Play a Blues Rock
This upbeat blues-rock backing track has the harmony and song form of the blues, but the rhythm carries a “straight-8th” rock feel. That means there's no shuffle.
The use of the dom7♯5 chord gives the whole tune a bit of an edge.
There is also a stop in this tune. The band drops out in measure 10, but the soloist (that’s you!) should keep going.
The Accompaniment Pattern
Materials to Use
The rock feel of this track make the minor pentatonic scale a good choice, though the blues scale will work well also.
Basic Scales
C Minor Pentatonic
C Blues Scale
Backing Track
Practice playing the riff notated earlier along with the track. Play the chord s along with the track. Finally, start the track over and improvise your own solo.
Exercises
- Play the chords C7♯9, F7, and G7 along with the track.
- If you know any other versions of these chords, try those instead.
- Play the C blues scale along with the track, in time.
- Play the C pentatonic minor scale along with the track, in time.
- Be sure to play along with the riff indicated in the notation above.
- Develop 2-3 short melodies using the scales. Each melody should consist of 5-10 notes. Play the melodies with the track.
As the creator of Hub Guitar, Grey has compiled hundreds of guitar lessons, written several books, and filmed hundreds of video lessons. He teaches private lessons in his Boston studio, as well as via video chat through TakeLessons.