Your step-by-step guide to the fundamentals of blues guitar.
Beginner guitarists
Designed specifically for beginners and intermediates. Start with the absolute basics and build up to expressive blues solos.
3 months
Seth will guide you through 6 grades of instruction with daily practice plans and assessments.
Solo like the greats
By the end of this Learning Pathway, you'll be able to improvise your own expressive solo over any 12-bar blues song.
Take the next step
Once you've mastered blues, keep progressing with advanced Master Classes and other guided learning paths.
Get started with blues from the ground up. Seth will guide you through the 12-bar blues, basics of soloing, and expressive playing techniques to make your guitar sing.
In this guided Learning Pathway, Seth Rosenbloom will walk you through what it takes to build a rock-solid Blues foundation.
Blues Basics
First, you'll learn how to play the 12-bar blues form in any key with power chords and open chords.
Grade 1 consists of seven gradually-paced instruction days. These lessons are suitable for beginners and anyone who's new to blues.
You’ll leave this grade ready to play a 12-bar blues in any key with power chords. Once you build this foundational skill, we’ll move on to blues guitar soloing!
Lead for Beginners
Blues soloing 101 is now in session! In this grade, you'll develop a lead guitar foundation that will prepare you to improvise your own blues solos from scratch.
Over the next 10 days, you'll get acquainted with call & response as you learn simple licks to build your first blues solo.
Grade 3. Minor Pentatonic 101
In Grade 3, you'll develop the melodic vocabulary you need to create solos from scratch over any blues song.
Over the next 14 days, you'll learn how to improvise your own blues guitar solos using the minor pentatonic & blues scales.
Grade 4. Bends and Vibrato
Bring your playing to life with expressive techniques that will form the basis of your unique sound as a guitarist.
Grade 5. Break out of the Pentatonic Box
This grade is all about expanding your minor pentatonic facility across your fretboard and unpack all its mysteries!
Grade 6. Add some spice to your playing
Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King and John Mayer all like to add extra flavor to their chords through extension tones. This grade teaches you how to do exactly this!
Step into the spotlight
At the end of each grade, you'll get to perform with the Pickup Music Band! You'll have a series of full band-backed songs and solo pieces to choose from that'll help you apply what you learned in a musical context.
You'll also have the opportunity to submit your performance to our team of pro guitarists for personalized feedback on your playing with tips to improve.
Stay focused with this step-by-step learning program designed by our expert team of music educators.
Grade 1. Blues Basics
Learn how to play the 12-bar blues form in any key with power chords and open chords.
Overview
In this grade, you’ll learn about the most fundamental and commonly-used form (AKA structure or chord progression) used to create blues songs: the 12-bar blues. You’ll leave this grade ready to play a 12-bar blues in any key with power chords. Once you build this foundational skill, you'll be ready to get started with blues guitar soloing!
Day 1. Introducing the 12-Bar Blues
Get to know the essential chord road map for a blues song.
Day 2. Let’s Play! 12-Bar Blues in D
Get comfortable with a 12-bar blues in a new key.
Day 3. “The Thrill is Gone”
Learn how achieve a “darker” feel with a 12-bar blues in a minor key.
Day 4. How to Play Power Chords
Learn to play a simple and versatile dyad.
Day 5. Applying Power Chords
Work on playing a 12-bar blues with power chords.
Day 6. Transposing Power Chords
Learn how to play a 12-bar blues in any key.
Day 7. Final Assessments
Recap what you learned and make sure you’re ready for grade 2.
Grade 2. Lead for Beginners
Get acquainted with call & response as you learn simple licks to build your first blues solo.
Overview
This grade of the Learning Pathway is all about learning how to play blues guitar solos. Let’s be honest, that’s why you’re here, right? Over the next 10 days, you’ll learn how to craft two simple-but-effective blues solos (and hopefully have fun doing it.) This will set you up to improvise your own solos from scratch in grade 3.
Day 1. How to use motifs
Learn how to harness the power of motifs to tell a musical story.
Day 2. How to play a "response" motif like B.B. King
Start working on your first blues guitar solo with a B.B. King-style "call" motif.
Day 3. Add a "response" lick on the IV chord
Start a musical conversation with a response lick to your call motif.
Day 4. "Response" lick over the V chord
Add another response lick into the mix as you work up to a full solo.
Day 5. Add a 2nd "Response" Lick
Work on playing a 12-bar blues with power chords.
Day 6. Easy Lead Line in A
Today, we'll change keys and start on a new solo.
Day 7. Response Lick in A
Add a response lick into the mix.
Day 8. 2nd Response Lick in A
Continue building up your lead guitar vocabulary with a new response lick.
Day 9. 3rd Response Lick in A
You're almost there! Add another lick as you build toward another full solo.
Day 10. Putting It All Together in a Full Solo
Incorporate all of the licks you learned in A to play through your 2nd full blues solo.
Day 11. Final Assessments
Congrats on completing grade 2! Here, you'll complete some assessments to ensure that you're ready for grade 3.
Grade 3. Minor Pentatonic 101
Develop the melodic vocabulary you need to create solos from scratch over any blues song.
Overview
This is where the magic really begins. Over the next 14 days, you'll learn how to improvise your own blues guitar solos using the minor pentatonic & blues scales.
Day 1. Lower Part
Start exploring the minor pentatonic with half of one scale position.
Day 2. Upper Part
Continue exploring the minor pentatonic and complete one full position of the scale.
Day 3. Full Scale
Solidify one full position of the minor pentatonic and work on applying it in a lead-guitar context.
Day 4. The Nut is a Finger
Develop an understanding of how the open position minor pentatonic relates to fretted positions of the scale.
Day 5. Dexterity Drills: 1st to 2nd Finger
Learn how to add dynamics to your solos with slurs.
Day 6. Dexterity Drills: 1st to 3rd Finger
Continue honing your ability to incorporate hammer-on and pull-off slurs in your playing.
Day 7. Dexterity Drills: 1st to 4th Finger
Strengthen your pinky finger by working on hammer-on and pull-off slurs.
Day 8. Minor Pentatonic Main Position - Lower Part
Start working on the minor pentatonic scale shape that will allow you to solo in any key.
Day 9. Minor Pentatonic Main Position - Upper Part
Continue working on the minor pentatonic scale shape that will allow you to solo in any key.
Day 10. Full Minor Pentatonic Scale in Position
Master the minor pentatonic scale shape and practice applying it in a musical context.
Day 11. The Blues Scale - Lower Part
Learn how to spice up your solos with the "blue" note.
Day 12. The Blues Scale - Upper Part
Continue internalizing the blues scale and practice applying it in a musical context.
Day 13. The Blues Scale - Full Scale
Use the full blues scale to improvise your own solo lines.
Day 14. Final Assessments
Wrap up with some final thoughts and make sure you're ready to tackle grade 4!
Grade 4-6.
Bring your playing to life with expressive techniques that will form the basis of your unique sound as a guitarist.
Now that you’ve put in the work to build your blues soloing vocabulary, we’ll shift focus toward techniques that will make your playing sound passionate and dynamic. Breathe life into your blues solos. Over the next 9 days, you’ll learn bending and vibrato skills to give your guitar an expressive vocal quality.
Lesson Part 1
Day 1. How to Play Bends
Get comfortable with the absolute fundamentals of bending.
Day 2. The Intonation Exercise
Hone the accuracy of your bends.
Day 3. How to Play B-String Bends
Isolate the B string as you continue to hone your bending skills.
Day 4. Intonation Exercise with B-String
Hone the accuracy of your B-string bends.
Day 5. How to Play E-String Bends
Isolate the high E string as you continue developing your bending skills.
Day 6. Intonation Exercise with E-String
Hone the accuracy of your E-string bends.
Day 7. How to Add Vibrato (1st Finger)
Shift focus to a new expressive technique involving rapid micro-bends.
Day 8. 3rd-Finger Vibrato
Work on your vibrato skills by isolating your ring finger.
Day 9. The Dimmer Switch
Learn how to utilize the spectrum of vibrato in different musical situations.
Day 10. Recap
Wrap up with parting thoughts and take some final assessments to ensure you're ready to graduate the first part of Grade 4!
Lesson Part 2
Day 1. The lick-learning framework
Get introduced to the learning framework that will allow you to absorb all that Grade 5 has to offer.
Day 2. Albert King
Use our four-step framework to learn an Albert King lick.
Day 3. SRV
Study licks of the late, great Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Day 4. John Mayer
Take a modern turn with with John Mayer.
Day 5. B.B. King
Climb to the top of blues mountain and learn a lick from the king of blues himself, B.B. King.
Day 6. How to transpose licks
Learn how to transpose licks and combine what you've learned so far.
Day 7. Final challenges
Recap the past 7 days and prepare yourself to graduate grade 4!
This grade is all about expanding your minor pentatonic facility across your fretboard and unpack all its mysteries!
Lesson Part 1
Day 1. Expanding above
Get ready to get ouside your comfort zone.
Day 2. Connecting with the base position
Learn about connecting new shapes with the pentatonic base position.
Day 3. Rhythm: New shapes
Build out your chordal vocabulary with some colorful new voicings.
Day 4. Expanding below
Get comfortable expanding the minor pentatonic below the base position.
Day 5. Connecting with the base position
Develop the ability to transition into a lower set of notes.
Day 6. Full position
Start connecting the three minor pentatonic positions.
Day 7. Final challenges
Recap the past 7 days and prepare yourself for the second part of Grade 5!
Lesson Part 2
Day 1. The B.B Box
Expand your pentatonic knowledge with the B.B. box.
Day 2. Connecting with base position
Work on joining up the B.B. box with your base position minor pentatonic
Day 3. Rhythm: Usable voicings for dom7 on E and A string
Acquire a diverse collection of chord voicings.
Day 4. Rhythm: Minor blues extensions
Add some spice and flavor to minor blues chord progressions.
Day 5. Targeting the major 3rds
Incorporate major 3rds in your solo lines for a handy way to highlight the chords in a 12-bar blues.
Day 6. Combining minor pentatonic with major 3rds
Combine major 3rds with familiar patterns of the minor pentatonic scale.
Day 7. Final challenges
Recap the past 7 days and prepare yourself to graduate grade 4!
Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King and John Mayer all like to add extra flavor to their chords through extension tones. This grade teaches you how to do exactly this!
Day 1. Add 9 to chords
Learn to add extra flavor to your chords playing on the 9th.
Day 2. Add 9 to lead
Learn to add extra flavor to your lead playing on the 9th.
Day 3. Add 13 to chords
Learn to add extra flavor to your chords playing on the 13th.
Day 4. Add 13 to lead
Learn to add extra flavor to your lead playing on the 13th.'
Day 5. Arpeggios on I IV V
Understand of arpeggios in the context of a I-IV-V progression.
Day 6. Combining arpeggios with pentatonic
Learn how to combine your knowledge of arpeggios with the bluesy sounds of the minor pentatonic scale.
Day 7. Final challenges
Take a minute to reflect on all of the hard work that you’ve done to reach this point before you graduate this learning pathway!
Hear from REAL students
Your Instructor
Seth Rosenbloom
Step up your blues game with a modern master. Get started with the blues in Seth's Bootcamp, level up in his Master Class, or dive into his lesson library to take your skills to new heights.
Explore LessonsStart your free 14-day trial today.
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Monthly Plan
All-access to online guitar lessons to level up your playing.
$14.99
/mo
1,426 people started a free trial in the last 30 days.
Monthly plan includes:
See what a Pickup Music membership is all about.
14-day free trial
Guided learning
Know exactly what to practice at every step of your guitar journey.
Personalized feedback
Know exactly what to practice at every step of your guitar journey.
Progress tracking
Monitor your guitar gains.
New releases every week
Never run out of lessons to work on.
Interactive TAB
Follow along with every note.
Multiple HD angles
Get an up close and personal learning experience.
Supportive community
Workshop your playing, get feedback, and perform live in our online practice groups.
Members-only forum
Unlimited personalized learning support from our team of pro guitarists.
SAVE 17%
All-inclusive access to every course.
If your questions aren’t answered below, please chat with us.
Is Pickup Music right for me?
Do you feel like your guitar playing has hit a plateau?
Are you stuck in a guitar rut where you're just playing the same old chords and licks?
Are you looking for fretboard freedom?
At Pickup Music, we specialize in:
How do we do it?
Finally, we give you support and feedback through an exclusive members community and live practice group sessions with other members. This focused approach to learning guitar will help you bust through the beginner basics, break out of the intermediate plateau, and level up your playing.
This guided learning approach is the fastest way to make real progress on the guitar.
What makes Pickup Music better than other guitar lesson sites?
We're glad you asked! So many things:
What's included in my Pickup Music membership?
Everything! You’ll have unlimited access to every lesson on Pickup Music from every instructor. That means every Bootcamp, Master Class, SongSquad, Licks Package, 5-Minute Lesson... we could go on, but you get the idea. It's an all-inclusive membership for one affordable price.
How long are the lessons? How long will it take me to complete them?
Pickup Music's lesson plans are designed to suit the amount of time you have available to practice.
Only got a few minutes? Try our 5-Minute Lessons to quickly add a new skill to your toolbox.
Got half an hour? Try one of our Essential Lick Packages or SongSquads to expand your vocabulary in different genres.
Got a couple of days? Try a Master Class with one of our world-renowned artists. Each class is broken up into short, digestible modules focused on one topic. We encourage you to complete the exercises for each lesson video before moving on to the next one because the lessons typically build on each other.
Ready to really commit to a multi-week program? Try one of our Bootcamps. Over 6 weeks, these detailed courses will take you on a day-by-day journey to master each level in the genre. Bootcamps include daily practice exercises so you know exactly what to focus on. These courses are the best way to make lasting progress.
Whichever approach you choose, we recommend building the exercises you learn into your daily practice schedule. The best way to improve as a guitarist is through a consistent practice routine rather than sporadic, longer sessions. Learning guitar is a day-by-day, life-long journey!
I'm brand new to guitar. Is Pickup Music the right choice for me?
Absolutely! We make learning the guitar made fun & simple – the way it should be.
Too many people get frustrated with guitar because they develop bad habits and poor technique. Avoid these costly and time-consuming mistakes by taking Pickup Music's structured and step-by-step approach to learning guitar.
You'll start with Pickup Music's introductory program Guitar for Complete Beginners. Over three weeks, we break down everything from simple chords and melodies to rhythm and lead playing. By the end of the program, you'll be able to play any simple pop or rock song (and even write your own).
Most importantly, we make sure you don't get stuck in the beginner's plateau - a common pitfall for guitarists who are just starting out. You'll keep making progress through Pickup Music's guided Bootcamps. These programs are designed to quickly take you from a beginner player to an intermediate one who feels comfortable across the whole fretboard.
What the difference between the annual and monthly plan?
The only difference is that the annual plan saves you $30 a year.
Both options come with a free 14-day trial. That means, we won't charge your card for the first 14 days - you can cancel anytime before then.
With an annual membership, we bill you once a year up-front, and you save 17% as a result. We'll send you reminders before we bill you each year so that you don't accidentally forget about it.
With the monthly membership, you pay month to month. It's a subscription, so we bill you each month until you cancel.
Cancelling your plan at any point is very easy to do online - no tricks, emails, or phone calls required. Just click a button on your account page.
Is a Pickup Music membership worth the money?
When you first start learning guitar, it's okay to bounce around with random free lessons on YouTube and searching for TABs online.
That approach is going to make you an OKAY guitar player, but it's not going to help you take that leap to becoming a serious guitarist - a player who can:
To become a serious guitarist, you need a clear learning pathway to get to the next level. You need to free your mind and unlock your fret board - you can do this with Pickup Music's expert step-by-step instruction. Having this clear learning pathway is key to making real progress on the guitar.
What about the price? Is it worth it?
Private lessons will cost you about $50 per lesson or $2,600 a year. Going to a music academy will cost you about $40,000 a year.
A Pickup Music membership costs just $150 for the whole year. That works out to 41 cents a day!
Signing up for a Pickup Music membership also means that you can stop wasting your time and effort trying to guess what you should practice next. Our guided programs eliminate the guess work so you know exactly what you need to focus on each day and week to make lasting progress with guitar. This will increase your efficiency and speed up your progress.
Is it easy to cancel?
Absolutely! You can cancel at any time (although we'd be sad to see you go). Cancelling is easy, no tricks. Just go to your account page and click a button.
You won't be charged anything if you cancel during your 14-day free trial.
If you cancel after your 14-day trial, you won't be billed again at your next billing cycle. Your membership will remain active until it expires on the day it was originally set to renew.
Once your membership expires, you will no longer have access to the classes you were enrolled in during your time as a member, but you can easily restart your membership at any time. Just log in to your account and renew a monthly or annual membership to pick up where you left off.
Can I buy lessons individually?
We don’t sell lessons individually. But the good news is you get access to every single lesson on Pickup Music through the one membership. If you’re only interested in one lesson, you could purchase a monthly membership and cancel when you’ve finished it – we have a hunch you’ll want to stick around though :)
Can I cancel my membership at any time?
Yes! All you have to do is click a button on your account page. No tricks, no emails, no calls. It's a straightforward process.
You won't be billed again at your next billing cycle. Your membership will remain active and you'll continue to have access to the site until your membership expires on the day it was originally set to renew.
You can easily restart your membership at any time. Just log in to your account and renew a monthly or annual membership to pick up where you left off.
Note: Once your membership expires, we'll save your progress on your Dashboard if you decide to rejoin at a later date.
How does the 14-day free trial work? What is your refund policy?
Your credit card won't be charged for the first 14 days
When you first sign up to a Pickup Music membership, your credit card will not be charged for 14 days. That means that if you decide to cancel within 14 days of signing up, you won't pay anything.
If you decide to cancel after that, you won't be charged at your next billing cycle
That means: if you’re a monthly member, you won’t be charged for the next month. If you’re an annual member, you won’t be charged for the next year.
We don’t offer refunds for payments that have already gone through. But if you choose to cancel, you will retain full access to the membership until it expires on the day it was originally set to renew.
Will I be automatically charged each month / year?
The membership is a subscription. After the 14-day free trial, you'll be automatically charged monthly or annually (depending on which plan you choose). We send you reminders before your annual subscription renews so you don't accidentally forget about it. You can easily cancel by turning off auto-renew at any time in your account page.
How do I restart my membership?
It’s easy to rejoin Pickup Music and we’d be thrilled to have you back! We even saved all of your lessons for you while you were gone on your Dashboard.
To restart your membership, simply head to this page, select the plan of your choice, and sign up with the email address you used to sign up the first time around.
Start your 14-day free trial. Cancel anytime.