Stage 4 · Elementary
The Blues Highway
Power chords, riffs, the 12-bar blues and the shuffle
The road that blues and rock travelled. You learn power chords, palm muting, single-note riffs, the 12-bar blues form, the shuffle and open seventh chords.
Stops in this stage
- Power chordsThe fifth: the two-note chord that drives rock.
- Palm muting and noise controlMuting with the palm, silencing strings and sounding tight.
- Single-note riffsShort repeated phrases that define a song.
- The 12-bar bluesThe most famous form in popular music: I, IV and V.
- Shuffle and swingUneven eighths, the hidden triplet and the boogie.
- Open seventh chordsA7, D7, E7 and B7: the colour of the blues.
- Milestone: The Blues HighwayReview, practical challenge and self-assessment to close the stage with everything you learned.