Get Started With R&B Guitar in 7 Days
Master the art of modern R&B guitar.
Intermediate guitarists
Has your guitar game gone stale? This R&B-fueled class will breathe new life into your rhythm playing and songwriting.
7 days
Melanie will guide you through 7 days of step-by-step instruction with interactive TAB and daily assignments.
Play R&B like Melanie
You'll leave this class with a fresh batch of R&B-fueled techniques to spice up your rhythm playing.
Take the next step
Once you've mastered R&B, keep progressing with advanced Master Classes and guided practice plans.
What you'll learn
Over the next seven days, you'll use real chord progressions to get a grip on the expressive techniques that fuel Melanie's R&B-inspired playing.
- Give your guitar an expressive, vocal quality
- Master chordal R&B techniques and level up your songwriting
- Learn the theory behind common R&B chord progressions
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Curriculum
Stay focused with this step-by-step learning program designed by our expert team of music educators.
Melanie's R&B Toolkit
Take an R&B-fueled intensive with this handy breakdown of essential playing techniques..
Before you dive into Melanie’s songs, you’ll work your way through her R&B Toolkit. This extensive resource features 11 lessons where Melanie breaks down fundamental techniques and concepts that she uses to fuel her playing style.
After a brief lesson on the roots of R&B, you’ll learn Melanie’s approach to touch, singability, whammy, the backbeat thumb slap, pull offs, hammer ons, picking-hand tapping, vibrato, sliding bends, dramatic slides, and extended chords.
Even if you’re already familiar with these, it’s crucial to learn Melanie’s approach to them, as they form the stylistic foundation of the rest of the class.
Days 1 - 3
Ease into the class by learning infectious chordal compositions that'll help you learn essential R&B techniques.
Day 1. R&B Embellishments
Day 1 marks the start of Melanie’s 7 chord progression breakdowns that will help you understand and learn her playing style. You’ll start by learning a composition that features an iconic inversion and some essential R&B embellishments.
Day 2. The Thumb Slap & Open-String Voicings
On Day 2, you’ll use the thumb-slap technique to add a backbeat to a chord progression featuring colorful open-string bar chord voicings.
Day 3. Writing R&B Chord Progressions
On Day 3, Melanie breaks down the music theory behind one of her chord progressions. This lesson will help you fuel your own songwriting as you navigate the diatonic chord scale and spice it up with chord extensions and the altered scale.
At the end of this lesson, Melanie will challenge you to write your own song based on her progression in a different key.
Days 4-5
Dive into two new grooves that'll give your fretting and picking hands a workout.
Day 4. Stretch Chords
On Day 4, you’ll take your fretting hand to the yoga studio with a series of colorful stretch chords. Then, your homework is to incorporate two of those shapes in your own progression.
Day 5. R&B Fingerpicking
Day 5 will help you hone your fingerpicking skills! This backbeat-driven tune involves a lot of rhythmic variation in the picking pattern, so buckle up!
Days 6 & 7
Put your skills to the test! These last two lessons will challenge you to incorporate some advanced melodic vocabulary into your playing.
Day 6. Melanie's Signature Altered-Scale Runs
On Day 6, you’ll dive into a progression that’s deceptively difficult. You’ll stay in one barred position as you play advanced embellishments, shift through changing inner voicings, and work on the altered scale.
Day 7. Melanie's Viral Video Vibe
Cap off the class by tackling Melanie’s most advanced composition yet! This one is based on her most viral guitar video and will help you shred through the altered scale with a legato feel.
After that, we’ll wrap up with some parting thoughts and next steps. Then, the real work begins as you incorporate your learnings into a daily practice routine!
REAL students
Don’t take our word for it, take theirs
What guitarists love about this course
Your Instructor
Melanie Faye
Learn how to play neo soul from the ground up. Melanie's lessons will equip you with techniques to give your playing a boost of R&B flavor.
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Frequently asked questions
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