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Blues Guitar Institute

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A Cool Country Blues Lick to Build Your Pinky

Lesson ID: TB007

Ever try to get your pinky to jump out of its comfort zone?

Not so easy is it? For me it wasn’t easy, especially when I was starting out on the guitar. Truth be told, it’s still quite stubborn.

To combat this renegade digit, I deliberately put it through its paces with licks and exercises.

Make an exercise out of everything you can’t do. – Steve Vai

My latest exercise is a country blues lick over a big G Major chord that really isolates the little finger. In fact, this is the only finger that even moves during this little two-bar lick. Check out the video and the TABs below to get this under your fingers.

Country Blues Lick

As you can see from the video, this lick uses alternating bass picking throughout. If you haven’t already gotten this down, you may want to take a look at a BGI lesson or two on the subject.

Applying the Alternating Bass Line to The Ragtime Chord Progression

It will take a little bit of work and whole lot of practice to get the notes in the right spot. Coordinating the pinky movement with the alternating bass line is tough for sure.  Any good exercise is challenging and rewarding. So, once you nail this lick…

Smile.

You’ve accomplished something pretty tricky.

When you are ready, there are two ways I can help you:

Back Porch Blues Course:  A proven system to fingerpicking the blues.  This step-by-step course guides you through building fundamental fingerpicking skills.  Plus, you’ll learn three levels of a delta blues style performance study to put your new skills into action.

Become a myBGI Member: Membership comes with access to Back Porch Blues plus over 70 step-by-step courses.  Get proven results with one of myBGI’s structured Roadmaps.

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