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How
we made the Blues tab
How did we create this Bluesified version of the 251 exercise?
We did it with only two changes. One change is to the 3rd of the
chord, which is also called the "sweet note," and one change is
to the rhythm, to make it shuffle. (You don't see a change in
the tab to reflect the rhythm change. You need to listen to the
Power Tab or MIDI file to hear this.)
I want to make sure you get this Bluesification process, so
let's look at one wee bit of the tab: the C major chord and its
arpeggios. Here are the chord and arpeggio for just the starting
bar of our regular, non-Blues, 251 mini progression:
E E E E E E E E
|---------0-------|
|-------1-1-1-----|
|---0-2---0---2-0-|
|-2-------2-------|
|-3-------3-------|
|-----------------|
Now, here's the Bluesified version of that first bar. I'll put
an asterisk under the melody notes that are different:
E E Q E E Q E E Q E E Q
|--------------|----0-------------
|----------1---|-4----1-----------
|------0-2-----|---------2--0-----
|-1--2---------|------------------
|-3------------|---------3--3-----
|-3------------|------------------
* *
The two asterisks mean we only changed the melody in two places.
That's all it takes to create a Blues feeling.
Here's the guideline used to create that feeling for the C major
chord -- or any major chord. To Bluesify any major chord, add
a flat 7 to make a dom 7 chord. Or, play with the major third
of the chord by making it minor (and then making it major again).
How did we Bluesify the C major chord using this guideline?
We could have added the b7, which is the Bb. Or, we could have
messed around with the major 3rd, changing the E to Eb. This is
what we did. We could also have messed around with both the b7
and the third.
Playing with the third of the chord is especially powerful for
communicating the Blues feeling. Dig this mini tab to see what
I mean:
E E E E E E E E Q Q Q Q
|---0-3---0-3---0-|-3-0------|
|-4-----4-1---4---|-0-0-1----|
|-0---------------|-----3-3--|
|-----------------|-----2----|
|-----------------|-----3----|
|-----------------|----------|
Pay special attention to the first bar. Do you see how we're
playing with the 3rd there? That playing with the third delivers
the Blues to your ears.
I don't want to get too far away from the subject of harmony
and chords, so let's just say that you want to make your chord
and arpeggio practicing more fun by injecting the Blues into your
exercises.
Page 1, A Bit o' Review - The Blues Injection
Page
3, Breaking out of open position - Intro to CAGED 
Guitar Chords
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2002 Darrin Koltow, All rights reserved
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