Learn How To Climb Up Your Chords In Blues Guitar

Have some fun with the vari-shuffle climb!

This Vari-Shuffle climb will teach you some super fun blues guitar riff variations. You'll learn some cool ways to climb up the chords in a 12 Bar blues sequence.

In this lesson, you'll learn all about this great tool to play blues guitar! We'll check out different variations using the 12 bar blues.

Blues guitar is all about variations and improvisation, but you'll want to learn the set study and its own. I encourage you to break it down into sections. Start nice and slow & make sure you can play it all the way through.

Once you're confident playing it through, explore and try out different variations. Improvising this piece will allow you to play them into other blues contexts!

🚨 Login to your account to access the study for free! Available in pdf or guitar pro file. Download it in the resources sections above.

Get Started With The Vari-Shuffle

The idea of you learning this study is to give you the pieces to improvise later on. But, you still need a few fundamental Blues guitar elements under your belt to play it. If you're following my guitar course, this module is aimed at Grade 3+ guitar beginners and is best for students who completed the introduction to blues guitar module. If you're new to all this - check it out - there are solid Blues guitar fundamentals that you need to know in there.

So if you've been following my beginner guitar course, I'm hoping you're already familiar with the 12 bar blues progressions & standard 12 bar blues shuffle riff. You should be able to play standard shuffle all the way through for this.

We'll start with the most standard 12 bar blues shuffle on guitar in the key of E. You'll notice that I'm getting that ''chunka chunka rhythm'' by moving those 'ands' a little bit later.

You'll also encounter a b chord in there - it's a bit of a finger stretcher! It might be a little tricky for guitar beginners. In the video, I show you some ways you can get around the b chord.

🎸 Learn the study first. Then, explore and add your touch to it. As you progress, you'll use them when improvising with other pieces.

How To Play The Blues Guitar Shuffle

You'll learn the set-piece that I play in the intro of the video. Listen to the playthrough a couple of times until you feel the groove of the shuffle pattern.

To get started, place your second finger on the third fret of the thickest string. Then, you follow by the third finger on the fourth fret of the thickest string. Now - this is the conceptual bit that we'll explore in the study. But feel free to explore on your own!

The other common part of this variation is going up the fifth fret. I always used to do this with my little finger! I recommend you try it out - it's a good idea to get used to using and build the muscles on your pinky.

If you can't do that yet, try sliding up your third finger. Focus on what feels good in the moment. Explore different options - that's the goal of the study!

It's a good idea to learn this as a set thing - it's good for the memory to remember. It gives you a complete backup position if ever something goes wrong. The key thing of playing rhythm guitar & is the rhythm.

💡 Make sure that you stay hyper-aware of the feel and the groove. Your timing should be solid before trying to do any fancy embellishments.

When To Use The Vari-Shuffle In Blues Guitar

This vare-shuffle is fun to use when you're jamming and playing blues guitar with somebody! You play the rhythm guitar and have your mate play the lead guitar. If you're playing in a band, you'll hear someone else do it. As soon as the bass player goes, you're going to realize he's doing a step up. You'll be able to join in, and the other band members can join in too.

🔑 A significant point of this study is improvising and expression. Using this blues pattern as a base gives you the freedom to explore within a set context.

Change them up a bit to make them your own. The idea here is to manipulate and explore this pattern. See what other new stuff you can get out of it. Practice consistently, and you'll develop the confidence to arrange and improvise blues guitar instinctively!

Get any questions about the study? Login to your account and leave a comment in the discussion area. Cheers. Next up, we're checking out how to mix rhythm with licks.