The great thing about playing the blues is that it’s so easy to get into. Learn a quick scale shape and a few techniques and you can jump right into playing some great music. Unfortunately, that’s also the problem… A lot of blues guitarists stop there and end up stuck in a rut with their blues guitar solos. So in this lesson, we’ll look at a great trick for getting out of it!
To start, we’ll take a look at the standard 12-bar blues progression. This is the foundation for everything you play. We’ll be playing in the key of “A Blues”, so our progression will be A, D, and E. With the first jam track, we’ll only be playing over the “1 chord” which is an A. Progressively, we’ll add more chords to the track.
To do this, we’ll be using the standard blues scale shape. This is a shape you’ll really want to spend time with. It’s a great “home-base” for your guitar solos. Many great blues players over the decades have built entire careers around this shape alone.
As you go through each variation of the track, your main goal will be to play the root note of each passing chord. Just doing this will help give your solos structure and do a better job of implying the chord you’re playing over. Add this to your daily practice routine and you’ll notice your solos will improve dramatically in just a few weeks!
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