If you are a connoisseur of blues styles, you’ve probably explored at least some of the legends’ work. Fred McDowell, John Lee Hooker, Blind Willie Johnson, amongst many others, are some of the forefathers of modern blues and other popular music.
In his course, Down Home Boogie & Blues Guidebook, Richard van Bergen helps you expand your blues toolbox by exploring some of the stylings of legends like these.
Here are 6 free boogie & blues guitar lessons from the course. For the full course, check out Richard van Bergen’s Down Home Boogie & Blues Guidebook on TrueFire!
Quarter Triplets – Richard van Bergen
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Quarter triplets á la John Lee Hooker will break up the groove and give you rhythmic tension.
Connecting Positions – Richard van Bergen
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We can connect several blues positions in a boogie groove to add some variation.
Don’t Lose Your Pride 1 – Richard van Bergen
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This next one is the basic groove of my composition “Don’t Lose Your Pride”, which I recorded on my first solo album Rootbag. It’s an example of a slow, swampy boogie groove. First I’ll show you the basic groove, followed by the melody played simultaneously with the vocals. This is very common in pre-war blues and also used extensively by Jimi Hendrix.
John Lee Groove in G – Richard van Bergen
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In natural tuning, the key of G is often used in singer-songwriter and country music. It’s not necessarily a favourite for old-school boogie & blues grooves. Of course, you can play the grooves you’re familiar with in E and capo to the third fret. In the next groove, I’ll show you how you can play a John Lee Hooker type boogie in G without the capo or tuning to open G first.
When He Comes – Richard van Bergen
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As I told you in the introduction, these kind of grooves are so timeless and powerful that they can easily be adapted to more modern styles like rock or funk. This next one is an example of that. It’s the basic groove of my composition, “When He Comes”, which I recorded on my first solo album. The drums and bass lay down a funky, New Orleans/Meters style groove. That boogie-based guitar groove fits it like a glove!
Walk On In – Richard van Bergen
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The next example is the basic groove of the title track of my second album, “Walk On In”. It’s an example of a boogie played in open G. Its basic pattern is played on the lower part of the guitar, without using the B and high E string.
Digging these free boogie & blues guitar lessons? Check out Richard’s full course, Down Home Boogie & Blues Guidebook.