Course Description

Everything you need to know about Blues and Jazz-Blues playing in one comprehensive course!

The saying that "the blues is Jazz's greatest influence" is reflected in this course that transforms the evolution of the Blues from its origins up to the way blues is played today by Gypsy and Jazz guitarists, into a consistent, methodical and enjoyable learning process.

For blues guitarists - learn how to make the transition from playing the blues over one pentatonic scale to playing jazz giving each chord its own sound.

For non-blues players - the first chapter in this course is dedicated to learning the Down-Home basics, so we'll all have the basics down to start with.

From the origins of the blues- rhythm, scales, traditional phrases, shuffle accompaniment and ending clichés, up to Jazz improvisation using arpeggios, chromatic approaches, reharmonization, substitutes for the I-VI-II-V7 and the II-V-I progressions - after learning this course, you'll be in a complete bluesy jazzy mode that you can implement on any Gypsy and Jazz standard you like.

Course curriculum

    1. King Blues - Spice up your Blues Solo Outside of the Pentatonic Box

    2. Blues - The ticket to Jazz, PDF

    3. 1.1 First African Element

    4. 1.2 The Pentatonic Scale

    5. 1.3 The Blues Scale

    6. 1.4 First Open Structure

    7. 1.5 Down Home Phrases

    8. 1.6 Second Open Structure - 3 chords

    9. 1.7 The 12 Bar Blues

    10. 1.8 Shuffle Accompaniment

    11. 1.9 Ending Clichés

    12. 1.10 Conclusions and Thoughts about the Down Home Blues

    13. 1.11 Chapter Summary - PDF

    14. 1.12 Community Discussion - Ask Questions, Comment and Share Your Thoughts!

    1. 2.1 The 12 Bar Blues and the Three Sentences

    2. 2.2 Songs with Three Sentences #1

    3. 2.3 Songs with Three Sentences #2

    4. 2.4 Compose Your Own Blues

    5. 2.5 The Major Pentatonic

    6. 2.6 The Major Blues Scale

    7. 2.7 Starting to Improvise over the Chords

    8. 2.8 Jazz Blues Etude #1

    9. 2.9 - Chapter Summary - PDF

    10. 2.10 Community Discussion - Ask Questions, Comment and Share Your Thoughts!

    1. 3.1 Why Arpeggios

    2. 3.2 Chord Scale Exercise #1

    3. 3.3 Chord Exercise # 2

    4. 3.4 Basic Chord Scale Etude

    5. 3.5 The Ultimate Chord Scale - Exercise

    6. 3.6 The Ultimate Chord Scale - Etude

    7. 3.7 Chromatic Approach and the 3rd degree

    8. 3.8 Double Chromatic Approach

    9. 3.9 The Chromatic Filler

    10. 3.10 Jazz Blues Etude #2

    11. 3.11 The Blues Hot Spots

    12. 3.12 Chapter Summary - PDF

    13. 3.13 Community Discussion - Ask Questions, Comment and Share Your Thoughts!

    1. 4.1 The Reharmonized Chord Progression

    2. 4.2 Substitutes for the I-VI-II-V

    3. 4.2.1 Substitutes for the I-VI-II-V - Example in the Key of C

    4. 4.3 Advanced Jazz Blues Accompaniment #1

    5. 4.4 Skills You Need to Continue

    6. 4.5 II-V-I Improvisation Workout

    7. 4.6 Improvisation on the I-VI-II-V Progression - Chord Scales

    8. 4.7 The mixob9b13 #1

    9. 4.8 The mixob9b13 #2 - Grant Green Phrase

    10. 4.9 I-VI-II-V - Seeing Everything in Triads

    11. 4.10 Chapter Summary

    12. 4.11 Community Discussion - Ask Questions, Comment and Share Your Thoughts!

    1. 5.1 Jazz Blues Etude #3

    2. 5.2 Jazz Blues Etude #4

    3. 5.3 Chapter Summary - PDF

    4. 5.4 Community Discussion - Ask Questions, Comment and Share Your Thoughts!

About this course

  • $147.00
  • 53 lessons
  • 5.5 hours of video content

Testimonial

rodrigo villas boas

5 star rating

“Congratulations!!! highly recommended!”

“Congratulations!!! highly recommended!”

→Read Less

Alex Washburn

5 star rating

“I've played guitar on and off for 28 years now. I never really tried or wanted to be a student of the instrument. Of course with age, things changes. I did take lessons from a few teachers while back in high school. but this format is really whe...”

→Read More

“I've played guitar on and off for 28 years now. I never really tried or wanted to be a student of the instrument. Of course with age, things changes. I did take lessons from a few teachers while back in high school. but this format is really where online learning shines. I am enjoying practicing through these lessons like never before. I'm seeing the entire fretboard in a new way. I'm kinda cheap, and can't afford private lesson pricing. Here is some math for you. @200 bucks for a course you're getting 6-12 months worth of private lessons that you can re-watch at any time. I know I used to ask questions in my lessons... here I just rewind. Its 99.999% all there, each lesson has a discussion board which is awesome. AND Yaakov is very responsive on the boards and via email. I was really impressed. All of these courses are very well thought out and explained. They are dripping in practical music theory presented in an accessible way. I would say beginners might feel a bit overwhelmed at first. But if you really commit to going very slowly and can practice 15-30 minutes a day 5 + times a week, you can jump on board. If you want to really enjoy playing guitar and are willing to practice, this guy lays out a great road map at an unbelievable value. I've got several courses and they are all really good. Now I just need 3 years of vacation time. ”

→Read Less

David Edelstein

5 star rating

“This is a really clear, well-thought out set of lessons that guides the student step-by-step through more and more sophisticated versions of the blues.It starts with the simple three chord structure familar to folk and rock musicians, and advances...”

→Read More

“This is a really clear, well-thought out set of lessons that guides the student step-by-step through more and more sophisticated versions of the blues.It starts with the simple three chord structure familar to folk and rock musicians, and advances to more complex harmonizations and different scales and arpeggios that can be linked to each chord. This establishes the approach to jazz improvising, where the idea is to choose notes related to the specific chord being played, rather than soloing across all chords with a single scale. I've been playing the guitar for decades, and got plenty of enjoyable and challenging new insights from Yaakov's program. It has provided me with months of new ideas to practice.”

→Read Less

Anders Thøgersen

5 star rating

“Great course with a lot of practical ideas om how to make the blues more sophisticated. ”

“Great course with a lot of practical ideas om how to make the blues more sophisticated. ”

→Read Less

דנה רדין

5 star rating

“I' m learning a lot delving into a genre that is both a forerunner of jazz and a cornerstone of the music to this day. Yaakov gives you tons of information, tips and practical tools and gets you playing in a way that is easy to catch on to and sa...”

→Read More

“I' m learning a lot delving into a genre that is both a forerunner of jazz and a cornerstone of the music to this day. Yaakov gives you tons of information, tips and practical tools and gets you playing in a way that is easy to catch on to and satisfying right from the start. Now, I know the Blues can fit in anywhere!”

→Read Less

Tom Collier

5 star rating

“This course is awesome to start incorporating jazzier sounds with the blues. Provides a solid foundation for learning how to incorporate arpeggios for each chord while improvising within the blues format. Course also covers some etudes, chord subs...”

→Read More

“This course is awesome to start incorporating jazzier sounds with the blues. Provides a solid foundation for learning how to incorporate arpeggios for each chord while improvising within the blues format. Course also covers some etudes, chord substitutions, and how to use them within your rhythm playing. Plus several tips and options that are unique to the blues. ”

→Read Less

JOHN Keohane

5 star rating

“When I first heard GJ, I loved it, and knew I'd never be able to play that. I hoped I'd be able to play a few swing songs eventually. BUT, now I feel I have some knowledge and a path toward !!! Thanks Yaakov, this course is splendid”

“When I first heard GJ, I loved it, and knew I'd never be able to play that. I hoped I'd be able to play a few swing songs eventually. BUT, now I feel I have some knowledge and a path toward !!! Thanks Yaakov, this course is splendid”

→Read Less