Blues Riff And Licks--How To Play Differently Your Way And Captivate Your Fans

By Mark Grove

I was reading an article in a 2009 issue of Guitar Player where Jackie Greene who has played with Phil Lesh and other noteables, talked about challenging your playing by doing something you find totally uncomfortable. Funny thing about this little blurb on Jackie Greene in GP.The article was titled Jackie Greene on Song writing, but the piece talked about ways to challenge your playing and change it up.

Not Song Writing.

But I digress. Okay, what I want to talk about here is how to basically get your musical brain and hands learning or wrapped around how to be a different player. Not just better. I'm going to give players here one tip. Say your blues playing has been stale of late and you haven't been able to play anything different or do any covers your own way. Try this little tip. Play Bass. Think about it, your Bass player holds down the Bottom-Feed of your songs.

Why not play Bass on a couple of Blues tunes and play to those songs to get the feel of what you need to grab the feel of that particular song on Bass. In some respects Bass has a more profound effect on the complexity of a track than lead guitar. Now, start playing to that song on Bass and listen to the lead guitar.
Now, slightly change up your Bass part to give the Bottom-End a different feel. Slow it down or don't use    as many notes, but stay in the tempo of the lead and apply the lead guitar technique.

Phrasing The Bass:

When it comes to Phrasing on the Bass listen to the lead to know when to come in at the appropriate time. This way your phrasing will give the overall texture of the Band's sound and tone a new feel and vibe. Chord Progressions like a lead guitar player or lowering the tempo will play a key role in creating new chording of cover and even original material. Now, take all of this and play Bass parts on lead guitar like a Bottom Feeding Bass Player who holds the Rhythm down like a bastard!

Apply these Bass techniques on lead like I said. This will enable you to think differently and play differently   to songs of your own and play them your way. Even though the Bass is total simplicity, it helps the lead to take it to a whole new level and even be able to come up with different licks and chords when writing new songs or composing them as well. If you don't play other instruments and apply those techniques when covering or doing your own material, your playing,composing and writing will always be second rate.