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I-V three-note blues transitions

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darkhorse9

Mar 28, 2010
80
1
#1
I have what may be a newby question but I've been struggling with it for a while.

When I play a simple I-IV-V blues riff I can easily make the move to the IV with a simple three-note run up the major scale.

I've never really been happy with my transitions from I-V or from V-I with any three-note transition. I do a I-II-IV-V move right now, but is there something better?
 
#3
I assume that you are playing 1 - 2 - 4 - 5 (notes) in the fourth bar in order to move from the I to the IV (chords), and will hit the new root (the 4) on the upbeat in the fifth bar. It works, but the repetition of the same note near the end of bar four and the start of beat five muddies the transition. Instead, try playing 1 - 2 - 3 - b5 (or, 1 - 2 - 3b - 3) in bar four, and the hit the new root (4) at the start of the fifth bar.

I think your ears will tell you these are better approaches. Why? Because you are walking to a target (the 4 note of the scale) that you will play at a point of emphasis--the first upbeat of a measure. A repetition of that note in a weak location (the second upbeat of the prior measure) reduces the impact of that target note.

Instead of studying blues "licks," you might want to start working on the principles behind walking bass lines. Ed Friedland has a very good book on that as well.
 
#4
Yes Ed's book will get you there.
Give chromatic runs a try, it's not rocket science.
C to F. Db, D, Eb, E and land on F
F to G. F, C, F, F# and land on G have to be a little creative on this one.
G to C. go back up the scale to C ..... G, F, E, D, switch over to the E string and land on C

Just walk up or back down to the next chord. Experiment, your ear is the best judge.
 
#5
For a simple walking blues line, I will often use these:

(Key of A, but can be transposed anywhere)
I-V...Chromatic approach...A-C#-D-D# | E
V-I...Scale approach...E-D-C#-B | E

There are many different ways you can get from one chord to the next using chord, scale, or chromatic tones. Sometimes, a non-linear path can be used as well.

Another +1 for Ed Friedland's book.
 
#6
Man, that's the chord structure that lends itself rather nicely to endless improvisation my friend. As long as you stay inside the chord, you could literally just play around with different notes in the chord until you find a lick you like, and it will sound fine. Try approaching from an octave above, vary your tempo slightly on a walk up you know well, incorporate syncopation. I like to listen to public radio here, and I pick up a lot of things from the variety of music they play on there.
 

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