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Guitar News Weekly Edition #231 |
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February 10, 2003 |
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BLUES LESSON 4 BLUES SOLOING Domenick Ginex is a guitarist living in Tampa, Florida. He has played in several groups in the Tampa Bay area for over 25 years. His website, located at http://GuitarLessonsPro.com, offers guitar instructional material for beginner to intermediate level guitarists.
We will begin by considering the pentatonic scale as shown in the figure below. 
The figure above shows the pentatonic scale in one area of the fretboard. This scale should be learned all along the fretboard and for all possible keys. For more information on learning to play this scale in all areas of the fretboard, click here to check out the Guitar Lessons Pro Intermediate eBook. The general idea is to play sequences and patterns of notes in the scale against the chords of the blues progression. This scale can generally be used against every chord in the basic 1-4-5 chord progression. In the tablature below are some examples of using the pentatonic scale over chords of the basic 1-4-5 chord progression. Example notes played over a G7 chord E--6-3-------------- B------6-3---------- G----------5-3------ D--------------3-5-- A------------------- E------------------- Example notes played over a C7 chord E------------------- B--------------3---- G------------3---5-- D--------3-5-------- A--3---5------------ E----6-------------- Example notes played over a D7 chord E----------3---------- B--------3---6-3------ G------3---------5-3-- D--3-5---------------- A--------------------- E--------------------- Keep in mind...a key word is "improvise". Play what you want to play. Use the scale as a general guideline. The example notes above are not cast in stone, I just made them up. Make up your own and try them out. Another scale related to the pentatonic is the blues scale. It is basically the pentatonic with one additional note, in this case a C# note. The G blues scale is shown below. 
Let's slightly modify the previous examples to use the blues scale. Example notes played over a G7 chord E--6-3---------------- B------6-3------------ G----------6-5-3------ D----------------3-5-- A--------------------- E--------------------- Example notes played over a C7 chord E------------------- B--------------3---- G------------3---5-- D--------3-5-------- A--3-4-5------------ E------------------- Example notes played over a D7 chord E----------3------------ B--------3---6-3-------- G------3---------6-5-3-- D--3-5------------------ A----------------------- E----------------------- As mentioned previously with the pentatonic scale, you need to learn the blues scale all along the fretboard for all possible keys. Before we finish let's look at some common licks or riffs that are used with blues soloing. Below are some examples to be played over the G7 chord but they can be transposed for any dominant 7th chord. They basically line up with the pentatonic / blues scales but may have an additional note thrown in here and there. For more examples of common licks and riffs click here to check out the Guitar Lessons Pro Licks and Tricks eBook. G7 E----3-------------- B--3---6-3---------- G----------6p5p3---- D----------------5-- A------------------- E------------------- G7 E------------3-- B--------3-5---- G----3h4-------- D--5------------ A--------------- E--------------- G7 E--3-3---------- B--3-3-5-3-3---- G------5-3h4---- D------------5-- A--------------- E--------------- You can use these licks and others throughout your solos, using them to tie in with other soloing ideas while using scales. The new notes in these licks were mainly the 6th note (E in this case) and the major 3rd (B in this case). These notes will be covered in the next lesson. That's all for this lesson. You should practice playing blues in any and all keys, using the pentatonic and blues scales all along the fretboard. Also try using the licks shown above. In the next lesson we are going to look at using modes for soloing with the blues. |
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