80 INJECTING SOULFULLY SWINGIN’ JAZZ LINES AND LUSH EXTENDED CHORDS INTO THE 12-BAR BLUES. ~ BY VINCENT DEMASI oo TWELVE MEASURES, THREE CHORDS, infinite possibilities. As mystifying asitmay seem, the pedestrian simplicity of the standard 12-bar blues has been the Spartan framework supporting some of the most groundbreaking, inspirational, and tireless musical innovation of the last cen- tury. In the hands of masters from all genres such as Robert Johnson, Count Basie, Chuck Berry, the Beatle, Miles Davis, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and even Sun Ra, these durable dozen bars of musical pos= sibility have accommodated all,-manner of instrumentation, stylistic interpretation, and é 2 GUITARPLAYER.COM Master Classa7 -A9{n0 root) wees Ht deo I+ 1 “AN3 o “Chor ool os eral nay ep Jeror J) evo Fris. ero a GUITARPLAYER.COM melodic and harmonic invention. Guitarists especially have been drawn to the duality of the blues, its simultaneous provision of down-home familiarity and open-ended improvisational freedom. For born-and-bred rockers, it’s pretty darn tempting (not to mention gratifying) t0 blast through the blues’ three-chord construct in mindless “full shred ahead” mode, riffing ‘on pentatonic minor scale ad nauseum. But logging some serious shed time conquering the art of playing on top of the changes—a classic jazz approach that crafts lines based ‘on the tones of the underlying chords—can tur the same old blues into a whole new ball- game and offer new chordal and melodic contours to your sound no matter what sty- listic stomping ground() you call home. So grab your hollowbody jazz box, (or vintage ‘Tele, or cutaway Breedlove acoustic, or Ibanez 7-String, or Line 6 Variax) and explore some new ways to make I-V-V come alive! 13-YOUR NEW LUCKY NUMBER A good point of entry for a jazz indoctrina- tion is mastery of some tasty new chord shapes. Don't be freaked out by numbers greater than 7. Think of hs and 13ths as 7th chords with extra color. They're all derived from the same scale and jazz musicians will tse these extensions interchangeably. Imparting the wisdom of blues classics like Miles Davis' “Freddie Freeloader" or T- Bone Walker's “Stormy Monday,” €x.1 builds ariff with an A7 chordal stab followed by a ‘chromati-leading-tone slide into the 13 (the Fon the 7th fret of the B string). Note that the second chord is a rootless voicing of an A9, and that the A13 refers to the overall harmony of the entire lick This same phrase transposed over the IV chord is the basis for Ex.2. The Fin the previous measure is now the 3 of the D9. Dig how the 3 of the A9—the Cfon the 3rd string— drops down to a C, which is the 7 of the D9. This litte halfstep drop is acan't- miss way of implying a I-IV change JIMI JAZZ ‘Most guitarists know the classic E749 that opens &x.3 as “the Hendrix chord” but jazzers were hip to this grip long before Jimi ever kissed