British Blues Rock 05

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One of the most notable aspects of today's lick is DISTORTION. British blues rockers flaunted a far more distorted sound than guitarists had in prior times and made this an essential component of their brand of rock music. Some players achieved this effect with fuzz boxes (as in the Stones' 'Satisfaction' or the Yardbirds' 'Shapes of Things') while many others simply cranked their Vox combo amps to unprecedented levels. Our lick blends Chuck Berry-inspired double stops and two-string bends with short single-note bursts. Note the use of held bends in bars one and three. The syncopated riff in measure two is another example of the rhythm/lead solo style so popular with the first wave of British blues-rock guitarists. Today's lick is played in G and is lodged in the 3rd position blues box. Its overall tonality is the G Minor Pentatonic Scale (G-Bb-C-D-F). This raucous Berry-flavored lick takes place over a thundering G5-F5-G5 power-chord riff, as in the accompanying jam track. The use of the I-bVII-I progression became a stylistic feature of blues-based British rock in the 1960s, and has remained a staple of all rock music.

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