Soloing in the Traditional 12 Bar Blues

Okay. So I thought it'd be good to just talk about soloing and how to solo in a traditional way over a 12 bar blues like we were playing earlier with a kind of clean sound.

Key Concepts

One thing I'm kind of thinking of with this sort of thing, when playing a more traditional style, is what you're trying to say and having some references.

Perspective

I'm going to be thinking from a B.B. King perspective in my head. So, I'll be focusing on the key of E and staying in this position while rolling off a bit of the tone on the guitar.

The Call and Response Technique

BB was a master of the call and response sort of way of playing.

• He very much would sing a line and then play something.
• He'd pick up on what's going on and not play too much,
  just being very aware of what you're saying.

Analogy of Conversation

I always think of it like a conversation:

• One person says, "Hi, how you doing?"
• The other one responds, "Yeah, I'm good, thanks! How are you?"

Just having that in your head, leaving a minute, leaving space, letting it build, is crucial.

Practicing the Basics

We'll just go a couple of times around, and I'm going to stay in this position here because there's so much you can get out of just these sort of four or five notes.

Exercise

• It's good to not bite off more than you can chew.
• It's always better to play a couple of simple things really well, without any hesitation,
  and know exactly what you're going to play, rather than trying to play something really complicated.

You can always add to something simple, but it's much harder to take away from something complex.

The Sensation of Soloing

Sometimes, with a solo, you think, "I've got to fit everything in straight away." But a really good starting point is to:

• Reference a couple of melodies and stay in that area for a while.
• You don't have to be all up and down the neck.

The Old Blues Philosophy

A lot of the old blues stuff is intended to be less is more; it's more meaningful and soulful when there's space.

So, just pay attention to what you're not playing as well and just step back.