Blues Jam, question

Eminence_Front

Eminence_Front

Osiris Chickenfingers
Ok, this is really dumb...


But on the Blues Jam board, they posted an FAQ for newbies, etc. to acclimate us before we actually get there and step all over something.

They state "Most of our stuff is in I-IV-V, but we occasionally play I-IV7-V9 . .

I realize this means the 4 is played as a 7th, and the 5 is played as a 9th chord, but are the voicings particularly important or can I just play a typical 7th or 9th chord anywhere on the neck that fits the shuffle ?



Also, can you substitute the IV7th or V9th as you please, and does it affect what the ending note of a lead, say out of the 1 needs to be to resolve the Melody ?

(did I say that right )
 
Interesting in that I always took the I IV V to be ALL dom7 chords in a typical blues...i.e A7 D7 E7 and you could use the extensions pretty freely on all of them, so A9 D7 E13 might be a typical progression too.

As far as voicings go..in that situation, i.e jamming with others, I'd be tempted to keep my voicings as "small" as possible...creating more space for others. So, I'd probably just play the 3rd, 7th and other extensions as I wanted..leaving the root to the bass/keys. For example, my A7 would just be this:

​

I particularly love this shape as you can move it down a half step and get a D7 voicing (F# C being 3rd and b7 of D7) and move it UP a half step and you get your E7 (G# D being 3rd and b7 of E7)..so, an entire twelve bar with one shape moving one fret in each direction. WIN!. :)


However, what I know about blues you could write on the back of a stamp..:embarrassed:..so I'll let the others answer regarding substitutions and target notes. FWIW, I'd keep it simple and always aim for chord tones to resolve to.
 
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Hmmm... I'm not going to get as scholastic as Mosiddiqi, probably because I've never tried to make a scale online, or do much more than just type the font that's fonting. But I'm seeing Brian Setzer's pic as an avatar and think of him with his big swing, rockabilly band. So I'm just putting out that no matter what one, two, three or four chords anyone can tell you is the blues, that's not all. Playing with keys, horns, anything other than another guitar, bass and drums, instead of playing the base chord, say A, you can play the related minor, F#, Em if in G. That doubles the chords that can be used and immediately adds harmonics previously lacking. You can consider your tremolo detuning as other chords too, if you get into it, floating your tuning too.

My blues started with Jimi Hendrix. After I saw him it got sad, sometimes, a little bit, because I couldn't buy a Marshall amp without ordering one from England, and no lefty Strats were around. And if you're getting into the blues, please, don't burden yourself with all the sadness you can rain down upon yourself, trying to play, say, like Robert Johnson or Blind Lemon Smith, or Wee Willy Winky, never mind the fantastic duo Mr. Pink and Puffy. They never really played chords, unless their guitar made a six string ring on it's own after being tossed down on the bed. They kept the bass going, got some chord in with accent notes, if not outright melody happening.

For some reason I'm thinking Allman Brothers, Live at the Fillmore. Blues... it's waiting for us all, industrial age wage slaves.

as always, John Watt
 
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Personally, I regularly substitute 9ths and 13ths for Dom7ths and IMO it has no real effect when I go back and solo over it. Conversely, when soloing I really like the sound of resolving to the 13th over a 7th chord (ie resolving to F# over an A7 chord). SRV will even throw in 7#9s (aka Hendrix chord) as well, especially for the I (listen to Mary Had A Little Lamb for example). That to me is the beauty of Blues, you have so much freedom to "play" within a relatively strict construct (a I IV V progression)
 
Blues is so nebulous in that chord choice and voicing hinge on a number of factors. To simplify my life I will study a sub genre of blues and interpret how players treated feels during the period and region they recorded. a good example is when I work with harp players and they say a suffle in E I use full 9nth chords sliding up 2 frets to voice a 6th chord. I get alot of mileage out of those chords
 
Yeah... I shouldn'tna'been so glib about twelve notes. I'm working half-notes, quarter-notes, with glissandos of single notes and pitching chords with tremolo bends. That's an eternity of notes, with matching, expressive words.

Sorry if my slight attempt at shortness sorta failed. That's why it's nice to try again.

as always, John Watt
 
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