Table Of Content58 TT a a
improvising
ock Guitar
Book/record guide
to the style of Pat Thrall,
one of rock’s finest
guitarists. This is the
most com;
guide to lead-style
rock guitar ever devised:
id by
Bloomfield.
Green Note
Music Publications
exch Oltiutor
WARNER BROS. PUBLICATIONS INC.
75 Reckaflar Pasa © New York, N.Y. 20038
perienced playe!
material i
fessional nature (
should amply demon
beginner.
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The information contained in
this book can be used by be-
ginning guitarists as well as ex-
The musical
of an advanced, pro-
a playing
of the accompanying record
yet the techniques involved can
be learned almost immediately
by anyone—even a complete
improvising
Rock Guitar
The most comprehensive
guide to lead-style rock guitar
ever devised.
By the Staff of
Green Note Music Publications
°
Foreword by Michael Bloomfield
GREEN NOTE MUSIC PUBLICATIONS/ BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA
IMPROVISING BOCK GUITAR
© GREEN NOTE MUSIC PUBLICATIONS 1973
NEW MATERIAL:
© GREEN NOTE MUSIC PUBLICATIONS 1981
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG NUMBER: 7292915
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BOOK NUMBER: 0.912910-038
PHOTO CREDITS:
Cover photos/Fobert Altman
{All photos of PAT THRALL/Robert Altman,
4IMICHAEL BLOOMFIELD/Jef Albertson
25/ROCK HOTEL/Straw Dog
27IFILLMORE WEST/sima Marshall
GI/IRG RECORDING SESSION/Robert Altman.
Instructional and Incidental Photography/Ronald Mathews
Record Band
2/Side A
3/Side A
4/Side A
5/Side A
7/Side B
7/Side B
7/Side B
7/Side B
8/Side B
8/Side B
8/Side B
8/Side B
6/Side A
2/Side A
Page
Table of Contents
Foreword
Introduction
PART 1: THE ELEMENTS OF ROCK GUITAR
The Box System of Guitar Improvisation
Rock and Country/Rock Scales
Rock Cliches
Rock Cliches with Rhythm Background
PART 2: COMBINING THE ELEMENTS OF ROCK GUITAR
“Snaker”:
Introduction
Solo Chorus 1
Solo Chorus 2
Chordal Interlude
Soloing on the Changes
Solo Chorus 3
Solo Chorus 4
“Homage To Hendrix”:
Introduction
Solo Chorus 1
Solo Chorus 2
Chordal Interlude
Soloing on the Changes
Solo Chorus 3
Solo Chorus 4
Final Note
APPENDICES
1. Symbols and Notation Used in this Manual
general
fingering notation
ll. Tablature
Ill. Rock Techniques
rock fingering
picking
bending
vibrato
the pull
the hammer
IV. Box System Illustrative Examples
V. Box System Summary Chart
MICHAEL BLOOMFIELD, who wrote the Foreword opposite, actually needs no introduction to
anyone interested in the contemporary rock scene. Via his sizzling guitar and the urban blues
of the Paul Butterfield Band, he helped usher in the current phase of rock; saw rock through its
middle period (those days of The Electric Flag, and the Super Sessions), and is currently front-
ing his own band, Michael Bloomfield & Friends, dividing his time, musically, between live per-
formances and studio work
Foreword
All my life I've played improvised or semi-improvised guitar music.
Even in my earliest music-playing years, | would alter and “play
with” pieces my teachers wanted me to learn verbatim. I've never
regretted those alterations.
Improvisation is a unique way to assert your personality, wit, and
mind into an ordered form. That form is music.
You can never underestimate the value of personalizing the music
you play, by the choice of notes, tones, and sonorities you use.
These choices, and how you apply them, is what makes you different
from any other guitarist. A simple lick, such as “Cliche 1,” found on
P. 29 of this book, can be made unique by the way you attack the
notes, the distinctiveness of your vibrato, and the settings you use
on your equipment. Listen to Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode, or
BB King's You Upset Me Baby, or Jimi Hendrix's Highway Chile.
They all use that same cliche, yet you will note the differences in
their approach to that lick.
Strive to sound like yourself. Learn Hendrix, learn Beck, Bloomfield,
Allman, Page, West, etc., but pass through them to find your own
style. Listen to earlier rock and blues records, so you will under-
stand where current guitarists got their styles. Listen also to vocal-
ists, horn players and other instrumentalists. Try to “pulf" all the
sounds you hear — no matter how varied — out of your guitar. They
are in there and they will come out.
This book is a primary and necessary aid to understanding impro-
vised music. Use it and it will give you a foundation to play from.
Remember, make the music you play yours; that's what it's all about.
Here are some of the many musicians who have influenced my play-
ing and my general musical background: BB King, Django Reinhardt,
Charlie Christian, Ray Charles, Junior Walker, Elmore James, Chuck
Berry, Albert King, John Coltrane, Wes Montgomery, Chet Atkins,
and most anyone else whose music happened to tickle my fancy.
Keep your ears open and your fingers limber.
Good Pickin’
mM Chaci (Blaembie! 4
Record Bands 7 & 8/Side B
Introduction
Using This Book
IMPROVISING ROCK GUITAR is an organized approach
to the study of a relatively subtle and complex contem-
porary guitar style.
For your first serious reading of this book, go in an orderly
and unhurried manner. This does not mean staying on a
Page until each word is completely memorized, but it does
mean having a good understanding of each concept before
moving on. By working in this way you can be sure of get-
ting the most from this method right from the start.
The Enclosed Record
Let us begin our study now by going directly to the music
on Side B of the record included with this book. (The rec-
ord is found between pp. 48-49.)
Sit back, relax, and play the whole of Side B at least once,
before going on with the reading. Turn the volume up and
let the sound surround you. The music on this-record is
good music, and you might as well enjoy it now, at the out-
set, before actually beginning to study it.
If you listened closely, you probably noticed that Side B
consists of two jamming rock tunes. On each tune, the lead
guitarist solos for a number of choruses, then the remain-
der of the track is given over to the rhythm section alone,
to back you up when you get ready to solo.
The solo on the first tune—"Snaker”—is a good example of
what we might call “mainstream” rock; that is, it features
the kind of sound that any of your favorite guitarists—from
Eric Clapton to Jimmy Page to whomever—might play,
‘or might have played, at any particular time.
The solo on the second tune—"Homage To Hendrix”—is a
good example of what we might call “jazz rock,” for want
of another name to tag on it. This solo might perhaps re-
mind you of Jimi Hendrix, at his mellowest, or Carlos San-
tana.
A Preliminary
Experiment
Now that you have listened to Side B a time or two, and
know what sort of music and what sort of sounds we will
be dealing with, let's try an experiment.
Tune the open high E string of your guitar (the thinnest
string) to the organ tuning-note found on Record Band
1/Side A, tune the rest of your guitar by any method that
you normally use, and then try to copy on your guitar some
of the solo material found on Side B, using just your ear
alone.
DON'T PANIC if you find this extremely difficult to do at
this time! Record-copying is quite hard if you're not used
to it, but it is also one of the quickest and most direct ways
of learning music that exists, and most great musicians
will own to having done much of it, especially in their ap-
prentice years.
Note: For right now when you record-copy, use any
fingering that you can manage, and any picking tech-
nique that you are already familiar with. We will have
much to say about rock fingering later and through-
out the course of this book.
As far as picking is concerned, all of the recorded
material accompanying this book was played with a
flatpick. For those who are unfamiliar with the use of
the flatpick, but who would like to begin working with
it as soon as possible, a discussion appears in Appen-
dix III, Rock Techniques, pp. 100-101.
To return to our record-copying experiment, the impor-
tant thing to keep in mind when you attempt to record-
copy at this time is not to worry if the work does not go
well. If you find yourself forcing too hard, back off a bit
and read the next few pages, which contain some hints
about how to get the most from record-copying.
We will eventually return to the music on Side 8, later in
the book, at which time you will be much better prepared
for it. For now, try to copy on your guitar some of the solo
work on Side B of the record accompanying this book. Do
this before reading further,
Record Band 1/Side A
Record Bands 7 & 8/Side B
Tips on Record-Copying
If you had a great deal of difficulty
doing this record-copying (and the
chances of this are great, especially
if you're a beginner or intermed-
iate player), try the following sug-
gestions:
Copy a fragment of music at time:
a note, a phrase, a measure. Sing
the part aloud if necessary, and
try to find on your guitar what you
have sung.
Use the balance knob of your ster-
eo record player to bring out the
part you especially want to hear.
For example, on the record includ-
ed with this book, the lead guitar
plays through the right speaker
and the rhythm section through the
left. In order to bring out the guitar
solo more clearly, simply turn your
balance knob to the right speaker.
Although most commercial stereo
recordings are not split so lopsided-
ly in favor of the guitar as we have
done on this instructional record,
the same principles do apply, and
focussing on a single channel us-
ually helps bring out the part you
want to hear.
Another trick in record-copying is
to slow the turntable speed of the
record, making it easier to hear
individual notes. To slow a 33 1/3
rpm record (such as the one that
comes with this book) you must
Play it on a phonograph that can
revolve at 16 rpm. Notice that the
pitches, besides standing out bet-
ter, are lowered when you do this.
Playing a 33 1/3 record at 16 low-
ers the notes a full octave; make
sure to correct for this.
In addition to these hints, you
should also:
Record-copy regularly. Do some
just about every day, even if it’s
only fifteen minutes or a half-hour
at a time.
Record-copy as early in your day as.
possible, when your ears are fresh-
est. Start with the difficult licks
first, tapering off to the easier
ones. There’s nothing hard-and-fast
about this suggestion, but you will
notice that your ear, like any mus-
cle that you exercise, tends to get
tired with use, and tired as the day
wears on.
Know when to back off. If the work
is going badly, and you're very
frustrated and feel like throwing
your guitar out the window and
yourself right after it, stop copying
and take a break, even for a day or
two. Just as your fingers often
seem to gain in strength after a
brief layoff (especially | when
you've been working them extra
hard), so after a rest from record-
copying, notes that were impos-
sible to hear, often suddenly leap
out at you when you begin work
again.
If, after reading these suggestions,
you feel like going back now and
trying some more record-copying,
by all means do so. But remember,
don't force too hard at one time, if
the going gets rough. Your involve-
ment with this kind of exercise will
probably continue, in one degree
or another, for the extent of your
musical life, so don't feel you have
to get it all together in just one day.
In the case of record-copying, re-
laxed and steady is best.
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