Ask:
What do Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen and John Mayer have in common?
Answer:
In addition to having the distinction of being just a few of the many notable guitarists of the past 60+ years, they also had a blues background, or at least had a strong appreciation for the beauty of this style of music.
Ask:
What do the musical styles of modern country, rock, metal, and pop music have in common?
Answer:
They represent some of the many musical genres that are often influenced by the Blues.
In addition to the sheer fun of learning to play blues guitar, it is also a highly recommended way to increase the musical tools a student can use to write, accompany, or solo many types of music. This can be a clever and educational progression for any guitar student with at least some ability with some basic scales and barre chords.
The purpose of the Blues Guitar Secrets DVD Guitar Lesson Program is to quickly teach the student:
-12 bar blues in multiple variations
– blues chords and progressions
– blues scales in all positions and keys
– Improvisation of blues solos
Each guitar lesson program must include at least the following:
-An instructional program will go beyond the limitations of just reading a book by offering clear audio and video demonstrations of each lesson.
-The author of the program should ideally possess the following credentials: playing well, having played in a band, having recorded music, being a gifted and preferably experienced guitar teacher, with formal education.
About the author Dan Denley:
Dan Denley fits the above definition of the ideal guitar instructor well. He has been a member of 10 bands and has played some gigs at big venues. Dan is a competitive music student, has a college degree in music and is a guitar teacher. He is also the author of the successful beginner and intermediate guitar lesson program called “Amazing Guitar Secrets” and a new solo program called “Lead Guitar Secrets”.
Who will benefit most from this program?:
Although learning to play the basics of blues guitar doesn’t require advanced skill, it helps if you’re comfortable with at least one of the movable major or minor scale patterns and a few barre chords. However, the Blues Guitar Secrets course will walk you through the basic components that include the blues pentatonic scales.
Is this blues course for acoustic or electric guitarists?
Both. Although the author begins the course by explaining the interesting details of his electric guitar setup, he demonstrates the lessons using a combination of electric and acoustic guitars. One of the sections of the lesson is titled “Acoustic Guitar Blues Riffs.”
The contents of the secrets of the blues guitar:
A. The physical parts
– (2) DVDs of blues guitar lessons
– (1) CD Jam Tracks* (included in Gold Edition only)
– (1) Book – DVD Companion: Essential Blues Notation, Tab and Chord Symbols
– (1) Book – “Mastering the Pentatonic and Blues Scales: Discover the Secrets to Creating Your Own Killer Blues Solos and Riffs”
– (1) Book – Full Step-by-Step Guide to the Jam Tracks CD*! – Includes tabs, chord symbols, fretboard diagrams and a complete theoretical analysis of each Jam Track* (included only in the Gold Edition).
– (1) Progress Tracker
– (1) Letter of Introduction
– (1) Step by Step Guide: “How to Use Your Blues Guitar Secrets Course”
* Jam Tracks are made up of short blues songs that create an opportunity to practice rhythm parts or improvise solos while playing with a recorded backing band.
A partial list of lessons:
– Introduction to blues guitar
– Patterns of minor pentatonic mobile scale in 5 positions
– Blues Pentatonic Sliding Scale Patterns
– Blues chord progressions
– Use of chords and scales of minor seventh, dominant seventh, major seventh VI, dominant ninth and minor ninth, as well as combined forms
– 12 Bar Blues: Open Position Chords
– Acoustic guitar blues riffs
– Classic blues solo licks
– Blues Racing
– Solo practice techniques
– Addition of curves
– Strumming techniques
– Use of syncopation
– Bonus videos
The negatives:
– Dan sometimes refers to a musical term before defining it. Some of the author’s explanations of these terms are not very clear. This could occasionally frustrate the most inexperienced player, but overall I didn’t find it to be much of a problem.
– If you listen to the Jam track CD using only the small speakers on a laptop, the base guitar may not be easy to hear. Using headphones or listening to Jam Tracks on a standard CD player seemed to easily eliminate this problem.
– It would be nice if this course came with a protective case or organizer to keep all the materials together.
– None of these issues are significant, rather they are just minor annoyances.
The positives:
– The Author: Dan Denley is a skilled and experienced guitarist and college-trained educator.
– This course is easy to follow and understand.
– excellent use of close-ups to clarify chords and scale fingerings.
– includes a Jam Track CD to develop essential skills for playing with a band.
– This course is primarily a video course with written support materials and not the other way around. I have found that it is less effective and more difficult if you have to read an instruction manual first, and then find a video snippet on your computer that supports the lesson in the book. I like the much richer experience of watching, listening, and then emulating a live instructor demonstrating each lesson from start to finish. It is much more effective to use the instruction book only as a means to clarify the video lesson. Blues Guitar Secrets understood this part perfectly.
The price:
the standard edition it costs $127 USD (as of this writing) and includes all of the items mentioned above in the “Contents” section without the Jam Track CD or book.
the golden edition it costs $159 USD (as of this writing) and includes all of the items mentioned above in the “Contents” section, including the Jam Track CD and book.
Vessels: All over the world
To guarantee:
Blues Guitar Secrets comes with an unconditional 90 day money back guarantee.
The bottom line:
I can, without hesitation, recommend this blues guitar course for anyone who has basic guitar skills and wants to learn the essential basics of blues guitar, including how to improvise solos. The course is organized, logical and fairly priced.