Here you will find an introduction into the soul of music, the blues. There is a lot of information out there on this popular style of guitar.
Playing the blues on guitar begins with the sound of the blues. Here is an example of what makes blues scales different than other scales on the fretboard at http://www.learncountryguitartoday.com/2011/04/blues-scales-and-how-they-are-different/.
Blues music refers to a musical form that traces its roots back to late 19th century African-American communities in the southern United States. From its humble beginnings in work songs, shouts, field chants, and easy storytelling ballads, the blues form has been incorporated into several musical forms, like jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll.
The blues form has that distinct sound and flavor since it really is really an attempt to play, or mimic, African musical styles on Western music instruments. Also, if we are to take a look at the blues form from the standard classical music perspective, blues could be performing everything wrong. Blues puts dominant major 7th chords across minor pentatonic scales, has its own brand of chord progressions, intros and turnarounds, and has a 5-tone scale instead of the usual 7 tone scales.
A pentatonic scale will be the simplest and most effective way (typically) to explain how the blues scale works, but this need to not be construed as meaning this music only has five notes. In reality, the blues form adds extra notes, even ones that don’t belong to any specific scale.
The basic blues sound could be constructed on a minor pentatonic scale, and then adding a “blue note”, generally a diminished fifth. Other blue notes utilized are the diminished seventh and diminished third.
Blue notes are considered as option musical inflections. They are also utilised to evoke certain emotions or feelings, and therefore are played at a lower pitch than the conventional major scale.
On the guitar, a guitarist who wants to alter keys only has to move up one fret, but the fingering pattern doesn’t alter. Moving up or moving down one fret is also moving up or down a seminote, so it really is really easier to perform blues on guitar, as far as the key changing goes.
As you go together with learning the blues form, one main thing you’ll need to practice and develop on your own is your set of blues licks. This can be a couple of notes or chord progressions fit together as a group to express a mood or feeling. It would enable you to a lot to come up along with your own blues licks, preferably licks that you simply become really comfy and great at. Then you can keep developing on your music with these licks as your base or beginning point. Blues licks can also be incorporated into other musical genres, so make them work!Here is an illustration of the blues scale at http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/soloing/utilizing_and_understanding_the_blues_scale.html .
Okay! Blues Scale! Like the name suggests. The blues scale is useful In Blues rock of course! But it is another versatile widely used scale, Just like the Pentatonic minor from my previous lesson. In fact the Blues scale Is basically the same thing as a pentatonic minor + 1 note. You add a flatted Fifth to the Pentatonic Minor scale. Heres a diagram explaining how to get from a Minor scale.. to a pentatonic minor scale. To the blues scale.
Minor Scale In Am
Pentatonic Minor scale In Am
Since you only Use the Root(1), Minor Third(3), Fourth(4), Fifth(5), And Minor 7th notes(7).
To get a blues scale from this formula.. You just add a Flatted Fifth note(5b) to the formula above.
So
1 3 4 5b 5 7
The flatted 5th note in this case would be E flat since it is between the 4th note( Which is a D) and the 5th note( which is an E) So technically you can call it a D sharp as well. These two notes are En-harmonics which mean they are the same note Just with two different names.
Anyways..
Those notes make up the A blues scale. Which can be played in the Key of A minor/C major. I suggest finding a BLUES backing track on YouTube in the key of A minor.. And practice playing this scale and messing around with it over the backing music. After all that is why you are here right? to learn how to Solo and improvise.
Anyways.
Here is a tab for the Aforementioned scale. Ascending and Descending.. As you can tell.. it is very similar to the A minor pentatonic scale.
Once again this is only One Position of the scale.. In my next lesson on Blues scales i will include another Position and get you started playing it. To get the most out of these lessons you must experiment on your own and get a feel for these scales. Like I said earlier.. Just improvise along to backing tracks on YouTube. Its fun and very good practice to help you find your own "Sound" or playing style!
Anyways.. here is lick. This is one with a good utilization of the blues note. I throw in a chromatic passage to get that bluesy effect.
Alright I'm not going to go over exactly how to play it.. By now you should have developed a technique.. but if you can't play it or are confused about it.. I Will have a sound up on my profile as soon as possible Of me playing it. This is the most technically challenging lick i have so far because of the quick chromatic passages and utilization of precise vibrato and bending and all of the hammer ons and pull offs i use.So now that we have identified the primary blues scales, it's time to start putting some rhythm, feel and soul into it. Here is a good place to start with this idea at http://www.guitarnoise.com/lesson/rhythm-in-the-blues/.
If you are learning to play improvised blues solos on the guitar then you will very likely have read, or been told, that you should learn blues (or minor pentatonic) scale patterns and then “use these to jam along to a 12-bar blues rhythm track.”
Easier said than done though isn’t it? Don’t worry! There are many guitar players who fall into a rather frustrating gap between learning their scale patterns and finding themselves spontaneously able to play great-sounding blues solos!
Guitar teachers often find that they have to devote a considerable amount of lesson time to helping their students bridge this gap. I think there are actually several elements that need to be in place before this gap is successfully spanned and, although the mix of these elements will vary from student to student, I would list the following as being typical:
- Confidence to enter wholeheartedly into the ‘trial and error’ process that improvising necessarily entails.
- Development of good left/right hand coordination
- Mastery of basic technique (bends, slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, vibrato etc…)
- A ’library’ of well-rehearsed licks (both original and er…borrowed!)
- An understanding of typical blues phrasing patterns (‘call and response’ or ‘question and answer’ for example)
- A good ear for tension and resolution as used in blues
- An intuitive sense of blues phrasing and timing
The first item on my list, confidence,– will of course vary from one individual to another at the outset, but proactively focusing on the other items on the list will itself result in an increase in your level of confidence.
Good coordination, technique and a stock of licks comes from lots of practice, but the last three items on the list are probably best improved by simply listening to as much great blues guitar playing as you can.
Many years ago, I wrote a six-verse long Texas style blues instrumental specifically to help students bridge the gap between scales and solos.
This tune is designed to help you use the scale notes in simple phrases that resolve to the chords used in the twelve-bar sequence and to establish a feel for how the lead lines fit in with the chords (the ‘call and response’ pattern mentioned earlier).
The first verse, shown in detail in the video lessons below, starts by establishing a rhythmic pattern typical of the style most associated with Stevie Ray Vaughan and if you want to progress onto learning some of his tunes, this is a great primer!
These lessons are designed for beginners or near beginners, but I am sure that more experienced player will enjoy them too – they’ll just whiz through them quicker!
The trickiest part is the timing, shown here in standard notation:
Notice the one beat rest at the start. This is best dealt with by counting yourself in: 1 2 3 4 1 … and then playing the notes on beats: 2 & 3 & 4 & 1. In the ‘call and response’ pattern these notes are the ‘call’ and the response comes from the chords played on beats 2(&) 3& (4)& of the second bar.
This rhythmic pattern is repeated throughout the verse.
If that explanation leaves you wondering if this is a bit more complex than it claims – please check out the video lesson – hearing it will make a lot more sense than my attempts to convey the idea in text!One of the most popular blues guitarists of all time is Stevie Ray Vaughan. In case you're interested in more information on him I found this at http://www.guitarworld.com/stevie-ray-vaughan-biography.
Stevie Ray Vaughan was born in Dallas, Texas, on Oct. 3, 1954.
He began playing his older brother Jimmie’s guitars at the age of 7. With a prodigious knack for the instrument, Vaughan began performing in and around Dallas while Jimmie pursued his own musical career in Austin. Determined to follow in his brother’s footsteps, Stevie Ray dropped out of high school at 17 and moved to Austin with his band Blackbird.
Vaughan performed with several bands in the area, such as The Nightcrawlers, Paul Ray & the Cobras, and Triple Threat Revue – the band Vaughan formed with singer Lou Ann Barton that would eventually be streamlined into Double Trouble.
After a few years working the Austin music scene, Barton left Double Trouble, and Vaughan became the group’s frontman. During the early Eighties, the band secured a number of high profile gigs, playing a private party for the Rolling Stone’s in New York City, and the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.
Vaughan’s playing at Montreux caught the attention of Jackson Browne and David Bowie. Bowie asked Vaughan to play lead guitar on his upcoming album Let’s Dance. After completing the album, Vaughan was set to appear with Bowie on the Serious Moonlight Tour, but pulled out, choosing to focus on Double Trouble instead. The band had recorded a demo at Jackson Browne’s studio over Thanksgiving in 1982.
The demo found its way into the hands of noted producer and talent scout John H. Hammond. Hammond had discovered Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, and convinced Epic Records to sign Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. He served as executive producer of their debut album, Texas Flood.
Texas Flood sold 500,000 copies in its first week, and was later nominated for two Grammies. Vaughan and Double Trouble followed up their success with Couldn’t Stand the Weather, which peaked at 31 on the Billboard 200. With his star rising, Vaughan entered into a period of heavy drug and alcohol abuse. Coupled with a strained marriage, Vaughan’s reckless drug dependency hindered the recording of Double Trouble’s third album, Soul to Soul. Released in September of 1985, Soul to Soul failed to match the success of Couldn’t Stand the Weather.
After finishing work on their first live compilation, Live Alive, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble embarked on a tour of Europe. While in Germany, Vaughan began repeatedly vomiting blood. Taken to a hospital in London, he was told the cocaine he dissolved in his whiskey each morning had crystallized in his stomach and was lacerating his intestines. Doctors informed Vaughan if he continued the practice he would die in a month.
Double Trouble cancelled 12 dates in Europe as Vaughan entered rehab back in the states. After successful completion of treatment, he and the band returned to performing and collaborating with artists such as Stevie Wonder and Dick Dale.
When Epic was acquired by Sony Music Entertainment in 1987, a deal was worked out to renew Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble’s contract. In early 1989 they began recording In Step. The album was released in June. The single “Crossfire” reached number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks, and In Step would go on to win the Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album.
In 1990, Vaughan entered Ardent Studios in Memphis to begin recording Family Style with Jimmie. After recording the album, Vaughan and Double Trouble began a summer tour with Joe Cocker. On August 26, the band appeared as guests at the Alpine Valley Music Theater in East Troy, Wisconsin on a bill with Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray and Jimmie Vaughan.
Four helicopters were booked to fly the performers back to Chicago. Shortly before one a.m., Vaughan, flying with members of Clapton’s crew, took off in dense fog. They struck a ski slope when the helicopter moments later. All aboard died instantly.
Vaughan’s aggressive, frenetic playing style set a new standard among blues guitarists. Modern guitarists such John Mayer, Mike McCready, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, as well as contemporaries Steve Vai and Eric Johnson, have cited Vaughan as a prominent influence.
You may be ready to start reading through some popular blues guitar licks now. Well if you're Tab reading chops are up to speed, you will probably find this interesting at http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/soloing/pentatonic_licks.html .Vaughan was buried at Laurel Land Memorial Park in Dallas. The funeral was attended by more than 1,500 mourners, including Clapton, Guy, Bonnie Raitt, Dr. John, and Stevie Wonder. A memorial statue stands at Auditorium Shores on Lady Bird Lake in Austin. In 1991, the governor of Texas proclaimed Oct. 3 Stevie Ray Vaughan Day.
All right, if you're reading this, your probably practicing scales and thinkin... All right i can play this minor pentatonic scale up and down... But how will it help my playing? The question is... How WON'T this help my playing? The minor pentatonic is a very useful and Unique Scale. To get a minor pentatonic Scale, you would take your basic minor scale. Say in Am (no sharps or flats in this one to make it easier)
A minor scale = ABCDEFG
The pentatonic minor is made by using only 5 notes out of this scale.
You would use the 1st,3rd,4th,5th and 7th degree.
So lets see... A,B,C,D,E,F,G,A = Minor scale(From octave to Octave)
And ...........A,C,D,E,G,A = Minor pentatonic Scale(From octave to Octave)
The pentatonic is one of the most useful scales EVER. Used mainly in Roc and Blues, it is a staple in most guitar players improv arsenal.
in A minor, you would play the pentatonic scale in the main box position using this pattern
Notice How your Index finger does not move from the 5th fret across all six strings. This helps you a lot when it comes to playing licks, because it is up to you to utilize your other 3 free fingers to play licks.
Now, Lets since you know the basic Box position(there are 4 other A minor pentatonic Positions but like i said earlier, this is the easiest to memorize and the easiest to base licks off of for beginners)lets move onto utilizing this scale, and making it work for you into a guitar solo or improvisation.
Here is a quick pentatonic lick in A minor that i use often.
That one is a good starting point.. to get your bend notes and vibrato going.. Your going to bend the first note (7 on the G string up a whole step... If you dont know what a whole step is.. play the 9th fret on your G string. You want to bend the 7th fret up towards your face until it sounds like the 9th fret on your G string) then you should already have your index finger on the 5th fret of the B and e strings. Then place your middle finger back on the 7th fret of the g string and pull off to the 5th fret G string. Then use your Ring finger to fret the 7th fret of the D string. Quickly use your index finger to hit the 5th fret of the G string. Give it a nice vibrato too for extra bluesy effects. (If you need to practice Vibrato just keep doing it.. try and use all of your fingers to get used to the fast movement. you want your note to ring and kind of sound like a buzzing bee. After that, Use your ring finger to hit the 7th fret of the D string, Then pull off to the 5th fret and use your ring finger to hit the 7th fret of the A string. Finally, Go back up and use your index finger to fret the 5th fret of the D string and hammer on to the 7th fret using your ring finger.. Try giving that last note some vibrato as well to give it more of an effect.
All right I'm going to do one more Lick then that's it for this lesson, i will post another one soon with more licks. Then i will move on to the Blues Scale :)
So that's a quick introduction to blues guitar. I encourage you to apply these lessons to your guitar playing over all. You may be surprised how far being a versatile player will get you.
Mkay. so this is a melodic kind of pentatonic passage I came up with.. You're going to start out using your middle finger to bend the 7th fret of the G string up a whole step.. then hold the note and bend back down to the original note. Your index finger should be on the 6th fret of the G string due to the bending of the 7th fret.. slide your index finger down to the 5th fret G string. Then use your ring finger to hit the 7th fret of the D string... Pull of to the 5th fret with your index finger. Use your index finger again to hit the 5th fret on the G string. You're then going to skip the D string and use your ring finger to hit the 7th fret of the A string. After that use your index finger to hit the 5th fret of the D string and either hammer on to the 7th fret or just pick the 7th fret of the D string. For a more bluesy sound.. slide your index finger from the 5th fret to the 7th fret. Don't forget to add vibrato to that last note for a good Ending!
Have fun and stay tuned for more!
Mike
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