Blues soloing is where you find your own voice on the guitar. The rhythm gives the song its backbone, but the solo is where you say something personal. And the good news? You don’t need to play fast or know a hundred scales to sound great. A few solid patterns, the right feel, and a willingness to experiment will take you a long way.
These lessons are designed to build on each other. If you’re brand new to soloing, start with the Solo Challenge and work your way through. If you’ve been at it for a while, pick the topics that fill in the gaps in your playing.
For the full picture of blues guitar — including rhythm patterns and songs to learn — head over to the main Blues Guitar page.
Slow Blues Solo Challenge
A five-part series that walks you through a complete 12-bar blues solo inspired by Peter Green and Fleetwood Mac. You’ll learn the scales, the chord progression, and twelve riffs — one per bar — building from the ground up. Start at Part 1 and work through in order.
Blues Guitar Solo Lesson — The Scales You Need (Part 1)
The two scales behind the entire solo — E minor pentatonic and the three-position climb. Alternate picking, tonic notes, and practice method.
Blues Solo for Beginners — Your First Two Riffs (Part 2)
The chord progression (Em/Am/Bm) and your first two solo phrases. Hammer-ons and treating your guitar like a voice.
Blues Solo Practice — Call and Answer Riffs (Part 3)
Four more bars using call and answer, vibrato technique, and building solos from note groupings. You’re halfway there.
Slow Blues Solo — The Toughest Riffs (Part 4)
The hardest two bars in the solo — double notes, string skips, and ascending hammer-on runs that build to the peak.
12 Bar Blues Solo — Complete It Step by Step (Part 5)
Finish the solo with string bends, the BB King slide trick, the chromatic blues note, and a full demo over three 12-bar cycles.
Scales and Theory
How to Combine Major and Minor Blues Scales
The relative major-minor relationship explained — same five notes, different root. Learn the three-position climb that connects both scales across the neck.
How to Change Scales With the Chords in Blues
Follow chord changes with matching pentatonic positions using the Dave Edmonds 12-bar progression in E. Match scales to chords without jumping around the neck.
Blues Riffs
A Cool Blues Riff Based on the Pentatonic Scale
A string-stretch riff from the pentatonic scale featuring hammer-ons, muting technique, and a descending run that sounds great over any blues in A.
Blues Riff in E Minor With Chromatic Passing Notes
An E minor riff using the flat five and minor third intervals — the two-position pentatonic with chromatic passing notes and a simple down-down-down-up picking pattern.
Intermediate Blues Guitar Riff — Minor Thirds and Chromatic Movement
The advanced companion to the E minor riff above. Same chromatic descent with detailed fingering for the triad shape, hammer-on ending into E7, and timing variations.
Soloing Techniques
Blues Doublestops — Chuck Berry Style
Two strings at once for a bigger sound. The classic double stop pattern on the 2nd and 3rd strings at the 5th fret position — a Chuck Berry staple that works over any blues.
How to Use Arpeggios in Blues Guitar
The moveable minor triad shape and how Clapton uses it in “All Your Love.” Picking patterns, moving with chord changes, and the connection to Van Halen’s tapping.
Blues Styles
Acoustic Blues Licks — SRV Inspired Riffs
Stevie Ray Vaughan-inspired chromatic walk patterns in Eb tuning. Moving the same lick across string sets to follow chord changes — one phrase, every chord.