Recently I spent a lot of time listening to Red House by Jimi Hendrix, as well as slow blues by Johnny Winter, SRV, and Gary Moore…
And I found a really interesting commonality that I could never put my finger on before but I finally figured out a way to make a “rule” out of it for you. Because with a lot of things like this, it really helps to have a rule or 2 to lean on at first until you get it down for yourself and can start messing about with it.
What I noticed is that a lot of blues players will play something in time (with the beats,) and then follow it with something that is out of time and just rapid-fire… they just play it as fast as they can.
But then they wait for the band to come around and either go back into time, or possibly do another rapid-fire lick if it sounds good there.
Obviously this is easier to show than tell so watch the video and I put the TAB for the lick under the video and downloads in case you want it.
78 replies to "Slow Blues Trick – In And Out Of Time"
This is one of those riffs where starting on Beat 1 is more than OK. “Are you the call, or the response?” One can be both! Even in the same solo!
Wouldn’t it make more sense to simply play in double time? IE the same lick is now played as septuplets 2x as fast rather than “out of time?”
It’s “Unique to Blues”, and clearly integral to Jimi’s sound on Red House. == Here, Griff plays so we can hear the forward leap, though not nearly as skillfully as Jimi. It’s also called pushing the beat. Which brings up another rudiment; you ‘lead’ by falling back, striking each note slightly behind the time of a piano or bass.
I use Hydrogen Drum Machine on my Linux computer to get all my drum beats and timing. It’s Free and even runs on Windows and Mac PCs.
It helps if you know a bit about drumming, when programming it.
Thanks for everything Griff
I am a guitar player now playing bass with another solid guitarist. We lost our drummer six months ago. I learned how to program a Roland DR 880 drum machine. Programing requires “counting”. and breaking each note in each bar into sixteenth note, triplets, etc. After I spend a couple hours drum programing , I pick up the bass, and it is amazing how my timing has improved. Its like magic.
Thank you for that video. I always wondered about that. Now I can’t wait to try Technique out. Like I said I always herd that and always thought it sounded so cool. Thank you!
Alexander
It might be useful for guitarists to take a drum lesson or two.
dude……..you don’t even know how that just answered a HUGE q I have had for centuries…………………like anxiety to resolution (western theory) I have heard EC and plethora of others “mess up” w timing………and when defending myself cause someone said my tempo was bad…..(it was cause I didn’t WAIT holY moly…..eureka……….anxiety to resolution…..get back to the beat…….resolution……..dude….this is the holy grail to me….and free? WOW THANX THANX THANX THANX THANX THANX………A SINGULARITY………
Thanks Griff for solving one of those “how the heck” questions. It now makes perfect sense.
Rhythm tempo timing
That’s what music is all about!
You are a good teacher because you
wonder about what’s bothering students
when they sleep!
How does a soloist play that out of time burst
when playing alone for a few friends?
It’s that inner metronome ……
Thanks for the lesson
Cheers Griff
For the lesson I understand playing on the beat and the off beat but abit confused
As you are counting in 16teens in a 4/4 ie 1d2 the tab shows 12/8
WHEN EVER I PLAYED LEAD AND SANG LEAD, I WOULD TROW IN A FAST LICK BETWEN VERSES. SOMETHING I LEARNED FROM ERIC CLAPTON. I GET WHAT YOUR TALKING B BAOUT BUT SINGING AND PLAYING , YOU CAN’T COUNT IN YOUR HEAD. SO I LISTEN TO THEBASS PLAYER. THAT’S MY INSIDE MY HEAD COUNTING FOR ME. OR IF THE BASS PLAYER SUCKS, THEN I LISTEN TO THE DRUMMER’S FLOOR TOM TOM. THANKS FOR THAT NEW LICK. VERY EASY AND SIMPLE.
This lesson does apply to singing and playing as well as you say and you certainly can’t count and think what the next lyric is and the correct beat to start it on, so I learnt a technique from a sax player who also can’t count out loud while playing of course, but we all know that timing is utterly vital. So the sax player advocated tapping on beat one and three with your left foot and beats two four with your right foot. Obviously a bit easier when you’re sitting down but you can do it when standing up, even if it’s just tapping your toes inside your shoe. I’ve noticed Eric Clapton doing this sometimes when sitting down playing Driftin’ Blues with no bass or drum to guide where he is in the bar. When I tried it I was amazed at how well it worked because if you keep aware of your feet you instinctively always seem to know where beat one is(left foot) and if your right foot is going down you know for sure you’re on beat two or four and because it cuts down the choices in your mind it’s a lot easier to know where you are, even if singing on your own on acoustic and playing rhythm and lead fills. I’m all for counting when you can, but when you can’t like your example of singing too, this works.
It does have to be in associated or relative key?correct,
Or just anything?
I think Griff is a master of GUITAR TEACHING !!!
JUST A QUICK NOTE. WHEN I SAW HENDRIX AT ATLANTA POP, HE DID GO OFF BEAT A LOT OF THE TIMES, AND HIS SOLOS WOULD JUST FLY OFF INTO NO WHERE. DON’T PLAY HIGH, OR DRUNK LOL!
Hey Griff,
I now can relate to this In & Out of Beat and a great example is Matt Schofield when he plays towards the end of his Solo in his song I Don’t Know what I’d Do… He plays a Riff as if the record is stuck completely out of Beat but very effective.
This is a really great lesson when can we get the TAB on all the stuff you are playing.
Michael- St Andrews -Australia June 2016.
Great lesson, as always Griff. Some might imagine a slow blues would be easy to get a handle on. Others not some much. I do not have a means of playing a backing track which can be controlled by a foot peddle, I notice you do that a lot. Perhaps I will have to invest in one – any recommendations there?
I have purchased several of your courses Griff and advised friends and family of them and that you are the man to go to, so to speak. Keep up the great work Griff.
You can look up backing tracks on Youtube in any key or tempo that you are practicing. I use these often while I practice lead.
Great tip on playing on beat 2 is from Griffs friend Steve Travato, Griff sent out an email with a Steve Travato lesson, Steve gives a history lesson on where coming in on beat 2 originated. It works out great after hearing Steve explains it. You now know why you let beat 1 happen and then jump in on beat 2, many blues licks just fall into place!
Great Stuff!!! Although we’ve all heard this type of note flurry, never really dawned on me that it would be a fantastic element to add to my Blues playing. Thanks for pointing out this tree in the forest for all of us Griff…your the man!
I am surprised Griff didn’t suggest a metronome that has a different click (sound) for beat one of each measure. When you hear click, knock, knock, knock, click ,knock, knock, knock etc. your mind starts to differential the beats. It is much easier to hone in on beat 1 and realign yourself.
I was not aware there were metronomes with click knock etc. Would you please tell me a brand name to get?
Thank you in advance!
I have a Korg KDM-2, that has the click, click,click, knock beat. I hope that helps
You might also want to look into a Metronome App. I have one from JustinGuitars.com that lets you pick any time signature, and sound for the beats, and whether to use a different sound (also of your choice) for the first beat.
Surely the most basic and easiest way to count and keep the beat is to tap your foot. To count mentally in your head is like having something else to think about. Just tap your foot. As long as you do do this you cant go wrong.
Griff,
I APPRECIATE any and all slow-playing blues leads that you provide. If you sold a strictly SLOW LEAD BLUES course, I’d buy it in a heartbeat (I have most of your ‘easy blues’ but in those, there are some pretty peppy ones of a way beginner like me.)
Look at Griff’s course “HOW TO IMPROVISE BLUES SOLOS” and if you like that, then up your game with Griff’s course “BLUES SOLO SLOW BLUES FEEL”.
These courses aren’t Griff’s common courses in that they don’t teach you entire solos. What they do teach are different licks. When you learn the licks you can improvise your own solos from the licks you learn. Then, from there, you would continue learning new licks from any sources you like and add them to your bag of licks to increase your versatility.
These course are “next level” courses IMO. If you are thinking of buying them start with the easier “HOW TO IMPROVISE BLUES SOLOS”. It’s a real eye opener when it comes to learning how to solo.
Hi Griff. Great to know your a reluctant Facebook user and thanks for the predictably excellent lesson!
Another member of the Who Needs Facebook band. Great! We will take over the world soon and it will be a better place.
As the man said, “Before Facebook, nobody cared what you had for breakfast. They still don’t”
Great lesson, as well, Griff. Another BGU gold nugget.
Griff, love your em’s and videos so I hesitate to be critical. However, on most if not all your recording volume is way too low. I’ve ran the videos on several devices still have to use head phones. Remember, we can always turn it down, but, it hard to put in what ain’t there in the first place. Thanks, and again your emails are the bright spot of the day.
Thanks to you,I’m having a great time with Guitars for Vets. Teacher says he admires my diligence in practicing. I credit it all to BGU.
. . . And I credit my being able to play guitar – especially on Memorial Day Weekend, to veterans like you!! Thank you for your service!!
From the beginning of wanting to learn guitar I started piling up favorite guitarists that I wanted to emulate, and each and every one of them had this ability to do these fast flurries which makes the guitar sound so emotional when you are doing it right. I never liked Ted Nugent as a man but he had the ability to do this, Gary Moore, Jimmy Page, Vivian Campbell with Ronny James Dio, Shankar of the Scorpions, Warren De Martini of Ratt, Carlos Santana and a whole list more. These guys could really rip on a slow blues song.
Very good video, a good lesson, and a great explanation, and once again how important time is.
Paul
I thought Gary Moore was a TV game show host. (I’ve Got A Secret, The Gary Moore Show, a host of NBC Radio “Monitor “)
Thin Lizzy
Many thanks Griff. As usual your teaching is purposeful and entertaining!
Hey Griff,
Just a great trick, I wondered how you do that! & as someone else has requested the Tab for the fast lick?
I will have to get back to this video, just a bit fast for me but I will get there.
Great tip ,keep them coming you are helping me as your distant student.
Thanks
Michael St Andrews Australia
Its funny I just asked that Question “How do they count that?” just yesterday. and behold my Guitar God answers. Thanks Griff. Your the best.
I’m a Viet Nam vet (former Marine) on social security with two different types of cancer,and I’d just like to say that you’re e-mails keep me going and give me hope. thanks!
Norm
Norm your never a former Marine! You know better!
Perhaps he simply means he was formerly an active duty marine.🤔 I have a question regarding counting while you play to stay on beat. I have trouble counting and playing at the same time. Sort of like chewing gum and walking at the same time I suppose. What do you do then?😳
Collecting SS so I am an old dog learning new tricks as well from Griff. On youtube, check out the Young Rascals on Good Lovin’. As a kid, could never figure out how they got back to the music from the silent break. (They counted) Also check out Unsquare Dance 7/4 time by Dave Brubeck if you want to challenge your counting chops. Keep on keepin’ on Griff! You do great work. See BB King article by Clarence Page in http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/page/ search for How White Fans Saved BB King’s Blues.
Funny you mentioned Brubeck. The king of weird time signatures. I played saxophone all my life (along with whatever else. Bass, guitar, piano and on). I could sight read anything until my teacher laid Take Five on me. Without having heard it, I couldn’t get my head around it at all. I thank him all the time for “tuning” an internal metronome that is pretty flawless today. Those “flurrys” don’t sound all that out of time to me for whatever reason. I love the fact that Griff is always reminding us of the importance of timing. (I know some bass players that could use his courses…).
To start with I have learned a great deal from you and U+I thank you for that. You mentioned timing ahhhhh timing I used to have it. I have been playing for many years on and off. I think i used to breathe the timing and some how i have lost that. Nothing better when you get it back !!! thanks again for all of your help.
Can we have the Tab for the next two Bars. First Two is a great start. But it would be nice to have the additional before the fast lick which for those who missed it in the vid is the first 2 bars sped up.
thx Grif for another great lick to work with
What I need is the tab to the fast lick. The tab shown is the first two bars of solo 1 from the BGU course,
Good stuff too bad I can’t practice for a couple months broken left elbow but still going through BGU so when I can play again at least I’ll know where I’m goin.Still enjoy all the extras your giving Thanks for everything!
very good griff but I feel u left out an important tip , too come back into time with the band one must know where the ONE beat falls do any bgu students kno hoe to tell where it is apart from waiting for a chord change which is difficult for me with only a few years of playing
Yeah Griff! My kind of stuff. Excellent! This fits right in with what I need to do. Slow Blues is my very fav. Thanks!
Thats cool griff I been playing with this sort of thing for a while it’s a lot easier when it’s explained to you thanks nice riff
Good to see you people have a memorial Day over there we here down under in oz just celebrated our 100 years of our Anzac tradition which is the same sort of thing good on yas
This is really cool. Really cool.
Hi Mr. H how are you? Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!
I was recently listening to a guitar player, he mentioned that in counting time, 1,2,3,4 it would be easier to track the measures of a song by counting 1,2,3,4 ….2,2,3,4,….3,2,3,4……4,2,3,4 and so on
I would like to know what are your thoughts on counting out loud time counts such as that and which method would be easier for a beginner to practice doing?
thanks
SO GLAD YOU DID THIS VIDEO. BACK WHEN I WAS DOING LEAD GUITAR IN A BAND I WOULD GO OFF TIME WITH A LICK THAT WAS WAY OUT THERE AND GET A FUNNY LOOK FROM OUR BASS PLAYER, BUT THEN AS YOU SAID I WOULD THE GO BACK TO THE BEAT WITH THE BAND. NEVER KNEW IT WAS OK. ONE TIME I MISSED THE CHROUS CHANGE AND IT REALLY DID SOUND OFF. BUT POOP HAPPENS.
I started out on trombone when I was a kid, in a marching band, and progressed to the junior philharmonic orchestra. We were always taught to count 1-2-3-4 2-2-3-4 3-2-3-4 because it was especially helpful if we had a long session of rests, and as a vocalist, I still count like that for 12 bar or 24 bar solos etc for someone else. You don’t get lost. I’m also a Canadian.
If you do get just ask a Mountie
To IamCanadian, in a separate video Griff says it’s okay to count 1,2,3,4…2,2,3,4…3,2,3,4
counting like that is useful for when you’re not playing, but have to come back in later. I’ve done it when playing bass in musical theater. You might have 8 bars of rest. So count 1234, 2234, 3234, etc.
This was a good tip. I have had difficulty transitioning from slower rythmic part into a faster lead. I’m sure this will help. Thanks
Yes! I am SO glad to see this from you, Griff! I play like that … quite a lot. I think of those fast flurries as “phrases” … and so long as they start in time and the NEXT bit following that phrase starts in time, whether or not that next bit is another fast flurry or slower playing with every note in time, it will sound good and the whole solo can be regarded as “in time”.
You mentioned being able to keep track of the time in your head while doing this and that if one can’t, to “not try this at home”. Seems to me that this is entering into that “feel the beat” area that is such a “hot-button” topic on the forum for those who insist that just “feeling the beat” is impossible without counting “1, 2,3,4” on some level and who diss any mention of “just feeling the beat”. Seems to me that if one can’t just feel the beat to not try this at home. Am I right?
I PLAYED FOR OVER 40 YEARS AND NEVER COUNTED OUT LOUD. I WOULD LISTEN TO THE DRUMMERS FLOOR BASS FOOT PEDAL HITTING ON THE BEAT. I WAS 16 THEN AND WAS TOLD I HAD MY OWN METRONOME BUILT IN MY HEAD. SOME TIMES I WOULD TAP MY FOOT. MY BODY WOULD MOVE WITH THE BEAT. SEEN RAY CHARLES PALY? HOEW HE WOULD ROCK BACK IN FORTH TO THE BEAT. THATS HOW I KEEP IN TIME.
Well happy M day to all and deep thanks to all that served great lesson again two for two Griff your on a roll that’s a rule I like and will remember and a big thanks for all you do for us Griff !!!!
Thanks Griff, funny how ya learn things then there’s that one lesson that ties it all together. Ya never cease to amaze me, i’m a old dog learnin new thinge…..God bless ya…
Timing’s not off – It’s 5 o’clock, somewhere!!! …and never stop at “one!” This Blues stuff is easy!
thanks for another good tip. Matt.
Thank you. This technique is a great way to add a bit of tension and spice to my playing. One more mystery unveiled..
Videos got here today , , cheers griff .
I had 11 different recordings of Red House back in the Vinyl era.
Jimi’s in a class all by himself. Great lesson, and appreciate the
lick as well. Continuity is difficult to achieve as I’m timing retarded.
Counting out loud, I know. A-one and a-two a-three and a-for, knock
knock knocking on heavens door.
(Bootlegs and imports, for the Jimi affectionados)
I think the late great Frank Zappa was one of the best with
in and out of time while remaining seemless. Some instrumentals of
his were bluesey. Although mostly his work was all over the place.
Anyway, Happy Memorial Day Griff, and all BGU’ers.
Keep on jammin!
Hey great lesson Griff. Yeah Jimmy page really does this a lot. I found that playing with a drum machine and just working out my solo’s with the beat playing really helps. But I’ll amitt when I first starting playing years ago, Trying to play like jimmy page really through my timing off and it took me a while and a lot of playing with bands to realize how important timing is to the sound. But playing with a drum machine seems to make you aware of the timing and makes your solo’s sound much better.
Thanks, Griff great lesson
Thanks Griff,
I think this is something most everyone knows but wouldn’t come out and say it. I can see the headlines now,”Famous guitar teacher and band leader’s shocking claim! Hendrix didn’t play to the beat!” I’m joking of course. It is a relief though as the thought of verbalizing one e & a 2 e at 180 bpm is daunting enough to make a person consider the kazoo as an alternative.
Great playing and tips Griff. With all the string bending how often do you have to re-fret your guitar??
THANKYOU GRIFF FOR ALL YOU DO FOR US AND THE BLUES WE ARE STILL HERE KEEPING THE BLUES ALIVE THANKS A STUDENT AND CUSTOMER–
Thanks Griff, nice work! Cheers Damo Newcastle, Australia 🙂
Griff, this video is so helpful~!
Thank you for all that you give.
You are the sensei of Blues guitar~!
I am glad to be a customer and a student.
JimJ
5/25/2015
hey this is great ,but, you say i leared this now! WHAAAAT kiddin man . its just strange that red house is a song that i have been working on and others . they all seem to have the same feel sorta . this has cracked the ice thank you happy and safe holiday
another year gone by . my guitar playing is better then when i first started . I have been at it most of my adult life . still looking for the diffrent approaches to creating a solo and i come up with some of the most memoriable lics of all time . I have to say not only is timing important but having trained your ear is most important too. I can listen to most music and be able to copy it pretty much all the time and thats really cool. who said that the lower end of the guitar is dead real estate ah not so lots of stuff is there . its just not used alot .
I recall an interview with Hendrix. He was asked why he payed with his teeth. He said he didn’t, he played with his ears. Worth noting!