Understanding Lead Lines in F Blues Scale

So let's talk about the lead lines. It's basically almost all F blues scale. The only note that might be in there that isn't part of that is your G.

Key Elements

• A couple of slips that he does don't include maybe things from the scale, but we'll get to that in a second.
• The third harmonic is on there, which gives you a little extra sort of attack on the top of the note.

Phrasing and Technique

There are a lot of slips in this, and the phrasing is very intentional:

• It's all about slipping off notes and the way he's pulling it back.
• If you're playing it straight, you could go one way, and sometimes he does that, but sometimes he might go another.
• It's very much about trying to catch that backbeat as late as possible.

Demonstration

From the top, I'll do it without the bass now. As you can see, there's a lot of kind of putting notes in between your blues scale that aren't really included. But it's just an in-between kind of flourish.

• The D is in there, so that's your six included.
• And obviously, you're going up to your G; you got your six and your nine in there.

Repetition and Slips

There's a lot of repetition:

• E flat to F there, all slipped off each other.
• Slipped from the E flat to the F, and then slipped from the E to the F.

There's nothing that's out of bounds, really, but the main focus is that blues scale stuff. You can use any note to sort of get there.

After the Guitar Solo

So, in the second round after the guitar solo, a lot of the same kinds of things come into play.

• Phrasing is key. It's all about the dragging back.
• It's kind of a shade off playing it straight.

So there you have it, your lead lines.