Session 3 : Blues Building Blocks

Ear Training: Soloing with Two Notes

• Solo using the root and 6th in any octave. Before you play, find the 6th to root combination
  in every octave. As you solo, vary the rhythms and octaves. (Patterns that use open strings are
  omitted from the chart below.) Here is the 6th going to the root in the key of G.

Finger Patterns & Combinations

There are many places on guitar where one melodic idea can be put into several places on the instrument
using the same finger pattern. Using the same finger pattern in a variety of places is very useful when playing
guitar and soloing. Common finger patterns occur because the strings of the guitar are mostly tuned in
fourths. The distance from low 6th string E to 5th string A is an interval of a fourth. This is also true from the
5th string A to the 4th string D and from the 4th string D to the 3rd string G. It also happens from the 2nd
string B to the 1st string E.

The only pair of adjacent strings that this does not occur on is between the 3rd string G and the 2nd string B.
Between these two strings is the interval of a 3rd.

Notice in the diagram above that the fingering combinations are the same for each pattern on adjacent strings
except patterns that are on the 3rd and 2nd string.

This means that you can play a melody on adjacent strings and everywhere (except the 3rd to 2nd strings) that
melody can be played with the same finger pattern in any octave on the instrument.

Experiment with playing melodic ideas in different places all over the instrument using finger patterns as your
guide.

Playing Tip

Any lick played on two adjacent strings can be played using the

same fingering combination. The only exception is a lick using

the 3rd and 2nd string. All others share the same finger pattern.

For practice, work out a lick that you like, then put it on every

string and finger combination that you can find.

Blues Guitar with Steve Krenz 43 http://www.learnandmaster.com/bluesresources