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Elevated Rhythm Guitar: Blues in A minor open chord study!.. Tom Waits style! (Patreon)

Published:
2025-01-25 14:00:07
Edited:
2025-01-30 17:41:21
Imported:
2026-08
Tags:

Downloads

Content

A lesson in how to say more with your rhythm playing. Too many people leave their rhythm playing journey in the dust once they've learned to half-heartedly strum a few open chords, but that's a sin in my book. You really must take pride in your ability to create a vibe, lock in with the groove and have a strong identity in your rhythm playing.

There are so many great ways to embellish and decorate your open chords, and in this lesson we look at a handful of blues flavoured approaches.

The lesson materials will include the open position blues scales discussed as well as the chord study itself of course and my backing track.

Files

Open Chord Tricks! Dirty Blues Fills & Licks to level up your guitar playing! Lesson in A minor!

Access all lesson materials by becoming a Patreon at the link below for just a small monthly fee!.. https://patreon.com/AlexFarranGuitar If Patreon isn’t your bag, you can purchase the 6 pages of lesson materials for this lesson alone, directly at the link below; https://smogfalls.gumroad.com/l/ysdqo Book in for a private Zoom lesson to level up your playing, or find new inspiration!.. just choose a slot at the link below; https://tidycal.com/alexfarranguitar/guitarlesson ⏱️TIMESTAMPS⏱️ 00:00 - Chord study performance 00:47 - Introduction & Mission brief 01:26 - Lesson materials 01:53 - The Changes, The Groove & The Feel 03:45 - Open chord blues riff 06:20 - Chord study thorough breakdown 08:12 - Open position blues scales 10:15 - Jerry Reed style double stops 12:25 - Variations 13:11 - Gear talk! 14:22 - Essential listening! 14:47 - Closing practice thoughts Related videos to check out.. "Gypsy Blues in A minor" a Marc Ribot/Tom Waits style lead study; https://youtu.be/YgJfb4G3dvU?si=frN7hVIBXJ4pNSVx Open Chord Magic; Americana style rhythm playing; https://youtu.be/nd-m79T9QYw?si=z13wO7-rJu8DdIdN Essential Blues Grooves; https://youtu.be/33i50PPjIXc -------------------- Sunbear "Farran Five" tele pickups; https://www.sunbearpickups.com/telecaster-pickups/lava1d28qt9czpmsd7mhh7atkh09nf?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAabZQ9xFvlQdXvHLVgD10yhTA1C3Ob-NvJBdfgj77agYFSTtyHL3onjCWT4_aem_SxdVxGs7Ys1K8tL2qrq6tg -------------------- Gear used in this video; Nachocaster Tele #5485 Vintage Fender 1964 Princeton Reverb amp BJF Honey Bee overdrive pedal Boss Dm2 Analog Delay pedal Pyramid Nickel Classic 10-46 strings Dunlop H3 pick Universal Audio OX - amp top box Universal Audio Apollo Twin X Logic Pro Universal Audio plugins Sony ZVE-10 camera Neewer Desktop Tripod Final Cut Pro Thanks for watching! Alex :) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexfarranguitar/ Buy me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alexfarran #guitarplayer #electricguitar #guitarsolo #bluesguitar #blues #guitar #guitarist #alexfarran #guitarlesson #tomwaits #guitarchords #guitarra #guitartutorial #guitarriff #rhythmguitar

Comments

Sava Kalbachou

Oh man, each time I come back to your Ribot lessons I think how cool the rhythm part behind them is! I'm so happy you are making a dedicated lesson on this! 🙏

Alex Farran Guitar

Thanks Sava, I had so many requests to do a lesson on that rhythm style I thought it was about time!

Zohar

Love it!!!!

Marinho Del Santo

Thank you, Alex! You seem to have a crystal ball or something else...and sense what we need!

Sander Geerdink

I've joined the Patreon today to support the excellent and inspiring lesson material you're providing, and this is right up my alley because I'm also a big fan of Tom Waits and Marc Ribot. Thanks for another cool lesson

MarkF

Keeping at the nut with a tight groove and nice fills without running all over the fretboard is a perfect lesson for me great lesson thx!

Alex Farran Guitar

Thank you Sander, I really appreciate the support and your enthusiasm for learning! Always nice to meet a fellow Ribot fan too 🍻🧡

Alex Farran Guitar

Cheers Mark, it’s an underrated skill without doubt! 👌🏻😎

tyler taube

My wife just asked me what I want to do today and I said play some Dirty Blues in A.... Just poured a coffee and about to dig in. Keep the hits coming!

Richard

I have one overdrive pedal and it's a honey OD! Could you send the settings?

Brendan Allen

So glad to see this lesson. Just leaving the Bournemouth v Forest game (sorry Alex!) so this is turning out to be the perfect day!

Wayne America

Great! I like the focus here on rhythm guitar

Alex Farran Guitar

🤦🏻‍♂️ well played to you guys, we looked lethargic and messy! I had a gig tonight, had to put that horrendous score out of my mind! 😅

Alex Farran Guitar

Oh nice! Such a great pedal! My settings for this are everything at 10 o’clock! Sometimes I’ll push the level higher depending on the amp.

tyler taube

I really like the first position blues scales you put in the PDF. I never really learned them like this and I'll definitely get a lot of use out of them.

Rupert Hawkes

Once again, a gold dust lesson! Thank you soooo much. I love this style (waits/ribot) and the lesson is very ’approachable’. So many YouTubers give you the starting point then leave you high and dry. Your lessons cover everything and mean you can actually use them and get lots of insights. The tone / playing is delicious too. How do you create the backing tracks for simple things like this? Maybe worthy of a lesson in the future. Anyway thanks a million for being the best tutor on YouTube! If you ever want to sell your old custom tele let me know ;-). Also have you done a lesson on how to Hendrixfy a simple tune ie approach with double stops etc. maybe not your thing 🥹

Ty Miller

You definitely help polishing up my playing ability adding all the right stuff Good Lesson😎😎😎

Alex Farran Guitar

Thanks Rupert, I really appreciate the kind words! Sure, I could do a video showing my process for making backing tracks from scratch. Would give me a chance to talk a little about bass guitar playing and tone also which could be of interest to some people. Sure thing, Hendrix-ifying a tune is a nice idea! I've done similar things that I'm sure you've seen before, but these would be decent examples of that type of thing: https://www.patreon.com/posts/people-get-ready-100017478?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link In fact, THIS is exactly that type of thing; https://www.patreon.com/posts/change-is-gonna-107995783?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

Alex Farran Guitar

Glad you like those Tyler, I love them and use them literally every single day!

Rupert Hawkes

Brill thanks will check out! I have got sooo much out of this “simple” lesson. And that’s just the beauty of your approach, give us the building blocks and make us go and work on it, there is no magic bullet but you give us the means to explore etc! Love it. On the idea of tunes to cover maybe for Hendrix or otherwise, Bill Withers stuff would be immense. Lean on Me is such a fantastic vehicle I reckon. ;-). As for backing that would be super. I did manage to dial in something pretty good on the Beat Buddy. So much to learn, inspired and improving!!!!

Ian Quittner

A little off topic, could you elaborate on how you hold your pick. The reason I ask is I have developed trigger finger in my first finger RH and I can't bend it completely or it sticks (painful), it looks like you don't bend your 1st finger that much... I want to go back to using a pick but have to find a way that doesn't hurt. Thanks!

Rick D

Alex, thanks for the enjoyable and valuable lesson. I have a Q about your "Gear Talk" section-- do you have OX rigs or settings you tend to use for these recordings? Thanks!

Rupert Hawkes

Question if i may? Sometimes you play Dm lick (bar 4) over the Dm. Cool. But then sometimes an Am lick (bar 8) over the E. Silly question but is there a recommendation here or is it more whatever floats your boat? Is the E more “open” to the ‘tension’ of another chord pulling against it in this example? I know it’s not exact science/theory here but wondering on your perspective?

Alex Farran Guitar

Thanks Rick. Yes indeed, I made my own OxBox rigs from scratch and spent wayyyy more time than is sane to dial them in to sound as close to possible to mic'ing the amp up with my Royer 121 and SM57. I'll do a video showing my settings.. I was in half a mind to do that anyway, but your comment has made me certain it'd be useful for someone at least! ;)

Rick D

That would be super generous, thanks! And definitely useful. Will look forward to it!

Rob James

Hey Alex You’re getting a really cool dark bluesy sound on this track. I’m trying to replicate with my old Princeton reverb. Are you using any pedals or just some reverb bass mix?? Thanks Rob

Alex Farran Guitar

Glad you enjoyed the sound Rob, did you watch the "tone talk" section of the video? I go into detail about the tone, but it is fairly bare-bones. I believe it's around 13 mins into the video.

Danilo

Hi Alex, just signed up after watching a couple of videos. One of the best Youtube channels, congratulations! I just downloaded the material and listened to the backing track. Do you think there is a possibility to also upload the backing track with only bass and drums so that you can also practice with the rhythm guitar? It would be very useful :-)

Alex Farran Guitar

Hi Danilo, sure thing, I just did a mix for you featuring only my drum and bass parts. You'll see it in the "attachments" under the main post :)

Danilo

Wow thanks Alex, you were very kind :-)

Zohar

Really beautiful tone and great lesson. I am not sue I can see the blues scale open position materials. would love to practice those basics. What am I missing.

Alex Farran Guitar

Glad you enjoyed it my friend! It’s all on the same sheet so just scroll down and you’ll see the variations and open position blues scales 👌🏻😎

Zohar

Jeez. Must be me aging... couldnt see it there. I see it now. Thank you so much mate 🥰

Carlos Funk

Thanks Alex......very useful and immediately aplicable lesson.....so valuable. ! !

john

how are you getting that sound

Alex Farran Guitar

Hey John, make sure to watch the “tone talk” portion of the video near the end where I break my signal chain down in detail 👍🏻

Jim Parker

Love this lesson and the Tom Waits references. For this style, I also like ‘Cold Water’ off his Mule Variations album. A very Keith Richards sound.

David Lockwood

Great lesson. By coincidence was looking at open strings in E this morning. Thanks Alex

Jack Nolan Music

Alex great video I'm a songwriter rhythm player however do I take it you would suggest regardless to learn blues scales?

Alex Farran Guitar

Hey buddy! Oh yes indeed, the stuff you can get out of combining those scales with chord progressions is killer for a songwriter! Well worth your time 👌🏻

TRackercoach

Having felt triumphant in discovering a terrific teacher, I bought into what was supposed to e his website, only to find that instead of a collection of his lessons ci could find only advertisements for other web-makers' products. Can I get some help to find Farran's tutorials?

Alex Farran Guitar

Sorry you’re struggling to navigate the page buddy, sounds like you’re not using it correctly as all you should see on my page is over 100 lessons with all their accompanying materials! Sounds like you may just be looking at the Patreon homepage?.. anyway, drop me an email at contact@alexfarranguitar.com And I’ll give you a hand in using the site correctly! It’s only me who runs all of this, I’m a complete one man operation so by no means would I be wanting to advertise other creators on my page. 😅

Chaz Proulx

I'll fess up. I didn't know these connecting runs -- I've got the sound and the feel but have missed the notes that make these minor blues work. 40 years ago I learned Claptons solos on crossroads note for note.. My versions was a mess, but it was the phrasing I really wanted to understand. So I'm playing catch up and loving it -- "old dog, new tricks" Great lesson Alex. You really have some accurate insights

David Blanche

Love this stuff and Ribot, I can't quite articulate him as well as you through Waits voice lol. I will check out as much of this stuff as I can. I'm an instructor in South Fl and would love to teach some of this goodness to my students. Thank you for your hard work and please keep it coming!