Lesson 44 - Box 1 Building Block Licks

August 11th, 2008
This is the debut lesson in a new series focusing on the licks that can be played in each of the 5 blues boxes I taught in the series “The 5 Essential Blues Boxes For Guitar”. In my opinion, this is one of the most important lessons I’ve ever taught.

Buy the full lesson | Download this preview in high-definition

Details

Difficulty: Intermediate

This is the debut lesson in a new series focusing on the licks that can be played in each of the boxes outlined in the 5 Essential Blues Boxes series. This first lesson presents 20-25 foundational, building block licks in Box 1 that are the core pieces of many of the most complicated licks that Stevie played in this position.

The ability to see long, complicated licks as a series of smaller, re-usable parts is something that I’ve developed over the years I’ve been playing and learning how to do this can save you years of work.

I break these building block licks into 5 groups and show you how to play each one individually, highlighting the differences between them, and showing how they connect to some of the other licks.

Gear


Guitar

  • Brand: Don Grosh
  • Model: Retro Classic
  • Pickups: Lindy Fralin Blues Specials
  • Body: Swamp Ash
  • Fretboard: Brazilian Rosewood

Amp

  • Brand: Fender
  • Model: Blues Junior Tweed NOS Edition
  • Mods: None
  • Tubes: Stock Groove Tubes
  • Speaker: Stock Jensen

Full Lesson


The full 30 minute lesson is available in the Lesson Download Store, and it comes bundled with the tablature for each of the small licks taught in this lesson.

Leave a Comment

13 Comments

  1. Brian Zimmerman Says:
    November 2nd, 2008 at 11:13 am

    Hey steve, I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of heart for taking the time and resources to do this .you have made a marked improvement in my playing and like so many others I was stuck in a hole playing the same old basic licks. I wish you much sucuss. You are a great teacher and one hell of a guitar player!

    [Reply]

    Anthony Stauffer ( StevieSnacks Teacher ) reply on November 3rd, 2008:

    Hi Brian,

    My name is actually Anthony, and I’m always glad to help someone escape the same-old-blues-licks plateau :) Been there many times myself.

    [Reply]

  2. John Says:
    October 21st, 2008 at 8:48 pm

    loooove the sound. I’m a huge John Mayer/SRV fan, and was craving new pickups. Those sound perfect for the sound i’m looking for.

    [Reply]

  3. Terry L. Edwards Says:
    September 16th, 2008 at 6:46 pm

    When will lesson 44 become availible on DVD- I like the downloads but DVDS are something to use besides using the computer.

    [Reply]

    Anthony Stauffer ( StevieSnacks Teacher ) reply on September 17th, 2008:

    Hi Terry,

    I am attempting to plan out the rest of the lessons in this series before recording them because that will make the transition to DVD faster. From the time I post the last lesson in the series, the DVD will follow a few weeks later. I know this seems like it’s taking me forever, but I’m in the middle of several very big projects at my house right now, and I only have bits of time here and there to work on this. But it’s coming, don’t worry :)

    [Reply]

  4. Terry L. Edwards Says:
    August 17th, 2008 at 1:20 pm

    Nice new guitar

    [Reply]

    Anthony Stauffer ( StevieSnacks Teacher ) reply on August 30th, 2008:

    Hi Terry,

    that’s actually my main guitar, a Grosh Retro Classic, which has been in the shop for a while getting some things re-setup.

    [Reply]

  5. Eric Says:
    August 15th, 2008 at 8:37 pm

    Totally insane lessons Anthony!! You really are the spark that i needed to buy a new guitar and get back to the roots!! Thank you so much for this.

    I’m playing with a us Strat on a Marshall AVT tribute amp with a Boss Blues Driver (BD-2). So far i love the sound of the amp with the Blues Driver but when it comes to set the tone on my amp i don’t really know how to do it… Is there typical SRV tone setup i could start on?

    Can’t wait to get the next building blocks lesson!!

    Thank you!

    Eric from Montreal, Québec

    [Reply]

    Anthony Stauffer ( StevieSnacks Teacher ) reply on August 30th, 2008:

    Hi Eric,

    I’m not very familiar with that amp, so I can’t say for sure what settings would get you close to that tone. Wish I could be more helpful..

    [Reply]

  6. Nick Says:
    August 13th, 2008 at 11:28 pm

    Great lesson. This is what I was waiting for after purchasing the blues box package, which helped a ton, but I felt I needed more. Great lesson, and I can’t wait for the next one!

    [Reply]

    Anthony Stauffer ( StevieSnacks Teacher ) reply on August 14th, 2008:

    That makes sense, the blues boxes series is incomplete as it only shows you the boxes, but not what to play. This series will focus on what to play, but assume you know the boxes, so they will be a very good pair.

    [Reply]

  7. Outback AL Says:
    August 11th, 2008 at 4:44 am

    This stuff is priceless & we all appreciate it sooooo much.

    Thanks for sharing, it really distils things down for all, without ‘US’ putting in all the hours we know ‘YOU’ have.

    Now go take a break & have some chocolate or something. You’ve earned it. ;)

    [Reply]

  8. kh Says:
    August 11th, 2008 at 12:43 am

    You askedwhat do I hear in that lick? I heard impossibility whenI first bought Stevie’s Live Alive album 20 years ago.

    That’s why I put down my guitar 15 years ago. But now you made it possible.

    This is the kinda lesson I’ve been waiting all my life and I’ll purchase it when I get back from my leave.

    Thanks Anthony for being as good as in front of me.

    Thanks

    [Reply]