Term 3 - Lesson 2

Today we put everything we learnt in blues in to practice. All the guitarists, bassists and drummers were in the same room so we could play blues together and see how it all fits together in a real jam session. I started off by playing a rhythm section in C; so the chords were C, F and G. I found it easier to keep track of the 12 bar structure because we had a drummer. It was also easier to stay in time and keep the strumming pattern steady. It was nice to hear a piano playing blues too; I liked how we were really playing a blues song for once rather than improvising without any backing. We went around the structure 4 times before swapping over - I played a solo part.

Soloing was a bit more difficult with a band because you had to leave a lot of space as so much of it was already filled up by the bass and keyboard. I had to use shorter licks and more repetition as to not over complicate the song. We discussed that blues is really about having your own way of playing it; for example everyone knows the chords so you can put your own spin on them because blues is made for improvising. So I tried out a couple of licks and played them frequently, adding a few bends and some vibrato. The nice thing about blues is that the tempo is usually a walking pace so you take your time with what you're playing.

The second time I played chords I would slide in to them to give them more flavour. I also missed the one beat to leave more space which I thought sounded good. Throughout the session I got more confident with soloing so I think I've improved.

By playing with a band I feel I understand how blues is supposed to feel and how a guitar fits in to the mix. It was a lot more fun to play with a band rather than just in the lessons because there was more of a blues atmosphere. Everyone was in the same position in that we were all improvising so it was more relaxed than I thought it would be. I now feel more comfortable blues and I like it more than I did.

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