One of the key qualities that distinguishes great blues players is their ability to 'play the changes' by targeting chord tones in their solos for the chords they're improvising over. Accomplished improvisers can also take simple musical statements (motifs) and develop them into powerful solos that connect creatively and harmonically. In Jason Loughlin's Blues Connections: Minor, you'll learn both of those critical soloing skills for blues progressions in a minor tonality.
"For most guitar players their introduction to improvisation is through using the minor pentatonic scale. One of the benefits of this scale is that it sounds good over a minor blues, major blues and good amount of rock progressions. Unfortunately, too many guitarists never take the next steps and actually learn how to play over changes with it. In other words, being able to use the corresponding scale to the chord you are playing over.”
Blues Connections: Minor lays out a system for learning how to play over changes, which will bring a whole new depth to your lead playing by focusing on building a language, not just connecting licks. We'll achieve this by doing a few things: Knowing our minor pentatonic scales in all five positions and in multiple keys, voice leading the minor pentatonics into each other, connecting our positions, minor chord arpeggios and targeting their extensions, converting the minor pentatonic into a blues scale and using improvisational devices to shape powerful solos.
You'll learn how to play minor pentatonic scales in all five positions, how to voice lead them, and how to effectively and easily target tones. Jason will also share a variety of powerful improvisational devices that will help you shape powerful and engaging blues solos.
Section 1 covers all of the basics for minor pentatonic scales. You'll learn how to build them on single strings, in all five positions, and how to voice lead the scales over a three chord progression.
In Section 2, you'll focus on improvisational concepts. You’ll take all of your new knowledge of the modes and voice leading and learn how to make music. You'll learn how to target chord tones, add variations to melody or motif, and anticipating chord changes.
Section 3 will put everything you've learned thus far into practice. You'll be using your modes, voice leading, and improvisation concepts in these five solo studies. Each solo will start with a new mode scale in A and have you soloing in position using all of our new techniques. You'll have one solo for each position of the A minor pentatonic scale but you will also be able to apply these concepts to all 12 keys.
The minor pentatonic and the blues scale are closely related. In Section 4, Jason shows you how to convert one into the other. In this section, you'll learn how to add the passing tone to easily turn all of your minor pentatonics into blues scales, the five modes of the blues scale, and how to voice lead the scale over a 12-bar blues in A minor.
Section 3 is called Highways. A highway is anything that allows you to connect positions. It could be a scale on a single string, running intervals like 3rds or 6ths up and down the neck, or arpeggio patterns. You're going to focus on scales on a single string and learn how to connect all of your minor pentatonic modes and all of your blues scale modes. You'll learn a couple of ways to apply these concepts and then you'll work through a solo that connects all of the positions.
In the 6th and final section, you’ll learn how to add extensions like the 9th or major 6th to bring more color to your pentatonic scales. The section is separated into two parts so you can get comfortable with the sound and use of each color tone. You'll learn how to incorporate them into the minor pentatonic, learn the modes with each color tone, and learn how to voice lead them. Together with Jason you'll work through a solo for each so you can see and hear the application of these extensions.
All of the performances are tabbed and notated for your practice, reference and study purposes. You'll also get Guitar Pro files so that you can play, loop and/or slow down the tab and notation as you work through the lessons. Plus, Jason generously includes all of the rhythm tracks for you to work with on your own.