In the next installment of my Solos Series, I’ll be showing how to play a 36 Bar Slow Blues Solo in the style of Albert Collins. He’s always been one of my favorite guitar players and I’ve tried to capture a few different elements of his extremely dynamic and staccato blues guitar style.
Albert is known for his strange tuning and used of the capo, but I thought it would be more useful to learn elements of his style and then apply them to standard tuning.
This Solo is played finger style and if you are not familiar with this technique you would need to go through my Blues Techniques course to learn how to play blues lead guitar with your fingers.
Watch the Solo
This lesson is now available here.
You can also get complete access to this lesson and over 1,000 blues and slide guitar lessons by joining the All Access Pass.
this is great jihn well done.very few people cover albert collins.youve done a fantastic job.please release lessonsoon,all the best. wow
Albert Collins is my favorite bluesman of all time and I incorporate many of his licks into my playing. I can see that you have picked up nuances that I overlooked… very authentic sounding! I look forward to the lesson. Keep ’em coming John!
The Duane Allman lesson is awesome and this one is going to be too. I’m having a blast as you (and your lessons) progress and I get to go along for the ride. Thanks – I’m all in.
Pat
John, you did it again!
Great solo honoring a great Bluesman like Albert Collins, I can’t wait for the release!
Thank you for your lessons
God bless you!
Luis
great preview john. love love love albert Collins. Is there anyway to show how you got that Collins tone when you do the whole lesson?
Thanks! There will be pictures of the gear and settings I used as well as a short commentary about achieving this tone.
John – you nailed it again. I love Albert Collins and the little fun quirky things he tossed into his solos. If you watch a video of the Iceman, you can see all his facial expressions and grins as he makes the guitar grunt and slides down those low strings! Listening to you play, I can see Albert arching his eyebrows and nodding in approval. Love that Tele tone, too – like I said, you really nailed it! Thanks for this and thanks again for all your content.
Wow, I love the sound of the Iceman! Let me know when it’s available.
I like where you are going with these lessons…to the Deep End. Albert Collins is a one of a kind, master blues guitarist. I love playing/listening to his music, with its cutting edge, its like 120 volts of electricity running through your body. Side note, I see very little of lessons with Michael Bloomfield’s music, would be nice to have one of his slow blues, ex. “I Got A Mind to Give Up Living” with a backing track. Meanwhile, can’t wait to get you Albert Collins lesson. Thanks for what you’re doing.
I met Albert Collins backstage at the Texas Sesquicentennial (150th anniversary, 1986) in Austin before he played; he was slowly walking back and forth at the fence behind the stage. Although he was not on the program, there were suppose to be “special guests” and one of the radio stations said that they had heard Albert Collins was to be there. That was enough for me and I was there before it started in the morning through his performance after dark. We talked for about five minutes and he seemed very surprised that anyone would come just to see him; he played great as always that night. He was a very talented, kind, and humble man, and at least for me, the very highest point in the concert.
This is some cool stuff John. Interesting techniques but it sounds great. Im really getting into blues at the moment and this is really helpful.
John, you capture the essence of Albert´s play, compliments. This brings back memories to a club concert, about 150 people, in Frankfurt/Germany in the late 1970ies or early 80ie. The band started a groove, the drummer announced the “Master of the Telecaster, a few moments later Albert appeared and played for two hours without a break. It was ver loud, my ears still ringing from the biting sound of his Telecaster. During the show he left stage and mingled with the audience, a long cable behind him (no wireless transmission these days), throwing fiercely his licks at them. He picked a few people to “blues” them, I was one of the. He approached me face to face. eyes wide open, maybe with the help of some substances, and sweat running down his face, like he would have liked to share the energy he was spreading. Unforgettable, not sure this kind of a blessing helped my guitar playing abilities. Anyway, maybe i will adapt from his style in the future after all these years with the help of the lesson !
Malte
Hi John, Is this available yet?
It will be mid December. Thanks!
John – can’t wait for this lesson to be released – a perfect Christmas present to myself! Please – PLEASE – roll it out soon!
Thanks. End of December.
Wow! Great job John. Been lurking around for a while waiting for this lesson to be revealed. I have to admit that this is a great showcase of how online lessons should be done. Keep up with the goodwork!
It`s nearly impossible to find such a knowledgeable people like you in this particular topic. Thanks!! u r one of the gifted player of guitar ever!! I like ur video so much!!
Fantastic! Always amazed when I visit your site, it goes to show how learning guitar online is the future.
Great job, John.
Nate
You are a legend in our book John!
What a tone John i had to subscribe to your course we need teachers like you just amazed on all the good lessons you have on the site
Thanks so much!
This is an awesome article Jihn. Albert Collins style is my favorite. I tried several time but progress is not up to the mark. Your article along with this video helping me a lot. Most recommended for every lead guitar artist.