Jazz Blues Masterclass
Blues and Pentatonics - Part I
About this masterclass
David Cohen teaches the foundations of blues improvisation for guitarists who are relatively new to soloing: the major and minor 12-bar blues forms and the many ways to use the minor pentatonic "box" — though more experienced players will find plenty here too.
The most basic 12-bar blues has three primary chords — I, IV, V in the major blues, i, iv, v in the minor — and David builds everything from the ground up, starting with learning the notes on the 6th string so you can find the box in any key.
What's covered
- The minor pentatonic box position and other common "start frets" for it
- Chord shapes for the 12-bar blues: boogie power chords, E7-shape barre chords, shell voicings, and top-four-string (T4) voicings with 9ths
- The diatonic approach, plus matching major or minor pentatonics to each chord
- Suspended sounds highlighting the 9th and 11th, altered sounds for transitions, and free chromatic connection
- Other scales and modes beyond the minor pentatonic, introduced and explored
- David's highlighting/aiming method for targeting scale degrees, so each new position sounds convincing from the first try
- Common turnarounds
These ideas are basic and fundamental to improvisation — a solid first step for any guitarist getting into blues soloing. Full class runs about 76 minutes.
Lessons in this masterclass
Lessons
- 1Blues and Pentatonics - Part I1h 16m
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