Last month I said I’d continue with two hand tapping but a good friend of mine has been asking to see some blues ideas so I’ve gotta do some. This month I took the chords in an A blues progression and played some examples over each chord using some notes outside the standard blues scale. Now the blues scale by itself will work just fine you know the 1 flat3 4 flat 5 5 flat 7 , but adding chord tones is where the really cool tones come in. In Ex.1 I use the 3^rd of A7 which is C# and bend from the 6^th F# to the flat 7 which is G . Ex.2 bend from the 2^nd B to the flat 7 C and also use the 3^rd of D7 which is F# . Ex.3 Pretty basic here, straight A blues scale but works great. Ex.4 Over the D7 using the 3^rd F# and a short chromatic run and ending on the flat 7 C of the chord. In Ex.5 Bend from the flat 3 G to G# the 3^rd and also from the 6 In E C # to D the flat 7. Ex. 6 & 7 work with the 3^rd of the E7 chord and also some chromatic notes. Let’s take a look at each of the chords notes: A7 A C# E G

D7 D F# A C

E7 E G# B D

As you can see the 3^rd of each chord ( other than the B in the E7) is the only note not contained in the standard blues scale but it’s important to keep it in mind when playing over each of the chords. Chromatic notes are great for adding color and chord tones are a good choice for resolving the line. I think once you start to look at each chord and what can be played over them you’ll see that coming up with blues licks is really easy to do and also a good time to work on getting your vibrato in shape. Have fun and dig in to those strings!!

See ya next month!
- Jeff Wilde

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