help with changing keys?? when lick in position 1 differs from lick in position 2.

John L.

Loving me some blues Guitar & Golf !
ok, probably lame question of the day...I got the Blues Solo Construction program and am in the process of selecting the Licks I want for the 7 positions. my confusion is when the Lick for Position 1 is in the Key of A, but the next Lick I want (position 2) is in the Key of D - I need to 'transcribe' that 2nd lick into the Key of A as well, right? I'm easily confused and not sure what is the correct procedure to ensure any/all Licks are in the same key. I suspect it has something to do with the dreaded Root Note. Can anyone shed a little light on this for me?thanks so much...really appreciate a slight nudge in the right direction. John L.
 

Paleo

Student Of The Blues
I suspect it has something to do with the dreaded Root Note.
I can think of 2 options.

1) Since each string has a complete octave from open to the 12th fret, there is 1 occurrence of each note on each string.
Knowing where the root note of a lick is on a string, you can simply move it up or down horizontally along that string to where it needs to be.

Yes, you have to know where the notes are on each string.

2) You don't actually need to use the root note. Knowing how many half-steps apart the 2 keys are, you can simply move the whole thing up or down horizontally along the neck that many half-steps using any note in the lick as reference.

Yes, you have to know the relationships between keys.

We can help further with a specific example from the course. :)
 
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John L.

Loving me some blues Guitar & Golf !
Thanks Paleo,
This helps. if you don't mind - a specific example from the course (working on the slow blues now) would be great! End of a long day now...but, if I could, I'll follow up with my first two licks on the Slow Blues Course tomorrow. First lick in A and the 2nd in D. If you could provide a bit of road map for these two licks, I'll take it from there. I do have the List of Notes from Griff so I can use that as well!
Thanks, so much. John...
 

Mr.Scary

A Blues Legend in My Own Mind
No matter what course I always circle a few of the root notes in that lick. So if I want to move it or simply come back to it at a later point then I can just glance at it and move it to the key im using it in. With out to much brain power
 

MikeS

Student Of The Blues
Staff member
If you just want to play it, most licks are just finger patterns. So if you learn the finger pattern, you may be able to just move it up or down the correct number of frets and play the same pattern (changing from D to A would mean sliding it down 5 frets (I do this by knowing that D on the 1st & 6th strings is at the 10 fret and A is on the 5th. 10th fret minus 5 frets = move everything down 5th fret) Pretty much what Paleo said.

Where it gets tricky is when you run out of room on the neck, then you have to start moving notes that WERE on one string up or down to another string, so it's no longer the same pattern. Here, learning it in the original pattern will help your ear "hear" what the intervals are (the differences between one note an the solo and the next), so even if you have to change strings, you may be able to "hear" where the next note should be.

If you want it written out, then is a bit more labor intensive. I key the second lick into a program like Guitar Pro 7 then tell it to transpose the lick. It doesn't always put the lick in the right place where it would be easy to play though. This is where using the "Hear what the intervals are" method I mention above will come in again.
 

Paleo

Student Of The Blues
Here's a quick, down and dirty demo (i.e. limited editing*) using the first lick in the course.

Griff says in the intro that you're not going to have to "change or modify" the licks in any way, so you won't have to deal with any "tricky" situations within this course.

Although I will deal with "running out of room" when moving the lick down to C.

Which means changing the string set. (*@2:15 I meant C on the 10th fret of the 4th string, not 5th)

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/l9mcmmflc7kggv3/lick.mp4?dl=0


You could easily follow this with Lick 2 for Position 2 since that lick is also in A.

Don't get confused thinking the lick is in D just because it starts during the D7 chord.

You're in "Position 2" where the IV goes back to the I.

That D7 is the IV chord going back to the A7.
 
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Paleo

Student Of The Blues
Just ran through all 5 Licks for Position 2.

They're all pretty much in the same "4 Note Solo Box" as the Lick 1 used above. :whistle:

Meaning you've only got to move horizontally. ;)
 
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John L.

Loving me some blues Guitar & Golf !
If you just want to play it, most licks are just finger patterns. So if you learn the finger pattern, you may be able to just move it up or down the correct number of frets and play the same pattern (changing from D to A would mean sliding it down 5 frets (I do this by knowing that D on the 1st & 6th strings is at the 10 fret and A is on the 5th. 10th fret minus 5 frets = move everything down 5th fret) Pretty much what Paleo said.

Where it gets tricky is when you run out of room on the neck, then you have to start moving notes that WERE on one string up or down to another string, so it's no longer the same pattern. Here, learning it in the original pattern will help your ear "hear" what the intervals are (the differences between one note an the solo and the next), so even if you have to change strings, you may be able to "hear" where the next note should be.

If you want it written out, then is a bit more labor intensive. I key the second lick into a program like Guitar Pro 7 then tell it to transpose the lick. It doesn't always put the lick in the right place where it would be easy to play though. This is where using the "Hear what the intervals are" method I mention above will come in again.
No matter what course I always circle a few of the root notes in that lick. So if I want to move it or simply come back to it at a later point then I can just glance at it and move it to the key im using it in. With out to much brain power
Thanks, Mr Scary :) -- Appreciate it ! Really !! John...
 

John L.

Loving me some blues Guitar & Golf !
Here's a quick, down and dirty demo (i.e. limited editing*) using the first lick in the course.

Griff says in the intro that you're not going to have to "change or modify" the licks in any way, so you won't have to deal with any "tricky" situations within this course.

Although I will deal with "running out of room" when moving the lick down to C.

Which means changing the string set. (*@2:15 I meant C on the 10th fret of the 4th string, not 5th)

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/l9mcmmflc7kggv3/lick.mp4?dl=0


You could easily follow this with Lick 2 for Position 2 since that lick is also in A.

Don't get confused thinking the lick is in D just because it starts during the D7 chord.

You're in "Position 2" where the IV goes back to the I.

That D7 is the IV chord going back to the A7.

Thanks so much Paleo - appreciate the feedback. I'll play with this and work it out ! John...
 

John L.

Loving me some blues Guitar & Golf !
If you just want to play it, most licks are just finger patterns. So if you learn the finger pattern, you may be able to just move it up or down the correct number of frets and play the same pattern (changing from D to A would mean sliding it down 5 frets (I do this by knowing that D on the 1st & 6th strings is at the 10 fret and A is on the 5th. 10th fret minus 5 frets = move everything down 5th fret) Pretty much what Paleo said.

Where it gets tricky is when you run out of room on the neck, then you have to start moving notes that WERE on one string up or down to another string, so it's no longer the same pattern. Here, learning it in the original pattern will help your ear "hear" what the intervals are (the differences between one note an the solo and the next), so even if you have to change strings, you may be able to "hear" where the next note should be.

If you want it written out, then is a bit more labor intensive. I key the second lick into a program like Guitar Pro 7 then tell it to transpose the lick. It doesn't always put the lick in the right place where it would be easy to play though. This is where using the "Hear what the intervals are" method I mention above will come in again.

Thanks Mike, the is very helpful! I print this out and take it a step at a time. Sometimes I get a bit impatient and just work on the piece itself as opposed to taking the time to learn the theory behind it all. That's on me. But I'll work on this with a bit more understanding as to the 'whole picture'...thanks again ! John...
 

John L.

Loving me some blues Guitar & Golf !
Here's a quick, down and dirty demo (i.e. limited editing*) using the first lick in the course.

Griff says in the intro that you're not going to have to "change or modify" the licks in any way, so you won't have to deal with any "tricky" situations within this course.

Although I will deal with "running out of room" when moving the lick down to C.

Which means changing the string set. (*@2:15 I meant C on the 10th fret of the 4th string, not 5th)

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/l9mcmmflc7kggv3/lick.mp4?dl=0


You could easily follow this with Lick 2 for Position 2 since that lick is also in A.

Don't get confused thinking the lick is in D just because it starts during the D7 chord.

You're in "Position 2" where the IV goes back to the I.

That D7 is the IV chord going back to the A7.

Love the video !! & thanks for the comments about the lick being in D because it starts on D7 Chord --- that's what I WAS doing...yikes !!
 
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