How do you play the blues?

Ask several people to define what makes a blues song a blues song and their answers are bound to vary — for some it’s the chord progressions, for others the instruments the musicians use or what they sing about, for still others a certain "feeling" to the music they can’t describe.

In this spirit, Year of the Blues proudly presents these "Blues Riff" lessons intended to help you find your own definition of the blues by learning to play them. Although the lessons are guitar-based, the concepts they present can be applied to any instrument, from banjos and violins to amplified harmonicas and electric pianos, all of which have been used to play the blues.

Year of the Blues wishes to thank our educational partners — Fender Players Club, Guitar Axis, Hal Leonard, and Riff Interactive — for generously providing these lessons.

Fender Players Club

12-Bar Blues

Blues-Rock Soloing

Cream - "Spoonful"

Guitar Slim - "The Things That I Used To Do"

Chicago Riff Blues

Freddie King - "Hide Away"

Blind Boy Fuller - "Keep On Trucking"

Robert Johnson - "Love In Vain Blues"

Johnny Winter w/Rick Derringer - "Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo"

Blues Turnarounds in the style of Robert Junior Lockwood

Mixolydian Blues

Jump Blues in the style of T-Bone Walker

Guitar Axis

Chip's Blues

12-Bar Blues

Punch Jazz Blues

Riff Interactive

Blues Licks








Fender Players Club

Guitar Axis

Riff Interactive



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This is an archived page, and no longer actively updated. As of 2/1/04, its contents, including but not limited to dates and contact information, may no longer be current or accurate.