[Intermediate] 12 Bars Together

12 Bars Together — Intermediate 🎸

Come to one session, a few, or all six—whatever fits your schedule! Please RSVP separately for each date you plan to attend. No six-week commitment is required.

You know your chords, you’ve learned some scales—but when it’s time to jam, the same familiar licks keep coming out.

Maybe you can follow a blues backing track, but your solos feel like scale exercises. Or you’re comfortable playing lead, yet unsure how to keep the rhythm interesting when someone else takes a turn.

This six-week series with Calgary Guitar Club is for guitarists ready to bring more expression, variety, and confidence to their blues playing. We’ll use the 12-bar blues as our shared foundation, exploring how rhythm, phrasing, and listening turn familiar patterns into music.

Over six weeks, you’ll:
🎸 Connect minor pentatonic and blues-scale patterns across the neck
🎵 Explore movable seventh chords, blues rhythm patterns, and turnarounds
🪕 Build a stronger shuffle groove and practise supporting a soloist
🎶 Give your solos shape through repetition, space, and call-and-response
💪 Refine bends, slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and vibrato
👂 Learn to hear chord changes and choose notes that fit
🤝 Trade phrases, take turns playing rhythm and lead, and jam with others

Expect focused guidance, practical feedback, and plenty of chances to put ideas to work. We’ll aim for phrases that say something, rhythms that feel good, and the confidence to listen and respond in the moment.
By the end of the series, you’ll have a broader blues toolkit, a clearer map of the neck, and more freedom to make the music your own.

📅 Dates: Saturdays – November 7, 14, 21, 28, December 5 & 12
🕔 Time: 7:00 – 7:55 PM
🏠 Location: Highland Park Community Centre (3716 2 St NW, Calgary, AB T2K 0Y4)
💵 Fee: $20 per session, or $100 for all six sessions (save $20!). To book the full series, send an e-transfer to [hello@vitaconsult.ca](mailto:hello@vitaconsult.ca).
✅ What to bring: your guitar, small amp (optional), tuner (optional), music stand (optional)
👨‍🏫 Instructor: Kent McAlister
Kent brings more than 25 years of teaching experience, formal guitar studies at Vancouver Community College and Vancouver Island University, and a distinguished career as a performer and songwriter. He has released three albums, toured Canada, headlined festivals, and shared stages with Rosanne Cash, The Tennessee Three, and Corb Lund. His practical, personalized teaching helps students build fundamentals through songs they enjoy.