Bars 1 to 4 and Variations

We'll break down the first four bars of our 12-bar blues, focusing on lead lines over the E chord. Remember this is particular piece is unaccompanied so our licks are chord-specific to highlight the chord in that bar of the music.

This chord specific style of playing/ improvising is a great method of lead playing that sounds more sophisticated; displaying a deeper understanding of the 'rhythm' parts, chords and harmony. Basically what makes our favourite players sound so GOOD!

I'll show you how to combine E minor and E major elements using slides and quarter bends (on the B string) to create that authentic blues sound. These licks come straight from "Pride and Joy" and "Hey Joe," so you're learning classic repertoire while building technique.

Check out the Interactive Tab for Bars 1 to 4 below

Key learning points:

• Slide techniques in the licks

• Using double stops in the licks

• Use of the classic Blues curl bend

• Implying E minor moving to E major harmony (great blues stuff!)

• Ending the last bar with a Blusey minor to major hammer-on on the E7 chord