Play Blues Guitar: Getting Started: Guitar Book & DVD

This package cuts through the overwhelming options for blues guitar instruction by focusing on what actually matters for beginners: the 12-bar form, essential chord voicings, and the rhythmic feel that makes blues sound like blues. The DVD format paired with the book means students can watch technique in action, then reference the page while they practice, without jumping between devices.

Relaxed and grounded. Blues lives in the groove, and this course emphasizes feel from the start rather than speed or complexity. You'll find yourself thinking less about what your fingers should do and more about laying back in the rhythm.

Beginning guitarists ready to move beyond open chords into a real musical style, or strummers who know acoustic basics and want to understand blues structure and harmonic vocabulary. This works equally well for self-taught players and students in a structured lesson setting.

• Watch the shuffle rhythm demonstration multiple times before attempting it at tempo. The feel won't click from reading alone; seeing how the instructors accent the swing will accelerate your internalization of the pocket.
• When learning the 12-bar progression in new keys, anchor yourself to the I chord first. Play that one chord in rhythm until it feels solid, then add the IV and V.
• Practice the diads separately as a rhythm exercise before layering them into a full blues groove. Isolate the two-note voicings until your fingers know the shape without thinking.
• Use the dominant 7th variations one at a time. Master the basic V7 before adding extensions; adding too many colors at once muddies the learning process.

Assign this as a summer self-study resource for guitarists who want a solid foundation before fall ensemble auditions, or use the 12-bar concepts to connect electric guitarists to a foundational jazz curriculum. The dominant 7th and diad work translates directly to jazz comping.

• Playing 12-bar blues progressions in multiple keys
• Voicing and using dominant 7th chords and variations
• Rhythm guitar using diads (two-note voicings)
• Distinguishing and executing eighth-note and shuffle rhythms
• Mapping major scales on the fretboard
• Numbering intervals and understanding chord construction
• Proper fretting hand and picking hand technique for blues