Blues Solo Construction Kit - Shuffle Feel

mountain man

mountain man

Still got the Blues!
Well I just spent 2 hours this morning on the 5 position 1 licks. I decided to buckle down and actually work on the timing and count out loud as best as I could. Also tap my foot (which is much easier that counting).

It is difficult to count quarter's, eight's, sixteenth's, and then switch to triplets in the middle of a measure, and then switch back again. Did I say counting? Ya, and then add playing the guitar to it!!! ha ha ha......... .:ROFLMAO:
 
mpaq

mpaq

Canfield, Ontario, Canada
I'm also forcing myself to count it because I know it will be good for me especially when I try to put those licks on a different track than what came with the course. Not getting too hung up on it though, I'll rely on my intuitive senses and just get them to fit and learn the licks for now. Otherwise it will end up being yet another unfinished course on my bookshelf:)
 
mountain man

mountain man

Still got the Blues!
mpaq said:
I'm also forcing myself to count it because I know it will be good for me especially when I try to put those licks on a different track than what came with the course. Not getting too hung up on it though, I'll rely on my intuitive senses and just get them to fit and learn the licks for now. Otherwise it will end up being yet another unfinished course on my bookshelf:)
Click to expand...
I generally finish all the courses that I start. As far as remembering them that's another story. I can remember a few licks but I generally take fundamentals and concepts forward. My efforts to remember most have been illusive........... o_O
 
mpaq

mpaq

Canfield, Ontario, Canada
Well I seldom finish them...meaning before I get onto the next but I always come back to them at some point. Whenever I get stuck or just in a funk I move on to keep myself engaged. When I come back it never seems as hard as I found it initially. I hate counting but I e stopped saying " I'll never be able to get that". Hell i can remember when I used to say that about bar chords! The memory thing though....that's another story...:confused:
 
mountain man

mountain man

Still got the Blues!
I am pleased to say that this same lesson took me much less time today. And I off course did my normal bit of noodling around as I always do. Maybe that's why yesterday took me so long too............ Part of my focus involves lack of focus........ and noodling around to see how the new licks fit with the licks I learned in the last course. :Beer:
 
Last edited:
R

RILonghorn

Blues Newbie
I just started on Saturday and absolutely love this concept! I created my own solo picking and choosing from each of the 5 lick options across the 5 positions and was amazed! It worked!! Now I am trying to build off that and add another lick here and there to expand my solo options. I am working on the Jam Track in C to get the licks down before I venture to the Jam Track in G. This is such a great way of learning licks and learning how to improvise. Way to go Griff on another outstanding course! I really love the Joe Bonamassa and Robert Cray licks!
 
reconbuzzard

reconbuzzard

Blues Newbie
yes finally this great concept from griff , love the 12 bar format also in some other courses the
very long solos just took up so much time and led to frustration before accomplishment finally
won over , This is how I originally improved my bass playing over the years, check out this pdf
from the Univ of S Carolina by Bert Ligon back in the 90s it is freely available from their web site as well if you can navigate it, it uses single bar quarternote patterns to give you 244,140,625.
yes 244,140,625 choices for your bass lines for the blues in a key. Bb yep I love Bb, just transpose it to the keys of your choice heres one for KEY of F too
if you ever play with a piano player or some brass you will be asked to play in these two keys often I'm sure
 

Attachments

  • Bert_Ligon_244_Million_Bass_Lines_B_Flat.pdf
    19.9 KB · Views: 31
  • Bert_Ligon_244_Million_Bass_Lines_F.pdf
    25.1 KB · Views: 14
Last edited:
R

RILonghorn

Blues Newbie
reconbuzzard said:
yes finally this great concept from griff , love the 12 bar format also in some other courses the
very long solos just took up so much time and led to frustration before accomplishment finally
won over , This is how I originally improved my bass playing over the years, check out this pdf
from the Univ of S Carolina by Bert Ligon back in the 90s it is freely available from their web site as well if you can navigate it, it uses single bar quarternote patterns to give you 244,140,625.
yes 244,140,625 choices for your bass lines for the blues in a key. Bb yep I love Bb, just transpose it to the keys of your choice heres one for KEY of F too
if you ever play with a piano player or some brass you will be asked to play in these two keys often I'm sure
Click to expand...

I can't figure out if I would have preferred this approach earlier on or if I am just finally at a stage where I can appreciate this! Regardless I love it and once I learn the 30 licks (25 from the course and another 5 from a follow on video email of Griff's) I plan to continue to add to this library by incorporating licks from the courses and the Solos from the Masters. That should give me quite a few choices to choose from! The bass line concept makes sense as well and when I finally get my blues band together I'll share this with my bassist!! Bb is an awesome key and I know BB King liked it as well. It is a sweet slow blues key that allows you to built the emotion. Thanks for the bass lines!
 
mpaq

mpaq

Canfield, Ontario, Canada
Couldn't agree more Longhorn! Such a refreshing change to my practice routine. It's a very practical approach and I feel like I've accomplished something after a session...unlike some boring drills type of course.
 
luckylarry

luckylarry

Student Of The Blues
Sounded good to me Mike. I really like the tone. It is kinda of echo/reverb slap back. But I only know when I like things. LOL Again that was pretty cool.
 
mountain man

mountain man

Still got the Blues!
Mike, I just listened to both of these efforts! You did a great job setting the bar for us and so quickly! I don't expect to be there for a while. I've got Maj min Blues Shapes, Building a Better Blues Solo, and now this one clanking around in my head got me wondering which and where to go. Besides, I still have to load my recording software............ I've really been procrastinating on that. No, really! o_O
 
Last edited:
Silicon Valley Tom

Silicon Valley Tom

It makes me happpy to play The Blues!
mtman said:
Mike, I just listened to both of these efforts! You did a great job setting the bar for us and so quickly! I don't expect to be there for a while. I've got Maj min Blues Shapes, Building a Better Blues Solo, and now this one clanking around in my head got me wondering which and where to go. Besides, I still have to load my recording software............ I've really been procrastinating on that. No, really! o_O
Click to expand...
Really nice job Mike! You are a good salesman, too. This looks like fun. :)

Tom
 
JestMe

JestMe

Student Of The Blues
Sounds great Mike... Well done. If I didn't already buy BSCK I would now. Thanks for sharing!
 
MikeS

MikeS

Student Of The Blues
Staff member
Well, Tom, I'm anything BUT a salesman. Of course an enthusiastic customer is always the best salesman.
When I'm looking for something to "take me to the next level" Griff always manages to hit the mark.

When I was just starting with the first few BGU solos, I'd memorize them, but they weren't getting me to the place where I would play in public. He came out with SWS and viola! I started seeing things that I could put together on the fly.

When I started memorizing solos from 5EBA, 5MEBS, BGIAB... They were amazing... in one or two songs each, but I couldn't translate that to something that I could use beyond that.
Now he has the BSCK and (at lest so far) it's looking like EXACTLY what I need.

Why is BSCK any different? Why does it make it easier to use what I've learned? I think it has to do with the fact that Griff is forcing me to learn the LICKS.
In all the other solo oriented courses, I learned the solos, one or two bars at a time, then I'd add another one or two to the previous until it was done. That worked great for me learning an entire solo, but the bits and pieces that I was learning weren't "complete" licks so I never saw a way to put them in any other context.
 
Wildwood

Wildwood

Playin' Blues
Really good explanation Mike. I haven't gotten to deep into the course yet but your response makes me want to go back to working on 5EBS again. Thanks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top