Check out all these incredible free Lessons at www.BluesQuest.com:
Blues Boomerangs, Pt 1 by Andy Ellis
Are your blues a little tired? Crave some fresh sounds? Nothing rejuvenates a 12-bar groove faster than a fancy turnaround, and we've got a dozen of them in this two-part lesson. You can use these moves onstage tonight or at your next jam session. This lesson includes Power Tab.
Down Home Grooves: The Memphis Sound by Keith Wyatt
Play it, Steve!' Keith explores the Memphis sound from the axe of Steve Cropper, who was the guitarist for Booker T & the MGs. First, he fleshes out the rhythm part of the classic Green Onions' by adapting the keyboard countermelody to go along with the bass line. Then, on Fig. 2, it's time for nasty, grits-and-gravy funk, working a bass line with syncopated chord figures. Relax your right arm, Keith encourages, and go for the pure soul. This lesson includes Power Tab.
The Voodoo Blues Scale by Steve Trovato
If there's one fistful of notes that never gets old, it’s the blues scale. Once it finds its way into the hands of a young, inspired guitarist, it typically stays there for a lifetime. Though the blues scale is timeless, many players yearn for ways to import new melodic colors into their blues-based solos. The simplest way to do this is to change one note of the blues scale, resulting in a soulful sound you may have heard in the playing of Hollywood Fats, Duke Robillard, Charlie Christian, and Larry Carlton—a sound often referred to as the “voodoo” blues scale. Get yer voodoo here! Includes Power Tab.
Blue Sixths by Jude Gold
Chances are good that when Jimi Hendrix was playing timeless blues intros like the one presented in Ex. 1—which is similar to the opening notes of “Red House”—he wasn’t consciously thinking, “I’m now fretting the interval of a major sixth for two beats and then moving it down a half-step.” But like great blues players before and after him, Hendrix used intervals of major or minor sixths all the time because these grips— when played with passion and conviction—have a mesmerizing, open sound. While Ex. 1 may be one of the most popular sounds in the history of the blues, an equally tasty but less common example of a bluesinflected sixth is shown in Ex. 2. Hendrix sometimes played this lick when approaching the IV chord of a slow 12-bar blues in G. This lick gets its savory flavor from the minor sixth that occurs between Eand C, just before Cslides down to Bb. To ensure this meaty maneuver has a huge emotional impact, play it not just with your fingers, but also with your heart—as well as a warm, biting tone and a lyrical vibrato. major and minor sixths was because he absolutely killed the notes with his pick. Learn these and three other blues sixths licks in this ear-opening lesson.
Tappin' The Blues by Bob Balsley
So, you think two-hand tapping is only for metal freaks, shredders, Van Halen wannabes, and bass monsters such as Stu Hamm? Truth is, there’s a fun way to incorporate tapping into your everyday blues, jazz, and rock playing, and it starts with learning the simple move in Ex. 1—a simultaneous tap on the fourth and second strings with the picking hand’s index (i) and middle (m) fingers. To put this approach in motion, try the swingin’ maneuvers in Ex. 2, which work great over a minor blues in E. The phrase starts with the open low string being sounded with your thumb. Next, pluck the Em7triad. From this point on, the rest of the first measure is slurred, including our dual-tap at the 12th fret. In bar 2, a juicy, close-voiced A9is plucked and immediately livened up with a dual-tap at the 7th fret. Finally, in the second ending, you’ll find a tasty, tap-happy II-V turnaround, with C9acting as a tritone substitution for the II chord. Bob Balsley is a guitar and recording instructor at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Blues Boomerangs, Pt 1 by Andy Ellis
Are your blues a little tired? Crave some fresh sounds? Nothing rejuvenates a 12-bar groove faster than a fancy turnaround, and we've got a dozen of them in this two-part lesson. You can use these moves onstage tonight or at your next jam session. This lesson includes Power Tab.
Down Home Grooves: The Memphis Sound by Keith Wyatt
Play it, Steve!' Keith explores the Memphis sound from the axe of Steve Cropper, who was the guitarist for Booker T & the MGs. First, he fleshes out the rhythm part of the classic Green Onions' by adapting the keyboard countermelody to go along with the bass line. Then, on Fig. 2, it's time for nasty, grits-and-gravy funk, working a bass line with syncopated chord figures. Relax your right arm, Keith encourages, and go for the pure soul. This lesson includes Power Tab.
The Voodoo Blues Scale by Steve Trovato
If there's one fistful of notes that never gets old, it’s the blues scale. Once it finds its way into the hands of a young, inspired guitarist, it typically stays there for a lifetime. Though the blues scale is timeless, many players yearn for ways to import new melodic colors into their blues-based solos. The simplest way to do this is to change one note of the blues scale, resulting in a soulful sound you may have heard in the playing of Hollywood Fats, Duke Robillard, Charlie Christian, and Larry Carlton—a sound often referred to as the “voodoo” blues scale. Get yer voodoo here! Includes Power Tab.
Blue Sixths by Jude Gold
Chances are good that when Jimi Hendrix was playing timeless blues intros like the one presented in Ex. 1—which is similar to the opening notes of “Red House”—he wasn’t consciously thinking, “I’m now fretting the interval of a major sixth for two beats and then moving it down a half-step.” But like great blues players before and after him, Hendrix used intervals of major or minor sixths all the time because these grips— when played with passion and conviction—have a mesmerizing, open sound. While Ex. 1 may be one of the most popular sounds in the history of the blues, an equally tasty but less common example of a bluesinflected sixth is shown in Ex. 2. Hendrix sometimes played this lick when approaching the IV chord of a slow 12-bar blues in G. This lick gets its savory flavor from the minor sixth that occurs between Eand C, just before Cslides down to Bb. To ensure this meaty maneuver has a huge emotional impact, play it not just with your fingers, but also with your heart—as well as a warm, biting tone and a lyrical vibrato. major and minor sixths was because he absolutely killed the notes with his pick. Learn these and three other blues sixths licks in this ear-opening lesson.
Tappin' The Blues by Bob Balsley
So, you think two-hand tapping is only for metal freaks, shredders, Van Halen wannabes, and bass monsters such as Stu Hamm? Truth is, there’s a fun way to incorporate tapping into your everyday blues, jazz, and rock playing, and it starts with learning the simple move in Ex. 1—a simultaneous tap on the fourth and second strings with the picking hand’s index (i) and middle (m) fingers. To put this approach in motion, try the swingin’ maneuvers in Ex. 2, which work great over a minor blues in E. The phrase starts with the open low string being sounded with your thumb. Next, pluck the Em7triad. From this point on, the rest of the first measure is slurred, including our dual-tap at the 12th fret. In bar 2, a juicy, close-voiced A9is plucked and immediately livened up with a dual-tap at the 7th fret. Finally, in the second ending, you’ll find a tasty, tap-happy II-V turnaround, with C9acting as a tritone substitution for the II chord. Bob Balsley is a guitar and recording instructor at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
