Blues Lick Factory is a blues-specific supplement to Jesse Gress’
popular Guitar Lick Factory instructional book. This time around
Jesse uses what he refers to as pickup modules, which are modular
three, four, five and six-note licks, specific to a target tone that can
then be crafted into short one and two-bar licks, and eventually, complete
12-bar solos.
The book starts off with some standard fare, covering pentatonic
major, minor and blues scales up and down the neck. It then turns
its attention to target tones, hepping the reader to what tones work
where and which are shared by multiple chords, all in a way that
stays both logical and easy to digest. The following section is a bit
of a godsend in that it covers tritones and seventh-chord voicings, to
helping newer blues players liven up their rhythm playing and allowing
them to sidestep those static A7 and E7 five and six-note barre
chords. This factory offers a solid, fundamental base for creating
rocking rhythms that literally move. Hells yeah!
In chapter four, the pickup licks begin, with the corresponding lick
available on the included CD. Each example has three parts with a
pickup line, or module, available for the I, IV, and V chords. After progressing
from three to six-note pickups, chapter eight looks at some
rhythmic variations to spice things up a bit. Then it’s off to the onebar
target-tone licks, where the knowledge learned is used to make
complete phrases, eventually leading to full-blown, 12-bar blues solos.
Blues Lick Factory is put together in way that indicates Jesse’s pulling
for you; he actually seems to want you to finish this book and
become a better blues player. And there’s no way we couldn’t recommend
that whole-heartedly.
$19.95
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