There are a lot of ways to solo over a blues chord progression, but one things that holds true is using chord tones…
In this video, I’ll show you a great way to pull your listener from one chord to the next using a bluesy/jazzy trick of encasing the 3rd of the next chord.
As usual, what’s truly important is the beat you use this trick on. If you do it at the right time, it works beautifully and you can use it with any other blues scale, pattern, or licks that you already know.
26 replies to "Pull Your Listener To The Next Chord"
Hey Griff,
This is the best lesson I have enjoyed for a long time, maybe because I am now a guitarist in a band who are all ex professional musicians, but in retirement like me, although I was a drummer back in the 60’s and I have only learn’t Blues Guitar at BGU for last 9 years or so. Suddenly, I had to learn all the Bands songs as a Rhythm Guitarist such a challenge because they claim not to play any Blues Hmm, well what is Back In The USA by Chuck Berry, CCR Proud Mary? and Walk Of Life Dire Straits etc. So I managed to fit in 12 Bar Blues Riff and then convert that riff to follow the Chords as per the Lyrics as the Band Leader on KB wanted me to follow the mostly G chords in Back in The USA easily done. I have Saved this lesson as a PIn so that I can refer to it. When I do solos I try to make sure I don’t get into a Minor Key but start on the Root and then make sure I end on the Root.
All Good and thanks so much for this refresher.
Michael- Sydney- Australia- Jan 22nd 2025.
Great lesson even if I’m at a much more basic level (noodled for decades). This inspires me to keep seeing and hearing more now that I’m making some daily time for learning/playing instead of noodling. I’m so glad choose the Griff train as my main guide.
Happy 2025 everyone!
I would love to learn other tricks. If you did the same. Bluesfication trick each time it would sound weird. Do you have other similar tricks to go from cord to cord?
That was fun. I am getting better with my looper. Making sure I play the 3rd on the chord change was very helpful to keep me synchronized. I get off so easily. I’m going to practice this some more later.
Just curious why so many refer to playing in “A” without further specifying “Major” or “MInor” etc. Playing A Minor Pentatonic over an A Major progression doesn’t seem to sound very good.
Griff – you always refer to all these scales and boxes etc when soloing – but whatever happened to developing the skill of playing what you hear in your head? The late great Barney Kessel advised me in 1963 (I was in an 18 piece Mecca dance band – the days when 2.5 million people went ballroom dancing every week in the U/K) that the real secret of improvising is in the players’ head – anyone can put a scale to a chord, but no originality in that – if you watch vids of Barney, Herb Ellis, Tal Farlow, Charlie Byrd, etc, their lips moved all the time as they played – as they mouthed what they were playing – took me 3 years to get the hang of it, but never regretted the time spent on working it out, and in consequence, there was never any shortage of comments on my melodic style of improvising.
How do you play what’s in your head if you don’t know where the notes are on your instrument?
The sound. You hear it.
Thanks Griff, I love these little tricks that really improve my playing
Great lesson Griff and also useful for practicing knowing where you are in the progression. Can you do this with a minor blues by ‘bluesifying’ the minor 3rd?
You really don’t bluesify the minor 3rd in a minor blues… But you certainly can approach it from a whole step above (the 4 of the scale) and use the half-step below (the 2 of the scale) and in MOST instances it’ll sound good. It’s not 100% though.
Great lesson! It immediately made me think I need to know my intervals, especially for the E, A, and C shaped chords. Jazz “enclosure” (?) …we’re jazz guitarists!
I dont know how you manage to know what I’m working on maybe a coincidence I don’t know? But I love it! Thank you griff!!😎
Funny that happens to me too sometimes!
I think the same thing. How did he know? Hahaha!
Arpeggios with bluesification? nice creative ideas
I love how even though you are still playing the same scale on either side of the move, it sounds different after the move. Thanks Griff.
I dig the TRICK … now to practice it … thx Griff
Whole lot of helpful fun. Thank you mr Griff
Thanks for that. It really goes well with the “Mike Bloomfield lick” you showed us a while back. I’m thinking it sounds like a slide lick.
Great! Griff could you do a lesson on how to play chords and incorporating licks when playing by yourself? Thanks
Hi Griff
It might be a good time to Time to go back to the beginning for some of the new people to your site. I know that will be boring for some of the old hands at this, but you may be able to attract some new blood the the site that I have enjoyed over the years
A good thing to try with the looper. Sometimes I forget I have that pedal.
Alrighty , that was very useful, it’s one thing to see it written in tab but to see it used helps a lot . Thanks much Griff
I loved that lesson! That is so useful. Thank you Griff!
Very useful. Thanks!
Great, really love the beat and tune!