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Insplration forourblueslicks comes fromsources asdlverse asBBKinq, provided Llghtnln'Hopkins SRV andRobben Ford. Licks 1to I0 were by DaveKilminster while1I to 20comefromGuthrieGovan...
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saywhatreallymakesblues'blues'.Of coursewe all knowthat it cameftom the 'call and response'songs O O a O O A ll e v e l s or'hollers' of slavesworking in the fieldsof America's deepsouth.We alsoknowthat itbroke v Blue5 vo(abulary -primarily manyacceptedmusical'rules' TEMPO: Various !l5lyli5tic awarenest that a dominant chordcouldbe usedasa'I' CD:TRACKs 11-13 u Blues knowledge chord and a'W'chord, aswell asthe OUR D\'IJAMIC DUO hasa fantasticbagof traditionallyaccepted'V' chord.Thiswas greatblueslicksfor you to getto grips with almosta musicalc me backin the daybut this month. Theyspan ghtacrossthe our earshavebecomeso usedto it thal wc decadesand coverjust aboutanystylethat now acceptand think no more ofit, in many couldbe termedblues.Sowehaveacoustic, ifnot most modernt ?es ofpopular music. wehaveslide.we haveclassicMississippi. Bluesis oneofthe mostpopularstyles Chicago,Texasand evena bit ofSurrey for guitarists,for a numberofreasons. Delta.We alsohavesomemore First, to get a halfdecentsologoingyoucan sophisticatedideaswherethebluespalette relyon a coupleorthree positionsofa scale hasbeencolourfullytinted with a bit ofjazz that literallyfalls underthe fingers- the and other diverseinfluences. Apaft from a fewwell-knownchord sequences and feels,likethe standard shuffleor rz/8 slowballad,it's not easyto
TECHNIQUEFOCUS TIGHTBUTLOOSE
Theterm tight butloose is often usedto describethe generally'la2y'feelthat characterises blues,bluesystylesor bluesy bands.TakeThe Stones:no one would considerthem to be th e t ightestoutfit around,but allthoseapparently'loose' playerstogether makethe most amazing noise.Mostgreatbluesplayersplayslightly behindthe beat - itl almostimperceptible but it makesthesoundseemrelaxed-or pleasandy lazy.Playingaheadofthe beat canmakethe listenerfeeljittery andthat's not what bluesisabout.Usinga metronome, playa few ofyourfavourite licksand seeif you can deliberatelyplayaheadofthe beat and then behind it. Forblues,you'll soon see that'tight but loose'isthe way to go.
greatPaul Kossoffdid.Slightlyrnore sophisticatedplayersadd 6ths and gths to the scale- David Gilmour, CarlosSantana etc - while real blues'musos'havebecorne releasedfrom the confinesofscale-based playingand usethe guitar neckasa playgroundfor any musicalideathey can think of, wherethe fingersplayexactly what the headcanhear - RobbenFord, Larry Carlton,Matt SchofieldandJohn Scofield,ScottHendersonand Mike Stem are ramesthat fall intothis category.Then there'sslide,with everyonefrom Robert Johnsonto DerekTrucksand Sonny Landrethfinding a uniquevoicewith it. So,bluesis a hugesubjectforguitansts. Daveand Guthrie'slicks covcrasmuch ground asis feasiblein a six-pagefeature. Bluesloverswill expandtheirvocabulary bygoing through eachlick, to drawoutthe nuancesthat makeeachplayer'sstyle so distinctive.Happy bluesing!E
ll Blues lovers will expand theirvocabulary bygoing through each lick,to dnawouteach playeds tt nuanoes minorpentatonic. Manylegendshaveused little more than lhis scalethroughouttheir entire careers,but managedtostampout instant personalitywithit - PeterGreen and StevieRayVaughanfor instance. Othershaveaugmentedpentatonicswith noteslike the bSto createthebluesscale;or addedinthe majorthirdtounderlinetheI chord in a majorblues- FreddieKing and Clapton,ofcourse.Othem,likeBB King, mix najor and minor pentatonicswhiie some- Albert Collins,RoryGallagheretctargetstrongtonesin eachofthe chords. Othersenployspeedasa personalitytrait - the devastatingGaryMooreand Alvin l,ee areobviouschoices;orvibrato, asthelate,
TRACI( REC(IR|) g00dold'greatesthits'packagie I4rithsucha hugerange0fbluesstylesat ourdisp0salthe is aneasy, and0ftenveraoheap, Ytayt0 stockuponartistswhose w0rkyou'dllkeagoodgonsral overvlevr of.0f courso, thes€daystheInternotallonsyouto lookupblues sitesandtnd outwhich s0ngs exemplify each artist,soyouoandovnload specific tracksviaiTunes beforc committingto awh0le album. /ro GuitalTechniques Octobef2009
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