This solo is from the Jamzone and uses the E blues scale exclusively. Read the associated article and do the E Blues Scales exercises there to get this solo down quicker.

Here we use the E Blues Scale to play a basic blues solo over the 12 Bar Blues 2 backing track. This is a simple solo that sounds good. Excellent for beginners getting used to blues solo basics.

For the solo we'll be using the E blues scale. This is the same scale as the Pentatonic minor scale, with one extra note. For the Blues scale we simply add an extra note between the 4th and 5th notes to the pentatonic minor scale. This gives us:

E - G - A - Bb - B - D - E

There are 3 blue notes here - G, Bb, D the most striking blue note is the Bb. Blue notes add expression to your playing and we start with the Bb in this solo in a little repetitive lick. Each time this lick ends with vibrato on the E note. This complements the backing track E bars played at this point.

As the backing music shifts to the A bars, listen to how we shift emphasis in the solo to play around the A and Bb notes. Particularly the Bb blue note. This is a classic way to get that 'bluesy' feel. When making your own solos, remember to use bends like this and to use that 'off-sounding' Bb Blue note. Use the A note to resolve the 'off' sound.

After two A bars the backing music returns to play out two more E bars. At this point we use a simple slide from D (another blue note) to E.

After that we hit the B in the backing music (remember 12 bar blues backing music follows this format: E E E E A A E E B A E E/B turnaround). We play through some nice melodic phrases until the backing music returns to A, and we make a lot of use of the Bb and G blue notes before reaching the turnaround.

After the turnaround the 12 bar blues backing sequence repeats again (E E E E A A E E B A E E/B turnaround). We use the Bb intro lick again 4 times over the first four E bars.

Have fun with the rest of the solo, and see the difference that good ol' Bb blue note makes! Also, check out the normal speed audio to see how it all sounds with the 12 Bar Blues in E backing (chords) included.