I ntersection Blues
BLUES
From Guitar Clues
Combining Scales to Craft Killer Solos
BY GREG KOCH
If you are soloing over a blues that uses dominant 7th chords, or basically any basic blues that is not a minor blues, you can use a combination of the minor pentatonic scale with the added flatted 5th (blues
scale) and the major pentatonic scale with the added flatted 3rd (the
redneck scale! Just kidding; how about calling it a “country blues
scale?”). In other words, you can “intersect” these scales—get it?
I do a lot of playing of an idea in one scale and then doing the same idea
in the other scale to show you how they work together yet sound different.
your third finger (and first and second fingers for added strength) of
your fretting hand.
This works best on a Tele or a Strat, and is a painful experience at
first, but anything worthwhile is!
I start out on the neck pickup of a Telecaster and switch to the bridge
pickup to make the pedal steel bends and the pinch harmonics sing a
little more. The amp is a Bassman.
There’s a snazzy little harmonic lick at the tail end of this track where
you have to bend the B string up a whole step behind the nut, using
Listen to “Intersection Blues” and feel the power of these two scales
working together and then steal some or all of it, depending on how
you like to roll.
Head to premierguitar.com to hear sound clips for this lesson.
Turn the page for more Intersection Blues
