Lead Guitar Tactics

Archive for April, 2010

Here is a blues based video that I did in response to a couple of
questions and or comments. It is based on a song by Johnny A
and in order to avoid legal issues I did my own thing.

It also addresses the issue of combining lead and rhythm.

Click Here To Download This Video

Click Here To Download The PDF

And here is the jam track…

Click Here To Download The Backing Track

Be sure to leave any questions or comments you might have.

Best Wishes,

Bob

Popularity: 74% [?]

The problem is, I’m not creative…

Ok, I have heard this a bunch recently. And I have to tell you, it really bothers me. I’m sure that you have been creative in some way, in some part of your life.

Have you ever planned a family vacation? Or how about writing some kind of a report when you were in school? If you have kids I’m sure you have exercised your creativity a bunch of times. The problem is, you just don’t think of yourself as being creative when it comes to playing the guitar or a guitar solo.

I want to take a look at the definition of creativity again. The dictionary defines it as… the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination: creativity in the performing arts.

Now what the heck does that mean? Let me see if I can show you by example. Take a look at the opening lick from Freebird again.

Now how are you going to apply some creativity to this? According to the definition you have transcend patterns, create new ideas, interpretations etc. Suppose you were to take this idea and chop it up into smaller segments. maybe something like this.

Segment 1

Segment 2

Segment 3

I randomly decided to split the lick up where I did. It sorta made sense to my brain to do it in these spots because they felt like natural spots to split it up, but you could do it in other places as well. Can you do this? Sure you can.

Now what? If you think of the original lick being played as segments in the order 1, 2 and 3, what would happen if we changed them around. How about 2, 3 and 1? Or 1,3 and 2? Or how about 3, 1 and then 2?
Starting to get the idea?

There really are no rules when it comes to this. You just have to play around and see what you can come up with. Will everything you try sound great? Not at all. I play plenty of things that just aren’t quite right but that doesn’t stop me. It the good ones that you stumble on that make it wirth the time and effort.

And, the more you do this the easier it gets. This is just an example of taking an idea and seeing how much you can get out of it. Try it and see. Use this lick or one that already know and split it up. Twist it around and see what you can come up with.

And son’t forget about changing up the rhythm. I will show you some examples of that in the next lesson. In the meantime, put these ideas to use immediately. You just never know what you might come up with.

Here’s the backing track for this lesson.

Blues In E

Best Wishes,

Bob

Popularity: 48% [?]

This video lesson demonstrates the use of the pentatonic/blues scale over a blues in G. I point out the advantages as well as some of the trouble spots you can encounter when using these scales.

In the video I mention that the pentatonic scale works great over the blues because it contains enough chord tones from each chord to pretty much keep you out of trouble. To make that a little easier to digest here it is in chart form. I am using a G minor pentatonic scale and a 12 bar blues in G for this example.

As you can see the pentatonic scale shares 3 notes with the G7 chord. The other 2 notes (Bb and C) are not in the chord. The Bb is actually accepted as sounding Ok for the most part. Compared to the G major scale and the G7 chord it is known as a flatted third.

We have heard it so many times in the blues that our ear treats it as a normal sound. It’s the minor third sounding against the major third that gives it the characteristic blues sound. In fact, it’s the flatted third and the flatted 5th from the blues scale that actually define the blues sound.

It’s the C that you have to be careful with. It’s the 4th note from the G major scale. If you remember the G major jam video, the 4th of the scale has a strong tendency to resolve to the 3rd. It’s the same in the blues. It doesn’t mean you can’t play the note. Any note in a scale sounds fine when you move through the scale. It’s the notes you choose to land on and hold that you have to be watch out for.

The C7 chord also shares three notes with the pentatonic scale. Of the remaining two notes (D and F), it’s the F you have to watch out for. The D is the 2nd or 9th against a C7 chord and a perfectly acceptable sound. The F is the 4th and cause the same problems discussed above.

The 4th against a chord wants to resolve to the third because the interval between the two notes is a half step. A half step or minor second creates a lot of dissonance.

The D7 chord only shares two notes with the pentatonic scale. Of the remaining notes the Bb and F can sometimes work. The Bb is a b6 or #5 against the D7 chord and the F is a #9. You have to let your ears guide you in this instance. If the harmony instrument (another guitar or keyboard) is playing a D9 chord, there will be some tension created.

The G is the 4th against the D7 chord. As usual, the 4th creates problems for the reasons already discussed. As you might have guessed by now, I am not a big fan of landing on the 4th against a chord. In the next lesson I will get more into the use of chord tones. Until then…

If you have any questions or comments be sure to leave them.

Popularity: 57% [?]

This video lesson demonstrates the use of the pentatonic/blues scale with emphasis on hitting the chord tones. By using the chord tones we add a new dimension to the blues and also hint at the use of modes over each chord.

Picking up where the last lesson left off I want to get into the use of chord tones in the blues. As stated in the last lesson you can get by playing the blues using just the pentatonic/blues scale. Go ahead and take a second to review that lesson if you need to.

In the chart below I have spelled out each of the chords used in a blues in G. In comparing the chord tones to the pentatonic scale you can see that it’s the 3rd of each chord that make up the primary difference. In other words, those notes are not found in the pentatonic scale, just in the chords.

If you watch the video you will notice that when the chords change I target the thirds. Landing on the third really creates a strong signal that we are on a new chord. If you don’t take anything else away from this lesson, learn the locations of the thirds.

By using these chord tones we are hinting at the use of modes, specifically the mixolydian mode. I don’t want to get into this at the moment because I want to keep things simple. In fact, my thinking for most of this solo is still pentatonic/blues scale with the chord tones (especially the thirds) as a target. We will get much deeper into the modes and some other scales in future lessons.

Below are the diagrams for each chord. That are all played in the same general area of the neck. The lowest fret in each diagram is the second fret. The roots are red, 3rds are green, 5ths are orange and the 7ths are blue. Learn them well.

Once again, as you watch the video, pay close attention the the use of the thirds. I know I said this above but it’s important.

If you have any questions or comments please leave them below.
You can also download the backing track below.

Slow Blues In G

Popularity: 32% [?]

This video demonstrates playing without any support from a backing track. It shows the importance of knowing the location of the chord tones. By leaning on the chord tones you are able to make it sound like you are playing through the chords where none exist.

Here is the transcription of the first chorus to the blues I played in the video.

Solo Blues Tab Chorus 1

And an analysis of the first chorus.

Solo Blues Analysis 1

Popularity: 66% [?]