Tag: blues backing track

Blues Rock Backing Track in D

18/04/2020 Backing Track, Video Tab No Comments

I made a new Blues Rock Backing Track in D, inspired by the music of Kenny Wayne Shepherd, , Joe Bonamassa, The Black Crowes  and more. Have fun with this swampy, driving blues rock jam track in the key of D. 

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Blues Rock Backing Track (Chord Chart)

1 file(s) 717.87 KB
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The main idea for this jam track originated when I revisited Kenny Wayne Shepherd‘s ‘Blue On Black’ and the excellent cover that was done by Five Finger Death Punch. I saw KWS live for the first time last year, and the experience really blew my mind (what great tone!). I truly feel grateful that I had a chance to see this band at Blues Peer 2019.

I like my backing tracks unquantized especially for blues. Even though the drum parts are programmed in Steven Slate 5.5, they are not fully placed on the grid, to keep the natural and human feeling. I believe this helps to learn how to improvise on your blues guitar. Check out my other blues backing track in E (shuffle) here. 

If you’re interested, you can download a HQ-WAV version from this ‘Blues Rock Backing Track’ in my Sellfy store below. That also helps to support my page & channel. Thanks! Maarten.

E Blues Backing Track (Shuffle)

18/02/2020 Backing Track No Comments
About This Track

This is a new blues backing track on my Youtube Channel ! This is a fun E major Blues Shuffle Backing Track, that fits the Josh Smith-style guitar solo (+tab) I uploaded last week. 

The chords for the 12-bar blues backing track are animated in the video. Also, there are some stops in the track that are signaled in the video! The tempo is 115 bpm. The track is not quantized btw, so there are a small but intentional variations in the groove and intensity of playing. Let me know if you had fun with this homemade guitar backing track!

Improvising tips
  • E major pentatonic,
  • E blues,
  • E minor pentatonic,
  • E minor blues or play some of the blues guitar licks from the previous video 😉
Jam track

You can purchase a high-quality version of this jam track (WAV + mp3) from my sellfy store. After purchase, you may use this blues shuffle track on your own social media (e.g. to record your own guitar solo).

Blues backing track in A

If you like to explore a blues shuffle in A, I did a post in this here (solo + jam track).

Western Guitar Backing Track (Em)

29/01/2020 Backing Track No Comments

Here is my Western Guitar Backing Track, as a follow-up post to my Western Guitar Solo that I posted yesterday.

The biggest inspiration for this jam track comes from the beautiful soundtracks from timeless western movies, composed by Ennio Morricone (e.g. The Good, The Bad & The Ugly).

Although I coined the jam track to be a ‘guitar backing track’, it’s definitely possible to improvise on other instruments or even whistle. I must confess I’m very curious to what you guitarists will come op with 🙂

The western guitar backing track follows a repeating ABA pattern, where the (quieter) A-part serves as a tension builder, and the (more energetic) B-part adds the kick drum, distorted guitar chords, and a more pronounced, galloping rhythm in the drums.

To improvise over this jam track, start with the E minor pentatonic scale.

Modal Mixture

The backing track is in E minor, but with a few twists, as you will notice when improvising in the E minor natural scale or E minor pentatonic. This scale fits over most of the chords in the backing track, but – in the A-section – instead of the iidim-chord (like you would expect in E minor), I use the II-chord (F#). Similarly, I replace the v-chord Bm7 with a B7 in both the A and B-section.

This concept is called ‘modal mixture’, and because of this, it is possible to apply the Phrygian Dominant mode on both chords. That is the 5th mode of the harmonic minor, and one of my favorite textures to add to a solo.