MusicRadar

Audio (for exercises 1 - 8):

Exercises 3 and 4

Tab (click to enlarge):

Ex 3: The chords become minims and are sustained for 2 beats...

Ex 4: Now we have a crotchet rhythm so each chord is played with the bass line, a little more work but easy to keep your place!

Exercises 5 and 6

Tab (click to enlarge):

Ex 5: Here we are playing '1 and 2 and 3 and 4' whilst the bass line is only played on the beat underneath. More work for the picking fingers!

Ex 6: Ouch! Sixteenth-note chords against the bass line - count these as '1 e and a 2 e and a... etc' against the steady pulse provided by the bass notes.

Exercises 7 and 8

Tab (click to enlarge):

Ex 7: Things get a little harder now - the triplet rhythm has an even count of 1 and a 2 and a...etc' over the solid 1, 2, 3, 4 of the bass line. Essentially you have three evenly spaced chords for each beat so you have to make sure your timing is very exact. This is one of the biggest blues clichés around!

Ex 8: And the trickiest of the lot - crotchet triplets. Now you have to squeeze six notes into the space of four over the top of that insistent bass line on the beat! This is a tricky one to count but I always think of counting an even three-note syllable for every two beats - my choice is 'Van- Ha-Len'!

Next page: introducing a different bassline