rhythm rules

Rhythm Rules: 8 Ways to Navigate a 12-Bar Blues

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These inventive riffs might make your next blues jam a bit more exciting.

Chops: Intermediate
Theory: Intermediate
Lesson Overview:
• Understand how to add extensions to dominant chord shapes.
• Learn riffs in the style of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Brian Setzer.
• Develop a better sense of swing by playing Freddie Green-style rhythm guitar.
Click here to download a printable PDF of this lesson's notation.

A 12-bar blues is one of the most universally understood chord progressions amongst musicians, no matter the instrument or a player’s ability and preferred genre. I’d be willing to bet if you sat down with a musician you’ve never played with before, you’d soon start jamming on a blues. I dare say as guitarists we all have go-to blues licks at our disposal and are comfortable taking a solo when the time comes. However, our options for playing a supportive, rhythmic role may be more limited. Let’s do something about that, shall we? In this lesson, we’ll look at eight different 12-bar rhythm styles that you can expand on or alter to fit nearly any situation.

Ex. 1 is a take on the classic Stevie Ray Vaughan “Pride and Joy” riff. You might have played this in the key of E, which allows access to the open 1st and 2nd strings to keep the riff chugging along. However, this example is in the key of G, so I’ve inserted a rhythmic “chuck” between the single notes to get that infectious shuffle feel. Also, if you mute the string adjacent to each single note, you can strum both the fretted note and muted string. The resulting “thwack” adds fire to the riff.

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Rhythm Rules: Clave Grooves and Funky Moves

Take a trip down South to learn a new style of funk guitar.

Chops: Intermediate
Theory: Beginner
Lesson Overview:
• Learn the difference between a 3-2 clave and a 2-3 clave.
• Improve your 16th-note feel.
• Understand how to work single notes and chord stabs into funky riffs.

Click here to download a printable PDF of this lesson's notation.

“Can you show me some of that funk stuff?” I hear that question a lot from guitarists. I was fortunate enough to spend eight years working with the Neville Brothers, followed by the legendary Dr. John. Through these experiences, I was able to soak up a lot of rhythms and sounds of New Orleans-style funk guitar—and then use them to come up with some ideas of my own. This lesson will serve as a basic primer on some of the most important parts of New Orleans funk. It’s more laid back and looser than traditional funk guitar styles. For example, Prince or Al McKay from Earth, Wind & Fire would probably strum a rhythm part with a tighter and more staccato right hand.

The Funky Clave
A great place to begin is learning the clave rhythm and how it applies to the New Orleans sound. New Orleans has always been a melting pot of so many cultures—Caribbean, African, and European—and though I hesitate to use the generic, overused term “gumbo,” it really is a great description for the music. The influence of African culture, Spanish culture, and the Cajun people are just a few of the elements that went into creating this unique scene and ultimately the music. Enough with the history lesson, let’s dive into some rhythm ideas.

Check out the rhythm in Ex. 1. This is a basic 3-2 clave. It’s also known as the “foundation” rhythm and is a building block of bossa nova music. We call this a 3-2 clave because there are three beats in the first measure and two in the second—easy, right? You can also flip the measures around to create a 2-3 clave.

The “New Orleans” variation is shown in Ex. 2. There are many classic examples of this rhythm. A couple of great ones are “Hey Pocky Way” by the legendary funk band the Meters, and “Iko Iko,” which has been recorded by a ton of artists. One important point is to make sure you lift your fretting hand to create the mutes. “Squeeze and release” is the mantra to keep in mind. Keep the 16th-note strum going with your right hand while maintaining an even attack.

Click here for Ex. 2

We move to the funk-friendly key of E for Ex. 3. The key here will be to settle into a nice pocket and resist the urge to rush the chord stabs in the last two measures.

Click here for Ex. 3

Ex. 4 features a sus (suspended) sound in place of the more traditional voicing. Notice how we’re using the slides and half-step bend in this example. We’ve moved away from the basic clave idea, but are still firmly entrenched in the 16th-note framework.

Click here for Ex. 4

Finally, Ex. 5 offers a slinky part in the key of F. Keep your picking hand moving in a 16th-note pattern and really try to lock in the groove—even if it means simplifying things.

Click here for Ex. 5

We’ve barely scratched the surface of these concepts. For a super-funky rhythmic backup, check out this drum track I used for the examples, which was played by Doug Belote.

If you’re interested in learning more of this style, make sure to delve into the rich musical heritage of New Orleans. Listen not only to the artists I mentioned earlier, but also newer groups like the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Galactic.
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Rhythm Rules: How to Steal from Yourself

Sometimes an eighth-note is the only thing that separates the tired from the inspired.

Chops: Intermediate
Theory: Beginner
Lesson Overview:
• Learn how to reinvent your phrases with rhythmic displacement.
• Develop a better sense of time by shifting accents.
• Understand how to effortlessly move between positions.

Click here to download a printable PDF of this lesson's notation.

So how do you prevent your solos from sounding like day-old bread? We all have a bag of tried-and-true licks. They sound cool. We like them and they like us. More often than not, we play them exactly the same way without even thinking about it. That’s fine until you get to the second chorus ... or the third or fourth. Don’t get me wrong: Repetition can be an effective compositional tool, but when you use it too much, your playing will become predictable instead of creative or clever. You have to be able to play for more than 12 bars and still keep it interesting.

To combat the potential rigor mortis of your solo, you have two tools: quantity and quality. You either need to add more licks to your trick bag or get extra mileage out of what you already know. The quantity method is pretty straightforward: Just dig into the wealth of resources out there and find new stuff to play. In this lesson we’ll focus on the quality method—specifically, how to use a few rhythmic tricks to bring your favorite, well-worn phrases back from the dead.

Let’s say you always start your favorite lick on beat one. What if you shift to the right by one beat and start the lick on beat two? Or shift to the right by an eighth-note and start on the and of one? If your lick has triplets, you could move it to the right by each triplet subdivision. What about 16th-notes?

This technique is called rhythmic displacement. In other words, we shift a phrase within a measure without altering its original rhythmic structure. The accented and unaccented beats will move, and therefore change the character of the line and create new musical tensions.

Time to get to work. In all our examples, the original lick starts on beat one and then is followed by the displaced versions. Download that metronome app you’ve always wanted and check these out!

An eighth-note line à la B.B. King, Ex. 1 uses the B minor pentatonic scale (B–D–E–F#–A) in 7th position. Learn to play the original and don’t miss that repeated B note on beat three. Play the second half of the example where the line now starts on the and of one. All the notes have been shifted to the right by an eighth-note and the accents will have to change as well—especially the repeated notes and the ending. It might be challenging to start the lick on an upbeat, but stick with it and make sure you’re keeping the eighth-note values consistent.

Click here for Ex. 1

Our next example (Ex. 2) is a triplet-based, blues-shuffle line that uses the C major pentatonic (C–D–E–G­–A) scale. The wipeout potential is increased because were moving from the 5th to the 11th position. The biggest stumbling block will be starting the lick on the second (and third) beats of the triplet. When displacing this lick, make sure you’re accenting the correct note. I know ... the slides don’t make things any easier.

Click here for Ex. 2

The funky 16th-note lick in Ex. 3 is based on the A Mixolydian (A–B–C#–D–E–F#–G) mode and includes some chromatic notes. The accents will either be “on” the beat (the first and third 16th) or “off” the beat (the second and fourth 16th). Remember to practice slowly and subdivide in sixteenths before you play each part of this example. You want to make sure you’re starting on the correct part of the beat.

Click here for Ex. 3

These three examples only show displacement through beat one. You can expand this idea to beats two, three, and four of the measure. Don’t be scared to complicate things by using this technique on lines with tied note values or a mix of eighth-notes and triplets. Keep yourself honest and make sure your lines start exactly on the intended beat. By stealing ideas from yourself, you’ll create solos that use repetition but don’t sound repetitive.

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