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By 'major blues scale', I assume you mean major pentatonic plus b3, and 'minor blues scale' as minor pentatonic plus b5. That's the way I think of it.
Pentatonic scale is just a blues scale without a flattened 3rd or 5th depending on which scale you're using.. so use them both and see what works for you.
I think if the goal is "play better blues guitar" then that's different - the only thing I've seen people do to achieve that is learn and synthesize vocabulary.
I've got a rudimentary( possibly erroneous) understanding of chord tones. I get by with winging it, but could be better with a clear understanding.
The long post on the first page is a good starting point.
Please take a look at it and ask any questions that you might have.
My day has been blown out but I'll get working on some content and some tasks for people to do.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
And yes, learning licks is an essential part of the process but with a HUUUUGE caveat which should be printed in 50 ft high neon letters, which is this:
Learning licks by rote without understanding how they fit into the chord, chord progression and key is only half the job,
It is a bit like learning to speak without learning to read- although I am sure someone will object to that phrasing.
This is to distinguish between 'copping licks' and 'transcribing'.
The former is a form of imitation, a sort of musical echolalia.
There is nothing wrong with it in principle but taking the next step to understand what the lick is doing allows you to do several things.
Firstly you can repurpose it in different contexts, over different chords.
In the long post on the first page I say this:
'An early exercise I give students about playing over the V chord on bar 8 is to bend up from F# to the G# (2nd string 7th fret 3rd finger) and then back to the F# and then down to the E (2nd string 5th fret, 1st finger), then slide the whole thing down 2 frets to play over the IV chord and play a similar line but instead of bending up a tone just bend up a semitone (from E to F)'
That is what I am doing there (and why I chose it).
You have a tone bend over the (V) dominant chord and then a semitone bend over the (IV) minor 7 chord, so that the same melodic/rhythmic pattern can be repurposed but still fit into the key.
When people just cop licks they sometimes don't understand how a line fits harmonically and then when they reuse them in the wrong context they sound... wrong.
It also helps fill in your knowledge of harmony, scales and the fretboard.
An exercise:
Here is a diagram of 4 notes placed on the fretboard.
Playing them ascending might be a way to start a blues solo, especially if you bend D up at the end to Eb.
Figure out a few lines that you like using just those 4 notes.
Try to come up with 5-10 variations.
(You could also try to find other places on the fingerboard to play them in different octaves.)
The question I have for people is if you play a line using just these notes over the I chord in a minor blues in A how many of these 4 notes are target notes of the I chord?
To know this you need to know what are the notes of Am7, what are the scale degrees and to know what scale degrees are target notes (I said it on the post on the first page).
Do that and I'll comment a bit later on it.
Second thing to consider.
What relationship do these 4 notes have to the IV chord (Dm7) in our A minor blues?
You should hopefully all have access to a backing track (if not google there are thousands out there) or create yourself a backing track of a minor blues and play lines using just these 4 notes over the I and then the IV chord.
Repeating an almost identical line over the I and IV chord is a great way to establish a melodic pattern that the audience can hook into. I think of it as 'blues cliche #1'. The difference between playing them over the I or IV chord is, at this stage, where you land your phrase. Think back to target notes, each chord has different notes that you want to land on so you alter your phrase slightly to land on a target note specific to each chord.
Final question for this post.
What target notes do the I and IV chord have in common, if any?
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
I'll record a version of this a bit later and post it.
You can clearly hear the chord change outlined just playing single notes.
Now do it again but this time instead of bending From F# to G# just bend up to G.
Technically you are playing a dissonant note- the G over the the E7 but that tension is a big part of playing blues and it can sound good, esp if you slightly overbend the G.
Jeepers, devil is in the detail there as it the bending exercise sounded like arse. BUT you are using an E7 chord rather than Em7 as I’d assumed/ not read properly. Aha! Well, I suppose it proves the importance of target notes. And reading stuff.
Here is a diagram of 4 notes placed on the fretboard.
Playing them ascending might be a way to start a blues solo, especially if you bend D up at the end to Eb.
Figure out a few lines that you like using just those 4 notes.
Try to come up with 5-10 variations.
(You could also try to find other places on the fingerboard to play them in different octaves.)
The question I have for people is if you play a line using just these notes over the I chord in a minor blues in A how many of these 4 notes are target notes of the I chord?
To know this you need to know what are the notes of Am7, what are the scale degrees and to know what scale degrees are target notes (I said it on the post on the first page).
What relationship do these 4 notes have to the IV chord (Dm7) in our A minor blues?
fourth, fifth, seventh, root/octave.
What target notes do the I and IV chord have in common, if any?
The third in A minor is the same note as the seventh in D minor.
I wasn't sure if people were still with me.
'Jeepers, devil is in the detail there as it the bending exercise sounded like arse. BUT you are using an E7 chord rather than Em7 as I’d assumed/ not read properly. Aha! Well, I suppose it proves the importance of target notes. And reading stuff. '
Cool
How did you find it otherwise?
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
If you play them ascending and descending then it turns into a 6 note pattern, which with a triplet feel will fit nicely.
It might take a little while to get them under the fingers.
When moving from C to E on the Am7 arpeggio roll your first finger and roll with your 3rd finger when moving from E to G# on the E7 chord.
If it is hard to change positions then SLOOOOOOOW DOWN.
I like teaching these arpeggio fragments, rather than using all 6 strings because people can learn them easier and you can start moving about.
There is another version of the E7 arpeggio I will post later and another version of all of them starting on the lower strings.
Something to think about whilst you are doing it.
Hopefully people should know the A minor pentatonic scale shapes.
Have a look at the arpeggios and think about what notes are in common for each chord with that scale and which ones are not.
It should be fairly obvious on the Am7 and Dm7.
Any questions, please ask.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
The minor 3rd of i is the dominant 7 of iv.
I've got a busy day today so might not post but should tomorrow.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com