In this video you'll learn the four notes we'll be working with as we try our hand at improvising over a simple chord progression. Yes, it's only Day 1 and we're already going to be soloing! Check it out....

In this video, we learn about the importance of alternate picking. The two exercises we learn here will really help your chops. Check it out...

In this video, we're going to learn how to play's groove, which is similar to Freddie King's "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone." Enjoy!

In this first video, we'll be adding two more notes to what we learned in Lesson #1. We'll also be learning how to add slides....and why. We'll then be putting this all to work for us over a new jam! Check it out....

In today's technique video, we work on developing strength and dexterity with each pair of fingers. It's a tough workout, but great for your long-term chops. Have fun, but don't keep going if you feel serious pain.

Welcome to Lesson 3. We cover lots of stuff in today's lesson...I hope you're ready! We'll be playing in a new position, adding some new notes, and jamming over a cool, Hendrix-style progression. And most importantly, we learn about those infamous hammer ons and pull-offs. Okay, let's get started!

In this technique video, we learn the kinds of hammer on and pull-off licks that let the experienced guitarists play so fast. This is need-to-know stuff!

In today's groove video, we learn how to play "All Along the Watchtower"....It's an excellent jam tune. Be sure to call it out at your next jam session!

I really hope you've been doing all these ear training sessions. Developing your ear this way is vital because it's a skill shared by all top level musicians: the ability to play what you hear. It starts by being able to play the things your hear others play....but ultimately it will allow you to play the phrases you hear in your head. So dive into this next installment of our ear-training series!

Welcome to Lesson 4. Our main topic today is bending...the ultimate blues guitar technique. Easy to learn, but it takes a long time to truly master! By the way, a lot students worry about breaking the string when they bend. It happens, especially as your strings get older. Might even startle you the first time, but you'll get used to it. So, breaking strings when you bend is normal, but really wont happen that much. Anyway, let's get to it. Please watch this first video to get an inside look at bending!

In today's technique lesson, we'll learn lots of cool bending phrases and licks. These are absolute classic licks!

Today's groove video teaches a variation on Kenny Wayne Sheppard's "Blue On Black". It's such a great tune!

This is an extremely important lesson because it introduces three fundamental blues concepts simultaneously: Up til now, we really haven't played an official blues progression....at least not the 12 bar blues. We've been playing over "bluesy" jams, and learning blues phrasing and blues licks, but now it's time to do so over the 12 bar blues. Secondly, we're going to add the vital Blues 3rd to our arsenal. Now, if you watched the videos I made during the launch of Blues Accelerator, then you saw the lesson on the Blues Third. So, yes, some of this will be a review, but there's one more very important thing we'll be learning today: The Diamond Shape. The Diamond Shape is great because it's easy to use, easy to remember, and it's very authentic sounding.

So let's get to it! Please watch this first video...

Sequencing is one of my favorite tools to give to students because it's a way to immediately create your own licks, riffs....even songs. Virtually all musicians -- from Bach to BB King -- employ sequencing in their music. So please watch this video to get in on the secret....

In today's groove video, we're going to learn how to play the 12 bar blues. This is the classic blues groove that countless blues songs rely on. Learn this, and you basically will have learned how to play thousands of blues songs.

In the last lesson we learned about the all-important Blues 3rd. Today, we'll be adding the Blue Note (aka the b5) to our phrases. If the Blues 3rd is all about giving a sense of hope to a downer song, the Blue Note is about emphasizing the pain the blues musician is feeling. Let's see how it works. Watch this video....

In today's technique lesson, we'll learn lots of classic licks (starting with a Jimmy Page one!) featuring the Blue Note.

Let's learn today's groove. This is something I created just for this lesson, so feel free to add to it and make it yours!

If you had to pick the musician most associated with the blues, most people would choose B.B. King. Among other things, he's famous for "doing more with less." In other words, he can play just a few notes and convey more feel, more truth, than someone else playing a thousand notes. But how is that? How does he do it? Can it really be learned?

I think so. Watch this video and see!

In a recent technique video, we discussed something called sequencing. It's a great method for generating your own licks. And here is another very powerful lick-generating tool for your soloing toolbox. It's called: Pivoting. See if you can figure out how they work...

In today's groove we learn a very typical way to play the 12 bar blues. This is definitely worth learning, to add contrast to your rhythm playing.

In today's lesson we'll continue our look into the soulful playing of B.B. King. Take a moment to warm up your hands by running through some of your favorite phrases, and then dive into this first video...

It's been a long time since we've talked about picking. Granted, some styles of blues playing aren't too demanding on the picking hand, but just listen to any Stevie Ray Vaughn or Eric Johnson solo and you'll soon feel the need for monster picking. So please watch this video to give your picking hand a workout...

In today's groove, we'll learn to play that cool fingerpicking groove I was playing. It's another great rhythm to have in your bag-of-grooves!

This next video is a How-to on tuning down to Drop D. If you've ever had trouble tuning your E string down to Drop D, check out this video...

This lesson is really cool because we're going to use the things we've learned to create our own Back Porch Blues. A Back Porch Blues is what I call any blues piece you can play truly solo, because you're playing both the lead and the accompaniment. It's the kind of thing you'd play, well....just sittin' on the back porch. So, this is a fun lesson because you'll be learning a new piece, and really you'll be improvising your own song. But it also acts as a review of everything we've covered up to now.

In this technique video we're going to work on something called subdivisions of the beat. Eric Clapton, among others, does this so well. It's like switching gears in the middle of a phrase -- and players use this to speed up or to slow down. It's a very cool effect! Watch...