Guitar skills: With dissonant chords and aggressive rhythm playing, the harder side of blues-rock overlaps into funk. The ‘7#9’ shape (shown here in F#) below is known as the Hendrix chord thanks to songs like Purple Haze and Crosstown Traffic. And, although it looks like computer code, C#7#9b13 is a reasonably simple variation. Try not to be intimidated by the name and just practise the shape.
Use all five chords in our funk rock rhythm riff
If your blues jams get funky try keeping your chords sparse and adding a few single notes, as we’ve done here.
The single-note lines in bars 1 and 3 are phrased around the chord root notes, which helps them ‘fit in’ sonically. F#, B and C# are a I-IV-V in the key of F#, so treat these as your core chords and think of the other shapes as variations on the theme.
Check out more of our chord lessons
“I can’t play jigs or reels or any of that traditional Irish stuff, but I have got a good ear for blues, the tonality of it”: 3 ways to supercharge your lead guitar playing like Rory Gallagher
“A well-crafted sequence is successful wherever you may wish to use it”: Use these tried and tested chord progressions to build an engaging song
