Blues Scale
Lets move on to the Blues Scale. Before you tell me that you aren't interested in the genre of blues, let me tell you that this scale is the most important scale you will ever learn when it comes to playing fills and solos in ANY genre.
Below is tab of the Minor Blues Scale starting again on the 5th fret.
Lets move on to the Blues Scale. Before you tell me that you aren't interested in the genre of blues, let me tell you that this scale is the most important scale you will ever learn when it comes to playing fills and solos in ANY genre.
Below is tab of the Minor Blues Scale starting again on the 5th fret.
The blues scale is the same as the pentatonic scale, only now we have added a couple of frets: 6th fret on the A string, and the 8th fret on the G string.
As you play through this scale you should find that it has the same essence as the Pentatonic Minor Scale, but not those two notes you added give it a more "bluesy" feel (for lack of a better word).
Lets demonstrate this in an exercise.
Just like in the previous lesson, either record yourself or have a friend play the following guitar riff:
As you play through this scale you should find that it has the same essence as the Pentatonic Minor Scale, but not those two notes you added give it a more "bluesy" feel (for lack of a better word).
Lets demonstrate this in an exercise.
Just like in the previous lesson, either record yourself or have a friend play the following guitar riff:
The above progression is a common blues shuffle. While this is being played in the background you try playing through the Blues Scale over the top.
Once again play through the scale with hammer-ons and pull-offs as in the previous lesson, and utilize bends- in particular bend the 7th fret on the G string as before as well.
Once again play through the scale with hammer-ons and pull-offs as in the previous lesson, and utilize bends- in particular bend the 7th fret on the G string as before as well.
What you will notice with this is you will bend the note up into the 8th fret, which is our blues note (the two notes we added: the 6th fret of the A string and the 8th fret of the G string are the blues notes in this example). This is a great way to include the blues note without hitting it outright, which gives it a softer landing. Definitely experiment with this concept.
Below is another common blues lead technique that utilizes the bend. Give it a try while playing over the top of the backing chord progression.
Below is another common blues lead technique that utilizes the bend. Give it a try while playing over the top of the backing chord progression.
I personally love this riff and use it in a lot of blues based solos. It feels like cheating because it almost never fails.
This is the main takeaway from the blues scale in my opinion. If you play each individual note of this scale, it sounds very "bluesy" and works well with the above exercise. But if you take the note in front of the blues note and bend it up, it's a bit more subtle in how it sounds.
You'll find that when you bend into the blues note instead of playing it outright, you can use this technique in almost ANY genre- pop, metal, country, funk, rap, rock, you name it. Bending into the blues note almost always sounds great.
As we get into other scales you'll find you can use the bend in the same way.
Make sure to take some time on Lessons 1-3 before moving on to 4. The first three lessons are very intertwined and related to one another. Lesson 4 is going to get more complicated.
Talk to you soon.
This is the main takeaway from the blues scale in my opinion. If you play each individual note of this scale, it sounds very "bluesy" and works well with the above exercise. But if you take the note in front of the blues note and bend it up, it's a bit more subtle in how it sounds.
You'll find that when you bend into the blues note instead of playing it outright, you can use this technique in almost ANY genre- pop, metal, country, funk, rap, rock, you name it. Bending into the blues note almost always sounds great.
As we get into other scales you'll find you can use the bend in the same way.
Make sure to take some time on Lessons 1-3 before moving on to 4. The first three lessons are very intertwined and related to one another. Lesson 4 is going to get more complicated.
Talk to you soon.