In this lesson, you’ll learn the G minor pentatonic scale—one of the most essential scales in blues guitar. Colin breaks it down note by note, showing you how it sits on the fretboard and how to finger it comfortably. This shape is your launching pad for solos, licks, and improvisation, and once it’s under your fingers, you’ll start to hear that unmistakable blues sound come to life. Simple, powerful, and incredibly useful.
This lesson introduces the classic blues concept of “call and answer”—a foundational idea in both rhythm and lead playing. Colin shows you how to split your 12-bar groove into two voices: one phrase that “calls,” and another that “answers.” It’s a fun and interactive way to think about phrasing, and it helps your playing sound more conversational and musical. You’ll also start building your improvisation instincts without even realizing it.
In this lesson, Colin brings all the elements of the “Ice Cream Man” together into a full 12-bar blues progression. You’ll combine the main riff, the chord applications, the closing lick, and the shuffle feel into one cohesive piece. It’s a great exercise in structure, flow, and musical memory—plus, it feels like you’re really playing something now. This chapter shows how simple parts, when stacked together right, can sound like a full-blown blues tune.
This lesson adds a slick closing riff to your “Ice Cream Man” groove—a short but punchy phrase that gives your playing a polished finish. Colin walks you through the feel, technique, and timing, so it slots naturally onto the end of your groove. It’s a great way to punctuate your playing and prepare for building the full 12-bar form in the next chapter.
This lesson zooms in on the scale behind the “Ice Cream Man” riff, showing you how it works—and how you can use it to start improvising. Colin introduces a simple pentatonic scale shape that fits right over the riff you’ve already learned. You’ll start connecting the dots between rhythm and lead, opening the door to soloing in a way that feels natural and bluesy. No theory overload—just practical, usable notes you can plug right into your playing.
In this lesson, Colin teaches you a riff he calls “The Ice Cream Man”—a cool, laid-back groove that blends power chords with rhythmic accents and just the right amount of swing. It’s another great example of how to take simple shapes and turn them into something musical and memorable. You’ll tighten up your timing, work on muting for control, and learn how to inject attitude into your rhythm playing.
Now that you’ve got the Hooker-style riff and some shuffle feel under your fingers, this lesson takes it a step further by adding real chords to the mix. Colin shows you how to blend your dominant 7th chords (A7, D7, E7) into the groove you’ve already learned—giving the riff more color, depth, and musicality. This chapter bridges riff-based and chord-based playing, helping you sound fuller and more dynamic.
In this lesson, you’ll dive into one of the most essential feels in blues—the shuffle. Colin breaks down the swing-style rhythm that gives blues its signature bounce, showing you how to alternate between notes in a way that drives the groove forward. You’ll learn how to count it, feel it, and most importantly, play it with the kind of laid-back attitude that makes it sound authentic. This is a must-know rhythm for any electric blues player.
Now it’s time to put your power chords to work in a real blues context. In this lesson, Colin teaches a riff-inspired progression in the style of John Lee Hooker, using moveable power chords to drive the groove. It’s gritty, repetitive, and incredibly effective—just like classic electric blues should be. You’ll focus on timing, muting, and getting that raw, pulsing feel that makes this kind of riff so satisfying to play.
This lesson expands your power chord vocabulary by showing you how to move them up and down the neck. Colin explains how root-6 and root-5 power chords work, and how to identify their locations using simple fretboard logic. You’ll also get a crash course in octaves, note names, and fretboard distances—all key to unlocking the rest of the guitar neck. If you’ve ever wanted to play beyond the open chords, this is your gateway.
Now that you’ve got power chords under your belt, it’s time to add full chords to your blues toolkit. In this lesson, Colin introduces three essential shapes: A7, D7, and E7. You’ll learn how to play them cleanly and understand why dominant 7th chords are such a key ingredient in the blues sound. This chapter focuses on accuracy, tone, and smooth switching—setting you up to use these chords in real progressions later on.
In this lesson, Colin introduces power chords and explains why they matter—even in blues. You’ll learn what a power chord actually is (spoiler: it’s not a full chord) and how it’s built using perfect fifth intervals. Starting with A, D, and E, Colin walks through how to play clean, two-note versions using open strings, and explains why these shapes are so important to your rhythm playing. It’s a mix of theory and hands-on practice—giving you a solid grip on one of the most used tools in blues and rock guitar.
Now that you’ve got your first riff under your fingers, this lesson expands on it with a few new moves to build your confidence and musical vocabulary. Colin introduces variations that add flavor without adding complexity—just enough to keep things interesting while reinforcing the groove. It’s a chance to deepen your feel and start making the riff your own, one small step at a time.
Time to plug in and start playing! In this lesson, you’ll learn your very first electric blues riff—simple, gritty, and full of attitude. Colin shows you how to lock in the rhythm, get the picking pattern right, and make it feel musical even at a slow speed. This riff uses just a few notes, but it teaches you the kind of timing and touch that defines the blues. Don’t worry about perfection—just focus on the groove and getting comfortable.
In this lesson, Colin walks you step-by-step through tuning your guitar using a chromatic tuner. You’ll learn how to get each string dialed in accurately and consistently, with practical tips on striking the string, reading the tuner, and avoiding common mistakes. Colin also explains how tuning interacts with things like string tension, neck pull, and intonation—so even beginners start to develop a feel for what’s happening under the hood. If your guitar’s not staying in tune, this chapter gives you the tools to figure out why.
This first lesson kicks things off with an overview of what’s ahead in the course. Colin gives you a taste of the electric blues style and shares how this course will help you build real, playable skills. It’s not about flashy licks—it’s about learning the right feel, the right sound, and how to actually play the blues in a way that connects. Whether you’re brushing up or just getting started, this chapter gets you in the groove and ready to roll.
This bonus lesson is inspired by John Fogerty’s “Hey Tonight”, originally recorded with CCR but later performed with some extra twists in his live shows. We’re working in E major, and we’ll borrow from one of those live versions to explore how melody and drone strings can interact in a fast, driving riff.
We’ll split the bar into two halves:
It’s fast, so the challenge is less about complexity and more about muscle memory. We’ll need to loop and repeat until it settles in.
Now the fun twist:
Keep that first finger down the whole time—it anchors the movement.
This riff might be short, but it’s deceptively tricky. Stick with it — the repetition will pay off. Run it slowly, then speed it up as your hands sync. And remember: these little drone ideas open the door to endless variations.
Here’s the jam track used in this chapter – use it to practice with!
Hey Tonight Loop:
In this chapter, we’ll dive into a riff that feels loose and slippery, but underneath it’s built on solid theory. The “slippin’ & slidin’” approach adds a gritty, bluesy flavor by leaning into slides, bends, and half-step shifts that give the music a restless, rolling motion. We’ll see how the placement of these movements works against the underlying drone, creating tension that resolves just as quickly as it appears.
We’ll explore how the riff sits inside the scale pattern, how the raised notes and slides create a push-and-pull feel, and why the timing of each shift is as important as the notes themselves. As we work through the examples, we’ll get comfortable using slides not just as decoration, but as a way of connecting ideas smoothly while keeping that rough-edged, blues-driven sound intact.
By the end of this chapter, we’ll have a riff that rolls forward with momentum, captures the slippery spirit of the blues, and shows us how small shifts in note choice and movement can make a riff sound alive and unpredictable.
Here’s the jam track used in this chapter – use it to practice with!
John Mayer Loop:
In this chapter, we’ll step into the moody world of C# minor and its relative E major. While the two are closely connected, we’ll lean toward C# minor, a key that feels especially natural on the guitar. With four sharps in its key signature—F#, C#, G#, and D#—we’ll explore how this tonality brings out expressive sounds and colors.
Our study uses a two-bar progression inspired by John Mayer’s Slow Dancing in a Burning Room. We’ll start with a full bar of C# minor, then move to half a bar of E major before resolving back into E. Both C# and E resolve cleanly, giving us two strong tonal centers to work with and plenty of room for melodic ideas.
On the fretboard, we’ll explore both the diatonic scale and the pentatonic scale for C# minor. The diatonic runs through every note in the key, while the pentatonic simplifies things by leaving out the 2nd and 6th degrees—creating that familiar bluesy feel. By blending the two, we’ll begin to create hexatonic variations that expand our phrasing options.
This chapter is less about technical speed and more about tone, feel, and resolution. We’ll see how the C# minor shape can naturally expand into different textures, helping us bridge the gap between scale work and true melodic playing. It’s the perfect way to wrap up the course—bringing everything together in a musical, expressive context.
In this chapter, we’re going to work on switchback ideas—a technique that creates motion by bouncing back and forth between notes. You can use this with hammer-ons, melodic patterns, or even harmonics. It’s really flexible, and you don’t have to make it complicated. Sometimes just a group of four notes, followed by a group of three, is enough to create a cool phrase.
We’ve already worked in A minor, E minor, and F# minor, but remember—these also relate to their major counterparts (C, G, and A). The notes stay the same; the only difference is which note acts as the tonic. For this course, we’ve leaned on the minor keys because they naturally fit the rock and blues sound we’re going for.
For the first riff, we’ll build a switchback using a simple descending line:
Start at the 12th fret
Drop to the 10th, then the 9th, then the 7th
Bounce back up: 9th → 7th → 5th
Finish with the open string
This gives you a mix of tension and release that feels great over a jam track. You can also flip it around and use it ascending for a fresh twist.
Here, we’re not hammering on—we’re picking single notes and letting them ring over each other.
Start on the 14th fret and pick the first four notes, letting them sustain.
Keep the open E ringing while you drop to the 12th, then the 9th.
Shape your hand so the phrase falls naturally out of the scale.
This riff opens up a lot of layered sound possibilities, almost like you’re stacking notes into a chord while still keeping it melodic.
This riff uses harmonic intervals with one of the most important skips in music: the minor 3rd. That little jump is what makes the pentatonic minor scale sound so bluesy.
Start at the 17th fret, play two strokes per fret as you move down: 17 → 15 → 14 → 12.
Jump down to the 9th fret for your minor 3rd skip, then climb back up to the 14th fret.
Finish with a melodic tag: open B and E strings, then a hammer-on.
This creates a three-bar riff with a strong blues flavor.
The real magic comes when you experiment with these switchbacks. Try:
Doubling some notes, leaving others out.
Mixing pentatonic and diatonic approaches.
Playing around with the rhythmic phrasing.
Don’t just copy the examples—use them as starting points. The goal is to make these ideas your own. Once you’ve got the mechanics down, you can create endless riffs on just the B and E strings.
Here’s the jam track used in this chapter – use it to practice with!
Jealousy Loop: