Blues Licks

Blues licks in E are so common, and its such a widely used key anyways, I thought I’d break out another lick in E. This lick is a great shuffle lick in 6/8. It works by using repeated notes (the b7th) and adding a little more color after each pass.

The final bit works around the 9th, another popular dominant extension, before landing on a classic minor 3rd. This lick doesn’t even touch a major 3rd, its minor pentatonic/blues to the core! That slightly unusual for Clapton, who loves to add those major flourishes.

If you’ve ever heard the intro to the SRV tune Pride and Joy (you’re at a blues lick site, so that question should be a little redundant…) you’ll likely remember the awesome turnaround lick Stevie played right before the first verse. If you need a reminder, just check out the blues licks love at Last.fm.

Remember that these sort of licks are blues shuffles, so each eighth note should be heavily swung. This is also one of those blues licks that should be repeatedly played until you have the feel, there are no real good tips for playing it.

In part one of blues bass lines I had you playing a Bb blues progression using a basic chord-tone approach based predominantly on the root-third-fifth-seventh. However, we can use scale tones to move more seamlessly between chords and employ the upper register for a more interesting sound. Listen to the live audio mp3 before moving on.

Pay attention to the first 3 measures: the bass line continues to ascend while always managing to hit the root note on the downbeat of each chord change. Notice the use of the open strings when available, this can free up your fretting hand and allow it to move into a more comfortable position. The bass line begins to ascend once again on the Dm7 chord and peaks at the F7 before coming back down and finally wrapping up with the turnaround.

(Note: I mistakenly played a minor third instead of a major third on the G7 in measure 8, see if you can hear the difference!)

I’ve only recently gotten into playing bass, and I especially love swing jazz over a blues progression. Bass lines in most styles of music aren’t supposed to be in your face; they’re at their best when they sit perfectly behind the band and lay down a solid rhythmic and harmonic structure. Listen to the live audio mp3 before moving on.

Today’s lick is a perfect example of a bass line that sits in the pocket with quarter note after quarter note of juicy walking bass. It follows more closely a root-third-fifth-seventh model, or chord tones, but there are a few examples of bump notes. Playing the root note on the downbeat of a chord change is vital because it lays the foundation for the harmonic structure that the progression relies on.

Pay close attention to the patterns you play in this example, they will be useful over other keys and chord progressions as well. In part two of blues bass lines, we will explore a walking approach and move away from the first position.

So far I’ve featured a ton of licks that sat on the I chord or IV chord of a blues progression, but I hadn’t said much about the all important turnaround. So today, I thought I’d show off a classic Stevie Ray Vaughan blues lick in C on the turnaround. Check out the song at Last.fm at about 0:47 into the first chorus for the lick in real, original audio.

The lick starts with a classic bend on the minor third before outlining a few key pentatonic notes and dropping off with a short slide. Another slide (6/11: filler really) leads into the important chromatic rise to the V chord that outlines the root and the dominant seventh (10th fret notes) of the G7 or V chord. Really just a classic, killer blues lick for a great finish to a chorus.

Duane Allman was best known for his killer slide guitar playing, however, he was undoubtedly one of the better players when it came to traditional fretting and could play a mean blues lick. Live At Fillmore East is an epic Allman Brothers album and featured an awesome guitar solo by Duane on Stormy Monday.

You can check out the full Stormy Monday track at Last.fm where the solo starts at 3:35. You’ll hear this particular blues lick over the IV chord or C9 chord about 4 seconds into the solo. The lick works over a traditional blues scale but flirts with the major 3rd of the C chord with the full bend on the 10th fret (high E string) and the drop to the 9th fret (G string).

I might be a little biased, but Jimi Hendrix is undoubtedly one of the greatest guitarists to ever live, if not THE greatest. He was immensely influential and is the original guitar god. This lick is lifted straight from one of my favorite blues intros ever, Red House.

If you listen to the original Red House, you’ll be able to catch this lick at 0:24 in the song, right when the band drops back to the root chord (I chord=B chord). This little blues lick has impeccible, unique phrasing and is a hidden gem among the many flashy and wild licks that Jimi was known to play.

This is one of the most famous blues/rock licks of all time. Played by Dwayne Allman from the Allman brothers and not Eric Clapton, this lick kicks off one of the most epic tunes ever.

Played in D minor, the lick to Layla perfectly outlines the 5th, b7th, root and b3rd. Watching the bends on both the 13th and 15th frets, they should be full bends that release fully as well. The basic lick simply loops around, but try adding your own little flavor.

Pretty much every guitarist knows about and appreciates Stevie’s work on guitar. He was a genuine guitar god with real soul. His solo in Mary Had a Little Lamb, originally by Buddy guy, shows his wonderful prowess on guitar.

The great thing about SRV was that he used unique, groovy, and sometimes funky flavors in his licks. A lot of blues is composed of single note lines, but this lick features a high E drone and a moving melody line that was just killer. Check out the solo in the actual song to get a feel for the lick.

Here is a classic double stop lick from the original old time blues legend Chuck Berry. The key to this lick is an early hit, just a hair before the 1st and 3rd beat that invokes a “push-shuffle” feel. The first lick is over the Bb7 chord, or I chord in Bb blues and features a full bend. The second double-stop is for the Eb7 chord or IV chord and features a half bend that lands on the major 3rd.

Check out Chuck’s great solo in his live version of Johnny B. Goode, he starts at 1:39 and you can hear the first I chord lick as he duck steps across the stage. You can also hear the IV chord lick as he does some interesting dance moves at around 2:01.