Blues Improvisation

 

90 percent of a guitar player's time is spent backing up a singer.

10 percent of the time you get to "hot -dog" ...and show off

This is about that 10 percent of the time.

First there are some rules...

 

The Three Rules of Improvisation:

1. Stay in the scale
2. Stay in time
3. Go crazy

 

On 1) The scale that you have to “stay in” (Rock’n’Roll, 1954-2008) is the Blues Scale which is comprised of the notes - A, C, D, E, G. This works for Rock’n'Roll and Blues. It does not work for Jazz. Jazz is a different animal…

On 2) Stay in time so people don't fall off the dance floor and ask for their money back.

On 3) “Going crazy” means three things:

 

A) Play Riffs 10% of the time

B) Play Phrases 85% of the time

C) Play Runs 5% of the time

 

What does that mean?

A riff is a short repeated pattern, generally two or three notes, repeated four times.

A phrase is playing notes in the scale…about the length of a man’s exhalation (as Western music was originally, in the 7th century, all vocal)

A run is a series of notes that you play fast and clean…to impress your friends.

Okay, this is where the rubber hits the road...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the following link are examples of riffs and phrases in the most commonly used scale for improvisation, the Blues Scale A,C,D,E,G

Click the link and listen to exactly what you are to learn.

Blues Scale 1

First, you will simply hear the scale twice.

Then there is a two note riff, just the notes D to E, four times, with the first note bent. This is famously in Chuck Berry's iconic teen anthem, Johnny B. Goode.

Then there is a three note riff. You just take the previous riff and and one more note, an A , to it. I call this "The Oldest Riff in the World". Make sure that the first bent note is bent up to the E, so it sounds in tune instead of like an alley cat screeching.

Thirdly, there is a five note riff. You just take the previous "Oldest Riff in the World" and add two notes to it. In this case a G and an E. I call this "The 60's lick" because every guitar solo by Hendrix, Clapton or Jimmy Page contained it...much to their chagrin, I am sure, looking back.

Phrases are next...a plain old descending blues phrase is first. Now be careful, because this phrase has an "attack -bend" in the fifth note and and "attack-release" on the sixth note. Take your time. Listen carefully and emulate my playing.

Then we have a phrase I call "The Stripper ". This is the sexiest, slinkiest lick ever and is played when the strippers approach the stage to go to work. I know...I played in a very famous strip club in San Francisco for six years called "The Condor" in North Beach where the beatniks started out in the 1950's.  Once again watch the distinct attack-bend followed by an attack-release.

Then you will hear the two phrases back to back. Two "Phrases" create a "Period" and two "Periods" create a "Melody". When you improvise you are creating melody, typically to give the singer a chance to rest his vocal cords, about 2/3's of the way through a song.

Now we have three riffs. Three bend riffs. Bends are the heart and soul of Blues guitar playing since the 1940's when the electric guitar was invented and popularized by T-Bone Walker. You can never bend too often. The more you bend the cooler you are. But, there is a catch. You must bend the strings up a whole step, or two frets. The closer you are two bending them exactly in tune...the better blues player you are. This is why Hendrix is better than Stevie Ray Vaughan, who was better than Clapton, who was better than Jimmy Page...dem's the rules. So listen carefully to your bends.

Stop the download here. The next five musical ideas are double and triple stops, which means playing two or three strings simultaneously, respectively, which we will approach later.

Master these eight musical ideas, or  "Chops or Licks", as they were so quaintly called back in the day.

You must master the Blues...before you approach jazz.

 

Assuming you have done your homework, we will now listen to two versions of the same song. A rank beginner's version and a virtuoso version of the most famous of Blues songs, Hendrix's Red House.

As you listen you will hear the simplest of 12 bar blues: two verses, a solo, a third verse and the ending.

Pay no attention to the quality of the voice...(you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear). Blues is a players music, not a singers music. This is attested to by Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Clapton...all who hated singing, but did it anyway so that they could wail on the guitar.

Red House

In the solo section, beginning at 1' 32", you will hear a one measure phrase played twice, followed by two measures of rhythm guitar.

Then, you will hear a two measure phrase played once, followed by two measures of rhythm guitar.

Finally, you will hear a one measure phrase played twice, followed by two measures of rhythm guitar.

This is improvisation at its simplest level.

Now...Here is a free form Blues improvisation over Red House using the preceding musical ideas you have learned:

Watch the video, and its analysis, of the application the techniques that you are learning.

Improvisation

Now...it's your turn

Here are some backing tracks (guitar, bass and drums) that will provide you with the accompaniment you need to successfully improvise...just solo with the eight musical ideas you now know.

Listen carefully to the rhythm section (guitar, bass and drums) so that you follow the Second Rule of Improvisation "Stay in time". People falling off the dance floor is ugly.

Blues Backing Tracks:

• Key of A Slow
• Key of A Medium
• Key of A Fast

 

Assuming you have gotten this far, we are going to expand the use of your gently developing solo techniques.

Here are some happy Rock'n'Roll backing tracks...again, use your eight musical ideas.

Except...instead of playing "long-short" rhythms (technically called quarter/eighth note triplets) you take those exact same eight musical ideas and play them as eighth notes (that just means two equal notes per beat).

This is because the Blues is generally in Compound Time (three notes per beat) whereas Rock'n'Roll is generally in Simple Time (two notes per beat)....don't worry about this technicality right now.

Just remember that you have eight musical ideas now and that they are yours to twist and vary...as you like.

Rock 'n' Roll Backing Tracks:

• Short Rock 'n' Roll Track in Key of A #7
• Short Rock 'n' Roll Track in Key of A #8 

 

That's pretty much all you need to complete the Intro to Blues Rock playing 101. Now you are Jimmy Page...but not, Jimi Hendrix.

You must master the blues before you move onto jazz...no exceptions.

But, before you go click jazz link you need to learn something called "modulating" or "changing key".

A scale is really a relationship of notes . So far we have used A, C, D, E, G, which is technically called "The Blues Scale in A".

But, if you kept those exact relationships in tact, but started the scale on the note E, the newly "modulated" scale would be E, G, A, B and D.

This modulated scale is called "The Blues Scale in E".

You have to "modulate" all the eight musical ideas. It will help you to permanently imprint them in your memory.

Just go up five frets on the guitar, and start the riff there...but keep the relationships in tact.

For example: the first riff went D-E, D-E, D-E, D-E.

So... you go up five frets and instead of starting the first riff on D you will now start in on A.

Play the "modulated" riff as A-B,  A-B , A-B , A-B...and now you are successfully playing in the Key of E.

This requires a different backing track. Click it, modulate all eight musical ideas...and go crazy.

 

Blues Backing Track:

• Key of E Fast

 

If you are successful at transposing to the Key of E, you can try two more keys: G and C

To play in the Key of G, take your original eight ideas (in the Key of A) and move them down two frets. You are now in the key of G.

 

Blues Backing Track:

 

Okay, now you can play in four different keys. The reason we have different keys is to accommodate different singers voices., Typically women sing higher than men, so you change the key to make them look good on stage.

Now that you can solo, inchoately, the whole truth is that you can play this scale all up and down the neck.

The next series of six audio downloads is to vastly expand your breadth of understanding...so you look like you can really play the guitar.

 

To improvise on the guitar there are five fingerings of the Blues Scale that are necessary to learn. Then, you need a few representative musical ideas, in each scale, to solo properly. Click on the links below to begin to learn how to improvise in Blues Scales, 2-5, in the Key of A.

 

Once you have learned the Five Blues Scales you need to balance them with the other scale that has been primarily used in American music, the Major Pentatonic Scale, with a few of its representative musical ideas...Onward!