Blues Guitar Lessons • Blues Basics • Blues Soloing Part 3

This lesson is a continuation of

• Blues Soloing Part 2.

More Blues Guitar Lessons:

• Blues Guitar Lessons • The Blues Scale
• Blues Guitar Lessons • The Combination Scale
• Blues Guitar Lessons • Pinky Patterns • Part 1
• Blues Guitar Lessons • I Still Got The Blues

E flat Major-Cm Pentatonic Box Patterns

Below are the five box patterns in E flat Major-Cm. E flat and C minor share the same key signature: three flats. These flats are B flat, E flat and A flat. Keys that share the same signature are said to be relative to each other. Scale spelling for E flat Major Pentatonic is: Eb F G Bb C and the octave, Eb. Shift the tonic (root) to C and the spelling is: C Eb F G Bb and the octave, C. Practice these patterns evenly and in time. Start with all downstrokes, then move to alternate picking (down, up). Start at a slow tempo (70-80 bpm). Try to master both picking patterns at this tempo, then gradually increase the speed. For more info on the Pentatonic box patterns see: Blues Basics: The Mighty Pentatonic Scale.

The entire solo is played in Cm Pentatonic Box Pattern #1. Note the three flats in the key signature. The solo begins on the 'and' of the third beat in the lead-in bar. Many blues riffs, solos, and licks start this way. This is standard blues phrasing and sets up your licks to come in ahead of the chord change. The phrasing and repetition stems from emulating a vocal line. You will often here a vocalist sing a line, repeat the same line with a slight variation of the melody, then change the lyrics and melody for the last line of the progression. This is so common, it is actually easy to make this up on the spot. "My baby left me, and I feel so bad….my baby left me, and I feel so bad….she was a good woman, makes me feel so sad' As comical and cliche as this sounds, many, many blues songs follow this format. The same structure can be used for soloing. Play a lick, repeat the lick (with or without variation), then create a new lick for the last one.

Recommended listening includes such artists as BB King, Albert King, and Eric Clapton. Listen carefully to their phrases and the chord changes. You will begin to know when they are going to play, and when they are not. You will start to feel the blues!

Listen to this recording. It is in Am Pentatonic. There is only one note outside of the scale (B). I am utilizing different box patterns. During this recording I could feel every note I played. The sound was in my head and my hands at the same time. Pay close attention to my phrasing (where I play, where I don't), you can pretty much feel it.