Blues Variations

GENERAL

Many electric guitar players learn to solo by starting out with the familiar 12-bar blues. The limited chordal palette and the predictable I-IV-V* structure make it ideal for learning to improvise, and for many of us, playing the blues becomes a 'first love' that stays with us for the rest of our playing days. Although we nearly all start out using the familiar I-IV-V chord structure (for example E-A-B in the key of E) there's a universe of variations out there that can add more colour and variety to your soloing, without losing the essential bluesy feel.

I've gathered together a bunch of them for this Jam Track Central set, and made up a couple of my own using some of my favourite chord extensions and changes that I've come across over the years. Most riffs and licks that work in a I-IV-V twelve-bar will still work in these, except for the odd diminished or augmented chord, where you'll need to be aware of which are the 'safe' notes and which aren't. You can work this out in advance by analysing the chord sequences, or just trust your ear to alert you in time. Of course, it is these departures from the expected that create some of the expanded soloing possibilities, but even if you are not feeling adventurous, you'll find that familiar and well-used phrases take on a new lease of life when the chords underneath them move in more complex ways.

There's nothing technically demanding in any of my solos in this set - I've gone for feel rather than flash, because that's how I like my blues, but the second or third time through, I've sometimes explored a few of the more outside options, without getting too far from the genre. You can do what you like, of course, but if you try to 'play the changes' all the way through some of these, you may end up sounding like someone playing bebop very slowly rather than an ace blues player!

I've kept the backing tracks fairly sparse to maximise your options for taking the track wherever you want it to go, but there is just the odd interjection from the piano or backing guitar now and again to make you feel that you don't have to fill every space yourself. The Jam Tracks follow the structure of the solo tracks exactly, so if there are two sequences, with a roll around the

'resolve' (the two or four bars where the sequence comes to a natural conclusion) on the second time through, then the Jam Track will have that variation every other time, so you should always know where you are when improvising. The only variation on that is the couple that begin with a full or partial set of 'resolve' chords, - logically, this is mirrored in the Jam Track by only appearing at the start of the first sequence. I've made the Jam Tracks a little bit longer than usual too, so you've got time to develop a bit of structure in your soloing, if you choose to, perhaps starting off with some sparse, 'feel' playing and building up to an exciting finale!

[* THE NUMBERS SYSTEM

I've used the conventional of the 'numbers system' for naming chords... upper-case Roman numerals represent major chords. For example, in the key of E, the fifth note of the scale would be B, so the B major chord would be shown as V, and A major as IV. Minor chords are denoted with lower-case numerals. In the key of A, F#m is vi.

The reason for this is because the function of a chord is the same, whatever key you're in the V chord in E major has the same function as the V chord in Bb major.]