BluesGuitar101:TheLeadPlayer’sGuidetoImprovisation,FretboardMastery,andRockingSolosDanAmerson

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TableofContents

IntroductionChapterI-RefresheronNaturalandPentatonicScalesChapterII-TheCAGEDSystemChapterIII-RefresheronModesandScaleDegreesChapterIV-ExtendedChords/NotesChapterV-TheREALRootofBluesChordProgressionsBluesTrackModeTrackChapterVI-DominantBluesProgressionsChapterVII-MajorBluesProgressionChapterVIII-MinorBluesProgressionChapterIX-SoloIdeasforAllThreeTypesofChordProgressionsDominantMajorMinorTurnaroundsAppendixA:AdvancedBluesSoloingTipsCheckOutMyOtherBooks!WantaLessonWithMe!Conclusion

Introduction;WhatThisBookIsandIsn’t

Congratulations!Youhavejusttakenabigsteptowardsimprovingyourskillatguitar.

ThoughBluesisonlyonegenreoutofmany,theBluesisnotonlyfavoredbymanypeople,butitalsohasbeenafoundationforseveralothergenres.Hence,it’sausefulskilltohaveinyourmusicalrepertoire.

TheBluesisaveryinterestingsubjecttocover;therearesomestrictrules,yetothersaresoopenandvaguethatcoveringalltherulesandexceptionswouldonlyconfuseawillingstudent.

Wewillbecoveringrulesthatwillmakeyoursoloingfunandeasy,butonlyafteryou’vepracticedtheserulesforalittlewhile.

Ifyou’rereadingthisintheAmazon‘LookInside’reader,here’salittlemoreaboutwhatthebookisabout:

WhatThisBookIs

First,youneedtohaveabasicunderstandingofscales,especiallymajorandminorscalesinbothnaturalandpentatonicforms(4scalestotal).Wewillreviewsomeofthesescales,aswellasintroducenewones.

However,ifyouaren’tcomfortablewithscalesatall,mystrongrecommendationistobuyandreadmybookonthepentatonicscales.GuitarPentatonicScales:MastertheFretboardQuicklyandEasily&SoundLikeaPro,InOneHour(orLess)

Second,youshouldhaveintermediatemotorskills.Thisisaverysubjectivestatement,butIwouldconsidertheintermediate-levelastheabilitytoplayaseriesofnotes(riffs)withoutinterruption.Sure,youmayneedtopracticenewriffs,butyouareabletodoit.

Ifyoudon’thavethisskill,improvisationbecomesverydifficultbecauseyouneedtolearntwoskillsatonce;improvisation,aswellasfiguringouthowtomechanicallyplaythenotes.

Third,knowbasicchords;attheveryleastyoushouldknowthemajorandminorchords.Thedominant7thwouldbepreferable.Knowinghowtoplaychordsatanyplaceontheneckisaninvaluableskill.

Thoughwewillbeseeingspecificexample,youmaybeinterestedinlearningmore,ifso,youmaybeinterestedinreadingmybook,GuitarChordsHandbook:LearnAnyChord,ImproveFretboardVisualization,andReadFake-BooksWithEase

Fourth,knowingyourguitarmodeswillhelpyouallthemorewhenitcomestoimprovisation.Thefifthscaledegree’schordonadiatonicmajorscaleisaDominant7th,butintheBlues,theDominant7isusedoverallothermajorchords(thefirstandfourthscaledegrees).

TherewillbeenoughtheorytounderstandtheBlues,sothere’snoreasontofret.Ifbytheendofthisbookit’sstillabitconfusing,trymybookGuitarModes:LearnFretboardMastery,PlayAwesomeSolosandImproveatGuitarbyGainingtheSkillThatFewGuitaristsHave

Fifth,youneedonlytobeabletoreadguitartablatureandchordchartstobeabletoextractallthevaluefromthisbook.Mostofthevaluablematerialwillbeforright-handedplayers(usetheirlefthandonthefrets).

ChapterI-RefresheronNaturalandPentatonicScales

Soloingismucheasierwhenyouknowtheappropriatescales;scalesareasortof“cheat-sheet”forguitariststoplaytheblues,sincetherightscalescontainalltherightnotesforyoutoplay.Youaretheonethatgetstochoosewhichnotesyouwanttoplay,aswellaswhenyouwanttoplay.Thisisthebasisofimprovisation.

Whenyou’reimprovising,you’retryingtocommunicateathoughtorfeelingthroughtheguitar.Yourthoughts/feelingsarebestbroadcastedbyplayingthecorrectnotes,whichmeansthatyouneedtoknowyourscales.

ScalestoChordstoPentatonicsSinceyouknowthemajorandminorscales,we’llreviewthemquicklyandshowtheconnectionbetweenthem.

Asyoualreadyknow,themajorscalehas7distinctnotes,andfollowsacertainsetofintervals.

Here’sCmajorasanexample:ThefirstnoteofthescaleisC.That’swhyit’sbolded.Eachgapbetweeneachnoteisawholetone(2frets)apart,exceptfortheE&F,andtheB&C,whichareasemi-tone(1fret)apart.

TherelativeminortoCmajorisAminor.Youcanfindtherelativeminorbytakingthemajor’sroot(Cinthisexample),andgoingdownthreesemitone.

Bothscalesusethesameframework,excepttheybeginondifferentplaces.

Whatisneedisthatwecanusethisframeworkofthemajorscaleforotherkey.Averysimplewayofdoingthisistochangethenotesintoscaledegrees.ThisishowIprefertoteach,somostofthisbookwillfeaturescaledegrees.

Ex:C=1;D=2;E=3,etc.

Let’sfinallygivetheminorscaleitsindependencebygiveititsownscaledegreesrelativetoitsroots.

The7thand4thareremovedfromtheNaturalMajortocreatethemajorpentatonic.

The2ndand6thareremovedfromtheNaturalMinortocreatetheminorpentatonic.

Hereistheconnectionbetweenthemajorandminorpentatonic;ontheleftside,youhavethemajorscale,ontheright,theminorscale.

ChapterII-TheCAGEDSystem

Whenyoufirstpickedupaguitar,youprobablybeganbyplayingsimplechords.

Amajor,Cmajor,Gmajor,Emajor,Dmajor.

Littledidyouknowisthatyouwereplayingchordsthatwouldhelpyouconnectthescalesinyourmind.WhatdoImeanbythis?

Imeanthattheguitar’sscalesareveryconnected,andthechordshelpconnectthesescalesinyourmind.

Tobegin,let’sfindtheeveryrootonyourfretboard.Inthisexample,we’lldothisonF#major.Checktheexamplebelow.Rememberthatthe4thandthe7thareremovedtocreatethemajorpentatonic.

IMPORTANTNOTE:I’mreferringtothemajorFORMS.EverysingleoneofthechordsaboveplayF#major,butbyusingdifferentshapes(Cmajor,Dmajor,etc),youcanplaytheF#major(andanyotherchord)allovertheneck.

Wow!Chordsyou’veprobablyalreadyplayedhundredsoftimesareindicatinghowtoplaythescalesalloverthefretboard,sinceyoucanusethechordsandmakeaninformedguessonhow/wheretoplayyourscales.

Theyareinterconnected.

There’saverydistinctpatternhere(thatyoushouldpracticeandmemorize).

Whenyoulookforit,you’llalwaysknowhowtofindtherootofanychordyou’replaying.

MinorScale:

Ifyouwhattoplaytheminorscaleacrosstheneck,followtheexamplebelow:

Whenplayingscalesandchords,themostaccessiblepositionistoplayinthe‘Emajor/Eminor‘form.

Whensoloing,thesepositionsaretheeasiestwaytofindhomebase,givingyouananchorfromwhichyoucangoinanydirectionyouplease.Thereisnotonlytherelativemajorandminor(whicharenexttooneanother),butanyonepositionandrootcouldbebothmajorandminor.Note:youshouldlearntojumpfromamajortoaminorscaleandviceversa.

Unfortunately,thisisonlyapartialanalysisofthemajorandminorpentatonicscales.

Thisisbecausewecouldspendtheentiredaytalkingaboutthepentatonicscales,andthatisn’tthescopeofthisbook.Ihave,however,writtenabookthatextensivelycovers

pentatonicscales.

Ifyouwantthecomplete,unabridgedversion,checkitouthere:GuitarPentatonicScales:MastertheFretboardQuicklyandEasily&SoundLikeaPro,InOneHour(orLess)

Exercise:Practicethemajorandtheminorscaleandfindtheconnection(relativemajor/minor).

Then,cutofftherespectivenotestocreatepentatonicscales.

Last,practicethemajor/minorscalesonthesameroot(starting)note.

ChapterIII-RefresheronModesandScaleDegrees

Scaledegreesmightbeconfusing,butit’scrucialthatyouunderstandthem.

Firstly,lookatwhetherthelettersabovethechordsareupper-casedorlower-cased.Ifitisupper-cased,it’smajor.Ifitislower-cased,it’sminor.

TheIistherootofamajorkey.Theotherchordsarebasingthemselvesoffthenotesofthismajorkey.

Theyplayaroleinchordprogressions;noticethatthefirst(I),fourth(IV)andfifth(V)chordsaremajor.Thesechordsareacrucialpartof12barblues.

Themodesbasedthemselvesoffofthesechords.Modesarequiteinterestingsinceyou’replayingthesamemajorscale,butyou’restartingatdifferentpoints.

Justlikethechords,thefirst,fourth,andfifthscalesaremajor.

I-IonianIV-LydianV-Mixolydian

Justlikethechords,thesecond,third,sixthscalesareminor.

ii-Dorianiii-Phrygianvi-Aeolian

Justlikethechord,theseventhscaleisdiminished.

vii-Locrian

Here’sarepresentationofthescaledegrees,withanoteassignedtoeachone.

IfyoustartfromtheIscaledegreeandmoveuptotheIscaledegree,youhavetheIonian(naturalmajor)scale.

Ifyoustartfromtheiiscaledegreeandmoveuptotheiiscaledegree,youhavetheDorianscale.

Ifyoustartfromtheiiiscaledegreeandmoveuptotheiiiscaledegree,youhavethePhrygianscale.

IfyoustartfromtheIVscaledegreeandmoveuptotheIVscaledegree,youhavetheLydianscale.

IfyoustartfromtheVscaledegreeandmoveuptotheVscaledegree,youhavetheMixolydianscale.

Ifyoustartfromtheviscaledegreeandmoveuptotheviscaledegree,youhavetheAeolianscale(naturalminor).

Ifyoustartfromtheviiscaledegreeandmoveuptotheviiscaledegree,youhavetheLocrianscale.

Ifyouchangethekeyofthesong,you’reessentiallyshiftingthatsetofchords,makingtheIchordtherootofthekey.

MinorKeyYoucanalsostartthatsetofchordswiththeAeolian(naturalminor),whichmeansthatyoustartthesequenceatadifferentplace.Therelativeminorkeystartsonthe‘vi‘scaledegree.

Wecanrenamethescaledegreesinordertomaketherootthe‘centre‘andgiveitasenseof‘home-base‘.

Thechordsabovemeanthatifyou’reinthatspecificminorkey,thenthechordsintheexamplewillsoundquitenice.

ChapterIV-ExtendedChords/Notes

Extendedchordsaren’tterriblydifficult,butitrequiresunderstandingbasicchords(major,minor,dominant7th)beforegoinganyfurther.

Whataretheextendedchords?

Inshort,theyarechordsthataddextranotes;theygivethechorda‘jazzy’feel.

Themostcommonextendedchordsincludeeithera9th,11th,ora13thnoteinthechord.Ifyouincludethe9th,11thor13thinyourscalesorsolos,you’replayingextendednotes.

Thesenotesareverysimilartothescaledegreeswe’vealreadycovered.

Asyougoupthescale,youreachtherootnote;youcancalliteitherthe8thorthe1st.Asyoumovealong,youmoveupasthoughyou’rebuildingoffofthe8thnote.That’swhereyouget9th,11th,and13thnotes.

Let’sapplythisexampletoamajorscale;youhavethesamenotes,buttheyarenameddifferently.

Chordsusethisconceptaswell;ifachordfeaturesa‘9’initsname,thenthe9thnoteofitsrespectivescaleisheardinthechord(seebelow).

Ifachordfeaturesan‘11’initsname,thenthe11thnoteofitsrespectivescaleisheardinthechord(seebelow).

Ifachordfeaturesan‘13’initsname,thenthe13thnoteofitsrespectivescaleisheardinthechord(seebelow).

Therearethreetypesof9ths,threetypesof11ths,andthreetypesof13ths;major,minor,anddominant.Theyareidentifiedwiththe3rdand7thnotes.

Forinstance,amajor9th,11th,or13thchordneedstoincludethemajor3rdandthe

major7th.

Aminor9th,11th,or13thchordneedstoincludetheminor3rdandtheminor(flat)7th.

Adominant9th,11th,or13thchordneedstoincludethemajor3rdandtheminor(flat)7th.

ChapterV-TheREALRootofBluesChordProgressions

Thisiswherethebluesgetsveryinteresting;thoughthereisachordprogression,itisabitmorecomplicatedthanthat.

Atypical12barblueschordprogressionlookssomethinglikeso:

ThoughE7isthetonicchord,dowebaseeverythingontheE7chord?DoweautomaticallyconsiderittheIonianposition?

WecouldindeedbaseeverythingontheIchord,butitwouldlimitustremendously.

Hereismybestanswerwhenitcomestosoloingovertheblues.

ThereAreTwo“Tracks”ForSoloing1)ThefirsttrackrevolvesaroundtheTonic(firstscaledegree)anditdoesn’tchange,despitethenumerouschordsthatareplayed.

2)Thesecondtrackrevolvesaroundthechordthatisplayed,andchangeswhenthechordschange.

Let’sfocusoneachindividualtrack,andtricksformemorizingallofthem.

Track1-TheBluesTrackThistrackiswhatyouwouldtypicallyequatetotheBlues;pentatonicandbluesscalesallaroundthefretboard.

Thistrackisprettysimpleafterenoughpractice,butyouneedtobeabletoviewthesescalesondifferentpositionsoftheneck.

Onthistrack,yourrootisthetonicchord’sroot;inthisexample(E7);therootisE.

EvenifthechordschangetoA7orB7,youwillbeplayingaroundtherootofE.

HereisTrack1;itshowstherootofeachchordthatisplayedontheEstring.

Onthetonic’sroot,youalsohavetherootoftheminorblues,theminorpentatonic.

Ontheflat3rdscaledegree,youhavethemajorpentatonic.Thismakessense,sinceitisthetonic(minor)‘srelativemajor.

Sincethey’resocohesive,wecancombinetheminorbluesscaleandtheminorpentatonicscaleintoonescale,whichwe’llsimplycalltheminorbluesscale.

Lookhowsimilartheyare;theonlydifferencebetweenthetwoscalesisthe‘Blues’note;a#4.

Sinceyouwouldwanttobeabletoplaythesescalesallovertheneck,hereisaneasychartthatwillhelpyou:

Let’slookattheMinorBluesScale,allovertheneck.

Let’sseparatethatintoitsindividualpositions.

Doyoualsoseethemajorpentatonicshapewithinthosenotes?

Beginonthe♭iiinote,andworkupthescale.♭3,4,5,♭7,1,♭3Thatisthemajorpentatonicinessence.

Ifyouincludethe#4,you’vegotthemajorbluespentatonic.

♭3,4,#4,5,♭7,1,♭3OR1,2,#2,3,5,6,1

Don’tworrytoomuchaboutthescaledegreesjustyet;simplyplaythenotesandpracticetheshapes.

Thistrackisveryeasy-goingsinceitwillneverclashwithanyofthemajorchordsinyourprogression.

Thefollowingtrackisabitdifferent;thetrackisaunifiedsetofscales,butitchangesdependingonthechordthatisplayed.

Track2-TheModeTrackThistrackiscalledthe‘Modetrack’becauseitcontains4positionsthateachrepresentonemode.

Thisisalsothetrackthatchangeswitheachchord.

Why?Playedoverthetonicchord,thistrackplaysoverthemajor3rdscaledegree(the3,notthe♭3).Allwellandgood,butwhatifyouchangetoaIV7chord?Ifyoukeptplayingthe‘ModeTrack’intheI7key,thenotesandthechordswouldbegintoclash.

Sowhatisonetodo?Simplychangethe‘Modetrack’tofitovereachchord.

Hereisthetrack:

MixolydianScale

Asstatedbefore,theroot(I)ofthistrackwillalwaysbealignedwiththerootofthechordthatyouareplaying.

TheDominant7tharpeggioplaysasetofnotes,whereastheotherthreescalesplayadifferentsetofnotes;withthelatterthreescales,the9thnoteisaccentuated.

Thebestpartaboutthis‘ModeTrack’isthatyoudon’tneedtoknoweachofthesescalesallovertheneckatalltimes.ItwouldbenicetoknowtheDominant7allover,sinceittellsyouwheretoplaytheotherthreestrings.Youonlyneedtoknowtheother3scalesintheirrespectivestring.Statedotherwise,eachscaleoccupiesonepositionontheneck.

Let’sstartlearning.

Dominant7th

Here,youhaveallthenotesyouneedtoplayeveryoneofthescalesoftheModeTracks.

Butlet’slookateachscalesothatyoucanunderstandwhattheyare.

Minor7(♭5)

Theminor7(♭5)scaleisasfollows:1,♭3,♭5,♭7,1It’smuchlikeaminorarpeggio,butthe5isflattened.

Thisscale’srootisontheDominant’s3rdnote.Italsoaccentuatesthe9thnoteoftheDominantscale,butglossesovertheDominant’sroot.

Hereisthescaleonthefretboard,withtheDominant7’srootasareference:

Minor6

Theminor6scaleisasfollows:

1,♭3,5,6,1

It’smuchlikeaminorarpeggio,butitcontainsamajor6,whichinaccentuatedinsteadofthe♭7.Thisscale’srootisontheDominant’s5thnote.Italsoaccentuatesthe9thnoteoftheDominantscale,butglossesovertheDominant’sroot.

Hereisthescaleonthefretboard,withtheDominant7’srootasareference:

LydianArpeggio

TheLydianArpeggio/Scaleisasfollows:

1,3,♭5,6,1It’ssimilartoamajorpentatonic,exceptthereisa♭5.Thisscale’srootisontheDominant’s7thnote.Italsoaccentuatesthe9thnoteoftheDominantscale,butglossesovertheDominant’sroot.

Hereisthescaleonthefretboard,withtheDominant7’srootasareference(thoughLydiantechnicallyusesa#4,weshallusea‘flat5‘inkeepingwiththeotherscalesintheModeTrack):

The‘ModeTrack’PutTogether

Let’sreviewthistrackbyreferringtotheinitialimage:

MixolydianScale

Ifyouwanttogetontothemodetracks,beginwiththeDominant7arpeggio,thenfindtheiii,theV,andthe♭vii.ThemostimportantthingtoknowisthatthelatterthreescalesskiptheDominant7throot,buttouchthe9th.

Besidespractice,youhavehereallthatyouneedtomasterthistrack.

ChapterVI-DominantBluesProgressions

Here’satypicalchordprogressionforthedominantandmajorchordprogression.

Thesehavebeencolor-codedbasedonwhatyouareabletoplay.Theyarecontextdriven.

Thatsaid,wewillhavetogooverwhatyou’reabletoplayovereachchord.

WhatToPlayOvertheI7ChordSinceyou’reat“home-base”,youhaveplentyoflibertieswhenitcomestosoloing.

Forone,you’reallowedtoplaythemajor3rd“flair”whichistestamenttobluessoloing.

Thisisgoodnewsforyoubecauseabouthalfofthe12barbluesrevolvearoundthischord.

Hereisalistofscalesyoucanplay.

BluesTrack:

·I-minorbluesscale

·♭iii-majorpentatonicscaleModeTrack:

·I-Dominant7scale(Mixolydian)

·iii-minor7(♭5)arpeggio(Locrian)·V-minor6arpeggio(Dorian)

·♭vii-Lydianarpeggio(Lydian)

WhatToPlayOvertheIV7ChordAftermovingawayfromhome-base,youhavefewerfreedoms.Youcan’tplaythatmajor3rd“flair”anymore,butyouhavesomeopportunitiestogiveyoursolosomestyle.

Forone,youhavetheopportunitytohighlighttheroot’s9th,11th,and13th.Especiallythe13th;it’stheIV7th3rdnote,soitgivesitmoreflavor.Thescalesyoupickwillallowyoutodothat.

Hereisalistofscalesyoucanplay:

BluesTrack:

·I-minorbluesscale

·♭iii-majorpentatonicscaleModeTrack:

·IV-Dominant7tharpeggio(Mixolydian)

·vi-Minor7(♭5)arpeggio(Locrian)·I-minor6arpeggio(Dorian)

·♭iii-Lydianarpeggio(Lydian)IfyouleavetheIV7chordtogobacktotheI7chord,you’reallowedtousethemajor3rd“flair”attheveryendofthischord.

WhatToPlayOvertheV7ChordYou’renowneartheendofthe12barblues.Forthose1-2measuresyouhaveneartheend,heedthisadvice.

Accentuatethe7thand9thoftheroot(I),sinceitaccentuatestheV7verynicely.Otherwise,usethesescales.

BluesTrack:

·I-minorbluesscale

·♭iii-majorpentatonicscaleModeTrack:

·V-Dominant7tharpeggio(Mixolydian)

·vii-Minor7(♭5)arpeggio(Locrian)·ii-minor6arpeggio(Dorian)

·IV-Lydianarpeggio(Lydian)

TurnaroundsForthefinaltwomeasuresofthe12barblues,you’regiventheopportunitytoendthe12barswithabitofflair.Italsoservestointroduceanewsection,whichisanother12barsstartingontheI7chord.

TurnaroundsusetheI7andV7chords;wewillcoverthisingreaterdetaillateron.

WewilllookatspecificriffsandlicksthatyoucanplayintheDominantBluesProgression.

Theothertwoprogressions(Major,Dominant)willusethe‘BluesTrack’andthe‘ModeTrack’,buttherewillbevariations.

Here’swhy:TheDominantBluesScaleProgressionusesDominant7thchords,sothemodetracksaretailoredtobeplayedovereachDominant7thchord.

Sinceneitherthemajornortheminorbluesprogressionneedsadominant7th,theModeTrackappearslessfrequently.

ChapterVII-MajorBluesProgressionThemajorbluesprogressionsarerathersimilartotheDominantBluesProgressioninregardstoitsstructure.

IfaDominantProgressionusestheI7,IV7,V7(C7,F7,andG7)chords,thenamajorbluesprogressionmightusetheI,IV,V(C,F,andG)majorchords.However,itcanusebothmajoranddominant7thchords.

Thischangeshowweapproachourbluessolos.Forone,therootofanysongwiththisprogressionrevolvesaroundthemajorpentatonic/bluesscale(asopposedtotheminorwe’vebeensoacquaintedto).Youcanplaytheminorpentatonic/bluesscalesjustbehindthemajoronthefretboard;remember,they’reconnected.

Asforthe‘ModeTrack’,itiscompletelypossiblethatitmightnotmakeanappearance.Thatis,ifyouhavenoDominant7thchordinyoursong,youhavenowayofintroducingtheModeTrack.Tryplayingthe‘ModeTrack’ontopofaMajorchord,andyou’llhearhowitisn’tverypleasant.

Often,inthecasesinwhichyouhaveaDominant7thchord,it’sonlyforabriefmoment,soyouhaveasmallwindowoftimetoplayonthe‘ModeTrack’beforeyoujumpbacktothe‘BluesTrack’.

Ifthat’stoodifficult,playaDominant7tharpeggioforaquickmoment,orsimplysticktothe‘BluesTrack’

WhatToPlayOvertheI-IV-VChords

Whetheryou’reat“homebase”orinadifferentchord,thereisn’ttoomuchvarietyordifferencefromwhatyoucanplay.However,thatdon’tmeanthatyoucan’tcreateamazingriffsorchords,soherearethescalesthatyoucanplay:

BluesTrack:

·vi-minorbluesscale

·I-majorbluesscale

·I-major7tharpeggio(asfollows:1,3,5,7,1;the7thisonesemitoneawayfromtheroot).

·IV-major7tharpeggio

ModeTracks:

·UseonlywhenaDominant7thchordispresent,whichcouldbeanyalmostchord(I7,II7,III7IV7,V7,etc.)

WewilllookatspecificriffsandlicksthatyoucanplayintheMajorBluesProgression.

ChapterVIII-MinorBluesProgressionTheMinorBluesProgressiondiffergreatlyfromtheothertwochordprogressions.

Firstly,therootispositioneddifferently;wheretheMajor/DominantProgressionarebasedonamajorscale,theMinorProgressionisbasedontheminorscale.So,theintervalsaredifferent.

Here’sanexampleoftheminorscalevsthemajorscale;therootsarehighlightedandputinbold:

TheminorscaledegreescanberepresentedasmajororDominantscales.

Hereisanexampleofaminorchordprogression,fromBobMarley’s“IShottheSheriff”;noticethatthevchordhasbeenturnedintoaDominant7th.

WhattoPlayOverAllChords

BluesTrack:

·i-MinorBluesScale

·i-Aeolian(Natural)MinorScale

·iv-DorianMinorScale

·♭III-MajorBluesScale

ModesTrack:

·UseonlywhenaDominant7thchordispresent,whichcouldbeanyalmostchord(I7,II7,III7VI7,V7,etc.)

ChapterIX-SoloIdeasforAllThreeTypesofChordProgressions

Inthissection,wewilllookatindividualsolosthatapplyindifferentcontexts.Keepaneyeonthechordprogressions(notatedaboveeachmeasure),asyoucangetasenseofthenotescontrastingwiththechordprogression.

Someofthesolosbelongtoasong,whichwillbeincludedinthetitle.

Thesesolosarefilledwithgreatindividualriffsthatyoucanstealandapplytoanykey.

Noticethatalotofthesesolosarefullofnotes;thisistosavespaceinthisbook.However,it’sactuallyadvisabletogiveyourriffsandsolossomeairtobreathe.Therewillbeasectiononthislater.

3DominantProgressionSolosThesesoloswillincludethefirst10barsof12.Laterinthisbook,therewillbeabrieflistof‘turnarounds’,whichcoversthefinal2bars.

Solo1

Solo2

Solo3-ComeWhenICall(JohnMayer)

3MajorBluesSolos

Solo1-BringItOnHometoMe(inCmajor)

Solo2-Don’tStopBelievingSolo(inEmajor)

Solo3-WhenaManLovesaWoman(inC#major)

3MinorBluesSolos

Solo1-HittheRoadJack(G#Minor)

Solo2-AnotherBrickintheWall(Dminor)

Solo3-IShottheSheriff(Gminor)

Turnarounds

Asmentionedbefore,turnaroundsgiveyoutheopportunitytoendyoursetof‘12bars’withsomeflair.Thissectionlooksatthefinaltwomeasures.MostofthetwomeasuresfocusesandplaysaroundtheIchord,thenrevertstotheVchordtobuildsometension.

Herearesomeexamplesthatyoucouldplayinalmostanykey:

AppendixA-AdvancedBluesSoloingTips

Thissectiondealsnotsomuchwithnewmaterial,butspecifictechniquestointegratethenewinformationthatyouhavelearned.Itinterpolatesandcreatesnewconnections.

·Usingthe‘ModeTrack’,youcanfigureoutwhichmodeyoucanplayinfourlocations.TheDominantshapeusestheMixolydianmode,theMin7(♭5)usestheLocrianmode,etc.Ifyouwanttospiceupyourplaying,playamodeinsteadofapentatonic/arpeggio.

·Findwaystointegratethe‘BluesTrack’andthe‘ModeTrack’inanywaythatyoucan.It’sprettysimple;findawaytointegratethe9th.Fromthe9th,gouptothe3rd,ordowntotheflat7,andyou’reonthe‘ModeTrack’.

·Anotherwaytointegratethetwotracks;youcanplayachromaticnotebetweenthe9thandthe3rd(9,♭3,3).The♭3and3areblues-related,soitseguesquiteeasily.

·Whensoloing,takeamomenttopauseandcollectyourself.Likeaconversation,playingguitarisan“in-out”sortofthing;youtakeafewmomentstosayyourpiece,andthenpauseamomenttobreathein.

·Listentoasmanydifferentbluesguitaristsasyoucan.Stealtheirriffs;figureoutwhatthey’redoing,andaddittoyourrepertoire.

·Anotherwaytomemorizethefretboardistolearnthesameriffsondifferentplacesontheneck.Thisway,youunderstandthenotes(scaledegrees)andNOTthepattern.Thisalsogivesyoumore“bangforyourbuck”,asyou’readdingtoyourbluesvocabularytwiceasfast,orfaster!

·Whenbending,you’renotonlyabletobendwholetonestootherstrings,butyoucanalsobendupasemi-tonewithina‘Big‘pentatonicnotegroup;thisworkseitherinthemajororminorscale.Thisallowsyoutobend(intheminorscale)fromthe2ndtothe♭3andthe6thtothe♭7and(inthemajorscale)fromthe#4thtothe5thandthe7thtotheroot.Practicebendingeverywhere,ineverypartofthescale.

CheckOutMyOtherBooks!

GuitarPentatonicScales:MastertheFretboardQuicklyandEasily&SoundLikeaPro,InOneHour(orLess)-LearntheMajorandMinorPentatonicScalesbylearningtheNaturalMajorandMinorscalesinsideandout!Thereare5simplepatternsthatallowyoutoconnecttheentirefretboardtogether.You’llalsolearnhowthesefourscalesareintimatelyconnected,allowingyoutojumpfromonetotheotherwithcompleteease.

GuitarModes:LearnFretboardMastery,PlayAwesomeSolosandImproveatGuitarbyGainingtheSkillThatFewGuitaristsHave-Learnthemodes,theirroleinmusicandsolo,andhowtosystematicallylearneachmodequicklyandeasily.Finallylearnthiselusiveskillandbecomeagreatguitaristwiththisknowledge.

HowtoWriteaSong:19RulesandMistakesinSongwritingforRadio-Inthisbook,you’llreceive19pointerswhenitcomestowritingsongsforradio.Somearesimple,suchashowtoendasong,othersaremorecomplicatedandneed

somemusictheorytofullyteach.Thoughsimplepracticeofthesteps,youwillbewritingsongsthatwillimpressevenyourself!

GuitarChordsHandbook:LearnAnyChord,ImproveFretboardVisualization,andReadFake-BooksWithEaseLet’sanalyseguitarchordsinaneasy-to-learnway,allowingyoutolearnanychordyouwant.

BasicMusicTheory-EverythingYouNeedtoKnowaboutReadingMusicandComposingMusicIfyou’reabuddingmusician,learningtoreadandwritemusicisaninvaluableskillthatwillhelpyouconnectwithliterallymillionsofothersbybeingabletoreadtheirworksandwritingworksthatotherscanread.

WantaLessonWithMe?Ifyou’reabuddingguitaristandwantsomeone-on-onetimewithaskilledguitarist,looknofurther!I’mofferingonlineSkypelessonstointermediateguitarists.

Tome,intermediateguitaristsarethosewhohavedevelopedsomemotorskills,includingscalesandchords,buthavesomeissueswithmorecomplexissuessuchasfretboardvisualisationandmorepreciseplaying.

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Conclusion

Younowhavetheinformationtoplayrockingbluessolos!Pleasereadthisbookoncemoretoassimilatetheinformation.Also,makesurethatyoupullouttheguitartopracticetheseindividualsections.

It’simportantthatyoupracticeeachsectionofthisbook-thepentatonicscales,thebluesscales,modes,extendedchords,thetwosolotracks,thechordprogressions(major,minor,dominant)andturnarounds-tobeabletocallupontheinformationwheneveryouneedit.

Igenuinelyhopethatyou’velearnedvaluabletipsofbluesguitar.Ifyouhave,thenI’dlovetohearaboutitonmyreviewpage.Amazonreviewstrulyhelpmegetthisinformationtomanymoreguitarists,helpingthemreachtheirgoals.

Thanks,

DanAmerson