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Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
What scales are you using?
12 bar blues
pentatonic blues
started to experiment with major blues
Is it a minor blues, a dominant blues, a major blues progression with a dominant V chord?
I suggest you look at targeting chord tones too.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
Minor Pent - A C D E G
Minor 6 Pent - A C D E F#
There are a few options but this will enable you to outline the IV chord (D9 sound) whilst staying in a familiar pentatonic land. Robben Ford uses this a lot.
I think off this as selecting notes from the Dorian mode.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
For example:
I IV V
I IV V7
I7 IV7 V7
Also every time you see a dominant you can play a ii7 V7.
A bop blues progression, with some substitutions could be this:
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
not minor blues
chord progression for example
A7
D7 or D9
E7 or E9
You have a few options.
The scale or mode that fits best is the D Mixolydian but running the up and down a scale will get boring quite quickly.
Look at playing phrases that incorporate the major 3rd and flat 7 of the D chord on the down beats of the IV bars arriving at an exit point that has a root, 3rd or flat 7 of the next chord.
So a IV -> V movement target F# and C arriving at a E, G# or D.
So for a IV -> I, target F# and C arriving at an A, C# or G.
Phrasing is everything here.
You can also play the A harmonic minor over the IV chord.
A harmonic minor: A B C D E F, G#, A.
It gives you a clash against the D7's 3rd but it will work, the same way you get a 'nice' clash playing the minor pentatonic over a major chord. It helps if you play the f a little bit sharp.
Or the A melodic minor: A B C D E F# G# A: Here you have no clash against the D7's 3rd: F#.
Both these make a nice transition to the V chord where you can play an F melodic minor over the E7.
Or just a D major pentatonic. If you only know minor then play B minor pent over D7.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
I might play a G# against D but, at that point, I probably wouldn't be thinking scales, but more in terms of adding a b5 to a D7 arpeggio. I might think in terms of a combination of an A melodic minor (ascending) and a straight A major over the V7 (E7), as that obviously contains the G# as a major 3rd of E7.
As has been said in an earlier post by @Brad it's very interesting how the same information can be viewed and applied differently. I'm sure that different musicians use different approaches to arrive at what is essentially the same thing. Even within my own playing, I like to look at the same thing from multiple viewpoints. Maybe that topic merits a thread in its own right.
Edit: Ignore, I just re-read his post. I'll leave for him to clarify.
I was got fed up with struggling with the iPad and intended to edit once I got up but got busy and forgot about the post.
I've edited my post to reflect what I wanted to say, fixed typo's etc.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
A7
D7 or D9
E7 or E9
I would have thought an A minor pentatonic would also work over the D7. There'd be a problem sticking with A major pentatonic over D7 because you'll have a C# clashing with a C in the D7 chord, so you'd have to be careful with your note choices.
One way to approach these things is to listen to how other players apply the scales. I've always seen the Clapton solo to Crossroads as a masterpiece in blues rock soloing and there's a good tutorial in the clip below. You can try more exotic things if you want it to sound a bit Jazzier.
http://www.guitarplayer.com/guitar-player-101/1025/the-four-levels-of-the-blues/49191
They'll all fit in, but some notes will sound better than others over each chord, use your ear for that. Learn the fingering above and below, so you don't get stuck in the same blues box pattern and can slide in & out.
In time to come though it'll be hard NOT to do this approach
Varying the approach is what all that ^^^^ is about !
Feedback
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com