Wednesdays, 7:00-8:15 pm, beginning September 12
$120.00 advance / $130.00 after September 3
Register online

Fingerstyle blues guitarists often find themselves locked into positions and patterns related to specific songs. What if we could not only play a song like Mississippi John Hurt’s “Stag-O-Lee,” but improvise over the chord changes without losing the alternating bass pattern? We will use “Stag-o-lee” as our jumping off point, then cover other blues songs in the key of E, A, G and more. The key to our goal of improvising will be learning the CAGED system: a way of mapping out the entire fretboard by using the first position chords of C – A – G – E – D. These chord shapes can be transferred all over the guitar neck to yield great chord voicings that will make our playing come alive with fresh insights and melodic ideas. Participants should have familiarity with alternating bass/fingerpicking patterns.

Pete Madsen is a teacher, writer, guitarist and performer based in Berkeley, California. He has written numerous lessons for Acoustic Guitar and Play Guitar magazines; and is the author of "FretMaster: Slide Guitar" and the "Fretmaster: Funk Book," both published by Backbeat books; as well as "A Guide to Acoustic Blues Guitar" and "The CAGED System for Guitar."

Vsiit Pete's website