Who is Jim Bruce?

Jim has been fingerpicking acoustic blues guitar for over 50 years. As a working bluesman, he has travelled and played in the US, Canada and across Europe.

The lessons present all the tips and tricks learned while playing the blues in bars, clubs, private parties and on the street. His teaching technique is close and personal, while being so accurate they have won awards.

Many of the lessons simply can’t be found elsewhere and represent an accurate copy of the guitar styles of classic blues giants like Big Bill Broonzy, Robert Johnson and Blind Blake.

Texas To The Delta – Overall Impression

At first hearing, Ragtime and blues fingerstyle guitar sounds complicated, and some of it is. The syncopation in fingerstyle blues, especially ragtime, may seem complex to the ear, but it can actually be achieved with the simple techniques that Jim teaches. To learn this style, the best approach is to dive right in and start learning some blues songs, with careful guidance.

However, this is not recommended for absolute beginners. If you have intermediate guitar skills and can comfortably play common chord shapes and rhythms, you should be able to learn acoustic ragtime blues. All you need is the desire to practice and improve.

“When I started learning ragtime blues fingerpicking, there weren’t many instructional videos available. I learned by listening and using tablature from books. The biggest challenge for me was figuring out where to place my fingers on the fretboard.”

Exactly what do you get ‘inside the box’ ?

The course provides 38 MP4 format videos that can be downloaded, each featuring a complete fingerstyle tune that is separated into phrases. The videos offer close-ups of both the left and picking hand. 

Jim provides explanations of how each tune is played and also adds useful tips. Every video comes with a separate pdf TAB that shows the chord shapes, and each TAB area is displayed on the screen in the video.

The course covers various artists such as Robert Johnson and Blind Blake, and it also teaches basic tunings, open G bottleneck, and open D. This provides sufficient range to cover various blues styles, from the bouncy ragtime feel of Blind Blake to the more traditional blues structures of Lightnin’ Hopkins and Floyd Council.

If you have a real desire to learn how to play fingerstyle blues, there is no better way than to start learning some tunes. This is great for quickly expanding your repertoire and improving your blues fingerstyle technique.

Overall, Jim’s course is one of the best value online guitar tuition available. You get 12 hours worth of videos showing you how to play all the tunes, and most importantly, you get high-quality guitar tuition for a style that is not widely available on the internet. Many other downloadable lessons are simply rehashed material priced at three times their worth.

Is there a guarantee?

Jim offers a cash back policy without any questions asked if you’re not satisfied with his guitar lessons. In my opinion, he probably doesn’t have many unhappy customers. The sales are managed through Gumroad, which makes me feel confident that my information is secure.

If you’re interested in learning fingerstyle blues guitar, Jim’s course is hard to beat, and I’m happy to recommend it. What caught my attention was the course’s high-quality, authentic feel. In the world of online guitar tutorials, you often get what you pay for, but Jim’s course is a good investment.