Blues Guitar Lessons in E

This track features guitar work over a 12 bar blues in E dominant. The backing rhythm track has a strong backbeat that bridges the feel of rock and blues nicely and it is therefore an excellent choice for students looking to develop an authenticity in both styles. This, combined with its slow tempo, makes it a frequent choice for use in guitar lessons. It’s a great one to crank up LOUD, and unlike many lesson studios in Atlanta, Jimmy’s private Atlanta recording and lesson studio has no boundaries on volume! Cypher’s performance here employs extensive use of the E minor pentatonic and E composite blues scales, along with pitch perfect bending techniques and vibrato.

This type of compound vibrato is a trademark of guitar players such as Stevie Ray Vaughn and Zack Wylde. As students in guitar lessons frequently discover, it is quite difficult to learn and master. As a guitar teacher, Jimmy is always thinking about new exercises. Here, he has developed a series of workout instruction and lessons that systematically target issues of pitch and motor control and allow aspiring guitar players to literally get a handle on these techniques in months as opposed to years.

Cypher ends the solo with some slide guitar. He is most influenced by the slide work of Eric Sardinas, Sonny Landreth, and John Frusciante. It should be noted that different players wear the slide on different fingers and the digit chosen will very much dictate the way in which one plays. Jimmy’s teacher approach in lessons is for students to initially wear the slide on the pinky, as this allows one to play guitar conventionally with the other three digits. However, it should be stressed that many guitar players wear the slide on the second or third fingers, notably slide guitarist Duane Allman.