Corey Congilio

You're nursing your brew at the local blues jam waiting on your turn. You've got a solid six or so blues grooves under your belt but darn, someone already called the Stormy blues and that SRV jam. Next guy called the minor blues ala B.B. and then, as luck would have it, the Chicago shuffle groove in the same key you do it in. Fingers are crossed but of course cat number three calls both your slow blues and that uptempo straight-ahead thing you feel solid on.

Learning blues licks is the first step towards learning how to solo and improvise over blues progressions and songs. Every blues player learns pretty much the same beginning vocabulary of blues licks and then, with time and practice, transforms them into their own distinctive blues sound.

On January 24th in 1848, James Marshall triggered the California Gold Rush when he uncovered a handful of shiny pebbles while building a lumber mill in Coloma, California. Subsequently, hundreds of thousands of people, from all over the globe, suffered great hardship to make their way by land and sea to seek their own fortunes.

Texas blues dates back as far as the early 1900's but this collection of 50 licks focuses on the Texas blues scene that exploded on to the mainstream in the late 60's and early 70's. Heavily influenced by southern rock, blues-rock, slide and a dash of jazz, this modern style of Texas blues features the heavy use of memorable electric guitar riffs, blazing solos, exciting rhythm patterns and tasty turnarounds, all of which are showcased in this handpicked collection of 50 Texas Blues Licks You MUST Know.

50 Blues Rhythms is much more than just 50 grooves you can call up at the jam. It's actually 40 different rhythmic and chord voicing approaches for the 12-bar blues that Corey demonstrates in the same key for continuity purposes. ALL of these 40 approaches can be transposed to all keys, and ALL can be combined to craft countless blues grooves that you can jam over, compose with, or use for accompaniment purposes in any blues setting. The last 10 examples illustrate how to combine various approaches from the previous 40 examples.

Rhythm Guitar Lessons: Barre Chords, Shuffle, 12 Bar-Blues, Strumming Electric Guitar or Acoustic Guitar