Riff
Curriculum

3-Month Blues: From Rhythm to Solo

For players past the electric basics who want to play blues — rhythm and lead alike

This is a 3-month blues roadmap for players who've finished the electric basics. Blues has two hearts — you build the groove with the shuffle rhythm and make notes cry with bending. You'll learn to trade these back and forth over a 12-bar and 'speak' the blues.

Month 1 builds the body of the rhythm with shuffle, boogie, the 12-bar form, and dominant 7ths; Month 2 finds the voice of the lead with minor pentatonic Box 1, the blue note, and bending; Month 3 adds chord targeting and major/minor color to record a complete blues where you trade comping and soloing on your own.

Feel comes before precision — the groove of the shuffle and the expression of a bend first. By the end you'll meet a version of yourself who sings the blues freely over a backing track, ready to move on to the solo/scale journey next.

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The shuffle feel — the heartbeat of the blues The double-stop hand shape — two notes as one The boogie riff — walking with 5th, 6th, b7 Completing the A7 shuffle boogie — the Week 1 finish line
The blues sound — the three dominant 7 chords A7, D7, E7 Move the boogie — D7 and E7 boogie The 12-bar blues form — going around once Completing the 12-bar boogie — the Week 2 finish line
The 9th chord — add a refined color to the boogie Stop-time — stab and go silent to make drama Dynamics — bring the groove to life with loud and soft Integrating the rhythm variations — the Week 3 finish line
Turnaround — the last four bars that tie off the 12 Intro and ending tag — opening and closing the tune's door 12-bar rehearsal — one full lap without stopping Completing the 12-bar shuffle — the Month 1 graduation stage
Carving Box 1, the home of your lead, into your hands A drop of the blue note — adding a tear to the minor pentatonic Building short phrases inside Box 1 Completing the blues scale — getting the map of your lead in hand
Expressive bending — push the note exactly to its target pitch Vibrato — make the note tremble and sing Slide — glide into and out of the note Integrating the expressive lick — sing one bar with bend, vibrato, and slide

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