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Cool Practice (Blues Guitar
Lesson) Will Landrum |
I remember when I first started
playing I told my teacher "I want to play something that sounds cool!" So I
figured that you're thinking the same thing. :^)
Here is the tab for a very
common blues progression in A that not only sounds cool, but will stretch and exercise
your fingers at the same time.
A
--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
--7--7--9--7--|--7--7--9--7--|--7--7--9--7--|--7--7--9--7--|
--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--5--|
D
--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
--7--7--9--7--|--7--7--9--7--|--7--7--9--7--|--7--7--9--7--|
--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--5--|
--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
A
--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
--7--7--9--7--|--7--7--9--7--|--7--7--9--7--|--7--7--9--7--|
--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--5--|
E
D
--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
--9--9--11-9--|--9--9--11-9--|--7--7--9--7--|--7--7--9--7--|
--7--7--7--7--|--7--7--7--7--|--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--5--|
--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
A
E
--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
--------------|--------------|--9--9--9--9--|--9--9--9--9--|
--------------|--------------|--9--9--9--9--|--9--9--9--9--|
--7--7--9--7--|--7--7--9--7--|--7--7--7--7--|--7--7--7--7--|
--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--5--|--------------|--------------|
* Play the last two
measures of the E chord with your 1st finger on the 7th fret and your 3rd finger barring
the two notes on the 9th fret.
(Repeat)
Play it for a couple of
days and make sure you are not getting any fret buzz by pushing hard enough on the
strings. Your pinky will probably be the most difficult.
Once you have a feel for it, get your tape recorder and record it. Repeat it about 4 times
if you can, without wearing out your grip. Don't worry if it's not perfect! This is
practice.
Now once you've got it on tape, and rested a little while, play the following A Pentatonic
scale forward and backward against what you have just recorded. Voila! Instant jam
session!
A C D
E G A C D E
G A C
------------------------------------------5---8---
----------------------------------5---8-----------
--------------------------5---7-------------------
------------------5---7---------------------------
----------5---7-----------------------------------
--5---8-------------------------------------------
Memorizing both the progression and
the scale is imperative if you want to learn to improvise. To improvise this scale, just
start mixing up the order in which you play the notes. Skip strings too. Try playing one
note per string. This is how songs are born!
Practice both of these diligently and the next thing you know, your fingers will be able
to handle even more challenging tasks.

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