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These 7 free guitar lessons are from David Hamburger’s Blues Architect, a guide to constructing and performing multi-chorus blues guitar solos. You will learn how to play compelling guitar solos using major and minor pentatonic scales, Mixolydian scales, chromatic passing notes and altered tones, you’ll learn how to develop tasty, soulful solos packed with tension and release that gradually build over two or three choruses to a compelling climax. Check out these lessons and get started!

Blues Architect Lesson #1: Four on the Floor – Breakdown

Download the tab & notation for this blues lesson.

Freddie King is a champ when it comes to root targeting. It’s part of why, when you listen to him, you might think, “aw, that’s just pentatonics,” but when you get in there and try to figure some of it out, you start to realize, “oh, hey, wait a second…” Within a palette of just major and minor pentatonic, King uses phrasing and root targeting to shape his solos. Visit Freddie King online.

Blues Architect Lesson #2: Four on the Floor – Variations

Download the tab & notation for this blues lesson.

You can find some hands on music and tab for a few of David Grissom’s favorite moves in an interview I did with him for the March 2006 issue of Vintage Guitar. While it’s not archived online (yeah, I checked) their site does have a really good Grissom interview conducted by my Austin comrade Dan Forte, otherwise known as Teisco Del Rey. Visit David Grissom online.

Blues Architect Lesson #3: Four on the Floor – Extended Performance

Download the tab & notation for this blues lesson.

You can find some hands on music and tab for a few of David Grissom’s favorite moves in an interview I did with him for the March 2006 issue of Vintage Guitar. While it’s not archived online (yeah, I checked) their site does have a really good Grissom interview conducted by my Austin comrade Dan Forte, otherwise known as Teisco Del Rey. Visit David Grissom online.

Blues Architect Lesson #4: Four on the Floor – Commentary

Download the tab & notation for this blues lesson.

I’ve provided a commentary track to the extended solo for each tune in this course on bank 3, Video 1. This way, if you want, as you see and hear the solo go by, you can hear me talking through the various scales, positions and phrasing choices that I’ve made. The lesson on rhythm guitar for each tune will start on Video 2 of that tune’s third bank. Visit David online.

Blues Architect Lesson #5: Four on the Floor – Performance

Download the tab & notation for this blues lesson.

I’ve provided a commentary track to the extended solo for each tune in this course on bank 3, Video 1. This way, if you want, as you see and hear the solo go by, you can hear me talking through the various scales, positions and phrasing choices that I’ve made. The lesson on rhythm guitar for each tune will start on Video 2 of that tune’s third bank. Visit David online.

Blues Architect Lesson #6: Four on the Floor – Variations

Download the tab & notation for this blues lesson.

This tune has a straight-eighth note feel (as opposed to a swing feel) and the all-time source for straight-eighths rhythm guitar is the music of James Brown, which was built around the seminal funk guitar style of Jimmy Nolen. Nolen’s first recording with Brown was “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” and the rest is pretty much ninth-chord history. Visit Jimmy Nolen online.

Blues Architect Lesson #7: Four on the Floor – Extended Performance

Download the tab & notation for this blues lesson.

This tune has a straight-eighth note feel (as opposed to a swing feel) and the all-time source for straight-eighths rhythm guitar is the music of James Brown, which was built around the seminal funk guitar style of Jimmy Nolen. Nolen’s first recording with Brown was “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” and the rest is pretty much ninth-chord history. Visit Jimmy Nolen online.

Dig these Blues Architect lessons? Download David Hamburger’s Blues Architect for much more including tab, notation, and jam tracks!