Truefire - Robert Renman's Blues Booster (2014)

The blues is a double-edged sword. At first, the style is very easy to learn; a few moveable chords to get comfortable, a simple 1-4-5 progression to apply those chords over, and a single minor pentatonic or blues scale to start soloing with, over that progression. You’d be hard pressed to find a quicker, more satisfying way to start making good music with the guitar. But then one day you wake up and everything you play sounds tired, boring and un-creative. You don’t even have the energy to pick up the guitar anymore. Happens to ALL of us. The only cure for all that ails your blues playing is a bagful of fresh perspective, creative insight along with the new harmonic and technical tools to put it all in play on the fretboard. And that’s exactly what Robert Renman delivers in Blues Booster.

Blues Booster is very likely the ticket to your own personal musical renaissance. It’s chock-full of creative, harmonic and technical epiphanies that you’ll be able to put to work immediately without having to struggle through tedious theory or boring exercises. In fact, spend just fifteen minutes with any lesson within the course and you’ll have something fresh and interesting to play that very night at the jam or with your buds.

Robert has organized Blues Booster into two sections. In the first section, Robert guides you through 15 Key Concepts and Techniques, which will majorly boost your blues musicality by adding more colors, textures and rhythmic approaches to your solos and improvisations. Robert explains, demonstrates and shows you how to apply Intervals, Mixolydian Mode, Minor Blues Scale, Hybrid Scales, Dorian Mode, Triads, Diminished Scale, Triplets, Rhythmic Phrasing, Hybrid Picking, 2-Note Hammers & Pull-Offs, Slide In/Slide Out, Chromatic Passing Notes, Skip the 2nd and the The Moving 4.

You’ll also play your way through the second section, as you apply all of the concepts and techniques from the first section, across six bluesy performance studies, in a variety of tempos, feels and keys. The Bye Babe Boogie, Funky Rhumba, Dorian Funk, Fat Groove, Texas Twist and Minor Swing performance studies all feature a rhythm track, which Robert will demonstrate over, after which he will breakdown his performance identifying the key concepts and techniques in play. You’ll then work with the rhythm track on your own, soloing and improvising using those key concepts and techniques.

All of the performances are tabbed and notated, plus you’ll get Guitar Pro files as well along with all of the rhythm tracks that Robert uses to demonstrate over.

Robert also happens to be the winner of TrueFire’s 2013 Next Top Guitar Instructor competition, which means that not only has a panel of judges validated his vast acumen as an educator but more importantly, hundreds of Robert’s students have also chimed in with their votes as testimony to just how effective Robert’s teaching approach is. We’re very proud to share his educational magic with you here in Robert’s first TrueFire course, Blues Booster.

“I'm excited for the opportunity to share some of the concepts that I've developed over the years as a guitar teacher and guitar player. I've been influenced by a variety of styles over the years, which is reflected in my playing style. When people ask me what style I play, I say its blues-based, with influences from jazz, funk, rock and country. I’m very excited for this opportunity to share some of my approaches to soloing and improvising in a blues format.”

So, if you woke up a little tired with your blue bag, step up for a serious Blues Booster shot!

Video Lessons:
Blues Booster
SECTION 1: Key Concepts
Intervals
Mixolydian
Minor Blues Scale
Hybrid Scales
Dorian
Triads
Diminished Scale
Triplets
Rhythmic Phrasing
Hybrid Picking
2 Note Hammers & Pull-Offs
Slide In Slide Out
Chromatic Passing Notes
Skip the 2nd
The Moving 4
SECTION 2: Performance Studies
Bye Babe Boogie
Funky Rhumba
Dorian Funk
Fat Groove
Texas Twist
Minor Swing
Gear Talk
Blues Booster