Tommy Harkenrider is now offering a Blues Guitar Method live at Premier Music in Orange: http://www.premierschoolofmusic.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=55&Itemid=109
Here is the class description:
The majority of guitarists today learn in the same fashion. We learn a 12 barre blues form, a pentatonic scale and we are off and running. This is the way I started and odds are so did you!
This was always an excellent model to start with and it is relevant for blues of the 1960's and the blues rock of today but this method falls short when it comes to solo, swing influenced, and just about any blues sub-genre prior to 1960.
What is missing is a understanding of chord based playing - knowing and utilizing the tones from the chords that you are playing over that will make your melodies work better regardless of chord progression or scale.
I have pulled ideas from George Barnes, Barney Kessel, Mickey Baker, George Van Epps, and Nick Manolof to create a blues method that will break anyone out of the "box". We all try to lift ideas from guitar players and sometimes we are just playing by numbers. There is no understanding of why we do what we do, we just learn the note pattern. Retention has always been an issue for me, but I find the better I understand a melody line the better that I will remember it. The method I've come up with to arrange all of this information is not rocket science, but instead a logical way of applying chord theory to your lead playing. This is a great way not only to learn more licks and ideas that will give your playing great depth and sophistication but you will also have a much greater command of the fretboard.
The class is a two month course with option to continue analyzing the styles of some of my favorite guitar players. I teach this in person and via skype.
Here is the class description:
The majority of guitarists today learn in the same fashion. We learn a 12 barre blues form, a pentatonic scale and we are off and running. This is the way I started and odds are so did you!
This was always an excellent model to start with and it is relevant for blues of the 1960's and the blues rock of today but this method falls short when it comes to solo, swing influenced, and just about any blues sub-genre prior to 1960.
What is missing is a understanding of chord based playing - knowing and utilizing the tones from the chords that you are playing over that will make your melodies work better regardless of chord progression or scale.
I have pulled ideas from George Barnes, Barney Kessel, Mickey Baker, George Van Epps, and Nick Manolof to create a blues method that will break anyone out of the "box". We all try to lift ideas from guitar players and sometimes we are just playing by numbers. There is no understanding of why we do what we do, we just learn the note pattern. Retention has always been an issue for me, but I find the better I understand a melody line the better that I will remember it. The method I've come up with to arrange all of this information is not rocket science, but instead a logical way of applying chord theory to your lead playing. This is a great way not only to learn more licks and ideas that will give your playing great depth and sophistication but you will also have a much greater command of the fretboard.
The class is a two month course with option to continue analyzing the styles of some of my favorite guitar players. I teach this in person and via skype.