you might ask? To be honest there really isn’t much other than the
people I stole the licks from are from those areas… I think that’s about as “regional” as
blues gets in modern times.

Old Mississippi Blues (CD 1, Tracks 33 and 34)



So let’s look at what we’ll need for this tune now…
First let’s look at the 3 “boxes” you already know in the key of E, and see how they look
in A minor for the pentatonic and blues scales.
A Minor Pentatonic, Box 1
A Minor Blues, Box 1



But as you can see, that leaves a lot of the lower part of the neck unavailable. So we’ll
add boxes 4 and 5 now and finish out the patterns.
Now box 4, like all the rest, picks up from where the last one leaves off. If we had more
frets available, it would look something like this:

A Minor Pentatonic, Box 4 (high register)
But the reality is that most acoustic guitars don’t have easy access to frets above 12, and
certainly not easy access to the 15th fret.
So if we bring this down an octave (12 frets) the 12th fret becomes open, and the rest of
the pattern falls nicely into open position where we would like it to be.
A Minor Pentatonic, Box 4 (open position)
The same situation occurs with Box 4 of the Blues Scale (they are, after all, the same
thing except for the blue note.)

A Minor Blues, Box 4 (high register)

A Minor Blues, Box 4 (open position)

The only chord shape in here that you haven’t seen before is the D7/F#. The reason I
don’t just play plain old D7 is because the F# in the bass adds some fullness to the
chord… and because Robert Johnson did it so it must be good.
You’ll notice I haven’t mentioned anything about how to finger this chord. Depending
on which notes of the chord we use, that will likely change the fingering.
You would have a hard time playing this entire chord all at once… but we’ll always use
only part of it.

This is common with chords, particularly when you are playing fingerstyle or with pick
and fingers. Since you don’t have to strum chords you can choose your notes more
carefully and not finger the entire chord.
Speaking of Robert Johnson, we’re using one of his turnarounds again, only this time in
A instead of in E.
Example 56
If you’d like to mess around with a variation (which we’ll use shortly) try this one:
Example 57
Now at the end I stuck in a couple of barre chord shapes. I did this because, whether we
like to admit it or not, barre chords are an essential part of playing guitar.
Whenever your root note is on the 6th string (as in the case of the Ab7 to A7 at the end)
you use this shape:

Now, remember how I had you learn the names of your notes a while back? Look at the
note on the 1st string that you first finger is on… if you know the name of that note then
you know the chord.
This is a super critical skill to master. You learn 1 chord shape, and you put it anywhere
you need it. So by learning just that 1 chord shape, you’ve learned 12 chords!
A little later we’ll learn more of these types of shapes and some strumming patterns that
use them.
At this point you have all you need to play in the key of A. So watch the DVD and we’ll
walk through how to play the song.

Lesson 22 – Mean Old Woman Blues (DVD 6, CD 1

Tracks 35 and 36)
In This Lesson: In this lesson we’ll learn a tune called “Mean Old Woman Blues.”
To be honest, there isn’t much that is new here in this lesson. I wanted to give you some
more practice with the blues concepts in the key of A. But I don’t think there is anything
that you haven’t seen before except maybe the Adim7 chord.
It’s really common in classic blues to use a diminished 7th chord off the root instead of
the IV chord in bar 2.
We’ve seen many examples so far where we just take the chord shape and move it down
a fret and then come back. But you should know where this is from.
If we are in the key of A, the D7 chord contains the following notes: D, F#, A, C.
Don’t worry if you don’t know that, you can take my word for it.
The F#, A, and C from that D7 chord make 3 out of the 4 notes in an Adim7 chord (A, C,
Eb, F#). So this is a move that is somewhat common in jazz, but might seem out of place
in a blues.
Plus, if you’re playing A7 like this:
Then it’s pretty easy to leave your first finger on the 7th fret of the 4th string and just
move everything else down1 fret to get Adim7 (A diminished 7… the little circle means
diminished)
So let’s check out the tune, Mean Old Woman Blues, now.



Lesson 23 – Key of G and the 8 Bar Blues (DVD 6)

In This Lesson: In this lesson we’ll get into the key of G, and we’ll learn the 8 bar
blues form.
The key of G is one of my favorite keys to sing in. It sits pretty well for a male voice… but
it’s not always the easiest to play in.
While there are open position chords available in G, you’ll find that the barre shapes are
often more useful.
We’ve already run across the shape that we would use for a G7 as a barre chord using the
root on the 6th string G.
And the C7 shape above works great as a moveable shape as long as you mute out the
high E string.
But there is one more shape that can be used as the C7 and D7 chords (or G7 if you move
it way up to the 10th fret) and that is an extension of one of the “little chord” shapes we
did earlier:
Now up until now we’ve done a lot of single note stuff where we really aren’t strumming.
So as a way to practice these barre chord shapes, and work on your strumming hand all
at the same time I’ve put together a 12 bar blues that is all strumming.
This won’t sound like much on its own, but if you were playing with another soloist or
singer and wanted to do a mid-tempo blues tune, this would work great.


Doing the standard “Blues In E” rhythm in the key of G is… well a little bit of a
challenge.
For many people the idea of making this particular stretch is really intimidating. But I
can assure you that it is not only possible, but pretty easy once you do it right and pay
attention to how you are holding your guitar and your left hand.
There are 2 keys to this: keep your guitar up high on your lap (use a foot stool if you
need to,) and keep your wrist low. I’ll show you how in the video that accompanies this
lesson.
Here’s what the basic 12 bar “Blues In G” rhythm would sound look at sound like. After
you get this we’ll change it to an 8 bar form.

But some songs, “Key To The HighWay” comes to mind, utilize what is called an 8 bar
blues.
8 bar blues is very similar in that it contains the same 3 chords, but the form is only 8
bar instead of 12.

Notice how we do the I chord for the first bar, the V chord for the 2nd bar, and IV for the
3rd and 4th bars. Then it’s I, V, I, V for the last 4 bars. The last 2 bars would be
considered the turnaround, just like the 12 bar form before.

Lesson 24 – The Major Blues Scale (DVD 7)

In This Lesson: In this lesson we’ll learn how to play the major blues scale.
First off, I thought I would start with running quickly through the G minor blues scale
again since we’re now in the key of G and you haven’t had a lot of experience changing
the keys.
I’m not going to go through the pentatonic as well… remember they are the same as far
as how they are used in the blues. The blues scale just has the extra note and we like it so
we’ll often use it.
G Minor Box 1 G Minor Box 4
G Minor Box 2 G Minor Box 5
G Minor Box 3
And that’s great, but a lot of times in blues we like to use not a minor blues scale, but a
major blues scale.
Now at first that might cause a groan because you think you have 5 more patterns to
learn… not so!
Thanks to the concept of relative keys, the same 5 patterns actually do double duty as
both the major and minor blues scales!

Wait! You say… Griff, you’ve been lying to me all this time and telling me this is the
minor blues scale when really it’s the major blues scale too?
Well, sort of. I just left out the part about these patterns also being the major blues scale
because I didn’t want to confuse the issue.
Now if you know the minor key you’re in, it’s very simple to find the relative major
key. You simply go up 3 frets from the minor key root and you’ve got it.
So in our key of G, if you go up 3 frets you get a Bb (again… remember I had you learn
the note names?) You might call it an A#, which sounds the same. There are some
technical reasons why it’s a Bb, but honestly I don’t care what you call it as long as you
get the right note.
So that means that G minor is the same as Bb major. They are relative keys. That also
means that the whole time you’ve been playing G minor blues scales, you’ve also been
playing Bb major blues scales.
Now, I’d be lying to you if I didn’t say this was a concept that a lot of students really
struggle with. When I write it on paper, it really doesn’t sound like a big deal. But for
some reason wrapping your head around this is just harder than it seems.
What you have to realize is that the difference between G minor and Bb major blues is
nothing more than your perception. If you decide that the Bb is the most important
note, then you’re playing Bb major blues. If you decide that the G is the most important
note, then you’re playing G minor blues. It’s that simple.
That means that it’s pretty important to know where the root notes are. So let’s take a
look at where the G root notes are in the G minor blues scale.
In these diagrams, I’ve colored the G root notes a little lighter than the rest

G Minor Blues, Box 1 G Minor Blues, Box 4
G Minor Blues, Box 2 G Minor Blues, Box 5
G Minor Blues, Box 3
Now look at those boxes compared to the same 5 boxes in the key of Bb Major:
Bb Major Blues, Box 1 Bb Major Blues, Box 4
Bb Major Blues, Box 2 Bb Major Blues, Box 5
Bb Major Blues, Box 3

Hopefully you can see that while the shapes haven’t changed, what we consider to be the
most important note of each pattern has changed.
I’m thinking that a little demonstration is in order here… what I’ll do is I’ll play a G7
chord on beat 1, then I’ll play a lick.
After, I’ll play a Bb7 chord and play the exact same lick. What you should hear is that,
while the lick sounds different, it doesn’t sound wrong. In fact, it gives a very cool flavor
to your blues.
Example 61 (lick 1)

Example 62 (Lick 2)
Example 63 (Lick 3)

What tends to pose the biggest challenge for most students is going straight to a major
blues sound without having to calculate it.
For example, if I say you want to play a G major blues sound, what most people do is
take the G minor blues scale, and go down 3 frets.
Since 3 frets is the distance between the major and its relative minor, this “3 fret trick”
does always work, but it takes an extra step.
You might not believe it, but that extra mental step of moving box 1 down 3 frets is often
the difference between success and failure when you’re making something up as you’re
going along.
Remember that blues is a very improvisational style and while I’ve shown you things to
learn note-for-note, you should always strive to take what you’ve learned and rearrange
the pieces into your own little spontaneous compositions. That’s what makes it all really
fun.
And in order to make that happen, you need to know what the notes are that you have in
your universe… the notes you can use to make sound with.
So there are a few tricks I’ve found that make going straight to a major blues sound a
single step process instead of a 2 step process:
1. Box 2 always starts on the major root note (either high E string or low E
string.) So you can just improvise with box 2 instead of using box 1. The other
4 boxes will still fit together the same way.
2. The box 1 pinky note on the high E or the low E are the major root instead of
the minor root. So you can start a lick with your pinky and be in box 1 instead
of your first finger like you are probably used to.
3. If you are working with a 5th string root note (like a C7 chord,) and need the
major sound, think about being in box 5 and sliding up 2 frets will put you in
box 1 where you will be comfortable.
4. Or, if you are working with a 5th string root up high (like the G on the 10th
fret) think about being in box 4 with your pinky on that root.
5. To go from minor to major, add 1 to the box. So if you’re in box 2 playing G
minor, and you want to switch to G major, change over to box 3. Keep in
mind that only the root notes are guaranteed to be in the same place so
choose notes carefully.
But I haven’t yet told you why you would want a major blues sound in the first place,
have I?

Well, quite simply it’s because you can use the major blues sound over the I chord in a
blues, while you use the minor blues sound over the IV and V. This is one of the biggest
“secrets” of getting a really authentic blues sound.
And it’s the topic of the next lesson. So read on…

Lesson 25 – Using The Major And Minor Blues

Sounds Together (DVD 7)
In This Lesson: In this lesson we’ll learn a tune in the key of G where I’ll mix
together the major and minor blues sounds so you can see how they work.
As I mentioned before, this is the real “secret sauce” that makes blues really sound
authentic.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with using nothing but the minor blues sound for
your whole tune. I do it all the time. But I think once you hear what the major sound
does you are going to want to use it a lot.
The “rule” is actually ridiculously simple:
Use the major sound over the I chord, and the minor sound over
the IV and V chord.
Let’s take a look at an example and then we’ll walk through it so you can see what I
mean.

Long Time Coming Blues (CD 2, Tracks 7 and 8)

The reason I like to get into stuff like this is because to me the blues is very much a “plug
and play” style of music.
We all hear people who sound like they are just making it up as they go along… but in
reality those are the guitar players who have learned why certain sounds and phrases
sound good in certain situations. And on top of that, they’ve learned how to mix and
match those pieces to create new tunes on the spot.
To me, the blues is like a puzzle where you get to take the individual pieces and create
whatever picture you would like to create.
I encourage you to take licks from earlier in the course that are in different keys and
swap the out for licks in this last tune, for example.
Now that you know that these licks are all interchangeable, you can create literally
millions of combinations!
In fact, just for fun I did the math and if you have 12 licks that you know how to use (1
for each measure,) and you never repeat any of them, you can come up with
479,001,600 different combinations of those 12 licks!
In most of the “how to play blues guitar” courses I’ve seen in the last 30 years or so, I see
a lot of “how to play” certain things… but nothing about why guitar players choose the
notes that they choose.
It was a big frustration for me growing up because I always wanted to know the “why” so
that I could make up my own songs… even if just for my own enjoyment.
I found that with just this one simple rule about using the major blues sound over the I
and the minor blues sound over the IV and V, I was able to explain just about any lick I
ever ran across; which meant I could easily add it to my own “bag of tricks” and know
how to use it in other situations.

Lesson 26 – Jazzy G Blues With Walking Bass Line

(DVD 7, CD 2 Tracks 9 and 10)
In This Lesson: In this lesson I’ll show you how to create a walking bass line to
accompany your chords.
Most of the time when we play acoustic blues, we’re covering the bass, the chords
(harmony) and the melody, all at the same time.
That means that some parts just can’t get quite as fancy as they might otherwise. In
particular, the bass tends to just be what I commonly call a “thump bass” which is just
the same note on quarter note intervals.
Well if you have the chance to play with another person who can cover the melody (or
can solo while you “comp”) you can make the bass part a little more interesting and get
into a little walking bass.
As a side benefit, if you ever find yourself sitting in for your buddy on the bass in a jam
session… this technique works great on a real bass as well!
The key to this is to pay attention to where you start, where you end, and how many
beats you have in the middle to fill up.
Your bass lines will always start on the root of the chord, and will always end up at the
root note of the next chord. So that’s 5 beats in total. The 1st and 5th beats are done for
you…
The next step is that you’re going to approach the last note by ½ step (1 fret) away,
either from above or below. So in this case, either the 2nd fret on the 5th string, or the 4th
fret on the 5th string. I’ll choose the 4th fret first…

So that leaves a whopping 2 beats to fill in… no big deal, right?
I fill in the middle 2 beats with one of the following:

1. Notes from the chord (an arpeggio)
2. Chromatic passing notes (just using most every note on the fretboard)
3. Notes from the scale that goes with the chord
Idea 3, notes from the chord scale, is far more difficult because you have to actually
know how the chords are working. That requires some theory knowledge and is beyond
the scope of this course.
But we can get a LOT of mileage out of the other 2 options and may never need option 3
anyway.
Notes from the chord is the easiest since you can just look at your guitar, and now that
you know the names of the notes you’ll just read them.
So if you play an open G7 chord, you have the following notes from low to high: G B D G
BF
If we get rid of the duplicates and put them in order you get G B D F and those are the
notes in a G7.
In our bass line we start on G, so let’s add the B and D to beats 2 and 3 and see what
happens:
That works out very nicely. Now I need to get from the C9 to another G so if I start with
the C, end with the G, and choose to approach the G from below I get:
And if I look at C7 on my guitar I see the notes C, E, G, and Bb. So let’s start with E on
beat 2 and just walk up chromatically (fret by fret) from there…

Again notice how it just sort of works out. You’ll find that more often than not, it’ll just
work out nicely. And from here the rest of the tune works the same way.
At this point, all I do is put the chord “tops” either on beat 1, or the “&” of 1 depending
on how easily my fingers can get there. This gives you some leeway in case you need to
get to the bass note, but you need a little time to fill in the rest of the chord.
And speaking of chords, you’ll notice we’ve gone a little outside our regular 12 bar blues
that we’ve used in the past.
2 things have changed, we’re using a “ii-V” progression instead of the usual V to IV in
bars 9 and 10, and we’re using a “I VI ii V” turnaround instead of our usual I to V
turnaround.
The A minor 7 chord (the ii) can be played a few different ways. The first is my personal
favorite, but use what works for you:
I also like to use an E7#9 for the VI chord. It “should” be an Emin7, but I like the
tension of this chord. It’s commonly called “the Hendrix chord” because Jimi Hendrix
made it famous in his tune, “Purple Haze.” He used it in many other songs as well at a
time when no one else was really using it in rock or popular music.
The practice of using “the wrong chord” at certain times is what is called chord
substitution in the jazz world.
The rules I use in blues a lot are simple:

1. Any dominant 7th chord can be replaced with any other dominant 7th family chord
(9, 11, 13, or 7 altered where altered means the 5 or 9 have been sharped or flatted)
when it sounds good.

2. Any minor family chord can be replaced with a dominant family chord if it sounds
good.
You might notice the italicized “if it sounds good” because these are very loose rules that
require some experimentation and a healthy dose of creativity.
And believe it or not, the universe of chord shapes that sound good, for the most part, is
not as big as you think. Here are some great substitution chord ideas that you can try
out.
But even with just trying some of these chords, you create thousands upon thousands of
possibilities – many more than I could write out in their entirety.
So I’ll write this out one way, but in the video you’ll see that I’ll play several options both
in terms of chord voicings, and in terms of where I place the chords on the beat.


Lesson 27 – Almost Alone, Solo 1 (DVD 7, CD 2

Track 11)
In This Lesson: In this lesson you’ll learn a solo that you could use when not playing
rhythm in a duo or group situation in the key of E.
One of the greatest joys of playing music, for me, is to play with other people and for
other people.
I suppose that, at the risk of getting a little too spiritual, gifts are only worth having if
they are shared with others. So I look for opportunities to play with other people, or
even just to play for an audience, whenever the chance comes up.
We’ve talked a lot about how to play solo (as in, by yourself) because a lot of times on
acoustic you are by yourself or you are playing for someone else.
But what happens when a buddy comes over and says, “let’s jam?”
You’ve got to know how to handle that as well. So we’re going to talk a little about
improvising (sometimes also called soloing) in the context of just playing melodies over
someone else playing rhythm.
Why don’t we talk about playing rhythm? Well you know the rhythm parts already and
I’ll point them out as we go.
For this first one we’ll use the “blues in E” rhythm pattern for the rhythm part. This is
super common and a great place to start.
For soloing, we are going to stick to the E minor pentatonic/blues scale.




Track 12)
In this lesson: We’ll do basically what we did in the last lesson, but we’ll use the key
of A instead of E.
We will still use mostly the minor pentatonic/blues sound, but I’m going to throw in the
major 3rd of the A (the C#) from the major pentatonic/blues sound only when that A
chord comes up.
This brings up an important thing about soloing and improvising. I hate to let the cat
out of the bag on this, but in reality improvising really isn’t improvising all that much.
Whenever you are “making it up as you go along” what you really are doing is taking
chunks and licks and phrases that you’ve learned before and re-arranging the order that
they appear in.
So at some point in time, you have to make up or learn a phrase that works well when
coming back to the I chord and use it in the same way. It has to start on the same beat
and end on the same beat of the same chord.
If you were to use that same lick over a different chord, it would actually sound pretty
bad. Some licks work just about anywhere and those are great. But to really sound good
(like you know what you’re doing) it helps to have just a few choice licks that really
accentuate the chord changes.
So in this solo I’ll point out those few key licks that get us back to the I chord and make
it sound like you really know what’s going on in the rhythm section.





Track 13)
In This Lesson: Now we’ll solo over the jazzy shuffle blues in G and throw in a bit
more of the major blues sound over the I chord
For the rhythm part of this solo we’ll use the “jazzy shuffle blues” you learned earlier.
That means we’re doing a blues in G.
So this time I’ll still use mostly the minor pentatonic/blues sound (are you catching the
theme here?) but I’m going to throw in more of the major pentatonic/blues sound over
the G7 chord (and ONLY the G7 chord, remember?)



Lesson 30 – Alternating Bass Notes (DVD 8)

In This Lesson: In this lesson we’ll look at the possible alternate bass notes for the
most popular and common chords
So far we’ve largely used what I call “thump bass” where you are just playing the root
note of the chord on the downbeats.
There’s nothing wrong with that, and it will be the staple of your blues playing from now
on. But sometimes you’ll want to use what’s called alternating bass.
The most common alternating bass note is what we call the 5th of the chord. You can
determine what note that is by going up 7 frets from your root note, or going up 1 string
and 2 frets.
Keep in mind, however, that just because you know what the right note is, doesn’t mean
it’s going to be available right there. It will be for E and A, but often times we have to
drop the bass note by an octave (D, B7, C) or we have to use a different string (G.)
Example 64
Example 65

Example 66
Example 67
Example 68

Example 69
Example 70
Now let’s have a little more fun and add some fingerstyle movement into this. I’ll admit
this is still pretty country blues sounding, but it sounds cool and is a good intro to some
things we’ll do a little later on.
Look at this C7 chord and the pattern that I’m going to use.
Example 71

Now check it out if I make it a blues in C with the alternating bass notes and some other
chords. See how F7 works just like F?
Try not to let the 1/16th notes trip you up (the ones with a double beam instead of a
single beam like you’ve seen before.) Remember that they just mean to hit 2 notes
quickly instead of 1 in the span of the 1/8th note.
I’ve put the next example on a page all by itself so you don’t have a weird page turn…


Lesson 31 – The House Of The Rising Sun (DVD 8,

CD 2 Tracks 16 and 17)
This is a very standard tune, and one that will likely be really easy for you at this point.
We could have certainly done it earlier, but it really didn’t fit with anything else we were
doing at the time.
This is played with a pick and uses arpeggios, or sometimes called broken chords.
Instead of strumming the chords, you’ll be picking individual notes in a specific rhythm.
It’s not a blues… in fact it’s not even close. But it’s such a classic, standard song that I
felt like you should know it if you don’t already. Plus, it teaches the arpeggio technique
and that’s a plus.



Lesson 32 – Nobody Knows You When You’re Down

And Out (DVD 8, CD 2 Tracks 18 and 19)
Another classic standard tune that’s not really a blues… but is certainly “bluesy.” Ideally
you would sing along with this one as this is not a solo arrangement.
Instead we’ll take the opportunity to use rhythmic notation and just work with chord
diagrams and a strum pattern to put the song together. If you can’t sing it find a buddy
and have a jam session!

Lesson 33 – Amazing Grace (DVD 9, CD 2 Tracks 20

and 21)
What you’ll see in this arrangement is that I’m basically playing chords, but I’m also
playing the melody. This is commonly called a chord melody arrangement.

Lesson 34 – Deep River Blues (DVD 9, CD 2 Tracks

22, 23, and 24)
This is an arrangement I learned many years ago and have modified slightly to make it
work out a little better for you. There are probably hundreds of arrangements of this
tune floating around – some harder and some easier.
For a fingerstyle arrangement this isn’t too hard and should be within your reach with
some practice.


Lesson 35 – St. Louis Blues (DVD 9, CD 2 Tracks 25,

26, and 27)
There are 2 things to watch out for on this tune. First, it’s long and there is a lot to learn
here. It’s basically a blues in C but with chords, bass, melody, and some little solo
sections.
Also, in order to play the melody over the F chord, many people (me included) use the
thumb to play the F bass note. It’s not imperative, and I’ll give you some options on how
to do it with your first finger if you prefer. But I’ve found that taking the time to use the
thumb really works out (and I don’t have big hands.)
There are also times when the bass just stops because the melody is such that you can’t
really play the bass at the same time. During some of those times you may find that your
thumb just keeps going over dead strings. There’s nothing wrong with that and in fact
up to speed it sounds really good because it keeps the tune moving along.
Take your time with this and practice it in sections the way I teach it in the video. You’ll
probably find that one particular section (or 2 or 3) give you more trouble, while others
are easy for you.
Watch the whole lesson through and listen to the song several times before you try to
tackle it. I can’t tell you how much it helps to have the tune in your ear before you start
to try and learn it.
This is a really fun tune and it just sounds fantastic when you get it down. So don’t let
me scare you off with my warnings. You’ll really enjoy learning this.

St. Louis Blues





And I think that about covers it. You are now an Official Blues Master. Congratulations!

Acoustic Blues Guitar Unleashed

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

Acoustic Blues Guitar Unleashed

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Acoustic Blues Guitar Unleashed

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Acoustic Blues Guitar Unleashed TM

“Playing On The Porch” Style Blues

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 2

Lesson 6 – Blues Chords In E (DVD 3) ............................................................................. 35

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 3

Old Mississippi Blues (CD 1, Tracks 33 and 34) ........................................................... 76

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 4

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 5

About the Author

And many of those students had never picked up the

In addition, I have been a performing musician since the

As for my academic background, I studied music at the

I also have additional Blues Guitar courses available. Check out

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 6

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 7

How To Use This Course (DVD 1)

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 8

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 9

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 10

Lesson 1 – Tuning (DVD 1)

Tuning Notes (CD 1, Track 1)

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 11

Lesson 2 – Picks, Fingers, Pick And Fingers (DVD 1)

So we’re going to cover:

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 12

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 13

Example 5 (CD 1, Track 2)

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 14

Example 6 (CD 1, Track 3)

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 15

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 16

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 17

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 18

Lesson 3 – Learning Note Names (DVD 1)

Here is the “Line Of 5ths” I refer to in the video:

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 19

Lesson 4 – Basic Timing And Counting (DVD 2)

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 20

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 21

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 22

Example 16 (CD 1, Track 4)

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 23

Example 17 (CD 1, Track 5)

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 24

Example 18 (CD 1, Track 6)

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 25

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 26

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 27

Example 25 (CD 1, Track 7)

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 28

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 29

Lesson 5 – Timing And Counting in 12/8 And Eighth

And in fact, this is exactly what 12/8 time feels like.

So instead of counting “1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12” we count “1 and uh 2 and uh 3 and uh 4

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 30

Example 27 (CD 1, Track 8)

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 31

© copyright 2012, Griff Hamlin Page 32

So the first question to come to mind is probably “why?”