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Blues Guitar Theory

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There’s not much theory connected with blues guitar but there certainly is a lot of discussion and a great deal of misunderstanding. Look at blues in the key of E. Some guitarists assume that the basic scale for playing blues music in this key would be the E minor pentatonic with flattened fifth. Your chords would be E, A and B or I IV and V. The fact is that most blues guitar players use a mixture of scales when they play solos.

The Mixolydian scale is similar to the major scale but it has a flattened seventh and the root note is the fifth note of the key you are playing in. So if you are playing in the key of E the Mixolydian scale starts at B.

You can get some understanding of how to use the Mixolydian scale in blues improvisation by playing the major scale a perfect fifth below the chord you are playing. So to use the Mixolydian over an A chord you play the D major scale, but beginning with the note A.

Here’s a video featuring the Mixolydian scale:

It’s really better to approach the blues through playing rather than theorizing. Once you are able to play basic twelve bar blues using the minor pentatonic scale, you should learn some turnarounds which are the bits at the end of the twelve bars that set you up for the next verse.

Here is a turnaround in A . . .

Start by trying to imitate what you hear on records. Even if you think your solos don’t sound very good, you will be amazed at how much better they sound once you have mastered a few turnarounds.

When you are learning the art of improvisation you can play single notes on a guitar or you can play chords. For a solo guitar player there’s a choice between playing an improvised solo over a chord progression or you can play single note melody accompanied by base notes on open bass strings. Here’s a video guitar lesson featuring the minor pentatonic, the blues scale and the mixolydian mode:

Playing a single note tune accompanied by bass notes on one or two open strings helps train your ear and, with regular practice, gives you the knack of letting the notes follow each other under your guidance. The intensity of performing with other musicians in front of an audience often kills the most valuable quality an improvising guitarist can develop – the ability to listen to and respond to the music that the singer, bass player, drummer and rhythm guitarist are making.


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Related posts:

  1. Learning The Blues On Guitar
  2. Twelve bar blues shuffle
  3. The Twelve Bar Blues Chord Progression
  4. The Blues Scale For Guitar
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Comments

2 Responses to “Blues Guitar Theory”

  1. anuj
    April 16th, 2009 @ 1:23 pm

    some great lessons on this site!!!
    i am already on my third lesson and i cant stop watching these great vidoes and reading these great lessons…
    You guys have put up an amazing site here thanx a lot for helping

  2. The Blues Solo And How To Learn How To Play It | How to play guitar today
    March 4th, 2011 @ 12:17 am

    [...] Blues Guitar Theory There’s not much theory connected with blues guitar but there… [...]

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