Blues Headlines
Richard Barrett in-depth lessons in blues playing technique will make you a better blues player – with full audio examples and backing tracks
There are two challenges in this month’s solo/licks. First,
Bbm playing in the key of is not as comfortable for your average guitarist as the more friendly A, D or E. The normal lifeline of our position markers, is now not quite so safe a bet! Though the relative distances and patterns don’t change (at least, not much), the muscle memory can still be disrupted by the nanosecond it takesbto calculate your position. I’ve chosen B for this solo for two reasons – it pops up fairly regularly in the blues, partly because it’s a popular key for brass. But it’s really about extending the comfort zone and enabling you to improvise confidently in any key.
The other main consideration here is rhythm. It’s at least as important as your note choice – more so, in some cases. Many well known melodies can be identified by their rhythm alone. If you don’t believe me, try tapping out the rhythm to Happy Birthday or Another One Bites The Dust! When deciding what style would best illustrate these points, David Gilmour came to mind immediately: his solos on classics such as Another Brick In The Wall Part II, Have A Cigar and Young Lust capture a bluesy funky feel in such an appealing way. Details such as quarter tone bends, staccato passages and muted percussive hits all play an important part in this context, but perhaps the most important is leaving space between phrases, which adds so much ‘gravitas’ to the simplest lines. However, time is at a premium here, so I have compressed a few ideas into the 12-bar solo these licks are taken from and left the silences to your imagination… Hope you enjoy and see you next time!