Blues Riffs and others

[cody 0893]

I was watching this show called the ages of rock on vh1 clasic and i was wondering what are some examples of a plain blues cover is or any blues riffs that anyone likes thank you in advance:o

[Malcolm]

For some covers:
http://www.12bar.de/soloscal.php
I like the Unplugged CD. Some of the songs are:
Before you accuse me
Hey Hey
Tears in Heaven
Layla
Alberta
Malted Milk, etc, etc.

For riffs - use the blues pattern.
http://johncomino.tripod.com/bluesscl.htm
The blues scale has 6 notes. The b3, #4 and b7 are different from the major scale notes. Think of it this way if you take the major scale + the b3, #4 and b7 that will give you 10 notes to build your riff from. Any of those 10 notes.

If a minor scale your blues scale's #4 gives you a total of 8 notes to draw your riffs from.

You probably will be playing over all dominant 7th chords, I see no reason to limit your riffs to just the 6 notes of the blues scale.

Here are 101 blues riffs:
http://www.pgmusic.com/riffaday_eb.php?riff=3
Standard notation -- you will have to take that to your fretboard. Probably a little more work, but worth it. Somewhere in those 101 riffs I'm sure you can find something you like.

My two cents. :cool:

[Crossroads]

Take a look at this thread, which is a fairly in-depth discussion of blues & blues guitarists from A to Z. http://www.ibreathemusic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14231

If you are talking about electric blues playing (as opposed to the earlier acoustic styles, which were more concerned with the vocals and the words), then two absolutely classic guitar showpieces are -

Hideaway (Eric Clapton's version circa.1966)

Pride & Joy (Stevie Ray Vaughn)

I would recommend any player to learn those two, because they each contain masses of fantastic licks and phrases which have since been copied and used by almost all modern electric players in various styles, ie not just used in classic blues but also in rock, neo-classical, metal, and even shred. Those two tracks are also a great basis if you want to learn how to improvise blues.

Ian.