This is the 8th part in my “Breaking Down the Blues” series. You can see a rundown of all the parts in this series here. It’s also a follow up on my previous post, where I went through some of the theory behind the Dorian Mode, and went over some concepts that I like to use when I solo using the Dorian Mode in a blues style.
In this video, I go through a full solo that I put together which showcases the Dorian Mode throughout it. I start by playing the solo all the way through over a 12 bar blues backing track in the key of A. After that, I walk through each phrase in the solo.
I used many of the concepts that I went over broadly in the previous video. Here, you can see those concepts being used more directly in an actual solo.
I tried to keep things simple in this solo. I wanted it to be accessible to guitarists at a variety of levels. For the most part, the licks in this solo are not all that technical. But they’ll make for a great addition to your blues guitar playing.
To get the most out of this video, you’ll need to already have an understanding of a few things:
- The Blues Progression (in the Key of A)
- The Blues Scale
- How to do bends, pull-offs and slides
If you don’t already know those things, I’d suggest brushing up on them first.
But, if you do have a basic knowledge of those things, there will be ideas you can glean from this solo to add to your own playing. Being able to step outside of the usual blues scale from time to time can really help make your blues guitar solos more interesting.