Jamie McLean | New Orleans Chords & Rhythms

This masterclass features guitarist Jamie McLean giving a lesson on New Orleans rhythms and chord shapes. Jamie introduces himself and his background playing with Aaron Neville and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. He is joined by Michael, who helps introduce the live stream format.

Jamie dives into common chord progressions and rhythms used in New Orleans style music. He explains that standard barre chords don't always work well in a full band context with other instruments playing. Jamie demonstrates that smaller chord shapes using the root, third, fifth and flat seventh notes allow more space in the mix.

Jamie then shows four different Bb7 chord shapes that use these smaller fingerings for variation. The shapes are played in different positions on the neck. Jamie plays through each shape to demonstrate their sounds and how they can be moved around.

Questions from viewers are addressed, such as sliding between the shapes and muting techniques. Jamie plays along to a backing track to demonstrate how the shapes can be used over a rhythm. He incorporates approaches from half steps above and below.

At the end, Jamie thanks everyone for attending and invites viewers to check out upcoming tour dates on his website. Michael provides information on how viewers can post video responses to the lesson online. This serves as an introductory masterclass on essential New Orleans guitar techniques.