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Guitarists spend most of their time playing rhythm guitar on the gig or at the jam, yet they spend more of their time practicing licks and lead guitar parts, rather than working on their rhythm chops. That won’t be the case with this accelerated funky, blues rhythm study program from one of the best rhythm players in the biz, Oz Noy. Go behind the rhythm curtain with Oz and his Blues Rhythm edition of Twisted Guitar.

”There’s a real art to playing rhythm guitar. Creating the perfect rhythm part, staying in the pocket with the rhythm section, staying consistent throughout the song, and knowing when you can, and when you cannot improvise parts -- this can all be very challenging. I’ve prepared 10 rhythm performance studies, in a variety of tempos, keys and blues grooves.”

Oz will guide you through 10 real-world rhythm performance studies. Oz will perform each study for you over a backing track, and then breakdown the performance emphasizing the rhythmic principles in play.

Three of Four Rhythm - ”On this first study, we have a 3/4 groove that I'm going to show you. It's kind of reminiscent of the groove from "Manic Depression" by Jimi Hendrix, but the chords are minor, going from Ab minor to Gb minor. With a Hendrix-style blues like this, a lot of times there's a bass line that's doubled by the bass player. So, we'll go through the bass line pattern, and then I'll show you a bunch of chords that can be played on top of it to create all sorts of different colors.”

Blue Ball Shuffle - ”On this next study, I'm going to teach you a song called "Blue Ball Shuffle", a 12-bar Texas shuffle blues in A. What's unique about it is that you're playing the upbeats of the rhythm, and you double part of the bass line. It's fast, and you have to really nail the upbeats and the bass line together. Mixing the rhythm guitar part with the bass line is something that Stevie Ray Vaughn did all the time. The progression goes I-IV-V, with leading chords taking you back to the I.”

Ice Man Rhythm - ”On this study, I'm going to teach you a song called "Ice Man Rhythm". It's basically a song with one chord - A7. It's kind of reminiscent of Albert Collins 70's funk-era, mixing blues, funk, and R&B. It may sound easy, but there's a real art to playing rhythm guitar in the pocket, and playing the same repeating rhythm with the same intensity.”

Middle Rhythm - ”"Middle Rhythm" is a 12-bar blues in C, but what's different about it is the chords, which are all sus chords. This gives it a kind of 70's-era Miles Davis sound. It's got a mid-tempo groove, so it's very open harmonically.”

Strumba the Rumba - ”This next study, "Strumba the Rumba", a 12-bar rumba groove. It's kind of a blues, but the changes are not quite like a normal 12-bar form - it's more of a personal take on it.”

Slow Greasy Rhythm - ”Now I'm going to teach you a song called "Slow Greasy Rhythm", it's a 12-bar blues in Bb with a Texas shuffle feel. Here the guitar is playing with the snare drum on the upbeats, and the chord changes are more like a jazz blues, where we add in maybe a diminished or a ii-V. ”

Laid Back Swingin' - ”In this lesson, I'll perform "Laid Back Swingin'". It incorporates jazz changes into a 12-bar blues format. There are a lot of options here in the voice leadings that we use, so I'll be focusing on that.”

Twisted Soul Rhythm - ”On this next study, we'll be looking at a song called "Twisted Soul". It's a really basic minor blues, going from Amin into Dmin, then from F7 into E7 and back to Amin. Stylistically, it's kind of a soul/smooth groove with a medium tempo. We're channeling Wes Montgomery here and playing with the thumb, which gives the chords very cool voicings.”

Blues on the Juice - ”"Blues on the Juice" is a 12-bar blues in D, with a fast, funky James Brown type groove. It's tricky when playing rhythm guitar to not play too much. It's important to play the right thing at the right time. If you play too much, it's not funky anymore; playing great rhythm guitar "between the cracks" is an art form.”

Whole Ton of Groove - ”Let's take it home with a tune called "Whole Ton of Groove", a 12-bar blues in E. It's a I-IV-V progression pretty much in the style of Stevie Ray Vaughan. Something to pay attention to here is that Texas shuffle type blues tunes (and Stevie Ray Vaughan) often double the bass line, adding the chords in the middle.”

Oz will explain and demonstrate all of the key concepts and approaches along the way. You’ll get standard notation, tabs and diagrams for the key examples and performance studies. Plus, Oz includes all of the rhythm tracks for you to work with on your own. In addition, you’ll be able to loop or slow down any of the performances so that you can work with the materials at your own pace.

Grab your guitar and lets get into the pocket with Oz Noy!


nJoy!