Stuart Bull takes influences from outside the blues and transcribes three essential licks..... I'm a little bit country; he's a little bit rock and roll. Why did Donny and Marie Osmond sing these words so many times on American TV?

Maybe they were trying to stress the importance of different musical influences working together in the same environment! I have transcribed three rapid bluesy phrases with a diversity of influences. Use them in your own solos where you can - Finally, remember that slow practice equals fast progress, and fast practice equals slow progress.

Example 1.
BYTE 1. Three-octave lick, played right across the guitar, starting on the 1st string, I first heard this idea by Marty Friedman of Megadeth, and in a more bluesy way by Shaun Baxter. Play a phrase on two strings and then repeat it over three octaves. This version uses the E blues scale.

Example 2.
BYTE 2. Chromatic passing notes lick, played across the guitar from the 6th string, this example uses three chromatic passing notes - a flattened 5th, a major 7th and a sharpened root. Chromatics are a simple way to make your playing sound jazzy without learning heavily altered scales.

Example 3. This is a bebop inspired lick, which brings a new sound to the usual pentatonic and blues ideas, again using chromatic passing notes.

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