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One of my bucket list dream goals is to play at the blues jam hosted by one of our local blues bars (the Blues Can in Calgary). The local regular jammers are great players. I’ve noticed the newbies start off playing rhythm guitar and keep it relatively simple, eventually expanding into trading off lead solos.
Are there any existing Active Melody lessons that address rhythm skills and ideas for aspiring newbie jammers?
Thanks,
Cary Rodin
Calgary, Alberta, Canada -
Hmmmm….I think pretty much all of the blues lessons are the foundation for jamming. If I were you, I would limit my lead solos to standard 12-bar blues or quick-change 12 bars, rather than trying to jam with a blues song that has more complex chords and chord sequences. In other words, keep it simple. If you put on a 12-bar jamtrack in E or A, how many cycles of the 12 bars can you solo with? Could you play a one-cycle solo in 1st position minor pent? What about 4th position minor pent – how long can you hang out in that neighborhood?
Sunjamr Steve
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That’s a great goal, Cary, well worth pursuing. If you’re focusing on rhythm (which is a great idea) one thing to think about is the “less is more approach”. Find little two or three note shapes and work on playing them first just on the backbeat (beats 2 and 4 of the measure).
That’s an approach that will let you fit in nicely in a situation where there’s usually a lot going on with maybe 2 or 3 people playing guitar at the same time.
Not sure which of Brian’s lessons might focus on this, but if you search YouTube for “blues double stop rhythm”, you might come up with something.
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