Nick Russo
From Hot Jazz Jumpers, Nick Russo +11, The Scooches
Multi-instrumentalist, Nick Russo, B.S., M.A. is a full-time professional musician, educator in New York City. Nick performs with artists such as Paul McCartney, Jon Batiste, John Lithgow, Rob Morrow, The Hot Sardines, Antonique Smith, Deep Singh, Frank London, Zeb Bangash, Russell Hall, Gordon Au: Grand St Stompers & others. Russo has toured with artists such as Jimmy McGriff, Teddy Charles, Sonny Dallas, Antonique Smith, Victor Jones, Anastasia Rene and leads The Scooches, ... (more)
Nick currently offers 35 guitar lessons at JamPlay, with 35 intermediate lessons.
Nick Russo's contribution to JamPlay
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One Chord Blues Jam
Blues has many iterations and styles, ranging from complex forms that include Jazz to the basic 12 bar formula. In this series Nick Russo breaks down an ultra-basic One Chord Blues Jam that he uses to impart his melodic and rhythmic wisdom. By the end of the course you'll be studying the greats of Blues music and you'll be able to jam over a single chord or the basic 12 bar form.
Series Introduction
Nick discusses the the material that he will be teaching in the series.
9:26 Runtime
0.0 Difficulty
Playing the Blues with Two Notes
To get started in the series, Nick discusses how to find notes on the fretboard and how to hear the intervals between notes. You'll use this information to play a 2 note jam in a Blues style.
26:59 Runtime
2.0 Difficulty
In the Style of Eric Clapton's Cream
Continuing on with your interval study, Nick offers up a jam in the style of Eric Clapton's Cream. This study focuses on the major second interval.
16:40 Runtime
3.0 Difficulty
The Blue Note
Let's now look at the blue note. This lesson discusses micro-tones between two notes and the use of bending to get there.
23:03 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
The Major 6th: Style of Voodoo Child
Next up, Nick demonstrates the major 6th interval in a jam styled after the iconic song "Voodoo Child"
13:20 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
Building the E Minor Pentatonic Scale
You're grooving a bit more and working with more notes now. It's time to take this one chord blues jam up a notch by building the minor pentatonic.
19:10 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
Expanding E Minor Pentatonic
In this lesson, you'll expand on the ideas of the minor pentatonic, discussed in the previous lesson.
14:49 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
Completing the Minor Pentatonic Scale
Now, let's complete the minor pentatonic scale in E. You'll use this to jam over a 12/8 groove.
20:22 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
Exploring Rhythm
Using the chops you've built already, Nick will impart some rhythmic wisdon in the form of the triplet.
20:30 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
In the Style of John Lee Hooker: Part 1
In the next several lessons, Nick Russo offers up an in the style look at the playing style of John Lee Hooker. To get you started you'll look at the Chicago Call and Answer.
11:40 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
In the Style of John Lee Hooker: Part 2
In part two of his look at the style of John Lee Hooker, Nick discusses rhythm and how a swung 8th note is actually a triplet.
10:46 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
In the Style of John Lee Hooker: Part 3
The last part of Nick's style of John Lee Hooker study focuses on variations from the two previous lessons. You'll dive further into rhythm and look at different interval techniques.
14:38 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
Fingerstyle Solo Guitar, Part 1: Introduction
Moving on, Nick discusses arranging for solo guitar and the use of pedal tones and fingerstyle technique.
13:51 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
Fingerstyle Solo Guitar, Part 2: Adding D
Now that you're getting the basic fingerstyle technique down, it's time to add some complexity and harmonic movement.
15:25 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
Fingerstyle Solo Guitar, Part 3: Adding G
In lesson 15 you'll continue to add notes and complexity to your solo guitar arrangement. You'll add the G note here.
19:16 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
Fingerstyle Solo Guitar, Part 4: Rhythm
Lesson 16 is all about counting. Taking a more in-depth look at rhythm for solo guitar arrangements, Nick imparts wisdom on the best methods for counting and introduces further subdivisions of the triplet.
18:14 Runtime
3.0 Difficulty
Fingerstyle Solo Guitar, Part 5: Independence
In part five of the fingerstyle solo guitar study, Nick discusses finger independence in the fingerstyle technique.
22:04 Runtime
3.0 Difficulty
Fingerstyle Solo Guitar, Part 6: Fills
A fill typically occurs near the end of a phrase, or transition to a new phrase as a way to move from one section or another. Nick discusses its use and demonstrates some possibilities.
15:19 Runtime
3.0 Difficulty
Fingerstyle Solo Guitar, Part 7: Putting it All Together
With the basic aspects of a good solo guitar arrangement under your belt, it's time to add them all together for your solo guitar one chord jam.
17:12 Runtime
3.0 Difficulty
Style of Stevie Ray Vaughan: Part 1 - Bass Line
In lessons 20 through 24, Nick will dissect the style of legendary guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn. In Part 1 you'll look at a bass line in his style.
17:50 Runtime
2.0 Difficulty
Style of Stevie Ray Vaughan: Part 2 - Adding Open E
In part 2 of this mini-series Nick discusses the use of an open droning E string that is being added to the bass line.
14:22 Runtime
2.0 Difficulty
Style of Stevie Ray Vaughan: Part 3 - Dyads
You're now going to add dyads to your playing ensemble. Mixed with the open droning E and with a few slides and bends for good measure, you'll be sounding more like SRV by the time you complete this lesson.
16:17 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
Style of Stevie Ray Vaughan: Part 4 - Rhythm
Now let's take a look at rhythm in the style of Stevie Ray Vaughn. As with previous lessons, Nick will discuss counting and specific rhythms being used.
15:31 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
Style of Stevie Ray Vaughan: Part 5 - The Turn Around
Lesson 24 wraps up the focus study on blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn. You'll take all the elements learned in the previous lessons and combine them into an SRV styled jam.
15:26 Runtime
3.0 Difficulty
Style of Elmore James: Part 1
In first exploring the style of Elmore James, we are going to look at a dyad in triplets that you have surely heard before.
10:33 Runtime
2.0 Difficulty
Style of Elmore James: Part 2
Nick takes you deeper into this triplet pattern, and really digs in with how the triplet appears even when your aren't sounding all of the notes in the triplet.
14:52 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
Style of Elmore James: Part 3
Now, expanding on the triplet vocabulary we have explored, we will bring in more diads, to make the riff more complex.
15:01 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
Style of Robert Johnson: Part 1
The walk down riff Nick shows us in this lesson is classic Robert Johnson, but you have definitely heard other players use it as well, as his playing is a deep influence to those who came later.
13:44 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
Style of Robert Johnson: Part 2
The rhythmic style Nick shows us in this lesson is again ubiquitous to the blues, but like the last riff it is Robert Johnson who pioneered the sound.
18:29 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
Style of Robert Johnson: Part 3
This lick is often used in turnarounds or endings, and descends using more triplets. We will learn it in multiple forms.
16:10 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
The Slide Part 1
Nick starts us off with the basics of slide technique with a lick that you can play in standard tuning.
13:33 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
The Slide Part 2
Staying in standard tuning, Nick talks about some diads and triads that you can use when you're playing slide guitar.
16:18 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
The Slide Part 3
We continue with the slide, exploring open pedal notes in the open strings and getting a feel for sliding into the note.
18:47 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
Standard 12 Bar Blues
In this lesson, Nick focuses on the Blues form and it's variations. It is helpful to internalize the 12 bar blues form and it's variations to be able to jam with other musicians.
28:06 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
Summing it All Up!
Nick shares some final words of wisdom, and brings us into a jam where we can use the skills we have learned in the series.
27:45 Runtime
0.0 Difficulty
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