A good example is given in the lesson Before You Accuse Me where Justin shows both options.
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I have a question about the Blues shuffle - It is actually in grade 2 and was wondering if someone can help. I want to record it as a backing track on my own so that I can practice improvising over it. Where it says 6x at the end does that mean that that same bar is played six times before moving back to the top? Thanks for the help.
Oh I see. I thought it was just the bottom part that was repeated but I see now that you would move back up to the top and the whole thing is repeated 6 times. Thank you very much for the help!
Tbh. Iâm struggling with exactly that as well. The riffs are mostly super easy for me and Iâve figured them out halfway through the lesson. Then Justin plays a super cool variation at the end which would make playing this so much more fun, but he never explains it and itâs just way too much time and trouble trying to decipher his fingers on the fretboard or tell by listening as @stitch has suggested⌠(ofc. it would be a helpful exercise but most of the time I just wanna be able to play this cooler version right away!)
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@Lupo1312 playing cool riffs is always fun but learning them on your own will teach you a lot more just that riff. You also have the advantage off slowing or even stopping the video and writing the note or tabs out. Once you have figured that out see hiw many ways you can turn those notes into other cool riffs.
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Check out Justinâs lesson called Vari-Shuffle Climb (itâs linked earlier in this thread). A few of these ingredients are explained there.
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I was slightly surprised to see Justin using 1st and 3rd fingers for this. i instinctively went for 2nd and 4th.
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I think you definitely want to use fingers 1 and 3, so you have the pinky available for additional embellishments. (In one variation, e.g., youâll reach up to the 5th fret with your pinky).
Also, most people find fingers 1 and 3 much easier to use than fingers 2 and 4.
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This is not a query about how to play it but the theory behind it.
The notes you play are
EB - EC#
AE - AF#
DA - DB
They happen to be the root 5th and 6th degrees of the major scale and also happen to be the last two degrees of the pentatonic scale. Therefore the first two notes are a power chord 1 5 and the last two are 1 6, not sure that is a specific chord.
So is there a theoretical reason for these notes played together or is it just that they sound good?
Michael 
@MAT1953 The sound good. The theory is entirely secondary. Your analysis of the scale degrees is correct. The 5th goes to the 6th. But donât worry about calling these fragments chord names. The first can be called a power chord or a 5 chord but that naming isnât really needed.
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Richard @Richard_close2u
I had sort of come to that conclusion, if it sounds good it is good.
Michael
I took Justinâs recommendation and bought Guitar Pro 8. I love that you can make backing tracks with a visual of the 12-bar blues patternâŚreally helps to keep time! https://youtu.be/wVJHc9Rei38
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Whereâs the Spotify playlist with all the good blues stuff?
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Like the saying goes, a little knowledge is dangerous.
On the Blues Shuffle Tab, Jusing says itâs in the key of A. Why is there no key signature or time signature on the staff? Just trying to understand a bit better.
Thanks
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I think you have to look at it this way:
Time signature: we assume itâs in 4/4 when thereâs no explicit time signature indicated. Usually, on the top of a tab it would say âplay with shuffle rhythmâ or something like that. Here it doesnât, but we know that because itâs the point of this lesson.
Key signature:
(1) There is a key signature written, it just doesnât contain any sharp or flats. That means itâs written in the key of A minor, which has the notes A - B - C - D - E - F - G.
(2) This is an accidental. It means that we sharpen the note F thatâs found in the A minor scale. So we play an F#, which makes the underlying harmony A major/dominant.
(3) - Likewise, we have an accidental that indicates that we need to play a C# instead of the C thatâs found in the A minor scale. The underlying harmony is E major/dominant.
Iâm not sure why itâs written in A minor. If the key signature had three sharps, weâd be in A major (A B C# D E F# G#) and we wouldnât need any accidentals.
@Richard_close2u - Theory expertise needed here! 
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@sticktothemuse and @Jeff
There really should be 3 # symbols to indicate the key of A. If that was done, the individual # symbols (those that Jeff has drawn red arrows towards) would no longer be required.
Other symbols and indicators it could have include:
- a symbol for 4/4 time signature
- a symbol for shuffle feel (triplet 8ths)
- a tempo indicator (redundant if tempo is not fixed but user-dependent)
- chord names above each bar
Those edits would make it look like this:
I have raised this with the team and it will hopefully be placed on the (long) to-do list.
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It should be noted that none of that extra notation is necessary for learning the shuffle rhythm. (well, maybe the triplet feel notation).
Btw, I noticed that Jason generally doesnât put a time or key signature on the tab pdfs for his various blues studies.
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Jeff @Jeff
I am glad this was raised as I did wonder what it meant, but that should be no surprise as my only knowledge of the standard notation is what the notes on the lines and spaces are.
But interestingly I recently decide that I needed to know more about standard notation and had decided to get Justinâs book.
Michael 
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