Lessons

The blues hero shares six lead guitar examples that demonstrate the versatility of the Gibson Les Paul’s pickups, volume and tone controls

Listen to SRV, Mayer and Jimi Hendrix and you'll hear players who are masters of mixing rhythm and lead – an invaluable skill for anyone in a jam. We look at four ideas for upping the ante in your blues rhythm game

Jim Oblon shows us the tricks behind inverted boogie riffing – and the best part is you don’t have to stand on your head to play it

Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour and Slash are just three of the countless fans of this staple minor mode. Here, Stuart Ryan takes you through the structure of the scale, plus a handful of chords, riffs and licks

The blues power advocate says thinking like a vocalist can help your solos connect with your audience – he shows you how it’s done

Players such as Jimi Hendrix had extensive altered and extended chord vocabularies to draw upon

Used by countless blues guitarists and hard rockers from B.B. King and Guns N' Roses to Josh Smith and Joe Bonamassa, the Mixolydian mode is essential knowledge. Stuart Ryan explains all

This bright but unusual sounding mode became popular among shredders after Joe Satriani and Steve Vai used it in the 80s. Here, Stuart Ryan explains what gives the Lydian mode its signature sound

One blues legend pays his dues to another, the great SRV – a player who Bonamassa says has inspired us all to play the blues