Lesson Six: Exploring West Montgomery's "The Thumb"

Hi everybody! Welcome back.

In this lesson, we're going to continue with the West Montgomery tune, "The Thumb," which we learned the head for in the previous lesson.

What to Expect

• You will play a solo in addition to the head before we move on.
• I have written out a cool little solo that incorporates syncopation which you may not be used to.

Starting Off

One of the things I want you to think about is starting on a different note than usual. Typically, in a solo, you might start with the blues scale.

Here's the plan:

• We're going to start on the five blow in the solo.
• You can refer to your chart for reference.

Let's Dive In

So why don't we try this and see how much fun it can be?

1. Intro: We will start with the vamp up in front.
2. Play the Head: Then we'll play the head once more.
3. Solo: Following that, we will move into the solo.
4. Final Guitar Riff: One more guitar riff, then we jump back into the structure.

Solo Notes

• Begin with the five blow note, incorporating some syncopation.
• Then, jump to the seven draw note.

These are notes you might not typically consider when playing traditional 12-bar blues.

Expanding Your Skills

I'm trying to encourage you to explore some different possibilities that phrase nicely over the passing chords the guitar player is using on this track.

Practice Tips

• Go back and listen to me play it.
• You have the mix minus available to practice on your own.
• Make sure you get familiar with the melody and the solo.

We'll be back in the last lesson to add one more cool element to this song. Enjoy!