Richard Barrett is on a mission to make you a better blues player – with full audio examples and backing tracks

PETER GILES

Album: New Light (Big Sun Records)

Born in the titular Kent city in the late 60s, the Canterbury scene spawned some of prog’s most creative and quirky acts. From The Wilde Flowers and Soft Machine to Caravan and Gong, each had a distinctive sound and, in many cases, image that captured the hearts and minds of their followers. But the scene’s impact didn’t end in the 70s. Phil Howitt, Facelift editor and Hugh Hopper’s biographer, explores the new breed of progressive acts inspired by it, both consciously and unwittingly, and unearths the secrets of the ‘Canterbury chord’.

This month, Richard Barrett grabs his acoustic and shows you another way to expand your chord vocabulary

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