Blues Solo Studies
Thirteen complete blues solos to learn chorus by chorus, slow to swinging
$29.99
A single chorus teaches a phrase. A whole solo teaches how a phrase grows. Here are thirteen of Tim’s own blues performances, each filmed and transcribed: slow blues, minor blues, an eight-bar, jazz blues and a jump blues in B♭, every one made to be learned a chorus at a time.
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Whole solos, not fragments
Tim's advice on these is to learn full choruses rather than lift licks. Each solo has an arc, and following it teaches you how a blues statement is built and sustained.
Every tempo and feel
A slow blues that breathes, an eight-bar, two minor blues, mid-tempo jazz blues and a brisk jump blues in B♭. The same voice, heard across very different settings.
Hear a solo develop
Several solos start sparse and grow. Blues for Grez moves from two-note stabs into triads and chromatic runs, and Tommy's Track restates one small melodic germ chorus after chorus.
Blues and jazz side by side
ii-V-I turnarounds, bebop lines and diminished fragments sit next to pentatonic grit, so you see where jazz vocabulary fits inside a blues without taking it over.
Chords inside the line
Double-stops, triads with a flat seven underneath, octaves and chord punches. These solos show how one guitar can carry the harmony and the melody at the same time.
Two nods to B.B. King
Reflections for B.B. is a 12-bar tribute, and Thrillin' is a minor blues in B minor that opens with a nod to his best-known intro before heading somewhere of its own.
What's inside
- 13 performance videos, each on its own lesson page
- 13 PDF transcriptions, one for every solo
- Six solos that play in a notation player on the lesson page
- Backing track for Thrillin', a minor blues in B minor (WAV)
- Tim's written notes on Blues for Grez, Tommy's Track and Thrillin'
- Solos in B♭, A, G and B minor, among others
A look inside...
The solos...
1Blues for Mike
A relaxed eight-bar blues that sounds like a conversation. Tim moves through the changes with ease, landing on the right notes at the right moments, and now and then leans into an outside color that adds spice without disturbing the groove.
2Reflections for B.B.
A 12-bar blues played in tribute to B.B. King. Pentatonic lines, arpeggios, chordal ideas and chord-tone phrases are woven into one flowing story, with classic blues vocabulary carrying a quiet layer of jazz sophistication underneath.
3Scratch Mine
A gritty, straight-ahead 12-bar blues built on feel. Each chorus takes a slightly different angle on classic blues vocabulary. Simple on the surface, its lessons are in the touch, the tone and the phrasing, where every note sounds intended.
4Stay At Home Blues
A slow blues that lets the music breathe. Tim outlines the changes by leaning on chord tones, moving between double-stops, single-note lines and chordal textures. A good study in how much room a slow tempo gives you to say something.
5Grez Grand Tour
A mid-tempo jazz blues that changes angle every chorus. It opens with straight-ahead blues language, then expands into octave ideas, chordal textures and longer single-note lines that stay grounded in the harmony of the moment.
6Blues for Grez
A laid-back swing blues in B♭ over just drums and bass. The solo grows from sparse two-note stabs into triads, small chromatic moves and the odd diminished passage, with one small grip shifted to imply the I, IV and V. Tim suggests the first chorus as the place to start.
7Gibson ES125 Swinging Blues
A 12-bar blues with a jazz twist and a ii-V-I turnaround. Each chorus moves a step further, from down-home blues toward a more refined bebop feel, a clear example of the two vocabularies sharing one solo.
8Upbeat Blues in A (Nocturne el Pescadoro)
A straight-ahead 12-bar in A. Tim outlines the chords with arpeggios, blends major and minor pentatonics, and uses space to shape the phrasing. Each chorus builds on the last, and the phrases that stand out are there to absorb into your own playing.
9Swing Set in G
A six-minute solo that covers serious ground. Bluesy melodies outline the changes, bebop lines run through the ii-V-I turnarounds, and rhythmic comping ideas break things up, with a fresh perspective in every chorus and plenty of vocabulary to take away.
10Tommy's Track (Swingin' Blues in B♭)
A jump blues in B♭ from Tim's friend Tommy Harkenrider, brisker than Blues for Grez, with a quick change to the IV and a ii-V in the last four bars. Each chorus restates and varies one small melodic germ, mostly in single-note lines, with diminished arpeggios and chromatic fragments.
11Thrillin'
A minor blues in B minor inspired by B.B. King's The Thrill Is Gone, over a backing track with a rhythm guitar part. It opens with a nod to B.B.'s intro, stretches out in contemporary blues choruses, and closes with longer jazz-influenced lines kept in an earthy blues feel.
12Minor Blues Variations (Solos)
Several variations on the minor blues progression, each adding a little more harmonic depth and color than the one before. Every progression is played twice, giving your ear time to settle into the changes and catch the details before the next one arrives.
13Quilter 202 Blues
A soulful blues that balances spacious phrasing against fiery bursts of activity. Each chorus tells its own story, so this is one to take slowly, listening for the small details in how Tim builds and releases intensity.
Is this for you?
Yes, if…
- You can play a 12-bar blues and want whole solos to learn from
- You have worked through single choruses and want the longer form
- You want to hear blues and jazz vocabulary share one solo
- You learn well from a transcription and a close look at the hands
Maybe not, if…
- You want each phrase explained step by step on video
- You are still learning your first blues scale and chord shapes
- You want a backing track for every solo
Why whole solos...
A lick shows you a phrase. A chorus shows you a phrase inside a form. A whole solo shows you something neither can: how a player gets from a first idea to a last one, and what keeps the listener with him on the way.
These thirteen are Tim’s own blues performances, filmed and transcribed. Some are slow and spacious, some swing hard, two are minor blues and one is an eight-bar. Together they cover most of the ground a blues guitarist with an ear for jazz will want to stand on.
Storytelling over twelve bars
Listening back to Tommy’s Track, Tim noticed how thematic his playing had become: each chorus builds on a small melodic germ that gets restated and varied as the harmony moves. That habit runs through the collection. Blues for Grez grows from two-note stabs into triads and chromatic runs. Grez Grand Tour moves from straight blues language to octaves and longer lines without losing the thread.
So instead of just lifting licks, try learning full choruses here.
Next to Blues Chorus of the Day
Blues Chorus of the Day gives you one short chorus at a time over a B♭ blues. This collection is the longer form: complete solos at different tempos, in different keys and feels, with the arc left intact. If the daily choruses gave you vocabulary, these show it being used at length.
Take one solo, learn the first chorus, and listen to how the next one answers it.
Questions, answered
Does Tim explain each solo, or just play it?
These are performances. Each solo is filmed in full with a PDF transcription, and the lesson pages carry short notes on what to listen for. Blues for Grez, Tommy's Track and Thrillin' also have longer written introductions from Tim on how they were built.
Do I need to read music?
It helps. Each solo comes with a PDF transcription, and several of the PDFs are tab. Six of the solos also play in a notation player on the lesson page, so you can follow the written part on screen while you watch.
How is this different from Blues Chorus of the Day?
Blues Chorus of the Day is a set of short single choruses over a B♭ blues. These are full solos across slow, minor, eight-bar, jazz and jump blues, so you study how a solo develops from chorus to chorus rather than one chorus on its own.
Do the solos come with backing tracks?
One does. Thrillin' includes its backing track as a WAV download, a minor blues in B minor with a rhythm guitar part. The other twelve are performance videos with transcriptions, learned from Tim's playing and the page.
How do I get the solos?
Each solo is its own lesson at Tim's Guitar Workshop. Log in and the videos play on those lesson pages (they are not video downloads), and each transcription PDF downloads from the page it belongs to.
Meet your instructor...
Tim Lerch
Tim has played jazz and blues guitar for more than 50 years. He is a member of the Northwest gypsy jazz group Pearl Django, leads the Tim Lerch Trio, plays in a duo with Jamie Findlay, and is an Emmy award-winning composer.
His teaching comes from the players who taught him. Joe Diorio was one of his mentors at GIT, and he learned his approach to chord voicings directly from Ted Greene. Those ideas run through every lesson in the Workshop.
His books include Melodic Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary, Melodic Jazz Guitar Chord Phrases and Melodic Blues Guitar Soloing. He has recorded ten master class courses for TrueFire and taught at jazz guitar camps in the US and UK.
- Emmy-winning composer
- Member of Pearl Django
- 50 years performing
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