Stretchin' the Blues

When looking for inspiration for new licks and riffs, it’s only natural that guitarists search out their current favorite guitar hero or magazine for some ideas. After all, the fundamental way of learning the guitar vocabulary is by copying other players of the same instrument. The only problem is that by going to the obvious source every time, we only get one perspective on good lead and rhythm playing.

When I practice, I like to think about what kinds of phrases other instruments would play and try to emulate them. In previous lessons, I’ve illustrated some riffs that were piano-like in their approach, but what about the other instruments on the bandstand? How would an organ comp behind a guitar solo? How would a horn section punctuate a melody line?

With this in mind, I’ve come up with a blues head in the key of G, inspired by a call-and-response pattern that might happen between an organ player and a horn section. It features an ascending line through the Mixolydian scale, starting on the 5th of each chord (D on G7) with a double- stop slide at the top. That’s followed by a riff that bounces between the root note on the 6th string and a sliding triad shape, which outlines the seventh chord.

I approach the triad move two different ways throughout this example, sometimes sliding from a half step below, and other times hammering on. A similar effect is created either way. When the IV and V chords (C7 and D7, respectively) come around, this twomeasure riff pattern can simply be moved up the neck to match the changing harmony. The moveable nature of this riff also makes transposition to other keys a breeze.

Guitarists of all styles and levels can find inspiration in the musical ideas played by other instrumentalists. Initially, it can take a little work to translate those sounds to the guitar, but that work will pay off in a big way with an expanded, unique palette of sound.

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