In the world of funk, jazz, and blues, solos are rarely pre-written. Almost always, they are improvised. In fact, the best players in these realms craft a different solo each time they play a familiar tune.
In his course, Twisted Guitar: Blues Soloing, Oz Noy gives you the blueprint to start honing this skill yourself. With the right practice and guidance, you too can articulate new and interesting solos each time you play.
Here are 8 free soloing blues guitar lessons from the course. For the full course, check out Oz Noy’s Twisted Guitar: Blues Soloing on TrueFire!
Ice Man: Overview
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This set of lessons is working with a track called “Ice Man”. It’s a medium-tempo funk groove over an A7 chord. Harmonically, there’s a lot that can be done with it – we’ll being taking it in and out with some diminished sounds. It’s heavily inspired by Albert Collins, hence the name of the song, especially his work bringing the funk into the blues.
Ice Man: Lick 1
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This first lick is an A7 vamp – which means you can do whatever you want on it! Here, I’m taking an A minor pentatonic blues line, moving it a half step up and down.
Ice Man: Lick 2
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Here’s another lick from the track. Over an A7 chord again, I’m using the A minor pentatonic into a Bb7, and then back into the A minor pentatonic.
Ice Man: Lick 3
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Our final lick for this track is over an A7 chord again. The concept here is basically taking a triad and jumping it in fourths. So, playing A-D-G-C over the A7 chord.
Ice Man: Solo with Licks
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Now let’s look at some of our licks in action. This solo for “Ice Man” will show you how to use them in a real time soloing scenario. Try to pick out each one and see how they work in the big picture.
Ice Man: Improvised Solo
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We’ll wrap up “Ice Man” with another solo, this time completely improvised.
Twisted Soul: Solo with Licks
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Now let’s look at some different licks in action. This solo for “Twisted Soul” will show you how to use them in a real time soloing scenario. Try to pick out each one and see how they work in the big picture.
Twisted Soul: Improvised Solo
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We’ll wrap up “Twisted Soul” with another solo, this time completely improvised.
Digging these free soloing blues guitar lessons from Oz Noy? Check out his full course, Twisted Guitar: Blues Soloing.