Example ROCK’N’ROLL STYLE solo

[Bars 21-24] These four bars use block triad ideas over the respective chords. A B major triad (B D# F#) is played over the B7, but uses a passing E major triad (E G# B) to add melodic movement. A Gm triad (G Bb D) is played over the C7 chord and a F#m triad over the B7. These substitutions give the sound of C9 and B9 respectively. The ‘unison E’ lick in the second two bars is typical rock‘n’roll. Follow the picking suggestions for a fluid approach. [Bars 25-28] A generic walking bass line type riff starts this section, going into some more Travis picking in bar 27. Bar 28 is similar, but instead of an alternating bass line, just the sixth string is used in the bass. Try your fretting hand thumb for this, so you don’t have to fret a full chord shape. [Bars 29-32] Another walking bass line kicks off the first bar here, but then we’re straight into more Travis picking! Again, due to the nature of the notes used in bar 30, I suggest using your fretting hand thumb for the low A on the sixth string; this frees up your fingers to fret the rest of the chord. Bars 31 and 32 use the sixth and third string as the low notes in these Travis picking figures, so you only need fret the top three strings of the chord shape here. [Bars 33-36] The final four bars arpeggiate through fragments of different voicings of B7 and C7 before finishing with a predominantly Em pentatonic (E G A B D) descending run, but with the major 6th (C#) borrowed from the E major pentatonic to give more stylistic flavour. Finally, the sweet Emajor 6/9 chord (E G# B C# F#) provides the final bit of fairy dust to the solo. So rock on, and I hope you persevere with this exciting and revolutionary style.