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Most guitarists are familiar with pentatonic and minor blues forms or boxes as they are sometimes called; they are a very effective way to learn to play acceptable solos on the guitar in a relatively short period of time, but the downside of using these patterns exclusively is that all of our solos sound the same; indeed, these “boxes” of scale become musical cages which trap the future creative guitarist.
A really interesting way to get out of these patterned guitar traps is to use a linear approach to playing scales; when used in conjunction with the standard side patterns of the garden variety, they help the guitarist produce a truly individual style.
The linear approach to playing the blues guitar is not a new concept, in fact all the early blues players used this style of playing as the basis of their musical expression; when you think about it, the original blues players used pocket knives and bottles etc. to mimic the sounds they made with their vocals.
Let’s get to work … we’ll start by playing the “E” blues scale.
Step 1: Learn the notes of the scale.
The notes on the E blues scale are: E – G – A – Bb – B – D – E
Step 2: Play these notes on a single string
Since the guitar has two “E” strings, the following pattern can be played on the first or sixth string.
E blues: played on the first or sixth string
-0-3-5-6-7-10-12 —-
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B blues: played on the second string
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G blues: played on the third string
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D blues: played on the fourth string
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A blues: played on the fifth string
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Points of interest:
1. have you noticed that all designs are the same on every chain?
2. Playing this way improves your “ear” by developing a sense of interval, that is, a feeling of distance from the next note on the fretboard.
3. By using a capo, these same patterns will be transposed very well and effortlessly in the following keys.
Scale transposition:
Capo on the first fret …
E blues scale becomes F
B = C
G = G # / Ab
D = D # / Eb
A = A # / Bb
Capo on the second fret …
The blues scale E becomes F #
B = C #
G = A
D = E
A = B
Once you have familiarized yourself with the linear scale note spacing, try playing the notes in different sequences and most importantly, sing along with the notes as you play them, this will help your brain / hand coordinate.
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Source by Mike P Hayes
