Intermediate Blues Fingerpicking
Learn how to play blues lead guitar in fingerpicking style
This course will transform you as a musician. The practice of Lead Fingerpicking is one where you play lead guitar (e.g. blues riffs) while also playing a steady bass.
You can learn this technique in 30 days with my structured approach!
Today you can play a few chords and even play some fingerpicking patterns.
After this course, you'll be a guitar player that causes people to say 'wow' when they watch you play.
You will be able to play any melody you like while keeping your bass line going and you will add chord strumming to both of those – giving you the effect of 3 guitarists playing at the same time.
I call this the '3 guitars' effect and this will completely transform how you see and play the guitar.
Module 1
The CAGED Guitar System
In this module, we learn how to play chords all over the neck:
- Understanding the CAGED Guitar System
- Sliding up C, A, G, E and D chord shapes
- 5 shapes for E7 chords
- 5 shapes for A7 chords
- 5 shapes for B7 chords
Module 2
The 8-Bar Blues
In this module, we learn how the 8-Bar Blues and playing blues riffs on top by:
- Learning the 8-Bar Blues structure
- 8-Bar Blues in E
- 8-Bar Blues in A
- The Em Pentatonic & E Blues scales in position 2
- Nine blues riffs in position 2
- E7 arpeggios
- Targeting chord tones
- Changing basslines over static riffs
- The song Trouble In Mind
After learning these techniques in module 2, you’ll be able to play the exercise in the video below.
Module 3
Minor Blues
In this module, we learn the Minor Blues and playing blues riffs on top by:
- Learning the Minor Blues structure
- Techniques for fingerpicking scales
- Eight blues riffs in position 3
- The Em Pentatonic & E Blues scales in position 3
- Nine blues riffs in position 3
- More E7 arpeggios
- Bending notes while fingerpicking
- The song John Henry
After learning these techniques in module 3, you’ll be able to play the exercise in the video below.
Module 4
Shuffle Blues
In this module, we learn the Shuffle Blues style and playing blues riffs on top by:
- Counting in 3 (triplets)
- Tying triplets to create the shuffle feel
- The 2-4 shuffle
- The 2-4-5 shuffle
- Six blues riffs in position 4
- The Em Pentatonic & E Blues scales in position 4
- More E7 arpeggios
Playing riffs with tied triplets
After learning these techniques in module 4, you’ll be able to play the exercise in the video below.
Module 5
Position Five
In this module, we learn some riffs in the final part of the guitar neck – position 5:
- Six blues riffs in position 5
- The Em Pentatonic & E Blues scales in position 5
- More E7 arpeggios
- Fingerpicking with sliding doublestops
- Playing across positions
After learning these techniques in module 5, you’ll be able to play the exercise in the video below.
What does life look like with this course?
Once you begin:
This course will get you playing the blues from day one!
We are going to learn a couple of scales in one part of the guitar neck – and then learn some cool sounding blues riffs in that position. The riffs will be simple but musical and played with the bass – building your ability!
We then move on to a new position of the neck, check out the same scales and played slightly more complex, bluesy riffs – again with the bass!
You will not encounter any ‘jumps’ in the material that suddenly mean that you are lost or unable to continue the course because I supply tips at the start of each lesson for those who found the last exercise challenging.
Once you finish:
Your musicianship and fingerpicking will have jumped a huge level and people watching you play guitar will be genuinely impressed.
You will be able to:
- Play Lead Fingerstyle – solo lines with a bassline (sounding like 2 guitarists!)
- Play 2 blues scales all over the neck
- Play 28 blues riffs (fingerstyle)
- Play minor blues, shuffle blues, 8-Bar blues and a couple of traditional songs
- Jam along to any blues song
What's Included
High Definition Video
With multiple camera angles (so you can see what each hand is doing)
Lesson PDFs
Including guitar tablature for all parts. And helpful hints for nailing the last exercise if you found it a challenge
Audio Files
So you can play along with each example at multiple speeds, at your own pace
How you will benefit
You will enjoy playing guitar more than ever – now that you not only play chords but also explore melodic ideas
You will enjoy knowing that each minute spent on guitar brings your playing up a level – instead of just playing stuff you already know.
You will be able to progress at your own pace, moving on when you master a section – in your own time and safe in the knowledge that you massively improve your playing.
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- play lead fingerstyle
- jam to any blues song
- play scales all over the neck and play riffs using those scales
- develop a completely independent left and right hand
- play several advanced fingerpicking pieces
Testimonials
Optimized for your success
This structure of this program is designed to help you get results immediately:
- A structured framework of 19 small parts.
- That fit into a 15 minutes a day practice schedule.
- Where each session gives you an exercise to practice at the end
- And the following session will give you tips if you found that exercise challenging.
- By the end of the course, you will have made huge progress (through 19 small steps that add up).
Frequently Asked Questions
Each lesson has a HD video with three camera angles (full, left hand and right hand) so that you can zone in and see what each hand is doing.
Each lesson also comes with a downloadable PDF and the relevant music tablature for each lesson.
If you know how to play a 12-bar blues in any key on the guitar, then this course is a good choice for you if you want to advance your blues playing.
If not, consider doing the Beginner Blues Fingerpicking course first. Note you can buy all 3 blues fingerpicking courses as a bundle which gives you considerable discount!
Lead Fingerpicking is the ability to play a lead guitar line using individual guitar notes (rather than chords) at the same time as keeping a steady bassline going.
This makes your playing sound like 2 guitarists – one playing lead guitar and another playing bass. It’s an amazing skill to learn on guitar and it’s so much easier to master than people think. Follow the structured exercises in this course and find out for yourself.
A lot. You’ll learn the 2 most important blues scales (Minor Pentatonic and Blues scale) all over the guitar neck. You’ll also fingerpick several types of blues: 8-Bar Blues, Minor Blues & Shuffle Blues. This is knowledge you’ll use for the rest of your life.
You will learn 26 blues riffs all over the fretboard. You’ll play them using lead fingerpicking – meaning that for each of them you will be playing a regular steady bassline. You will learn several full pieces.
This course will teach you a lot of blues, but will also teach you lead fingerpicking which is a skill that will transform you as a musician
There is a 30-day no-questions-asked money back guarantee.
Just email me using the contact form in the footer if you don’t feel like the course helped you to make progress.
This allows you to try the course without any risk.
I show you the scales, which of course you should play and start to get the feel of. However, the focus is immediately on the blues riffs that we learn (and then you can see how that fits into the scale shape we just learned).
If you can play those blues riffs at the end of this course, that’s the main goal. Exposure to the scales just means you are aware of them and can see how the riffs tend to utilize several cool shapes that are worth knowing.
Yes. Many guitarists could play scales all day long without sounding musical.
This course will show you 26 blues riffs that you not only play, but play with lead fingerpicking. This is the music and this is the improvement we seek
They don’t focus on the blues as such.
If you are a complete beginner, then choose either the Beginner Blues course or the general Beginner course (From Zero to Fingerpicker in 30 days) – or ideally both!
Once you have done those courses, the next way to advance your blues is this course!
Take your fingerpicking to the next level
Now is the time to become the fingerpicking guitarist you have always dreamed of being