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Blues Guitar in 6 Weeks Johnny Winter Style/week 2 -
Steve Trovato
Page One

In this Guitar lesson, week two of our electric 6 string Blues Guitar in 6 Weeks course we learn to play along to a 12 bar blues shuffle progression in the key of A.

We will build an A minor pentatonic scale pattern for the 12 bar shuffle and learn to sequence the scale and to create longer blues line using repetition.

We have a blues shuffle backing track with some slide guitar in it and our instructor Steve Trovato demonstrates the A minor pentatonic scale over it. Then he shows it to us note by note.

He plays it slowly and explains everything with care and exactitude.  He repeats some notes and creates short phrases. He adds a note and turns it into the A blues scale.

He plays for us both octaves of the A blues scale note for note. Then he plays it ascending an then descending. Then he plays it against a backing track.

Then we talk about Phrasing using our above blues scale and something called a pickup notes which is a note just before the downbeat - in this case just after beat four - this is to create forward momentum. Count in: one-and-two-and-three-and-four-and.

He then refreshes us on the eighth note triplet feel we covered in week one. Then he combines all this in the 5th position at out beloved pentatonic box (without calling it that) and he plays a simple lick which is the beginning of a blues phrase. Then over a backing track he plays it more normally.

Next we move on to the grace note concept. A grace note (a gliss/half step slide in this case) has no 'time value' but you can use it in a phrase to create movement.

Then he introduces another technique: the pre-bent note or release note A.K.A. a ghost note. Hammer-ons and pull-offs are taught next.

Page Two of Week Two

Role Models

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