Discover the Soulful Sound of Texas Blues

About the Course

Texas Blues is a genre that pulses with energy and emotion, characterized by its aggressive and virtuosic guitar style. In this course, you'll embark on a journey to master the rhythm guitar techniques that define Texas Blues, inspired by legends like Stevie Ray Vaughan. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced player, this course is designed to make these iconic sounds accessible and achievable. By the end, you'll be surprised at how quickly these riffs become part of your musical vocabulary. This article focuses on Chapter 1 — the starting point of the full course inside the Gibson App. Dive in and discover how Chapter 1 lays the foundation for the chapters that follow, inviting you to continue the full experience in the app.

Chapter 1

Intro To This Course

Achieving the Texas Blues Sound

Texas Blues is known for its aggressive and virtuosic guitar style, often performed with a shuffle fill. To achieve this sound, start by selecting the middle two pickups on your guitar for a warmer tone, while still retaining the bite of the bridge pickup. A classic amp tone with spring reverb can help emulate the iconic sound of Stevie Ray Vaughan, who often used a green style overdrive to push his amplifiers into a searing overdrive. By adding overdrive, you roll off some of the low end and push the mid-range frequency, creating a stylistically appropriate tone.

Riffs and Rhythms

When it comes to riffs, take a classic blues style riff and give it more swing, swagger, and attitude. This course will explore different riffs based on Stevie Ray Vaughan's playing style, helping you achieve a Texas Blues rhythm guitar style. You'll learn riffs that utilize several concepts, focusing on the classic one, four, five blues progression in the key of E. These riffs will be achievable, but require effort and practice. By the end, you'll be playing authentic Texas Blues rhythm guitar.

Texas Turnaround

Essential Riff Techniques

The intro riff serves as the foundation for your Texas Blues style piece, appearing throughout the rhythm performance as a breakdown section. Inspired by Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Pride and Joy," this riff is essential for achieving the Texas Blues sound. It involves playing the fifth fret of the B string and the open top E string simultaneously, creating a unison. The riff features a swung rhythm, referred to as a swing shuffle or broken triplet rhythm, which is crucial for the Texas Blues feel.

Swing and Shuffle

The shuffle rhythm is vital when playing Texas Blues, providing a lazy yet tight feel. This riff simplifies Stevie Ray Vaughan's style, focusing on the shuffle and the importance of internalizing the pulse with your internal metronome. Observing the shuffle is key to achieving a Texas Blues rhythm style.

Shuffle Groove

Emphasizing the Offbeat

Riff number one is based on a 12-bar sequence around a one, four, five progression in the key of E. It emphasizes the offbeat while observing the swing rhythm. Starting with an E7 chord, followed by upstrokes, and transitioning to an A major chord, this riff mirrors the DNA of the previous riff.

Aggressive Rhythm Techniques

The B7 chord introduces a one-bar figure, followed by a drop to the A7 chord. The riff concludes with a return to the E7 chord, with a slightly different ending. Adding a mute on the downstroke enhances the stylistic sound, making it more aggressive and helping the rhythm.

Double Stops Riff

Texas Fire in Rhythm

Inspired by "Scuttle Buttin'" by Stevie Ray Vaughan, this riff incorporates elements that nod to the iconic piece. It starts with an open low E, followed by barre chords and a swing rhythm. The riff includes a lick similar to the intro riff, emphasizing the swing rhythm.

Combining Chord Voicings

The A7 chord introduces a familiar voicing, followed by a little lick with open strings. The B7 chord uses a different voicing, eliminating the traditional top E note. This riff combines chord voicings and single note riffs, creating a Texas Blues style sound.

Melodic Fills Riff

Exploring New Voicings

Riff number three introduces new chord voicings and melodic fills based on the E minor pentatonic scale. The E7 chord voicing is played on the top three strings, resembling a D7 shape. The riff includes a descending E minor pentatonic figure.

Pentatonic Phrasing

The A7 voicing mirrors the DNA of the first riff, followed by a familiar lick. The B7 riff uses a different chord voicing due to position constraints. The combination of chord voicings and single note riffs creates a Texas Blues style sound.

Single Note Riff

Cold Shot Inspiration

Inspired by "Cold Shot," this riff focuses on single note figures. It starts on the A string, walking chromatically back to the root note. The riff is repeated over the A chord, retaining the same fingering and shape.

Adding Flair to Chords

The B riff is similar to the A riff but moved up a whole tone. The riff concludes with a chromatic climb and chord voicings reminiscent of "Texas Flood." These voicings nod to Stevie Ray Vaughan's jazz influence, creating a Texas Blues style sound.

Walking Riff

Pride and Joy Reference

Riff number five references "Pride and Joy," outlining a one, four, five progression in E major. It includes minor to major tonality and a Texas shuffle style.

Mixing Single Notes and Chords

The riff starts with an open low E, followed by chromatic movements and chord transitions. It combines single note riffing with chords, creating a Texas Blues sound.

Play-Along

Combining Riffs

In this play-along session, you'll combine all the riffs learned in previous lessons and play them over a Texas Blues backing track. This exercise helps solidify your understanding of the Texas Blues rhythm style.

Performance

The Full Course

Chapter 1: Rhythm

Chapter 1 lays the foundation for Texas Blues rhythm guitar, focusing on achieving the iconic sound through riffs inspired by Stevie Ray Vaughan. You'll explore different concepts and approaches to the classic one, four, five blues progression in the key of E, mastering the shuffle rhythm and chord voicings.

Chapter 2: Lead

In Chapter 2, you'll delve into Texas Blues lead guitar techniques, drawing inspiration from Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert Collins, and Gary Clark Jr. This chapter introduces expressive string bends, bluesy double stops, and melodic phrasing, helping you achieve an authentic Texas Blues soloing style.

Chapter 3: Advanced Techniques

Chapter 3 focuses on advanced techniques, including fast hammer-ons, pull-offs, and chromatic passing notes. You'll learn how to incorporate these techniques into your playing, adding flair and complexity to your Texas Blues sound.

Chapter 4: Performance

The final chapter emphasizes performance, combining all the techniques learned in previous chapters. You'll play along with backing tracks, honing your skills and achieving a confident Texas Blues style.

By the end of this course, you'll have a deep understanding of Texas Blues rhythm and lead guitar, equipped with the skills to play authentic Texas Blues solos and riffs. From your first riff to full-stage confidence, this course takes you there step by step.