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Introduction

Hi, my name is Steve Stine. I have been teaching guitar for over 20 years (to literally thousands of students worldwide, of all ages), have toured the United States and England (and stillperform), and I have CDs available worldwide with various bands including GrimmStine and Avian. I have recorded and performed in movies and commercials, I am a Music Professor and Montessori teacher, I helped to organize the ever popular Elevate Rock School, as well as a husband and father of 2 (I also play in church every Sunday)…

I am excited that you have decided to learn from my new DVD,“96 Blues Licks” for guitar.

This course will cover everything from basic techniques and scales needed to accomplish some pretty incredible things used in soloing over Blues and many variations of it.

This course DOES NOT go deep into scales and theory, but rather uses just enough for you to “explore” the sounds and the movements across the fretboard. Some notes make things sound a bit more bluesy, others make it sound a bit more rock and roll, and the goal is for YOU to identify these sounds.

The other important part about this course is to immerse yourself in the licks you find interesting and useful. You probably won’t use all 96, but if you can find a handful that can change your playing, it’s well worth the time and the money. In this course, my goal was to give you some ideas and then show you various ways to apply them (not necessarily exactly how I do it, but seeing how you can draw from my ideas and make them sound natural to you.

A really short story: I remember being a teenager and purchasing an instructional video. I was soexcited and I ran home and watched the WHOLE THING (about 60 minutes). I got done and thought to myself, “wow, I didn’t really learn anything”. I had the wrong idea of how these videos work. It wasn’t until I was quite a bit older that I realized THE POINT to the video wasn’t to watch it like a movie, it was to watch an idea/concept/lick/etc. and turn the video OFF and explore that new idea in as many ways as I could to make it something I could USE.

That’s what I want you to learn from this course. I will also be available via support to help you along the way, so jump in and have fun!

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DVD 2› Lick 16› Lick 17› Lick 18› Lick 19

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DVD 1› The Chromatic Scale and the Notes of the 6th String› Notes of the 5th String› Barre Chords and Power Chords› Fretting-Hand Blues Technique A Bending B Vibrato C Hammer Ons, Pull Offs and trills D Sliding E Double Stops› Picking Hand Blues Technique A Downpicking B Alternate Picking

DVD 2› Scales› 96 Blues Licks › Lick 1 › Lick 2 › Lick 3 › Lick 4 › Lick 5D 2 › Lick 6 › Lick 7 › Lick 8 › Lick 9 › Lick 10 › Lick 11 › Lick 12 › Lick 13 › Lick 14 › Lick 15

DVD 3› Lick 20› Lick 21› Lick 22› Lick 23D 2› Lick 24› Lick 25› Lick 26› Lick 27› Lick 28› Lick 29› Lick 30› Lick 31› Lick 32› Lick 33› Lick 34› Lick 35› Lick 36› Lick 37› Lick 38

DVD 4› Lick 39› Lick 40› Lick 41› Lick 42› Lick 43 2› Lick 44› Lick 45› Lick 46

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DVD 4› Lick 47› Lick 48› Lick 49› Lick 50› Lick 51› Lick 52

DVD 5› Lick 53› Lick 54› Lick 55› Lick 56› Lick 57 2› Lick 58› Lick 59› Lick 60

DVD 6› Lick 61› Lick 62› Lick 63› Lick 64› Lick 65 2› Lick 66› Lick 67› Lick 68› Lick 69› Lick 70› Lick 71› Lick 72› Lick 73› Lick 74

DVD 7› Lick 75› Lick 76

DVD 7› Lick 77 2› Lick 78› Lick 79› Lick 80› Lick 81D 2› Lick 82› Lick 83› Lick 84› Lick 85

DVD 8› Lick 86› Lick 87› Lick 88› Lick 89› Lick 90 2› Lick 91› Lick 92› Lick 93› Lick 94› Lick 95› Lick 96

DVD 9› 96 Blues Licks in Practical Applications (Jam Tracks) › Track 01 › Track 02 › Track 03 › Track 04 › Track 05 › Track 06 › Track 07

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I. The Chromatic Scale and the Notes of the 6th StringBefore we go off to learn and use our 96 Blues Licks, we need to understand some theory about the guitar --theory meaning knowing the notes of the guitar and getting well acquainted with the fretboard. We start by learningabout the chromatic scale. The chromatic scale is a series of notes containing all 12 pitches typically found in music.The open string plus the first 12 frets would give us a chromatic scale. This entire range spans what we call an octave(the interval from a particular note to the same note in a higher or lower register). For example, we have here a chromaticscale played on a guitar in standard tuning starting from the E of the open 6th string all the way up to the E at the 12th fret.

In music there are only seven letter names for notes starting from A all the way up to G (ABCGEFG). These are thenaturals i.e. all of the white notes of the piano. Afterwards, they repeat again in a higher register.

The other five notes found in between the seven letter-named notes bear the same letter names BUT have thepresence of accidentals (flats, sharps, etc.) to distinguish themselves. Also remember that B and E have no sharps,and C and F have no flats. You can see this on a piano keyboard that E and B do nott have any black keys to the right,and that C and F likewise do not have black keys to their left.

What this tells us is that the notes from the 12th fret and beyond are just notes an octave higher of the openstring and the first 11 frets. For example, when we are on the 6th string, the note on the 1st fret (F) is the same as thatof the 13th fret (F), the note on the 3rd fret (G) is the same as that of the (15th fret), etc. but an octave higher.

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Getting well-acquainted with the fretboard is an important step towards mastering and using the 96 Blues Licksand all other guitar techniques. There is an easy way of getting precise fretboard orientation without having to countfrets to find a particular note. You'll notice your guitar's fretboard has dots placed on strategic areas. The key is to beable to memorize all the natural notes (those without sharps or flats) on these dotted areas, and from there you canderive the notes beside them. Let's take a look at the 6th string and see what are the natural notes on the fretboard.

As you can see in the diagram we have dots at the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th frets. Some guitars may even havea dot at the 1st fret. How exactly do we use this information? Here's an example. We know that on the 6thstring 7th fret, we have a dot and that note is B. Since we know that B's don't have sharps, we can knowby deduction that the 6th string 8th fret has a C and the 6th string 6th fret note is a Bb. If we know that Dis at the 6th string 10th fret, we can determine that the 6th string 9th fret (it has a dot) is a C#.

VERY IMPORTANT: Memorize all the names of the notes on frets 1, 3, 5, 7, 8 and 10 (as shown in the diagram)Doing so will allow you to be able to find all the other notes with accidentals with ease. Start first at the6th string and then progress to other strings from there.

Another important thing to remeber is the two dot markers at the 12th fret; some guitars even have two dotinlay markers at the 24th fret. When we see two dot markers on a fretboard, it typically signifies the octaveof the open string note. For example, the 6th string, 12th fret note is an E an octave higher than the open string E.

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In music, we have things called accidentals. These are symbols that raise or lower the pitch of a naturalnote by a half step. A sharp () would raise the pitch a half step higher, and a flat ( )would lower the pitcha half step lower. In the piano keyboard, these notes with accidentals are the black keys.

If you can remember the piano keyboard diagram found in the first page, you'll notice that the black keys havetwo names each. These are called enharmonic names, different names for the same note.

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II. Notes of the 5th String

Remember that it is best to master the notes of the 6th string before proceeding to master the notes of the5th string. It is very important to memorize these notes, and the method presented here enables you tomemorize the notes easier. To progress into playing the guitar, you need to be able to have absolute knowledgeand understanding of the concepts and techniques presented here.

Remember that practice is always a very important thing in building technique and skill.But what if you're having a hard time finding time to sit and practice? Here are a few tips:

1. Visualize and imagine the notes or what you are about to play. Even without your guitar in hand, visualizationwould allow you to gain understanding of the various concepts in guitar playing.

2. Practice in small increments. There are guitar enthusiasts who just don't have the luxury of being able to sitand practice for hours a day. However, with proper time management, small blocks of 5 to 10 minutes of practice timespread throughout the day will help build technique and knowledge. For example, if you're goal is to practice an houra day, you can distribute that into six 10-minute segments of guitar practice. It's like taking just a few minutes fromyour lunch and coffee breaks to build your skills.

A lot of the chords that we're going to be dealing with here on 96 Blues Licks get their foundation from the 6th stringand 5th string notes. This is why it's very important for us to know the notes on these two strings.As you master these notes, you can then try and learn the notes on the other strings.We will now explore the notes of the 5th string.

In standard tuning, the open 5th string note is an A. The system for identiifying notes on the 5th string is the sameas the ones we did on the 6th string: no sharps for B and E and no flats for C and F. We will again be memorizing the notes at frets 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 (the frets with dot inlay markers) and then figure out the other notes from there.

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III. Barre Chords and Power Chords

We can try building the same progression off of the A at the 6th string. To do this, we need to use barre chords:

Blues has been integrated in a wide variety of styles and genres such as jazz, rock, country, R&B, soul. funk, etc.This is why it is essential to have a good understanding of the typical barre chords and power chords usedin blues.

With barre chords, we tend to have a greater degree of freedom in terms of the rhythms we can play.

The basic blues chord progression is the I-IV-V in any key signature. This means that many blues songs utilize the1st, 4th and 5th chords derived from a particular key or scale. Blues and many other styles of musicuse this chord progression ubiquitously.

As an example, what would a I-IV-V chord progression be like in the key of A? It would be A, D and E.

In the open position, we would play A, D and E this way:

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What's the importance of being able to play the I-IV-V progression in barre chords? There are a couple of reasons.One particular reason is that the use of barre chords allows any player to easily visualize the I-IV-V chord progression.This leads to the second reason: being able to visualize I-IV-V in barre chords allows us to easily play the progressionin any key. For example, in the earlier chart, you may have noticed that the below the I chord (6th string barre chord)is the IV chord (5th string barre chord), and the V barre chord is just two frets to the right. We played the I-IV-V progressionin A in the earlier example, and we know that the A major chord (I of A) is at the 5th fret. With out prior knowledgeof the notes of the 6th string, we also know that G is at the 3rd fret. Therefore, if we want to play the I-IV-Vin the key of G, we just start the barre chord pattern shown earlier at the 3rd fret.

One of the most common blues song formats is the 12-bar blues. Given that it is the basic format,this is the sort of song format where we start learning how to solo in.

The 12-bar blues makes use of the I-IV-V progression.The 12-bar blues structure is set up in three sections consisting of 4 bars or measures each. The 1st section has onlythe I chord playing in all four bars:

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The second section contains the IV chord for the first two measures and then it goes back to the I chord for the next two.

The last section goes V-IV-I-V starting with the V

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After the last bar/measure, the song structure repeats all over again. That's what's called a 12-bar blues.

One of the great things about blues, for the most part, is that it is relatively predictable because of the12-bar blues progression. Given the simplicity of playing 12-bar blues, we can put in other things likeembellishments in the chords. This predictability makes it rather easy to perform such embellishmentsand improvisations in tune.

Here's an example of how we can embellish the usual 12-bar blues:

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Etc....

The example given shows how you can combine a number of different elements together within the 12-bar blues framework.Each of he 96 Blues Lciks featured in the succeeding pages can be used in the same manner. After all, improvising and soloingon the guitar is very similar to singing; you just have to make sure that it fits the key you are playing in.

Another technique shown in the previous example can spice up your usual barre chords. Turning those major barre chords intodominant 7th chords (e.g. A7, D7, E7, etc.) can add another level of depth to your blues playing, bluesier even.

The next thing we are going to deal with are power chords. Power chords are actually simpler versions of your usual barre chord.Guitarists usually perform power chords by taking a barre chord and just playing the top two or three strings, resulting into eithera combination of a root note and its 5th or the root note, its 5th and its octave. The great thing about a power chord is it soundsneutral: it just doesn't sound major or minor (due to the absence of a 3rd).

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You may have noticed that this example and the previous ones are played in a "shuffle" rhythm, which iswhat many blues guitarists and other such musicians use in various compositions. However, blues is notlimited to such rhythms as seen in the same blues riff below that's played in a "straight" rhythm:

One of the advantages of playing two-finger power chords is that it frees up the pinkie to perform somepower-chord-based blues riffs such as this familiar blues groove:

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Using the same technique, we can now come up with this very familiar blues riff:

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IV. Fretting-Hand Blues Technique

Bending is one of the most important things any student of blues guitar could learn in order to play "soulfully".

The proper way to perform bending utilizes sort of a weird position called a "blues position" (44:43)

To perform the "blues position", a guitarist must literally have his wrist up and literally grab the neck of the guitar, resultingin a position where the thumb rests on top of the neck and the palm of the fretting hand facing the back of the neck.The bending action must be performed as if one is turning a doorknob rather than the fingers pushing the string up.By performing bending this way, a guitarist utilizes the larger muscle groups of the forearm rather than the weaker musclesthat control the fingers. This gives a lot of control over the bend plus it lessens the strain on the hand. The "blues position"is very different from the usual fretting hand placement where the thumb rests on the back of the neck and the wrist is down.To properly perform bends, guitarists have to get used to changing between the usual hand position and the "blues position".

The first aspect of blues are the chords and chord progressions that guitarists play over and over.

The second aspect of blues are the rhythmic choices guitarists use. Upon hearing and studying the 96 Blues Licks,any aspiring guitarist will come to the conclusion that, despite its inherent simplicity, blues has a goodrhythmic repertoire that is useful in many other musical styles and genres. Getting the rhythms right is essentialin being able to improvise over a blues chord progression

A. BENDING

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To perform a bend as shown in the tab, perform the following:

1. Assume the "blues position" somewhere near the 5th fret.2. Fret at the 3rd string by placing the 1st finger at the 5th fret, 2nd finger at 6th fret, and 3rd finger at the 7th fret.3. Using the "doorknob" motion, bend the string upward to move the pitch upward from D to E.

By following these steps, you'll notice that your fingers are in a relatively stable position and they are pushed upwardby your forearm muscles rather than the smaller and weaker intrinsic muscles of the hand.

We have different kinds of bends in our arsenal of techniques. One of these is the whole-step bend shown in the previousexample. The goal of a whole-step bend is to get the fretted note to sound two frets higher in pitch.For example, the 3rd string 7th fret note is a D. By performing the whole-step bend, we want it to sound like the 3rd string9th fret note (E). When practicing how to do a whole-step bend properly, listen to the target note first (in this instance the Eatr the 3rd string 9th fret). Once you are familiar with the pitch of that note, try performing a whole-step bend at the 3rd string7th fret and check if the note sounds the same as the target note at the end of the bend. Here's an example of the whole-stepbend in a lick.

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Another kind of bend is a half-step bend.The half-step bend (as the name implies) only bends the note up a half-step orjust one fret away from the original note. As an example, if the 3rd string 7th fret note is a D, a half-step bend results in aDE, which is the pitch at the 3rd string 8th fret.

An additional benefit of bending is that it's a good way to train the ear, given that you're trying to target a certain pitchlocated in another fret. (50:46)

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The next kind of bend is the step-and-a-half bend . This is essentially a bend with an end pitch equal to a three-fret distance.For example, using a step-and-a-half bend on the 3rd string 7th fret will give a result that starts at D and then goes all the wayup to F, which is the same as the 3rd string 10th fret note.

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Another very important kind of bend is the blues bend. Unlike the wide range of the step-and-a-half bend, the blues benddoesn't even cover the range of a half step. It gives a kind of vocal accent to the notes played.

The most common way of using the blues bend is applying it just before end of the note. Let's say you're playing a C at the3rd string 5th fret. Before you end the note, you just push the string upward with your finger just a tiny bit to provide thatvocal accent and then release it at the very end of the note. On the tab, you'll see the blues bend having a 1/4 designation(about a quarter of a step).

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The next kind of bend are the attachment bends. The attachment bend utilizes two strings but only bends one.The first kind of attachment bend we're going to show is the unison bend. The resulting effect is that at the end of the bend,the bent note has an interval of a unison with the other note. It has a kind of angry, dissonant quality to itthat makes it powerful. Here is an example.

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The next kind of attachment bend we'll tackle is the harmony bend. In a harmony bend, the interval between the bentand unbent note should be more than a unison (usually a minor 3rd). In this example of a harmony bend, we have ourmiddle finger on the 3rd string 7th fret, our index finger at the 3rd string 5th fret (for support), and our pinkie at the 2ndstring 8th fret. Prior to bending our 3rd string 7th fret note (D), there is an interval of a perfect fourth going to G,the 2nd string 8th fret note. In this harmony bend, we will perform a whole-step bend at the 3rd string 7th fret whilekeeping the 2nd string 8th fret note intact.

In summary, we talked about the different kind of bends we will use in performing our 96 Blues Licks. These are:

1.Whole-step bends2. Half-step bends3. Step-and-a-half bend4. Blues bend5. Attachment bends (unison and harmony)

Before we proceed to the next set of techniques, practice these bends to get comfortable with integrating theminto various licks and solos.

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B. VIBRATO

Singers or vocalists have the tendency to make their voices gently and smoothly waver back and forth in very smallpitch increments (typically less than a half step), especially when singing long notes. This technique is called vibrato.Guitarists can also add vibrato to their playing to add that human voice-like character to their playing. The goal is totry and make the note waver in tune and then slightly out of tune at a constant rate.

The easy way to perform vibrato is by slightly bending the note out of tune towards the floor (not upwards like atypical bend) and then letting the note go back to its original position repeatedly until the next note. The effect it deliversis much more prominent in longer notes, just like a singer would do. In this example, we're using just the index fingeron the 3rd string 5th fret note.

As a general guideline, vibrato in blues shouldn't be too fast or too wide or exagerrated. Try listening to players likeDavid Gilmour and Gary Moore to get examples of what a good vibrato should sound like.

Let's try doing a vibrato at the 3rd string 6th fret note. To do the vibrato properly, we have to fret the 3rd string 5th fret with our index finger, leave that in for support, and fret the 3rd string 6th fret note. We will apply vibrato to the3rd string 6th fret.

The reason we are leaving the 1st finger to fret the 3rd string at the 5th fret is that it allows us to have better controlover the vibrato. You can do the same technique for vibrato using the 3rd finger and 4th finger, using the precedingfingers as additional support. Try this vibrato exercise to understand this technique.

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C. HAMMER-ONS, PULL-OFFS AND TRILLS

A hammer-on is done by first playing a note and then just "smacking down" the next note with another fingerwithout picking to play the next. In this example, we are fretting a note at the 3rd string 5th fret using the first finger,and then we will hammer-on the next note at the 3rd string 7th fret using the third finger.

When smacking down your finger during a hammer-on, you can keep your hammering finger down on the fretas long as you need to (unless rhythmically specified). In performing a hammer-on you have to literally hit thestring in order for it to be excited.

A pull-off is the opposite of a hammer-on where you flick off the string (effectively plucking it with your fretting hand),going back to the previous note. After hammering-on the note, in this instance, we are pulling off from D (3rd string 7th fret)to C (3rd string 5th fret) (01:04:33)

In standard notation and guitar tablature, hammer-ons and pull-offs are written as slurred notes (hence the curved linesconnecting two or more notes), hammer-ons for ascending notes or passages and pull-offs for descending ones.

A trill in terms of guitar performance is a repetitive succession of hammer-ons and pull-offs over a given rhythmic value.

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D. SLIDING

There are two basic kinds of slides: a slide from and to a note and a slide coming from nowhere (It's like a plane landing!)

The first kind of slide (slide from somewhere) has a definite start and a definite ending note as seen in this example.

The line connecting two notes together represents the slide. You can clearly hear the first note but you can alsohear the transition from one note to the next.

The speed of the slide depends on the rhythmic value of the notes.

It can also be done backwards as seen in this example:

In the slide from nowhere (a.k.a. the airplane landing slide), we do not pay attention to where the slide starts.The starting point can be anywhere and it doesn't matter. The destination note is what's important.

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E. DOUBLE STOPS

A Double stop is when you play more than one string at a time. Here's an example:

Here's another example where we add a blues bend to the double stop:

Double stops can be used anywhere and between different strings.

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V. Picking Hand Blues Technique

A. DOWNPICKING

TIPS REGARDING PICKING:- Hold the pick between the pad of your thumb and the side of your index finger.- Hold the pick as close as possible to the tip or front for a steady grip (as well as other cool stuff like pinch harmonics!)- Keep your pick relatively straight (i.e. as perpendicular to the strings as possible or about 45 degrees) so that you can pick faster and your tone would be free of weird noises.- Practice picking with palm-muting (place the "karate chop" portion of your picking hand over the strings where the bridge and strings meet) to make the rhythms more prominent, enabling you to listen to the notes equally.- Remember that it's about how well you can do it, not how fast. If you can do it well, you'll be able to do it fast eventually.

Downpicking (picking using only downstrokes) is an important technique to master to develop picking hand skills.

is the symbol representing a downstroke in standard notation and guitar tablature.

B. ALTERNATE PICKING

Alternate picking means using downstrokes and upstrokes in an alternating fashion.is the symbol representing an upstroke in standard notation and guitar tablature.

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VI. Scales In this portion about scales, we'll be focusing on two kinds of pentatonic scales (five-note scales), the major and minorpentatonic scales. More importantly, we will place emphasis on how they go together. For this course, we will only focuson the first position of each scale given that there are other courses out there that go in depth with these.

To start with working on scales for blues, play this A minor pentatonic shape in the 1st position:

Practice this scale shape with downpicking first and then alternate picking.

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Because we are playing blues, we will now add a blue note. A blue note exists between the third and fourth note of theminor pentatonic scale or between the second and third note of the major pentatonic scale. In A minor pentatonic, the bluenote is located at the 6th fret (between frets 5 and 7) of the 5th string and at the 8th fret of the 3rd string.

Other than the pentatonic scales, the blue note adds that characteristic sound typical of blues and rock & roll.The white diamonds in the scale diagram below are the blue notes.

You may have noticed that it is more practical to play the scale using an alternate picking pattern because the alternatingup and down motion of your picking hand can be faster than just a pure downstroke technique.

Let's try working on this A major pentatonic shape. To do this, we move to the second fret and assume the shape of theminor pentatonic, only this time we start and place emphasis on the note A:

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As stated earlier. the blue notes for the major pentatonic scale is located between its second and third notes.The diagram below shows that the location of the blue notes for the A major pentatonic scale are in an analogouslocation as that of the blue notes in the 1st position of the minor pentatonic shape. The blue notes are represented aswhite diamonds.

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Although we play a lot of blue notes in the 96 Blues Licks (and in soloing or improvisation as well), the blue note isnot a note we tend to emphasize. It is used within a lick to make it sound bluesy (as a passing note). If you emphasizethe blue note, it will make your chords sound diminished when you're playing in a minor key, and it will cause yoursong in a major key to sound minor. The blue note is a great "ugly" sound (a dissonant sound in fact) that demandsan immediate resolution instead of letting it linger and be emphasized. The blue note adds a good deal of tensionto any blues song, and so it has to be resolved by going to the previous or the next note (only a half-step's distance away).

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The next kind of scale we're going to deal with is a hybrid scale, which is essentially a mixture of the major andminor pentatonic plus the blue notes in the minor pentatonic. The ability to properly utilize this hybrid scale (or the mixture of major and minor pentatonic) leads to effective blues soloing. The 96 Blues Licks in the videos and this booklet exploit the strength of this hybrid scale:

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Lick 1110

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VII. 96 Blues Licks

This lick is a basic but very important. It emphasizes the root of the scale of a chord progression. It seems rathersimple but there's a lot going on e.g. full bend and release, a little blues bend, and vibrato.Here below is a sample passage that uses lick 01 at the end:

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Remember, do not forget the blues bend in the middle for that vocal quality. Also remember that you cantry out the lick in different variations. Think of these licks as ideas that you can manipulate as your own andas you see fit. Also remember it's how well you can execute the lick, and not how fast you can pull it off.When studying licks remember to know what it is, how it works, how to play it, and how to manipulate it.

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Lick 2114

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The important thing to understand about lick 02 is passage at the first beat. The beginning is actually an attachment bendwhere you bend the 3rd string to a whole step (D to E), deaden that bent note, and then play the succeeding note at the2nd string. You do not allow the bent note at the attachment bent portion to ring (thus avoiding the dissonance) as you playthe second note. After this, you just connect lick 01 to complete it.

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Lick 03 is a pattern that involves a blue note. Think about and explore how you will pick this pattern. An alternatingpicking pattern may be the most efficient approach into picking Lick 03, which allows you to go faster. It may feelawkward at first, but with continued practice you can overcome those "speed walls".

Lick 04 has the same idea as Lick 03 but with a blues bend!

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Lick 5117

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Lick 05 involves a step-and-a-half bend done over a root (in this case, A). If we do a step-and-a-half bend at the2nd string 10th fret (A), we are actually targeting a C (a minor 3rd higher). You might notice that this A at the 2ndstring 10th fret is actually the same as the A at the 1st string 5th fret. However, this lick is easier to do at the 2ndstring just because it is easier to do wider bends there.

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Lick 06 has a quick back-and-forth slide in the middle and ends with a blues bend and vibrato.

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Remember to mute the top strings with your right thumb and the 1st string with your first fingerof your left hand to eliminate noise.

Lick 07 is our first "repetition" lick. It is strongly recommended that an economy picking methodshown here be used for this lick.

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Lick 8121

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Lick 08 is similar to Lick 07 with the addition of a pull off at the end. Again, an economy picking method isrecommended plus muting the top strings with the thumb of the picking hand and the 1st string with the1st finger of the fretting hand. Muting is especially important when executing this lick fast..

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In Lick 09, the vibrato can come in rather late, it should be smooth and not too exaggerated; otherwise it willjust sound out of tune.

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Lick 10125

Lick 11126

Lick 12127

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Lick 10 starts with a slide from nowhere towards E at the 5th string 7th fret. The palm-muting at the beginningprovides a cool percussive effect.

P.M.

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With lick 11, you have the choice of either "barring" the first two notes with your index finger or "rolling"the tip of your index finger to perform the "double stop" but with each note performed one at a time.

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3 1 In Lick 12, we use the first finger to bend the note by bending it towards the floor,not the usual way of bending the string upwards.

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Lick 13128

Lick 14129

Lick 15130

The great thing about lick 13 is that it can be easy to connect this lick to others to form phrases. You can even combinethe sliding portion of the lick to other notes within the same scale to create interesting patterns.

Lick 14 has a nice vocal quality, using only bends and vibrato to move between the notes rather than playingother strings. Remember, you can string this lick (as with all of the licks) with other licks to create phrases.

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Lick 15 is a very traditional Chuck Berry-esque lick with a slide from nowhere in the beginning.You can perform the slide somewhere around the 2nd fret

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Lick 16133

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Lick 16 starts off with a traditional blues lick with a bent note as a tag in the end.

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Lick 16 starts off with a Chuck Berry-ish lick like this (which actually can be used as a repetitive lick in itself):

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The 2nd string bend at the end of the lick can be substituted with a 1st string bend:

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Other things you can do with this lick are performing repetitions of the initial portion before ending the lick, movebetween lick endings, move to another lick after the last bend, etc.

LEARNING TIP: You can always combine or chain links together to perform a solo. It probably is difficult to memorizeall licks and that's why try to mark down first the ideas you like, master them, use them in your solos, and thenmove on to find other ideas. In this way, you can easily expand your soloing vocabulary.

The 2nd string bend at the end of the lick can also be substituted with the initial bend:

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Lick 17 is a David Gilmour-inspired lick that features a bend with a slow release. We have to emphasize the slowrelease here. The transition from the bent note to the original fretted note should be noticeable.

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Lick 18 features the hybrid of minor and major pentatonic. Just like the other licks, it can be very nice toattach a lot of other ideas to it.

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Lick 19140

Lick 20142

Lick 21143

Lick 19 expands the idea of Lick 18 further. It has that kind of Texas blues sound to it as it ends on a minor bend.

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Lick 20 also features the major and minor pentatonic hybrid. This lick is very idiomatic of certain bluesstyles.

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In Lick 21, pay attention to the pull-off at the 3rd string, 2nd fret because it can be tricky to perform well.

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Lick 22145

Lick 23147

Lick 24149

Lick 22 is in a major key (A major) for blues. Sounds best in a slow tempo (around 60 BPM).

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Lick 23 utilizes the Chuck Berry-influenced lick plus a hammer-on and pull-off portion similar to Stevie Ray Vaughn's playing.

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Lick 24 involves slides and an arpeggiated passage. As with all the other licks, you can change up the rhythms.

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Lick 25150

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Lick 25 is a Led Zeppelin-sounding lick. The important thing about this lick is to make sure that you do not allow the stringto keep on ringing when you release the bend.

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Lick 26 contains a couple of double stops. Can be useful as a blues riff and picking hand options include pure picking,hybrid picking or fingerstyle.

Lick 27 has a series of pull offs. Consider looking for efficient picking options for this lick such as above. (DVD 3 42:20)

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Lick 28153

Lick 29155

Lick 30158

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A hybrid picking style would work well with Lick 28. The m represents the middle finger and the a the ring finger of thepicking hand. If you want to use a pure picking style, it has a more aggressive sound, and so palm-muting the notesof the third and fourth beats/second half of the lick would sound good.

Lick 29 again uses the Chuck Berry-influenced arpeggio lick at the beginning. About the end of the middle portion of the lick,take note of the string skip between the 2nd string 5th fret and the 4th string 7th fret note. There's also the hammer-on at thelast passage (3rd string, 5th fret to 6th) where you can use your middle finger for the hammer-on. It's a great sounding lickfor a song ending.

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If you want something that sounds like a ZZ Top passage, Lick 30 will work well. It has an interesting Boogie-Woogierhythm with many of its notes being played behind the beat.

Take note of the slides. While we usually don't really care where the slide comes from, it shouldn't be too far fromthe target note or else it will sound awkward.

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Lick 32 is an Eric Clapton-inspired line. The bend at the 3rd string 7th fret goes up only to the blue note, and the bentnote sounds nice if articulated staccato.

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Lick 33166

Lick 34

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The key to getting the boogie-woogie sound of this lick are the slides and the pull-off. Try out the suggestedpicking pattern to get the timing that will make this lick sound an effective boogie-woogie passage.

The double stop opening is one of the most important aspects of this lick. Try to get that dissonant sound ringingby curling your fingers to the extent that it doesn't get in the way of the 1st string ringing.

Lick 35 requires hybrid picking.

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Lick 36171

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A sweeping upstroke is an important element in getting Lick 36 to sound right. Another important item is thatthe lick begins with a dissonance by the blue note at the 3rd string 15th fret that resolves towards E at the 4thstring 14th fret.

rake

This lick involves a technique called a rake. Mute the first four strings with the pad of your picking hand's thumbsomewhere near the bridge, and then sweep downwards until you reach the note at the 2nd string 15th fret.

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Lick 38 is a kind of effect lick that involves a slow release of the bend while you repeatedly play the bent note,decreasing your picking speed gradually for that whiny vocal sound.

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Lick 39

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An important feature of Lick 39 is its application over a complete blues I-IV-V chord progression. To make it sound morebluesy, its important to take note how the bends are rocked back and forth.

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Lick 40 features a number of techniques such as hybrid picking and string skipping. This breaks the monotonyof soloing using a pentatonic scale. Make sure that the short hammer-on and pull-off run is smooth.

Lick 41 is a Texas-style blues lick. Just like all the other licks in this series, you can play each note in any kind ofrhythym.

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Lick 42188

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Lick 42 is a Texas-blues lick. The bends are the most important thing in making this lick sound great. Bend the notesat a slow enough pace to make the transition from the fretted note to the bent note more prominent.

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Lick 43 is another Texas-blues lick. Take note of the bends, slides and economy picking technique.

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Lick 44 is another variation of the Chuck Berry-style lick.

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Lick 45195

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Lick 45 places emphasis on the vocal quality of the bends.

Ensure that these vocal-sounding effects would be audible enough to work well.

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Lick 46 is another Texas-blues style lick. Remember to play the staccato notes well and avoid lettingthe notes ring on too much.

Lick 47 works well in the key of G. Use hybrid picking to be able to play the open G string. (28:22 DVD4)

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Lick 48

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These chord shapes can serve as interesting substitutes for playing the I-IV-V blues rhythm guitar parts.There are many ways of using these chord substitutes in rhythms, one example is transcribed below:

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Lick 49215

Lick 49 is another Texas blues lick. You can change up the rhythms to suit the songs you are playing.

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Lick 50217

Lick 51219

Lick 52220

For Lick 50 to be effective, make sure that releasing the bend is inaudible. This particular notated versionof the lick sounds very good over an E chord. The lick actually consists of chord tones (3rd and 5th of a major scale)and so the root is just three frets away from the bent note. For instance, since the 2nd string 8th fret is the bent note,the root is at the 2nd string 5th fret.

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Lick 51 is a rock-blues lick that sounds best with high gain/distortion. It uses a pinch harmonic at the end of thelick that sounds really good with vibrato and high gain. The diamond-headed note or P.H. tag on the tab meansthat you will use a pinch/artificial harmonic.

P.H.

Lick 52 is a Southern rock-blues lick that utilizes a lot of pull-offs to facilitate fast playing.

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DVD 5

Lick 53222

Lick 54227

Lick 55229

Lick 53 is a melodic idea that utilizes a lot of slides and pull-offs that sounds great with a swing rhythm.

1/2

Effective performance of Lick 54 requires a well-executed picking pattern along with a couple of pull-offsfor fast playing.

1/4

Consider using a strict alternating picking pattern for Lick 55 when playing at faster tempos.

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Lick 56231

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Lick 57234

Lick 56 is a repetitive pattern lick that sounds very good when played over a particular straight blues rhythm.It also provides a great way to navigate the fretboard up and down in one position.

For lick 57, let the top two strings ring throughout. You can use a strict alternating picking or hybrid picking.

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Lick 58236

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Lick 58 involves retuning the 5th string from A down to G. It's not the sort of lick that you can just performall of the sudden in the middle of a song (since it involves retuning), but it's good to mess around withto find new ideas to work on. You can retune the 5th string down to G by comparing it to the open 3rd string.

EGDGBE

Two details are important in lick 59. Bend the 2nd string 20th fret note using your ring and middle finger locatedover the preceding fret for support. You also need to keep the 1st string 17th fret note ringing.

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Lick 60

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Lick 61241

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Lick 60 is meant to be played fast as it sounds good that way (but remember to practice it slow first). However,try exploring ways regarding how you would pick the notes in order to play it efficiently and to sound good.

Lick 61 is a blues lick with a fusion-esque twist.

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Lick 62243

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Lick 63246

Lick 62 has a diminished quality to its sound because of the use of a hybrid scale.

Lick 63 wide intervals provide a very interesting sound that can be combined with pentatonic passages.

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Lick 64248

Lick 65250

Lick 66253

Lick 64 is a nice chromatic lick that provides another way of playing a solo without relying on strict scalar passages.

Lick 65 is another chromatic lick. The interesting part about this lick is that it is not very straightforward, providinga good way to spice up your performance.

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Lick 67255

Lick 68257

Lick 69258

Lick 67 is another motif based on the combination of the major and minor pentatonic scales.

Lick 68 is string skipping pentatonic lick. String skipping enables guitar players to perform larger intervals, adding agreat deal of interest to a solo. Make sure that you do not have an excessive amount of distortion with this lickbecause of the excessive noise. Also try to keep your fingers on the move so that you do not limit your mobility as wellas gaining better accuracy. Also take advantage of palm-muting: accurately-timed palm-muting mutes the strings fromexcessive noise (plus the lick sounds cool that way).

Lick 69 looks difficult but it can be easier to learn if you recognize that the first half's pattern and rhythmis the same as the second half. Take advantage of places where you can use hammer-ons to be effective.

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Lick 70260

Lick 71261

Lick 72262

Lick 73264

Lick 70 is sort of a jazz-blues lick.

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Lick 71 is a funk-blues rhythmic passage that involves deadening unwated strings and smaller strumming.

Lick 72 involves octaves and requires muting the other strings using the first fretting finger.

P.M. P.M. P.M. P.M.

The tricky part of Lick 73 is the inclusion of the open 6th string notes. Use appropriate picking asshown below.

P.M. P.M. P.M. P.M.

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Lick 74265

Lick 75266

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Lick 76

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If you're looking for a great way to end a song or song section, Lick 74 works well.

Lick 75 is a Stevie Ray Vaughn-inspired funk lick. Emphasize staccatos (short note duration rhythms) in order toemphasize its funky character. Mute the top two strings while playing the chord.

Two important things in Lick 76 provide that funk character: short-duration notes and scratches. When playingthe octaves lin the last section, mute the 3rd string with the index finger, the 1st string with the pinkie, and the toptwo strings with the middle finger.

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Lick 77

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Lick 78

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Use a hybrid picking technique for lick 77.

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Lick 78 is a nice funk-style lick that involves a lot of strumming. You have to be careful with the strumming,and so limit yourself to the double stops with smaller strumming movements. An alternating picking patternfacilitates the kind of feel you'd like to have for this lick.

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Lick 79276

Lick 80278

Lick 81280

Lick 79 is an emotional sounding lick with two distinct parts: a portion with the bends and a second sectionwith the hammer-on-pull-off ending.

full full

Lick 80 is funk-blues lick based on a run down of the minor pentatonic scale. This particular example comes from a rundownof the G minor pentatonic scale.

Lick 81 is meant to be aggressive, fast and powerful. Consider proper picking options and practice SLOWLY at first.

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Lick 82281

Lick 83282

Lick 84283

Lick 82 is another repetitive speed lick, best done with an alternating picking pattern. Like other licks in this series,rhythms and tempo can be changed depending on song requirement.

Lick 83 is a speed lick involving some degree of stretch and a string skipping technique. The wide intervals played fastmakes it a very interesting lick to hear (and see as well)

Lick 84 is a speed lick utilizing the hybrid scale. The blue note provides that nice blues character.

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Lick 85284

Lick 86

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Lick 87

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Lick 85 is the last speed lick in this series. Integrating the two components together in this lick requiressome practice.

p

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Licks 86 to 96 are meant to be used on an acoustic guitar. Lick 86, in particular, uses a fingerpickingtechnique. Picking hand fingering is p = thumb, i = index, m = middle, a = pinkie.

Lick 87 features a pedal-point bass line from the open 6th string that accompanies a simple melody.

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Lick 88

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This is an extension of an idea from Lick 87 involving a pedal-point bass from the 6th string andsome bluesy melodies.

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Lick 89301

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Lick 89 uses a "drop D" tuning, meaning that the 6th string is tuned down to D instead of E instandard tuning.

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Lick 90305

Lick 91

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Lick 90 is a nice lick in G major that's best played before going to the I chord. Because of the lick's access toa lot of open notes, you can easily create variations by repeating a few sections, reversing some of the notegroups, etc. The series of pull-offs facilitates faster playing.

Lick 91 is in the key of A and utilizes a fingerpicking method.

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Lick 92307

Lick 93308

Lick 94310

Lick 92 is a kind of country-blues lick in the key of G. It is necessary to keep the middle finger of the frettinghand on the 6th string 3rd fret to keep that bass line going.

Lick 93 is a turnaround lick approaching the I chord in the key of E.

Lick 94 is a turnaround lick ending at the V chord in the key of A.

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Lick 95313

Lick 96315

Lick 95 is our second turnaround lick ending at the V chord in the key of A.

SOME NOTES ABOUT PRACTICING GUITAR

Practicing these 96 Licks along with other items of interest for guitarists can often become frustrating. It seemslike you're not getting anywhere. Perseverance is important. We have to continue to work hard on our craftin order to see results. However, we can also be smart about how we practice through the following:

1. When learning a new lick, phrase or even a whole song, practice it SLOWLY and NOT at the speed that youwant to perform it. As soon as you get comfortable, slowly ramp the speed up until you get to where you wantto be. Speed comes naturally as you gradually improve. It's really about how well you do it and not how fast youperform it.

2. Divide a large work into smaller sections and then practice one section at a time. Practice each section overand over again.

3.When you get tired and frustrated, take a break or do something else and return after a while. You'll find thatit is much easier to learn this way.

Lick 96 is the last turnaround lick ending at the V chord in the key of A. Unlike Lick 95, Lick 96 features an ascendingline in the bass register and then ends in a V7 chord.

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Straight Blues = 95 to 100

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VII. 96 Blues Licks in Practical Applications (Jam Tracks)

We study our 96 Blues Licks, scales and all those other musical techniques for one thing: to be able to expressourselves through music. Here we have a couple of samples demonstrating how our 96 Blues Licks can be appliedto a variety of musical situations.

This first example is in the key of B minor, the second in G major.

Take note of how the rhythms, expressive articulation and other techniques are used in each example.

Track 01Music by Steve Stine

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Very Fast = 180

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Swing Feel = 130

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Slow Blues = 50

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Track 04

Music by Steve Stine

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Moderately slow, with a triplet feel

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Slow Blues, triplet feel

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Fast Texas blues,swing

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Progress Tracker

Commitment statement: “Yes, Steve! I am making the commitment today___/___/_____ to follow the step-by-step plan to the “96 Blues Licks” guitar course to radically improve my playing!”

☐ Chromatic Scale☐ Notes on the 6th String☐ Notes on the 5th String☐ Barre chords☐ Power Chords☐ Bending☐ Vibrato☐ Hammer Ons, Pull Offs and Trills☐ Sliding☐ Double Stops☐ Downpicking☐ Alternate Picking

☐ Lick 13☐ Lick 14☐ Lick 15☐ Lick 16☐ Lick 17☐ Lick 18☐ Lick 19

☐ Lick 20☐ Lick 21☐ Lick 22☐ Lick 23☐ Lick 24☐ Lick 25☐ Lick 26☐ Lick 27☐ Lick 28☐ Lick 29☐ Lick 30☐ Lick 31☐ Lick 32☐ Lick 33☐ Lick 34☐ Lick 35☐ Lick 36☐ Lick 37☐ Lick 38

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DATE

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☐ Major and Minor Pentatonic Scale☐ Hybrid scale☐ Lick 1☐ Lick 2☐ Lick 3☐ Lick 4☐ Lick 5☐ Lick 6☐ Lick 7☐ Lick 8☐ Lick 9☐ Lick 10☐ Lick 11☐ Lick 12

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Progress Tracker

☐ Lick 39☐ Lick 40☐ Lick 41☐ Lick 42☐ Lick 43☐ Lick 44☐ Lick 45☐ Lick 46☐ Lick 47☐ Lick 48☐ Lick 49☐ Lick 50☐ Lick 51☐ Lick 52

☐ Lick 70☐ Lick 71☐ Lick 72☐ Lick 73☐ Lick 74

☐ Lick 75☐ Lick 76☐ Lick 77☐ Lick 78☐ Lick 79☐ Lick 80☐ Lick 81☐ Lick 82☐ Lick 83☐ Lick 84☐ Lick 85

☐ Lick 86☐ Lick 87☐ Lick 88☐ Lick 89☐ Lick 90☐ Lick 91☐ Lick 92☐ Lick 93☐ Lick 94☐ Lick 95☐ Lick 96

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DATE

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☐ Lick 53☐ Lick 54☐ Lick 55☐ Lick 56☐ Lick 57☐ Lick 58☐ Lick 59☐ Lick 60

☐ Lick 61☐ Lick 62☐ Lick 63☐ Lick 64☐ Lick 65☐ Lick 66☐ Lick 67☐ Lick 68☐ Lick 69

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introduction -...

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