BERNIE MARSDEN’ S MAJOR BLUES

bridge pickup in Bar 12. Good blues and rock guitarists, from Jimi Hendrix to Jeff Beck, often vary the guitar’s controls. Don’t be afraid to experiment with the volume and/or tone controls so your phrases have the biggest impact. Chorus 2 [Bars 17-28] Chorus 2 sets off with some licks using the D Major Pentatonic scale, and note the classic cliché lick that incorporates chromatic passing notes in bars 17 and 18. Bar 23 brings in some extra colour tones which add an extra level of sophistication. The major 9th (E) and major 13th (B) both come from D Dorian mode, which works nicely over our D7 chord (chord IV in the key of A). Bar 24 provides a great illustration of the interchange between the minor and major 3rd intervals – that delightful ambiguity that we all love in the blues. Any major 3rd (F# in this case) can be preceded by a minor 3rd (F natural) to add a ‘ tension and release’ factor.