Learn How To Play A Blues Solo

The basis of your efforts to play a blues solo will be the minor pentatonic scale. In the key of E, the scale is: E G A B D. Just five notes, but they are all good ones! If you are new to guitar playing you may not be aware of how many different ways you can play five notes.

e—————————–0–3–0——————————-|

B——————–0–3——————-3–0——————–|

G—————0–2—————————–2–0—————|

D———–0–2————————————-2–0———–|

A——0–2———————————————–2–0——|

E-0–3———————————————————3–0-|

Here is a diagram of the A minor pentatonic scale, and here is a similar diagram with a tutorial on improvising with the pentatonic scale.

You could start the ball rolling by trying to copy riffs by your favorite players, but the sooner you start moving away from what is known, the sooner you begin to put your own stamp on your playing. Take a look at where the notes are on the neck. You can play in straight lines or you can cross from one string to another or move from down low on the neck to up high. Try some variations and see what you like.

As you work your way up and down, and in and out of the minor pentatonic scale, you will get an understanding of the way the notes fit together. This will help you to recognize what the guitar players on your CDs are doing.

You can also mix the minor pentatonic scale with the major pentatonic. The notes you have to play with will now be: E F# G G# A B C# D. You can also add a flatted fifth – called a “blue” note. In the key of E, this will be Bb. Your notes will now be E F# G G# A Bb B C# D.

This video shows a fine example of a simple blues guitar solo: