Jam tracks tips
Use these tips to navigate our bonus backing tracks
➊ Slow Blues in E
Here we have a slow blues in E at just 55bpm, which you can approach in a variety of ways. E minor Pentatonic scale (E-G-A-B-D) will work – and so will E major Pentatonic (E-F#-G#B-C#), although the latter works best on the I chord (E9) and V chord (B9). Try mixing in some E Mixolydian mode (E-F#-G#-A-B-C#-D) – this works perfectly for the I chord (E9).
➋ Rockout in G
Here’s a fun uptempo rock track in G. Of course, you can use G minor (G-Bb-C-D-F) Pentatonic and G minor (G-Bb-C-C#-D-F) Blues scale as a starting point, but the track works well with quite a few more colourful scales. G-Bbmaj7The chord progression is: Cadd9-Abmaj7. Try using G Mixolydian (G-A-B-C-D-E-F) on G chords, G Dorian (G-A-Bb-C-D-E-F) Bbmaj7 on and Cadd9 and finally G Ab-Bb-C-D-Eb-F) Phrygian (G on the Abmaj7 final chord.
➌ 7/8 Groove in F#m
Count the subdivisions of this 7/8 groove track as 2-3-2 (meaning 1-2-1-2-3-1-2). It’s in F#m, but harmonically speaking it’s quite open, so I suggest playing around with a variety of scales. Try F# Dorian (F#-G#-A-B-C#-D#-E), F# Minor scale (F#-G#-A-B-C#-D-E), F# Phrygian (F#-G-A-B-C#-D-E) and even F# Mixolydian (F#-G#-A#-BC#-D#-E). F# Minor Pentatonic and F# Blues scale also work great!
➍ C Jazz Blues – Medium Swing
Here’s a standard jazz blues in C. Try mixing C major Pentatonic (C-D-E-G-A) with C minor
(C-Eb-F-G-Bb) Pentatonic for a start. One additional jazzy colour to catch is the A7 in bar 8 of the 12-bar blues cycle. Perhaps have a go at outlining an A7 arpeggio here (A-C#-E-G), or use the D Harmonic minor scale (D-E-F-G-A-Bb-C#),
which also works perfectly. Additionally, see if you can whip out an F# Diminished
(F#-A-C-Eb) arpeggio in bar 6 for the F# diminished chord. Jam tracks by Jacob Quistgaard. For free scale maps and hundreds more tracks, visit www. quistorama.com. You can also subscribe to www.youtube.com/ QuistTV to get all the latest tracks and licks. Or find Quist and his jam tracks on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.