Cool Tones in a 12 bar blues
Now lets see how we can use cool tones in a 12 bar blues situation. As you know, or hopefully you know, well if you don’t know you better find out, the basic blues form uses the I the IV and the V chords of key of the I.
For a refresher check out The Basic 12 Bar Blues Form. In others words in the key of C, C is the I, F is the IV and G is the V chord. In the standard blues format all three chords are dominant 7th chords. So the the chords are: the I chord C7, the IV chord F7, and the V chord G7.
For me the basic way of making use of a scale or a lick or an arpeggio is to match it in the same position with the chord, and the basic chord types, to start off with are chords with the root in the bass.
So the 3 chords we’re going to look at come out of a blues in C, C7, F7, G7.
Remember everything guitar is very specific to the fret you use, the finger you use, and the string you use.
In this case C7, 8th fret, 1st finger, 6th string.
In the case of C7 the chord starts with the 1st finger, the cool tones with the 2nd finger.
F7, 8th fret, 2nd finger, 5th string.
and G7, 10th fret, 4th finger, 5th string.
In the case of G7 the chord starts with the 3rd finger, the cool tones with the 4th finger.
As I said earlier just playing the straight cool tones can sound lame but if you add minor pentatonic, blues scale, and major pentatonic to the mix, along with the added tones that we covered in Article 1 we can have some really cool sh#! going on.
I’m going to provide a chorus of blues as an example.
Cool Tones 12 Bar Solo Audio
Peter Lerner has toured with Grammy award winning pianist Ramsey Lewis and has played duets on NBC and CBS with acclaimed trumpeter Orbert Davis. Peter has performed with Bill Russo’s Chicago Jazz Ensemble at the Jazz Showcase where he performed with such luminaries as Lee Konitz.
Peter has also played with Gladys Knight, Funk icon Bootsy Collins, Charlie Wilson of the Gap Band, The Fifth Dimension, Tito Puente, Little Anthony and blues harpist Sugar Blue. Peter currently teaches guitar and ensemble classes at Columbia College in Chicago, where he has been on faculty since 1995.
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