Blues Improvisation On An Open A Chord 4

Call And Response Lead + Some Rhythm Ideas

The call and response idea is basically to play identical phrases in two different octaves - it doesn't matter which octave you start with so the example that I have tabbed out could equally well be the other way round.
The effect would be more or less the same.

The extra bass notes in this lesson will be tabbed in the next lesson.

The rhythmic ideas in this lesson are just examples of the rhythm that I tend to play with this open A improvisation.

A vast array of rhythms may be used using the basic techniques outlined in this tutorial from ultra slow blues to hard driving fast rock.

I find that the John Lee Hooker inspired rhythm works for me as I can get a lot of different dynamics into the imrovisation which is always good when hanging out on one chord. The "breakdown" to a triplet feel (referred to in the video as a kind of slurry thing!) is a good example of adding dynamics to the rhythm - doing it on a 7th chord adds a lot of tension which is then resolved by returning to a straight A and the normal rhythm.

Another thing I do to add dynamics is to play full on loud rhythm and then suddenly switch to much quieter lead bass notes with no chord.