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Still here? Fair enough. Here's more scoop and a little genealogy to mull over...

If you play any style of contemporary music from this century, the blues is genetically tied to it in one way or another be it progressions, scales, phrasing or just plain groove. We all share the same 12 notes in western music but there's something extraordinary about the way a great blues solo grabs your attention, turns your head and gets your feet moving. It's a primal thing.

When most of us were just coming up, we copped blues lines from our heroes of the Classic Rock era who in turn copped their lines from the crop of "authentic" blues giants like T-Bone, all of the Kings, Muddy, Bo Diddley, Lightnin' and dozens of other giants of the genre. For players, this form was relatively easy to learn with its basic I-IV-V progressions and rather limited vocabulary of phrases and techniques. Thus its popularity amongst young guitar players.

Meanwhile, another strain of the blues had its very own happening thing going on; Jump, West Coast and Jazz blues all of which stemmed from the jazz form. As you might guess from its title, Vignola's Jazz Up Your Blues pays homage to the latter.

Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell and George Benson are just three of many killer players who were blowing minds with jazzed up pentatonic lines back when most of us were just sparkles in our parents eyes. Similar to most jazz forms, this style is more sophisticated and thus more challenging to get a solid grip on but easily worth every minute in the shed getting there.

Frank's Jazz Up Your Blues will indeed get you there, and get you there fast. Plus, you'll have a ton of fun following Vignola's format for the course. No tedious theory to assimilate. No exercises to master. As with most of Frank Vignola's guitar lessons, you will play your way through the course and start blowing jazzed blues lines right from the very first lesson.

For those of you just returning from the Jupiter expedition, Frank is one of the most accomplished, multi-dimensional players walking the planet today. Monster player, composer and improviser, Frank plays proficiently in every genre, from jazz to bluegrass to acid rock and everything in between. Longtime protégé of Les Paul, Frank's played with everyone and his brother and has a pedigree a mile long. A quick Google will yield 71,300 other reasons why you might want to apprentice under Vignola.

"I've been blessed to have studied with so many great players over the years who taught me the ins and outs of playing the blues. Learning the blues is an essential foundation for becoming a great improviser in any style of music. I've wanted to do a jazzed blues course for a long time now to pay it all forward. Jazz Up Your Blues boils down the essence of what I've learned and I wanted to present the course in a dynamic and interactive fashion to get students up and running quickly. Once you get a jazzed blues line or two under your belt, you'll develop an insatiable appetite for this type of groove. You'll also start twisting and turning those lines into all of the styles you play."

Jazz Up Your Blues is comprised of 14 lesson sets where Frank first performs a solo over a practice rhythm track. Vignola deliberately constructed each solo to showcase essential jazz blues vocabulary and techniques. Frank then breaks it all down, move-by-move. You then work with the video, tab and notation to get it under your grip, and then perform it yourself over the track. The 14th lesson set features multi-chorus demonstrations of both comping and soloing, with emphasis on interacting with other band members when in an improvisational context (this set's worth the price of admission alone).

Jazz Up Your Blues Curriculum

1. Ode to Eric:
Overview, performance, breakdown and playalong.
2. Funky Flourish:
Overview, performance, breakdown and playalong.
3. Flat Nine Blues:
Overview, performance, breakdown and playalong.
4. Fligaduh Blues:
Overview, performance, breakdown and playalong.
5. Stutter Blues:
Overview, performance, breakdown and playalong.
6. A Touch of Bop:
Overview, performance, breakdown and playalong.
7. Sixth Sense:
Overview, performance, breakdown and playalong.
8. Chord World:
Overview, performance, breakdown and playalong.
9. Bad B's Blues:
Overview, performance, breakdown and playalong.
10. Three Riff Blues:
Overview, performance, breakdown and playalong.
11. Fast Track Blues:
Overview, performance, breakdown and playalong.
12. Wes' Blues:
Overview, performance, breakdown and playalong.
13. Tremolo Blues:
Overview, performance, breakdown and playalong.
14. Comping & Soloing Series
- Interacting with the band
- Comping Example 1
- Soloing Example 1
- Soloing Example 2
- Comping Example 2
- Comping Example 3
- Soloing Example 3

Hands down, Jazz Up Your Blues is one of TrueFire's most engaging courses with as much sizzle as there is steak. If you've always wanted to nail this style of the blues, Frank gives you the hammer to do it with. Even if blues or jazz isn't your bag, the Jazz Up Your Blues guitar lessons will maximize your groove and help keep it there for years to come.

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ON TRUEFIRE TV
Pro and Master Students have access to the entire course with tab, notation, text, power tab and rhythm tracks on TrueFire TV. About Student Plans...

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