Tag: jump blues

Blues Lick Lesson #05 (Jump Blues Lick)

30/07/2020 Lesson, Video Tab No Comments

In this 5th blues lick lesson, I show you how to play this jump blues lick in the key of C scale. This lick uses some interesting concepts, like the use of the major 3d, grace notes and a reverse sweep (or rake). Recommended playing level: intermediate and up.

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Blues Lick Lesson #5

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C major pentatonic

This is mostly an C major pentatonic blues lick that is used on the I-chord. The lick has a triplet feel and is played mostly in the 8th position on the guitar neck. On the figure below you can see the major & minor pentatonic (in the 8th position) next to each other as a comparison (R=root). Look specifically at the major 3d, because this is a recurring theme in this blues lick.

C minor pentatonic vs C major pentatonic
C minor pentatonic vs C major pentatonic
Concepts in this blues lick lesson

In this blues lick lesson, you get the guitar tabs on screen, a detailed explanation of the picking technique and 2 variations (adaptations) for a slower blues. Concepts that are present in this video

  • Using the major 3d (mixing major & minor pentatonic)
  • Grace notes
  • Reverse sweep (upstroke sweep) and rake.
Backing Track

Up-tempo jump blues backing track (150bpm) here.

Gear

The guitar used is my 2013 Gibson ES-335. The guitar has a warm, vintage sound. Everything is recorded through my pedalboard and the Fractal Audio Systems AX8.

👉 Check out my gear page on Thomann: gear-thomann.guitar-inspiration.com

Practice Tips

Practice this lick slowly first, then with the backing track on my channel. The lick is also easily transposable to other major blues songs, so I hope you’ll get some mileage out of this one.

Keep on playing that guitar!

Hope to see you again next time,

Maarten

Jump Blues Solo in C

26/06/2020 Video Tab No Comments

Jump Blues Solo in the key of C, in the style of Duke Robillard, JP Soars, Charlie Christian, and others. Download the tabs or jam along with the backing track. Enjoy!

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Jump Blues Solo in C

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Start of the solo

After a classic turnaround introduction, the guitar solo starts with a quintessential jump blues lick. I play two choruses of 12 bars, emphasizing chord tones and paying attention to the swinging groove of this uptempo jump blues song in the key of C. 

Featured lick

In the 3d chorus, the groove breaks up with the drum playing accents on the first beats of every bar. The lead guitar keeps jumping; however, with a part that is somewhat inspired by the playing of the great Charlie Christian on Stompin’ At The Savoy. 

Jump Blues Lick
Jump Blues Lick

The circled ‘1’ on the chart indicates a position switch with the left hand. 

Outro

When the band enters again, the solo guitar plays hints of Rockabilly before entering the outro that is inspired by the playing of ‘red hot’ JP Soars and  ‘the Duke,’ Duke Robillard. After three turnarounds, the solo ends on another classic outro lick (covered in this post).

Backing track

Jump Blues (12-bar blues in C) backing track here.

Jump Blues Backing Track in C (150 bpm)

07/06/2020 Backing Track No Comments

This jump guitar backing track is inspired by the blues music of Roomful of Blues (Duke Robillard) Big Joe Turner, Brian Setzer, and others. Jump, jive & jam with this up-tempo blues guitar jam track in the key of C. Download the chord sheet (incl. outro) here:

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Jump Blues Backing Track (Chord Sheet)

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This blues jam track is a 12-bar blues in the key of C. After a quick turnaround intro, the classic 12 bar structure begins. The groovy thing about this jump blues backing track is that the first accents of the piano and the electric guitar are on a different eight note. This (intentional) quirky effect is augmented by a little stereo panning of the guitar and piano. This makes the rhythm accompaniment ‘jump’ from left to right. 

Improvising Tips

C minor & major pentatonic
C minor & major blues
Play your favorite blues, jazz blues, swing & rockabilly licks.

Outro Lick
Jump Blues Outro Lick
Jump Blues Outro Lick in C
Gear

Gibson Les Paul P90 (rhythm guitar), through an MXR Carbon Copy pedal (slap) and Fractal AX8 preamp.
Baritone Sax from Logic Pro X
Piano: Waves Grand Rhapsody
Upright Bass: Spectrasonics Trilian
Drums: Steven Slate Drums 5.5

Buy the track
If you’re interested, you can download and buy a high quality WAV version (125MB) of this backing track here:

Check out my sellfy store for more backing tracks. 

Jump Blues (+ Tab)

29/11/2019 Improvisation, Video Tab No Comments

Jump Blues improvisation in the key of C, inspired by the playing of JP Soars, Chuck Berry (and even Josh Smith). Have fun with this guitar solo!

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Jump Blues Solo

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I filmed a jump blues solo improvisation this week and decided it would be a good idea to tab it out ! There are a lot ideas going on here, but the main inspiration comes from seeing JP Soars live a few years ago. He’s a great guitarist and plays these swingin’ blues licks on his ES-335 in a masterful way. Have fun with this ‘bag of licks’ (or tricks), inspired by JP Soars, but also B.B. King, Chuck Berry, Josh Smith & others. (Note: i made a small correction in bar 20)

More blues here.