Below is the tab for the A blues scale starting at the 5th position. We are starting on the Root note, the A, and playing 2 octaves of the blues scale as well as adding the flat third or b3 when we play the 8th fret on the high E or 1st string. This is the most common patter for the blues scale. The A Blues Scale, 5th position. E ------------------------------------------ 5-- 8-- B ----------------------------------- 5-- 8--------- G ------------------------- 5-- 7-- 8---------------- D ------------------ 5-- 7-------------------------- A -------- 5-- 6-- 7--------------------------------- E -- 5-- 8------------------------------------------- You'll soon discover as I put up blues scales in more keys that we are using the same patterns just in different positions on the guitar neck. You really don't need to learn a lot of theory or scales to be able to play reasonably well. If you focus on learning the basic patterns you'll find you will be able to play along with a lot of music in a relatively short space of time. Blues Licks for Slow Blues in A Here are 4 simple blues licks that use only the notes from the A Blues Scale shown above. Try playing each lick over the entire progression. Notice that when you play the same notes over the different chords the licks sound very different. You can work out different rhythms to play for each lick and vary the notes used to make up your own blues licks. That's what improvising is all about. Listening to others to get ideas, listening to the music you can sing in your head, emulating those ideas and sounds and then just playing around with them to come up with your own ideas. This is how you build your own sound. It's not a hard process to go through, you just need to spend time on it and be patient. Don't try and rush to get to the next level. Play, play more and play some more. Getting good will happen with practice. If you need to keep your hands on the neck getting good will take care of itself. Hammer ons and bends. A Medium Blues Shuffle Guitar Tab Below is the guitar tab for the rhythm guitar that is playing for Medium Blues Shuffle. It's fairly straight forward, 2 note chords that shuffle using the Root + 5, Root + 6 and Root + b7 chords. At the end of each mini-section I'm playing open strings very lightly. I've put specific strings that I'm playing but the fact is I'm just lifting my left hand off the fretboard so it can move to the next chord. While my left hand off the fretboard I'm lightly playing any of the open strings I happen to hit, or brush past, with my pick or fingers. It's more for the rhythmic effect than the notes. The notes that are being played don't make sense at all - in theory. But in the context of the music it fits a lot better than having a break as I change positions. This technique keeps the pulse and groove going. I learnt it from Stevie Ray Vaughan and Lightnin' Hopkins. They were absolute masters of it but everyone uses is. Lightnin' Hopkins would use it in a more open dramatic way. Stevie did that too but he was more percussive and rhythmic the way he played it. It's a big part of why his grooves are so definite. You need to play this really laid back if you want to capture the groove of it. And that non-chord at the end I'm taking about where I take my left hand off the neck is vital if you want to get the whole thing happening. It's all about the feel. Play it laid back but with a solid groove. It took me a long time to be able to play this type of thing where I was happy with the sound and feel of it. Too many players think it's simple and don't spend time on really getting it down. They seem to think that because they are using basic two-note chords they don't need to work on it. But there is so much more about it than the simplicity of the chords. It's all about feel. You can't beat feel and groove. It has to come from within and it takes time and soul to get it happening. A quick change means the 2nd bar goes to the IV chord instead of staying on the I chord. You should play the 2 progressions above back to back to get familiar with the quick change. Play in and out with the rhythm of the track. Aim for quality and not quantity in both the note choice as well as the tone of the notes. On track 01 on the page I put up the A blues scale in 5th position. Here's the A blues scale in open position: The A Blues Scale in Open Position E --------------------------------------- ---0-- 3-- 5-- B -------------------------------- 1-- 3-- 4----------- G ------------------------- 0-- 2--------------------- D --------------- 0-- 1-- 2---------------------------- A -------- 0-- 3-------------------------------------- E -- 0-- 3-------------------------------------------- Note that the Root note of the A blues scale in open position is on the 5th or the A string. The E string has the E note which is the 5th note of the A scale and the G on the 3rd fret of the low E which is the b7th flat seventh note of the A blues scale. Blues Guitar Licks in A Let's look at 2 simple blues licks with a variation on each lick that uses the b7th on the low E string. Lick 1a below is starting on the root note of the scale, the A, and playing up to the b3rd, which is the C on the 3rd fret of the A string. In lick 1b instead of starting on the Root we are instead leading into the root by starting on the b7th which is the G at the 3rd fret of the E string. Lick 2a and 2b are also similar. In lick 2a we play the notes of the A blues scale starting on the A and walking up to the b5th flat fifth of the A blues scale located at the 4th fret on the 2nd or B string. In lick 2b when we are walking the notes back down from the b5th, instead of playing the b3rd located on the 1st fret of the B string we are playing the b7th. The flat 7th here is the open G string. Blues Lick 1a E ------------------------- B ------------------------- G ------------------------- D ------------------------- A -- 0-- 0-- 3-- 3-- 0-- 3----- E ------------------------- Blues Lick 1b E -------------------------- B -------------------------- G -------------------------- D ---------------------- --- A ----- 0-- 0-- 3-- 3-- 0-- 3--- E -- 3------------------- Blues Lick 2a E ------------------------- B ----- 1-- 3-- 4-- 3-- 1----- G -- 2------------------ 2-- D ------------------------ A ------------------------ E ------------------------- Blues Lick 2b E ------------------------- B ----- 1-- 3-- 4-- 3-------- G -- 2--------------- 0-- 2-- D ------------------------ A ------------------------ E ------------------------- Music Theory: The Flat Seventh b7th Note Remember that the flat 7th of an A scale is the note G. The 7th note of any Major scale is the note that is located one fret below the Root note of the scale you are playing. For the A Major scale, the 7th is G G sharp. The Blues scale however uses the notes Root, b3rd, 4th, b5th, 5th and b7th notes relative to the Major scale in the same key. We know that the 7th note of the A Major scale is G. So we flatten the note lower it by one fret or one semi-tone which gives us the note G. That's how you can work out what the b7th is for any blues scale. It's simply one fret lower than the 7th of the Major scale off the same root note. Or you can just remember that the 7th note of the blues scale is one tone two frets below the root note of the scale you are playing in. Notice that when I explain theory I'm saying the same things in a few different ways. There are several ways that music theory can be expressed. I repeat them because everyone has a different amount of knowledge. Some terms might be obvious and other terms you might not have heard before but hopefully now understand because I'm stating the same things just in a different way. Have a listen to that and pull out your slide. Pull out the wah and go from there. Listen to Albert King's version of Killing Floor and borrow some of Albert's great licks. Use scales relative to the chords. A blues scale, D and E Mixolydian and experiment. The A Blues Scale, 12th position. Note that in 12th position the Root note for the A blues scale is on the A string at the 12th fret. The 12th fret of the E, or 6th string is the E or 5th or the A blues scale. The 15th fret of the E string you are playing the G which is the flat 7th b7th of the A blues scale. If you don't know what note to start on, start on the Root note of the scale or the chord you are playing on. So here you can start by playing the 12th fret of the 5th or A string. E -------------------------------------------------------- 12-- 15-- 17-- B ------------------------------------------ 13-- 15-- 16---------------- G --------------------------------- 10-- 12----------------------------- D ------------------ --10--11--12--------------------------------------------- A ----------- 12-- 15--------------------------------------------------- E -- 12-- 15------------------------------------------------------------- Notice that on the 2nd or B string above, that the note on the 16th fret is the flat 5th or b5th note of the A blues scale. This is the 'blue note' which is an Eb E flat of an B blues scale. A great way to make your solo sound more bluesy is to bend the 4th note up to the blue note. Play the D at the 15th fret of the 2nd string and bend the note up to the tone of the Eb. Once you sound the Eb you can pick the note again and then bend it back to the D or just bend it back down to the D without picking the note at the tone of the Eb. You can also bend the note higher so it will sound the E note. This would be the equivalent sound of if you played the note on the 17th fret of the B string. You need to be careful when you start bending notes that you pitch the notes correctly. It's good practice to start by playing play the note that you want to bend to e. We went up to the 17th fret with the scale diagram above because the 17th fret of the E string is the A, which is the Root note of the A blues scale. A Blues Scale Licks in 12th position. Below are four blues licks using notes from the pattern above. As always, they rhythm is up to you. So have a play around with the notes below with a few different rhythms and come up with some phrases that sound bluesy. It's one of the greatest live recorded guitar solo's ever. Listen to Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert King and the way they bend and sustain notes. Stick with the A blues scale. Work on making the turn around lead smoothly back to the start of the progression. Which is the 1st, b3rd, 4th, b5th, 5th and b7th of an A Major scale. Sometimes I'm playing the C7 sometimes the C9 on the IV chord. Suggestions: This is based on The Allman Brothers version of Stormy Monday Blues. I highly recommend you buy the Allman's album Fillmore East. This album is my biggest musical influence for so many reasons. Try using the D, G and A Pentatonic scales over the D, G and A chords. A sus4 chord means replacing the Major 3rd with the 4th. A Mixolydian scale: ie an A Major scale but lower the 7th G becomes G. Suggestions: Play an E blues scale over this progression. Music Theory - E Blues Scale Any blues scale is the Root, flat 3rd, 4th, flat 5th, 5th and flat 7th of the Major scale with the same Root note. So to work out the notes of the E Blues scale you take those 6 notes from the E Major scale. We can number the notes of any Major scale 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. So E is the first note of the E Blues scale. The 3rd of the E Major scale is G , thus the flat 3rd or b3rd of the E Major scale is G. So G is the second note of the E blues scale. The 4th of the E Major scale is A. So A is the third note of the E blues scale. The 5th of the E Major scale is B, thus the b5th of the E Major scale is Bb. So Bb is the fourth note of the E blues scale. The 5th of the E Major scale is B. So B is the fifth note of the E blues scale. The 7th of the E Major scale is D , thus the b7th of the E Major scale is D. So D is the sixth and final note of the E blues scale. And that's how you can work out the notes of any Blues scale. Take the Major Scale for the Key you want to work out the Blues scale in the example above, E. Then work out the six notes of the Blues scale which are the Root, b3rd, 4th, b5th, 5th and b7th of the Major scale. So if you are going to jam with a blues progression in E, you work out the notes for the E blues scale. All of those six notes will sound good over the 3 chords of the E Blues Progression. If you are going to jam with a D blues progression like with the next jam track , then you work out the notes for the D blues scale. One of the great things about playing the guitar though is that you don't actually need to work out the Blues scale for each key. No matter what key you are in the pattern s of the notes of the Blues scale on the neck is the same. I'll put more info on this in the Music Theory section soon. If you played piano - you'd have to learn the Blues scale in 12 different keys, each with a different pattern. You'd also need a large van and some very strong friends! On guitar, you can get away with just learning the one pattern for all 12 keys and owning a small car or even just a bike! It's one of the great things about playing the guitar - the blues scale is a great sounding scale that you can get great sounds out of. Regardless of if you are Stevie Ray Vaughan or if you are just beginning to learn to improvise. But it can also be a bit of a trap - a lot of guitar players become 'pattern' players. You can get your fingers and your ear in a rutt if you just rely on the patterns. If you want to get the most out of playing, you really want to pay attention to both knowing the patterns on the guitar AND the notes you are playing. Most importantly, don't forget that music is about actual sounds. It's about feel, groove and soul. Notes, scales, patterns etc are just how I can explain music to you - you need to use that information to make it into something that goes beyond words. Notice the variation on the chords of the last 2 bars compared to track 02 above? There are several variations of the standard blues progression. Suggestions: Play a D blues scale over this progression. Using the information given for track 02, write out the notes of the D Blues scale and find those notes on the guitar. Notice you are using the same pattern on the neck as for the E Blues scale - just that you are moving that pattern 2 frets up the neck. I have borrowed this riff from Stevie Ray Vaughan's song 'Crossfire' from Stevie's last studio album 'In Step'. Although the riff also reminds me of the song 'Pretty Woman' by Roy Orbison. You just need to add a Major 2nd to find that riff. Suggestions: Get a copy of 'In Step' by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, go and find the biggest stereo system you can, turn the volume up to 10 and put the entire album on repeat. I recorded this riff in E, so start with an E blues scale. Start just with a Db blues scale and get used to the positions on the neck in this key. There aren't very many blues songs in Db. The great thing about playing in different keys is that you become more familiar with your the layout of the neck. Also, each different position has it's own special sweet spot that helps to give you fresh ideas and new licks that you can then use in the keys you usually play in. Variety is one of the keys to becoming a good musician. Start off with a Ab blues scale and then try adding other scale tones like the Bb ie the 2nd and the F ie the 6th. Instead of the A blues scale try playin the A Mixolydian scale over this riff. It's an A chord used in 2 positions. A Major open position E -- x--- B -- 2--- G -- 2--- D -- 2--- A -- 0--- E -- x--- A Major 12th position E -- x---- B -- 14-- G -- 14-- D -- 14-- A -- 0--- E -- x---- To play the A I'm just barring the chord with my index finger and then I'm sliding the shape from the 2nd fret up to the 14th fret so you could say it's an A chord in 14th position. You can get some pretty good sounds when you slide chords up an octave. Especially with the standard E and A chord shapes. Play Blues Guitar The jam tracks on play guitar blues page are mostly made up of straight forward blues progressions in the more common blues keys. Some of the backing tracks have been recorded in Eb and Ab, mainly because so many blues guitar players tune their guitars down half a step. If you don't tune your guitar down half a step then just play them in the keys they are in. When you are learning to play guitar you should play in as many different key signatures as possible. Even if you are an experienced guitar player, playing in keys you aren't familiar with will get you out of your comfort zone and make you play in different places on the neck. This will help you come up with new riffs and licks and will help make learning guitar fresh. With each of the blues guitar tracks you can start playing along with the standard blues scale for each key. Most importantly of all - this is the blues, it's about feeling. Listen to the music you can hear in your head and try and play that on the guitar. The real deal is to play the blues from your heart and soul.
