Pulling Riffs Out of Chords

A good place to start when learning various blues riffs is by
relating them to chord forms and shapes on the guitar. In
the session, a G7 barre form at the 3rd fret is used as a
basis for this process.

Form the chord, then think about what fingers are unused
and available to move and what notes they could reach
while still playing the chord.

Several different riffs are demonstrated in the session using this form.

Experiment on your own with this form and others to come up with your own finger
patterns and riffs.

Suggested

Listening

B.B.King (2002)

“Live from the Cook County

Jail”

Muddy Waters (2001)

“The Complete Plantation

Recordings”

Robert Cray (2007)

“Live from Across the

Pond”

Eric Clapton (2004)

“Me and Mr. Johnson”

Robert Johnson (1990)

“The Complete Recordings:

Robert Johnson”

Albert King (1998)

“I’ll Play the Blues for You”

Jack Pearson (1999)

“Jack Pearson”

The Blues Brothers (1978)

“Briefcase Full of Blues”

Jonny Lang (1998)

“Wander This World”

Session 1: Blues Basics

Playing Tip

When learning a new riff...

• Learn the riff using proper fingering.


• Move it to different places on the guitar neck.


• Experiment with different variations.

Blues Guitar with Steve Krenz 18 http://www.learnandmaster.com/bluesresources