 |
||||
|
The E Blues ScaleThe E Blues Scale in 12th Position The blues scale is a scale that consists of only 6 notes. The great thing about the blues scale is how versatile it is. You can use it to play over entire chord progressions, not just blues, but rock, metal and every other style you care to think of. If you were only going to learn to play one type of scale on the guitar, then the blues scale is definitely the one to learn. In this example we're going to look at how to play the blues scale in the key of E. One of the best features about the guitar is that you can learn to play a scale with one pattern in one key and then to play in another key you simple move that same pattern up or down the neck. The pattern we're looking at here goes over 2 octaves and is the most commonly used pattern to play a blues scale. Examples of guitar players that use this pattern extensively are Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix. You can't get much more of an endorsement for using a scale than that! Without further adieu, here is the guitar tab for the E blues scale starting in 12th position. 12th position means you put your index finger on the 12th fret. Your hand stays in this position for the 2 patterns below. E blues scale in 12th position playing two octaves going up the scale: E blues scale in 12th position playing two octaves coming back down the scale: Here is the guitar tab for the E blues scale starting in 10th position. 10th position means you put your index finger on the 10th fret. E blues scale starting in 10th position playing two octaves going up the scale: E blues scalestarting in 10th position playing two octaves coming back down the scale: Shifting from 10th to 12th PositionIn the first example your hand stayed in 12th position for the entire pattern going both up and down the scale. When you play the E blues scale starting from 10th position you will need to shift your hand into 12th position. You can shift from 10th position to 12th position in one of two ways: Firstly you could play the 13th fret of the A string with your ring finger. This would mean you shift up 1 fret from the 12th fret to the 13th fret with your ring finger and then shift again one more fret from the 13th fret to the 14th fret on the A string. You are then in 12th position and can play the rest of the E blues scale without shifting your hand. Secondly you could shift from the 10th fret on the A string which you are playing with your index finger. To do this you shift your index finger from the 10th fret up 2 frets to play the 12th fret, putting you in 12th position. The second way of shifting into 12th position is generally going to be the most economical way to shift but shifting one fret at a time using your ring finger can be good too. It depends what you are going to play. If you want to put your fingers in 12th position so you can move up the scale then using your index finger to shift is going to get you there efficiently. However if you are going to play the 13th fret and go back down to the 12th and 10th frets on the A string then just shifting your ringer finger from the 12th to 13th fret will be the most economical way of shifting your hand. That might seem like a lot of talk on how to shift your hand but the fact of the matter is, this type of detail is what is going to define your guitar playing. If you work on all these little aspects then you will be able to play in an efficient manner. Playing in an efficient manner will help you be able to play with more speed and accuracy than if your playing is sloppy. If your playing is sloppy then your fingers can get tied up and you could lose your place in the music or where you want to go with the music. If you learn the pattern above well, you'll find that you can start to hear what the notes are going to sound like before you play them. Your ear will develop as you do more practice. This will put you on the path to being able to 'play by ear' which is how you will learn to improvise. When you first start playing a scale or a certain pattern on the neck, you don't really know what it's going to sound like. With repetition, your ear and fingers will make a connection to your brain and you'll start to become a much better guitar player. What you want to do now is to play the above scale in both 12th and 10th positions, memorizing the pattern of the scale and the sound the notes are making. The next lesson I write up, instead of just playing the E blues scale up and down the next, we're going to learn to play a few guitar licks using this pattern. In the mean time you can play around with the scale yourself. Play the E blues along with the E Blues backing track that's on the guitar lessons home page. There are 3 chords in the E Blues backing track. The notes from the E blues scale fits over all 3 of the chords from this progression. That's why it's such a great scale to learn - because it fits over so many different types of progressions. Now it's over to you - turn up your guitar, get the E blues scale patterns under your fingers tips and play along with the E blues backing track (or any of the backing tracks in E from free jam tracks). And above all - have fun! Guitar Lessons - Home Page
|
|
(c) Copyright - www.FreeJamTracks.com. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Privacy - Legal - Contact