Well, now we will continue to play the blues. This time, we will teach you to play over those chord changes in the 12 bar blues. I'll show you a neat way to play them to really bring out the chord tones while playing over the Mixolydian Mode. To show you this trick I have to show you all the notes used in the chords and the mixolydian modes relative to the chords (example: G7 is relative to G Mixolydian). I will give you an example to follow in the key of G. (shown below)
| G7
|
C7
|
D7
|
| Root | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | Octave |
| G | A | B | C | D | E | F | G |
| Root | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | Octave |
| C | D | E | F | G | A | Bb | C |
| Root | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | Octave |
| D | E | F# | G | A | B | C | D |
Take a look at the 3 mixolydian modes. Notice that the change in notes...
Changes from G Mixolydian to C Mixolydian: B changes to Bb
Changes from G Mixolydian to D Mixolydian: F changes to F#
Changes from C Mixolydian to D Mixolydian: F changes to F# and Bb changes
to B
Now, when you are playing over the 12 bar blues, you want to play G Mixolydian over the G7 chord, C Mixolydian over the C7 chord, and D Mixolydian over the D7 chord. The hard part is changing between the different modes while bringing out the chord tones. Here's how I do it...
After looking at the changes in the the modes you must look at the 12 bar blues (shown below). When the chords change from G7 to C7, try hammering from B to Bb. By doing this you will accentuate the chord change because G7 has a B while C7 has a Bb. You will also play the only note that is different between the G Mixolydian and C Mixolydian Modes. To bring out the C7 chord try playing the chord tones to further accentuate the C7 chord. When the chords change from C7 back to G7, try going from Bb to B, then playing the G7 chord tones. Once again you will have accentuated the chord change. When the chords change from C7 to D7, try going from F to F#, then play the D7 chord tones. Unlike the other chord changes this one leaves 2 changes in the notes of the modes. I like to use the F# because it is also a chord tone, and it does a better job in accentuating the D7 chord. Are you getting the hang of my technique? The basic formula is to play the note change then play the chord tones. All you have to know is the 12 bar blues and the change in the notes.
| 12 Bar Blues Sounds |
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