Duration: 6:56 Β· 1080p Stream
Master video playlist mapped. Ready for batch offline download to media/videos/improv101-8-6.mp4.
The capstone: improvise over a 12-bar blues in A. First you'll internalize the progression by ear β looping it until you always know which chord is playing and which is next β then follow a simple flight plan: six two-bar phrases, A major pentatonic for the first and A minor pentatonic for the rest, emphasizing chord tones throughout. Because everything references the rectangle, stack, and targets, the only note you ever find by name is A β so this same approach plays a blues in any key. Downloadable backing tracks for each section are included.
What follows is this lessonβs section of the Course Guide β you can read it here or in the full guide β
The goal of this module is to be able to improvise over a 12-bar blues in A. As with every chord progression you intend to improvise over, it is a good idea to spend some time listening to the chord changes without your guitar until you are confident that you always know which chord is being played and which one is coming up next.
Here is the recommended flight plan weβll be using. It divides the 12-bar blues into six two-bar phrases, each using a single scale. The last two phrases will be the trickiest because the target notes change for each measure:
| Phrase | Measures | Chords | Scale | Targets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1-2 | A7 | A major pentatonic | I7 |
| 2 | 3-4 | A7 | A minor pentatonic | I7 |
| 3 | 5-6 | D7 | A minor pentatonic | IV7 |
| 4 | 7-8 | A7 | A minor pentatonic | I7 |
| 5 | 9-10 | E7βD7 | A minor pentatonic | V7βIV7 |
| 6 | 11-12 | A7βE7 | A minor pentatonic | I7βV7 |
Exercises 1-6: Practice improvising each of the six phrases in isolation using a backing track. Experiment with different target notes and different areas of the neck.
Exercises 7-10: Practice improvising in blocks of four bars using backing tracks.
Exercise 11: Practice improvising over the entire 12-bar blues using a backing track.
Blues in A
A Β· 90 BPM Β· 12 chords Β· 32.0s loop
The whole 12-bar form at 90 BPM, divided into the three four-bar sections the exercises work through. Click a section name to loop those four bars for Exercises 7 to 10; drag across any two chords to loop just that pair for the six two-bar phrases. Every exercise in this section comes out of this one track, so you can go from a single phrase to the whole form and back without stopping the music. The flight plan under the chart is the one from the table above β change any bar's scale and the bars after it follow, or reset it back to the lesson's.
Keep in mind that the flight plan used in this module is just a suggestion. Create your own flight plans and experiment to find the combination of scales and chord tone targets you like.
Discussion
Pick a display name to join the discussion
Shown next to your comments instead of your email. 3β24 characters: letters, numbers, spaces, hyphens, periods, apostrophes, underscores, and parentheses.
No comments yet β be the first to start the conversation.