Blues Guitar online websites

[socalguy]

I was wondering what online websites and or teachers were good for learning to play the Blues.

[pjmacd]

Two words - Toby Walker.

https://www.littletobywalker.com/

[lowrider]

If you want to learn from a real working musician, who's a great teacher, and a cool guy;

TOBY WALKER

[raysachs]

I think they key is to find someone who's teaching style works for you.

It would also to help to know what type of blues you want to learn... Acoustic finger style blues? Acoustic flatpick blues? Electric blues. Or some combination of all three.

Toby is an amazing player and I bought a few of his lessons. But I'm also a TrueFire user and they have various lessons on all of the styles of blues (and everything else) you could ever imagine. I've found I really learn well from David Hamburger, who has a bunch of different acoustic finger style blues lessons. I've been playing electric blues for years and a bit of acoustic flat picking blues, but I'd never learned to fingerpick until about a year ago. I'm in fairly early stages for sure, and it still feels like progress is very slow, but when I step back and look at where I was a year ago and where I am now, I realize I've made huge progress - I just have a lot more progress to make. But that's just because his style and the teaching aids TrueFire tends to use on their recent courses is really perfect for how my brain is wired. Not that it's inherently better than any other method...

There are also a number of folks who teach on TrueFire who also have their own websites with more extensive lessons. This is also true of HomeSpun lessons (Toby has a few lessons up there as well as his own site). So if you want free, just do a search and see what turns up. If paying a few bucks for lessons is OK, I'd say Homespun and TrueFire are two good places to at least look around because they both have a pretty large selection of lessons for all levels in various styles. And if you find an instructor who really works for you, you can then go see if they have their own site maybe with more material...

[619TF]

If you're looking to play acoustic old-timey blues I can't think of anyone better than Daddy Stovepipe...https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtX...Wy24DilJNTT-Uw

[Brushwood]

Though there are many fine teachers on Websites like Homespun and TrueFire, I'm currently being taught by David Hamburger on TrueFire. I started off with his "Fingerstyle Blues Handbook" and now almost finished with Mr. Hamburger's "Fingerstyle Blues Handbook 2". After that I plan to continue on with his New School Fingerstyle lesson and some other teacher's offerings from Homespun and TrueFire and a few other DVD lessons I found at a used music & bookstore. His way of teaching fingerstyle blues just seems to fit with me and along with some dedication and determination on my part I've definitely expanded my guitar playing abilities and technique which is helping my singer-songwriter journey...my plan from the beginning.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by Brushwood

Though there are many fine teachers on Websites like Homespun and TrueFire, I'm currently being taught by David Hamburger on TrueFire. I started off with his "Fingerstyle Blues Handbook" and now almost finished with Mr. Hamburger's "Fingerstyle Blues Handbook 2". After that I plan to continue on with his New School Fingerstyle lesson and some other teacher's offerings from Homespun and TrueFire and a few other DVD lessons I found at a used music & bookstore. His way if teaching fingerstyle blues just seems to fit with me and along with some dedication and determination on my part I've definitely expanded my guitar playing abilities and technique which is helping my singer-songwriter journey...my plan from the beginning.

I'm working through the same stuff. I actually started with 30 fingerstyle blues licks you MUST KNOW (emphasis added for sarcasm only!), which was a great introduction in bite sized pieces. I've worked through a lot of the first "Handbook" and and most of the way through the second one. There's something about that soundslice technology where you can see him play a part, follow the line moving through the tab, and then highlight a section of the tab you need to work on and have the video/audio just loop through that section that works incredibly well for me. My left hand was already pretty conversant with the blues before I started those courses, but my right hand was a rank beginner, and starting with the steady bass and then moving to alternating and three string alternating bass was a wonderful way to learn. For me, at least...

-Ray

[lar]

Originally Posted by raysachs

you can see him play a part, follow the line moving through the tab, and then highlight a section of the tab you need to work on and have the video/audio just loop through that section that works incredibly well for me.
-Ray

Do all Truefire lessons have these features?

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by lar

Do all Truefire lessons have these features?

A lot of them do - I think all of the newer ones do, but I'm not sure at what point that technology became available and when they started using it. Or if they've gone back and somehow retrofitted some of their older lessons to it. But I've bought a number of lessons, both acoustic and electric, that use it and I find it invaluable...

The catch is it only works when you're streaming the lesson. If you download it and go offline and use the downloaded version, it doesn't do that. You can still view the downloaded lesson (including video and tab) but without that level of coordination. My understanding is it uses some sort of online engine, so when not online, the video can't access the engine... Almost never an issue for me, but could be for some folks so good to know about it.

I just went and looked at a few of the courses I've bought over the years and some of the older ones definitely don't have this, but all of the newer stuff does. They frequently offer a LOT of their stuff for something like $5 for a course, and it's making sense to me now that these are mostly older courses that there's probably not a ton of demand for now (although some of them are great) and partly because the video is lower quality and the coordination between video and tab isn't there.

-Ray

[brianlcox]

David Hamburger also has some great stuff on his website - actually I just signed up for one of the website courses.

https://www.fretboardconfidential.com

[rmgjsps]

Try John Hatcher's site: https://www.bluesguitarinstitute.com

Lots of free stuff, but spring for a premium membership and the amount of material available is astounding. Well organized, and John is a great teacher. I like Toby Walker's and DaddyStovepipe's lessons as well.

[MChild62]

Depends also on your level. As others have noted, True Fire is very blues-oriented and has courses for all skill levels, including beginner, although many/most are intermediate. They also offer lessons via Skype/video.

Jeff McErlaine has many TF courses at different levels and he's an amazing communicator. Worth watching his videos just for the history of blues and background to riffs that he throws in. (Here's the riff/rhythm from La Grange.. previously used in this variation by the Rolling Stones, who borrowed it from this riff by Slip Harper, who in turn...)

[BluesKing777]

Stefan Grossman!

http://www.guitarvideos.com/

His site is a great place to start at the bottom and has all kinds of follow up lessons including videos of the real original performers. Love it!

Toby is great but I think it is a bit hard to begin with...

David Hamburger is also great but again, a bit hard to begin with.

Get the fingerpicking blues going with some simple John Hurt from Stefan! Then branch out later.


BluesKing777.

[johnnydobbers]

Originally Posted by BluesKing777

Stefan Grossman!

http://www.guitarvideos.com/

His site is a great place to start at the bottom and has all kinds of follow up lessons including videos of the real original performers. Love it!

Toby is great but I think it is a bit hard to begin with...

David Hamburger is also great but again, a bit hard to begin with.

Get the fingerpicking blues going with some simple John Hurt from Stefan! Then branch out later.


BluesKing777.

THIS!!! There is also a forum on the site where Stefan frequently visits and answers questions. The best place I have found so far for beginners to advanced players.

[socalguy]

Thanks to everyone for all the great answers, I think I may spend so much time looking over all this I will not have time to take any courses haha.