For each of the five grooves, Jason will show you a handful of licks and comping approaches that you can use. Then, you'll take turns applying those ideas by trading solos and comping for each other.

Track 1: Gospel Vibe - ”This track is based on a gospel feel in A. We're in 6/8 and the progression is: I-I-V7-V7-I-I-I-I7-IV-ii-I-V7-IV-I.

Our first comping approach is to play basic chord shapes using hybrid picking and secondary subdominant chords or what I often call "IV of" chords. I'm grabbing the chord shapes with my pick, middle and ring fingers to get a more immediate and even attack. The second rhythmic approach is to play on the backbeat. The backbeat in 6/8 is on beat four. I playing a short staccato double stop on the top two strings and using good voice leading throughout.

The first solo concept is to play b3-2-root. I'm treating the b3rd as a grace note. It's always in motion down to the 2. You can apply any articulation to this. Slides, picked, bend release...they are all going to add nuance. Also, feel free to embellish with repetition or other notes from the key. Next concept is to harmonize the pentatonic scale. I'm doing this by choosing the note three steps higher. This will create the harmony of a 4th for note except the root with will be harmonized by a major third. I would recommend doing this in all five positions and with each corresponding pentatonic scale. The last soloing idea is a compound bend. Let's trade some solos!”

Track 2: Songwriter - ”This track in D is meant to tap into more of folk or Americana songwriter progression and feel. The track is in 4/4 and the progression is I-I-I-I-vi-vi-vi-vi-I-I-I-I-vi-vi-vi-vi-IV-IV-V-V-I-V-I-I. This track makes me think of cruisin' down an open road. So, I want all of my solo and rhythm ideas to help support that space. Low, twangy, lyrical melodies.

My first instinct for rhythm is to go low. I want low and twangy voicings that sound a little like a baritone guitar. Within these voicings, I'm making a simple melody with some call-and-response phrasing. I'm also adding some color notes to these chords like sus4s and sus2s. My second part is going for the opposite of my first idea. I'm going high and instead of being melodic I'm going for a constant arpeggio pattern with little change in the notes so it sinks back into the progression.

The first solo concept is targeting a single chord tone. The next concept is to play double stops within the pentatonic scale. Nothing too complicated here. Pick two notes on strings next to each other and embellish with a pentatonic note above on either string. You can hammer on, pick or bend to it. Try as many variations as you can think of. The last soloing idea is great for tightening up your phrasing. We are going to be using call and response phrasing with octaves. Let's trade some solos!”

Track 3: Americana Blues - ”This track is a bluesy Americana track in the key of G. It's in 4/4 with a heavy four on the floor feel. The progression is I-I-I-I-IV-IV-I-I-bVII-IV-bVII-IV-I-I.

The first comping approach is a hybrid picking idea that hints at the dead thumb technique. My melody is based on the minor pentatonic scale. My chord voicings for the I and IV chords leave out the major third. This will keep things sounding open and let me play the b3rd without it clashing with the major 3rd. For the F to C part of the progression, I'm playing F with a sus2 and playing C with the 3rd on the bottom. This part I chose to arpeggiate to help give a lift to the turnaround. The second idea uses big open chords and relies on tremolo or a vibrato bar to add movement.

The first solo idea focuses on the tritone that happens when you combine the major pentatonic and the minor pentatonic. There's a tritone that happens between the E and Bb or the 6th and b3rd. It's a nasty sound that commands attention to really helps give your solo character. The next idea is kind of a faux-slide lick. You can do this off of any double stop though it works best when it's a double stop using chord tones like 5th and b7th or 3rd and 5th. Play the top note, and when you play the bottom you'll play the pitch, drop down a half step and then come back to pitch. This sounds great if you use slides to get in and out of pitch. The last idea is a turn or an ornament off of the 6th or 2nd. I play the pitch and then quickly either bend, slide or hammer-on/pull-off up a half step and then back to pitch. Let's trade some solos!”

Track 4: Americana Folk - ”For this track we're going for more of a folky Americana vibe. All these ideas would sound great on acoustic, too. The track is in C with a train beat feel. The progression is I-I-I-I-IV-IV-vi-vi-I-I-I-I-IV-V-I-I.

The first rhythm approach that comes to mind is to fingerpick. I'm choosing a pattern that hints at Travis picking, but doesn't fully commit. I didn't want the constant alternating bass line for this because it sounded too heavy and bogged down the momentum. The second concept is to use open chords and embellish with some light arpeggiation and adding some color tones like sus4 and sus2.

Our first solo concept is to use a diatonic approach notes from above. This a great way to add tension before resolving a phrase. If I'm aiming for the root I play a 2nd to root, if I'm aiming for the 3rd I play a 4th to 3rd and if I'm aiming for the 5th I play a 6th to 5th. The second idea is to create momentum by walking up or down to our destination note through the scale. It sounds great when you start it before a chord change and resolve on the downbeat of the chord change. Trying doing a measure before, three beats before, two beats before and a beat before. Consistently targeting chord tones can really help focus your phrasing and help your solo sound like everything is connected. In this example, I'm resolving my ideas onto the 3rd of every chord. Try this with 5th and root, too. Let's trade some solos!”

Track 5: Rockin' Americana - ”This track is going to be a little more rocking, so we're going to be choosing ideas that are bolder and really dig in. We're trying to generate energy and a more gutsy attitude. The track is in E with a recurring riff on the I chord. The progression is: I-I-I-I-bVII-IV-I-I-I-I I-I-I-I-bIII-IV-bIII-IV-I-I-I-I

The first rhythm approach is going to be a big jangly trashy sound. I'm using open position chords and incorporating the riff into my strumming. The second idea creates a melodic figure out of an E power chord by hammer-onto the 5th from the 4th. For my D to A chords, I'm using triad inversions. The D has the 3rd (F#) on the bottom and the A has the 5th (E) on the bottom. I go back to my E power chord figure til the turnaround. On the turnaround of G-A-G-A I'm just using basic power chords.

The first lick uses the 5th and b7th double stop as a template. We can slide into it, bend into the 5th from the 4th, hammer onto the 5th from the 4th...try to see how many ways you can embellish this double stop. The second idea uses open strings as droning notes to help generate more sound. The nice thing about playing in the key of E is that we can use the E and B strings as droning notes. In these cases, we would play our melodies on either the G or B strings and strum through the string above. If you were on the high E string, you would strum through the open B string to the high E. Our last idea will use the E blues scale as a universal scale for the whole tune. Within this scale, you can resolve your phrases to roots of the chord your playing over. Your progression uses E, D, G, and A chords. All of those roots can be found in the E blues scale. Let's trade some solos!”

Jason will explain and demonstrate all of the key concepts and approaches along the way. All of the backing tracks are included and you’ll get standard notation and tabs for each of the performances.

Plus, you’ll be able to use TrueFire’s learning tool to sync the tab and notation to the video. You can also loop or slow down the videos so that you can work with the lessons at your own pace.

Other Available Courses