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Slide guitar lick: 3m53s

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Although a lot of slide players use open tunings to make it more convenient to hit chord notes, standard-tuning slide is a useful skill with its own set of advantages (just ask Jeff Beck!). Start off by working around compact chord shapes, as Buddy Whittington does here…

VI-II-V-I jazz-blues progression: 5m07s

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If you want to stretch your blues playing in new directions, try looking into the fertile ground between blues and jazz. The VI-II-V-I progression follows the cycle of fifths and, although it's a simple concept, it can sound very sophisticated.

Simple blues turnaround: 5m36s

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Another way of expanding your blues playing is to learn some new turnarounds. The turnaround is the series of chords that signals the end of the chord progression (and usually the start of a new verse). They're often interchangeable so you can easily spice up a familiar old song.

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