Lyle: Now try playing a basic rhythm to the whole 12 bar progression. Strum down on the first beat of each measure. There are 4 beats in each measure.





Lyle: If you can play rhythm riff 1, that means you are jammin' the blues! As easy as it is, it still sounds cool.

Lyle: Once you think you're ready, try playing right along to the looping jam track.

Lyle: Let's try playing the G7, C7, and D7 a different way, which will give you a different sound. This way uses your thumb for the bass note!



G7 with thumb


Lyle: Mute the 5th, 2nd, and 1st strings by simply relaxing your grip.

andrey: With what finger should I mute the 5th string?

Lyle: Many old school blues players use this chord shape. Jimi Hendrix used his thumb many times to play chord shapes.

Lyle: Mute the 5th string with either the tip of your index finger or the tip of your thumb.

Lyle: The nice thing about this chord shape is that you can slide it around the neck to get to any other dominant chord. The root is on the 6th string. Here's the whole progression using this chord shape:





len: That shape is going to take some serious work over here :)

Lyle: It is a little harder to play than using just the open chords so beware.

Lyle: Now you have two ways to play a basic rhythm to this chord progression.

Lyle: The best scale to use to solo with against this blues jam might be the Gm Blues scale:



Lyle: In the next lesson you'll learn some real cool blues licks and a solo or two using this very scale.

Lyle: For now you can play this scale ascending and descending against the 12 bar progression. You did this in the key of A in an earlier lesson. Now try it here in the key of G:





Lyle: Can everyone play the Gm Blues solo in time with the TAB or jam track?

Pacer: yup

Bob: Yeah

John_G: Yep -- got it :)

paulb: pretty much yes

andrey: yes, it's ok

Lyle: Good! It can be a little bit of a challenge for some beginners.

Lyle: Next lesson you'll be working on cool blues riffs with bends, hammer-ons, and pull-offs, using this scale and jam track. We'll put together a good solo or two.

Lyle: That's all for this lesson. Thanks everyone, see you at the next lesson!