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Guitarist and educator Lance Ruby recently opened his teaching studio in Fort Collins, Colorado after earning his Masters of Jazz Studies from the University of Northern Colorado studying with Steve Kovalcheck. A Utah native, Lance completed his Bachelor’s degree in Guitar Performance from Utah State University studying with Corey Christiansen. While in Utah, Lance co-founded the soul/funk band Danger 5 and has continued in this project with lead singer Dani Armour. Sin... (more) Lance currently offers 105 guitar lessons at JamPlay, with 101 intermediate lessons and 4 song lessons.
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When approaching lead guitar, soloing and melody creation, key components are necessary to have under your fingers. These include scales and arpeggios, as well as theoretical and practical knowledge of the fretboard. Lance Ruby takes these core concepts and techniques and transforms them into an easy to follow system to jump start your lead playing.
Lance Ruby will kick off this series by introducing and discussing his scale and arpeggio system. This series is designed to give you a familiarity with the fretboard from a scale and arpeggio standpoint so that you can begin the transformation of that knowledge in to playing lead guitar.
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Let's get started with the primary tools that you'll use for this course: Box #1 and Box #2. In this lesson, Lance will introduce you to his scale and arpeggio system.
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There are specific rules to the ways Box #1 and Box #2 can be combined. Here, Lance will cover the rules of the combinations going forward.
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Intervals are just one of the ways to commit Lance's system to memory. In this lesson, Lance will discuss intervals as well as some useful tools for implementing his system into our improvisations.
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Another very useful method of memorizing and utilizing this system is via grouping. Next, Lance will discuss grouping and how to apply this technique to the box system.
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Let's shift our focus to improvisation. In this lesson, Lance will discuss the use of melody and phrasing in coordination with his system to improvise on the fly.
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Modes. We've all heard the word and cringed at the confusion that it entails. Here, Lance will discuss the history and origination of the modes while preparing us to tackle each mode individually.
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In this lesson, Lance will give us a full breakdown of the Dorian Mode and how to apply it to his box system.
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Let's continue our deep dive into the modes with the Phrygian Mode.
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Now it's time to continue our modal journey with the Lydian Mode.
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Moving right along, now let's tackle the Mixolydian Mode.
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Time to cover one of the most popular modes - Aeolian, which is also known as the Natural Minor or Minor Scale.
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Let's close out our section on modes with the ever-challenging Locrian Mode.
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Finally, a system to unlock the fretboard! In this lesson, Lance will discuss combining his box system with single-string scales in order to unlock the full fretboard horizontally and vertically.
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Let's shift gears to arpeggios. Here, Lance will discuss the difference between arpeggios and triads, as well as how to apply his box system to this incredibly useful improvisational tool.
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Now let's look at those three note major arpeggio shapes and make the minor.
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Now, we're transitioning to four note arpeggio shapes. We'll start with major.
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Now that you have your major 4 note arpeggios under your fingers, it's time to make those minor.
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Alright, it's now time to learn the Dominant 4 note arpeggios across the fretboard.
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In this lesson, Lance discusses what it means to "play the changes" and gives you some ideas on how to start doing so.
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Now that you have an idea about what playing the changes constitutes, lets start talking about how to play through those changes as they happen.
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Just like we did with the Blues changes study, we'll now break down the changes for the classic 2-5-1 turnaround. You'll start by learning the changes, then in the next lesson you'll play through them.
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Now that you've got a good idea about the changes occurring in the 2-5-1 turnaround, it's time to apply them musically and play through those changes.
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At this point you should have a working knowledge of modal scales, arpeggio patterns and how changes are played. Now you'll take that knowledge and connect arpeggio scales across the fretboard.
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To close out this lesson series, Lance discusses and demonstrates some of the key concepts and takeaways, as well as what you should continue to do to get the most from the system.
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Do you have the basics of the blues down and are now ready to add some depth to your Blues playing? Let's join Lance Ruby for his course "Digging Into The Blues" which will introduce you to the vastly different rhythms and styles that this storied genre has to offer!
Lance Ruby introduces us to "Digging Into the Blues"!
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We hit the ground running in this course by learning the rhythm part for the Boogie Woogie track!
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Now that we have the rhythm part under our fingers let's use this lesson to practice!
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For this lesson, we take the same Boogie Woogie track and learn the lead guitar part!
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Let's practice the lead guitar part for the Boogie Woogie track, and take focus on locking in on that swung time feel!
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In this lesson, we learn the rhythm part for a Chicago-based blues-style ballad.
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Now that we have that part under our fingers, let's dive into this practice lesson!
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In this lesson, we learn the lead part for the Chi-down track also known as the slide and stab.
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Let's put that slide and stab technique to use in this practice session, and hone into locking in with that rhythm!
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Let's jump into a Chicago-style up-tempo blues and learn the rhythm part associated with this number.
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Now that we have this quick change blues underneath our fingers, let's dive into this practice session!
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In this lesson we learn the lead part for this up-tempo blues, commonly referred to as the Chicago box.
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In this practice session, we get a chance to run through and lock into playing the Chicago forward box and backward box!
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In this lesson, we dive into a rock and roll track! We learn the rhythm part of this Chuck Berry style blues.
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Let's hone in our technique for this Chuck Berry style blues rhythm in this practice session.
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Now let's get the lead part for this rock and roll track under our fingers!
For this practice session, we run through this fast-paced Chuck Berry-style blues lick focusing on the lead part.
For this lesson, we dive into the Rumba Blues and learn some new chord grips.
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Now that we have learned the rhythm part for this Rhumba Blues track, let's give it a few run-throughs in this practice session.
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Let's stay with this Rhumba Blues track, this time learning the lead guitar part.
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For this practice session, we get a chance to practice that rhumba blues lead!
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For this lesson, we move into a minor blues and Lance gives us the run-through for the rhythm guitar part.
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Let's get that muscle memory locked in as we practice the rhythm guitar part for this minor blues track!
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For this final teaching lesson, Lance walks us through the lead guitar part for this minor blues track.
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For this last lesson of this course, we practice the lead guitar part for our minor blues track and take focus on locking into that rhythm!
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Country music lies at the core of the American musical tradition, and still lives and breaths in popular music today. But with all of this history and evolution in music, we might ask ourselves, where do we start? Join country guitarist extraordinaire, Lance Ruby, on this musical journey that introduces the core techniques and famous players of the music, all through the lens of simple, digestible licks.
Lance Ruby introduces us to "Flying Solo: Beginner Country"!
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In our first lesson, we will look at how the simple concept of chromatics can color up our lines and give us a creative way to outline chord changes.
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One of the major selling points of the guitar is its ability to emulate a wide variety of seemingly unrelated instruments. In this lesson, we will discuss how we can use a combination of double-stops and bends to recreate the famous sounds of a country steel guitar.
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Continuing off of the concept of harmony from our last lesson, we will now look at the interval of a 6th. While we'll only be playing two notes at a time, we will hear how this harmony can create simple but beautiful melodies.
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Following up on our last lesson, we will look at another lick that uses the 6th interval on the second and fourth strings. Additionally, we will see how we can use this lick and alter it to work over multiple chords in our progression, so we can highlight the underlying harmonic structure of a song.
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Now that we've introduced bending, 6ths, and chromatics, let's see how we can bring these licks together in a classic and cohesive country solo!
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What's the most famous country lick of all time? In this lesson, we will answer that question and discuss a variation that makes the lick applicable to the modern guitar player's toolbox.
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Following up from our last lesson, we will look at another iconic lick, this time in the style of one of country music's modern stars: Brad Paisley
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Do we always play licks in groupings of 2 or 4? In this lesson, we will discuss what makes a triplet, and how we can use it in our playing to diversify the rhythms of our solos.
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Is there an easier way to skip strings? While this is a cornerstone of many virtuosic styles of lead guitar ranging from metal to jazz, the technique known as hybrid picking or chicken pickin' allows us to achieve this difficult feat with relative ease, all while staying true to the sound of country.
In this second solo, we will see how our variety of classic country licks can come together to create a distinctly modern style country guitar solo.
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In this first lick of our final solo, we will see how we can use a variety of the techniques discussed so far in the course, to create a short repeated phrase that can be used successfully over the major chords in our progression.
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Following up from our last lesson, we will see how we can use a combination of chromatics, double-stop bends, and 6ths , to traverse over our neck, all while highlighting the underlying chord changes of the progressions.
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In this final lick of our last solo, we will take the same double-stop bend lick we've been using throughout the course and create a few simple variations that can be worked over a I-IV-V turnaround in a progression.
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In our final solo of the course, we will see a culmination of all of the techniques we have introduced and discussed in a cohesive solo that takes place over the famous country feel known as a 'train beat.'
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Looking to add to your Blues toolbox to enhance your playing and improv skills? The blues tend to be very improvisational music and Lance Ruby's Tricks of the Trade course for beginner blues players will not only give you a leg up in making your blues playing more dynamic, but it will also lay the groundwork for you to start expressing yourself with blues improvisation!
Lance Ruby introduces us to his course, 'Tricks of the Trade: Beginner Blues Improv'
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For our first lesson, Lance discusses how to get into the mindset of improvisation. Further, into the lesson, we get our hands on his first trick of the trade, sliding!
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Let's jump into our first track utilizing sliding as the core skill when improvising.
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In this lesson, Lance teaches us a quintessential technique within the blues genre, bending!
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Let's continue to trade off playing with Lance in this next track with a focus on really trying to master the bending technique.
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Lance breaks down double stops and how they can be used to "thicken up" your playing.
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Let's really lock in this concept we just learned from the previous lesson with this next track!
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In this next lesson, we take a dive into the style of Albert King!
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Let's take that Albert King box we just learned and implement it into this next track!
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For our final trick of the trade, Lance introduces us to the BB Box!
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In this last jam session for the course, we use focus on the BB Box as the main skillset when playing with Lance!
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This Lance Ruby course will take you're beginner blues skills and boost them up a notch! He dives into a multitude of blues forms that you will come across in the genre, making it an essential to have in your blues music toolbox!
Lance introduces us to his Blues Forms Practice Plan course!
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For our first lesson, Lance breaks down the rhythm part for our Simple Blues track, this track is a simple 12 bars blues that most other blues songs are based off of, making it a great foundation for any blues player.
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Now that we have that rhythm under our fingers, let's dive into the practice session so we can lock it into our muscle memory!
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Let's take a look at the lead part for this solo track.
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Now we get a chance to practice this lead part, taking note on resolving those root notes Lance discussed in the previous lesson.
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In this lesson, we move on to a new blues track focusing on the minor blues form!
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Let's get this rhythm part solidified under our fingers in this practice session!
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In this lesson, Lance talks in depth about soloing over minor blues, focusing on resolving on the flat third.
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Now let's use this practice session to lock in this solo!
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Let's get into some riff playing with this next track! A staple in the blues genre, we get out of strictly playing chords with this riff that will follow the 12-bar blues.
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In this practice session let's get more acquainted with the 12-bar blues form by practicing the riff we learned in the previous lesson.
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For this Riff Lead lesson, Lance gives some flashy licks to add to our toolbox.
Time to practice those licks within this solo!
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Let's jump into the 8-bar blues for this next lesson, where Lance breaks down the rhythm part for this track.
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In this practice session, let's take the elements we learned from the previous lesson such as; new chord voicings, The Charleston Rhythm and the 8-bar form, and really lock them in under our fingers.
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In this solo lesson, we work on our targeting skills with focusing on targeting 1 and flat 3 going to 3.
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Let's use this practice session to play this 8-bar blues solo over the changes.
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In this lesson, we take a look at our 16-bar blues which are a bit more "standardized" than the 8-bar blues. Lance also shows us the Charleston slide!
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Let's get that Charleston slide really locked in under our fingers with this practice session.
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Lance breaks down the BB King Box and how to target certain chord tones within the BB Box!
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Let's take the BB King Box and practice it over the 16-bar blues!
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For our last track in this course, we focus in on gospel blues, which roughly follows the 12-bar blues form with some in-between chords that get us from section to section.
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Let's practice this rhythm part of this gospel blues track!
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Lance unpacks our last solo over this gospel blues track! This solo incorporates all of the elements we have learned throughout the course!
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Time for our last practice session!
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"Layla" was released in 1971 by Derek and Dominos on their first and only album, "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs" which topped out at #10 in the Billboard Top 100. This ethereal classic rock staple was famously written about Eric Clapton's infatuation for Beatles guitarist, George Harrison's, then-wife Pattie Boyd (who Clapton would later marry). The signature riff and slide guitar work were laid down by non-other than the legendary Duane Allman, and the piano-based second half of the song was serendipitously overheard by Clapton while in the studio as played by bandmate Jim Gordon, but was actually written by Grammy Award winner Rita Coolidge.
We've got our work cut out for us! Let's join Lance in dissecting this classic masterpiece!
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"Already Gone" is from the Eagles' 1974 release, ‘On The Border’, and was written by Robb Strandlund and Jack Tempchin. It was one of the first songs that Don Felder performed on, bringing in his Les Paul Special for the signature solo. In this lesson, we'll dive deep into every single guitar that is played to help understand how recordings like this lock in the proverbial “wall of sound”!
Let's join Lance in a thorough break down of this classic Eagles track!
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"Jealous Again" is the first single released by The Black Crowes from their wildly successful debut album 'Shake Your Money Maker'. This catchy track topped out at #5 on the Mainstream Rock Charts in the summer of 1990 and is simply oozing with bluesy swagger!
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"Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday is Just as Bad)" or simply "Stormy Monday Blues" was released in the fall of 1947 as the B-side to the "I Know Where Your Wig Has Gone" single. The song has become a mandatory stop on the way to learning blues guitar and has inspired generations of players. Through the years it has gained a resurgence with covers by Bobby Bland, The Allman Brothers, and Latimore!
Join Lance Ruby as he breaks down this blues staple from T-Bone Walker!
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