Blues on the Other Side

You can coax a lot of interesting new life out of a typical blues lick by playing it on the other side of the beat. This simple technique will breathe fresh vitality and variety into your playing without losing unity and coherence. Read on to learn how it’s done.

Let’s start with a typical blues riff.

That phrase works fine as a blues lick. It fits the tonality, and it grooves with the drums. But – if you overplay it – it gets boring, redundant like wallpaper.

However, when you play it on the other side of the beat, it gets a second wind. I’ll show you how to do that using the riff we just listened to. It begins on “the and of beat one.” I’ve put a blue box around it. Now, repeat the same phrase, but this time, begin on “the and of beat four.” I’ve put a red box around that second iteration.

With this simple device, you accomplish two important musical goals:

You give your solo unity and coherence through repetition of the same material.
At the same time, you add variety and interest by imposing that rhythmic offset.

Inside the blue box, the note “A” hits on beats 2 and 4, the beats emphasized by the snare drum, while the “Eb” hits on beat 3, a bass drum beat. By contrast, inside the red box, the “A” notes hit on beats 1 and 3 (along with the bass drum), while the “Eb” now hits on beat 2 (with the snare).

If you’d like to shed this riff in all 12 keys, use the charts and recordings shown below. The first recording is played at 82 beats per minute, the second at 62, the third at 42, depending on how fast you’re able to do it. Below the recordings are charts in both treble and bass clefs. Bb instruments begin at bar 1. Concert key instruments begin at bar 9, while Eb instruments begin at bar 45. Jump back to bar 1, and play until the track finishes.

If you benefit from practicing riffs as I do in all 12 keys, click here to download my new method “12 Keys to Improv.” It contains 47 real jazz phrases in all 12 keys with charts and recordings.

Here it is in all 12 keys at 82 beats per minute.