Blues Soloing Lesson - Trading Fours

Trading Fours is something that comes up a lot on gigs, but for some reason I rarely see it discussed. And since I was working with some students who asked about it, I made a video :)

Trading Fours is simply playing a solo for only 4 bars of the 12 bar blues progression at a time. And then you trade.

If there were 3 or 4 people, you'd go round robin style, but since it's just you and me, we'll just go back and forth. I'll play 4 bars, then you play 4 bars, and so on.

This will force you to keep track of the progression, but it'll also let you dip your toe into the soloing pond and just try some stuff out without having to commit to a whole 12 bars!

Try to mimic some of the things that I do, either just rhythmically or the notes.

[nythrye]

Thanks for this. It's fun and it seems to help me with 3 things. First, phrasing. Second, forces me to start at different spots on the fretboard; as opposed to starting the the same 1 or 2 spots and linking all the pentatonic positions together. Finally, paying more attention to the chord changes.

[stevelancaster]

Thanks Griff, Ive had hours of fun `attempting` to solo to this. It also helped me get box 5, 1 & 2 under my fingers. Thanks again.

[ArtfulBodger]

I can, t recommend this video enough! Great idea. I'd like to see more lessons like this. Thanks for sharing.

[golfalot]

That bridge pickup has some STING! Great lesson and great playing, Griff.

[gregful]

That was a lot of fun. Makes me think and pay attention to where my roots are so I'm in key. Trying not to start my riff on the root or on the 1. Thanks

[RogerChandlerB-Train]

Just put my Jazz Master down and I found this and had a play along!!! Might just make up a little Soundcloud thingy and promote you a bit if your cool with it!! You started the madness for me and never forget were home is!!!!

[PhoShzel]

Thank you so much for this! This has been really helpful to me. It has forced me to be more intentional with my licks and phrasing. I also started to doing a variation of this where I trade rhythm and lead without a backing track. I can work on both at the same time. I play rhythm for 4 bars and then lead for 4 bars etc. It forces me to hear the rhythm and chords in my head while i'm playing a lead line. When I'm playing 4 bars of chords, I intentionally play different voicings each time or at least vary them.

[cajunqueen]

I haven't of this before; thanks for posting, that's great.

[bretschwartz]

Griff, Thanks so much!!...This is a fantastic exercise for me and is exactly where I'm at in my playing. Because, I don't regularly play with other people, my timing and feel are the weakest part of my game. As mostly a "couch rock star" practicing my timing was never a priority because it was too boring and painful. Your exercise really illuminates how much room there is for improvement. The first time I ran through this I was able to start on time but kept finishing late. The 4th time I ran through this I'm finding myself finishing two to three beats too soon but I feel confident that I'm improving. Will you consider doing a series of these "trading" videos? I would love to see a slower tempo video as well as a major/minor focused "trading" if that makes sense. Or even a few famous chord progression "trading" jam tracks. I really appreciate the hard work you put into your videos....thanks again....Bret

[jimthebutcher]

great lesson. Would be nice if you had it in more keys or even had a set for sale in different keys and styles.

[mikesam]

Hi Griff...i'm a long time subscriber...do you think you could do a short vid where you explain the scale pattern you're using over this track? Thanks. Mike.

[glenwallace]

Good lesson. I like your shirt, where did you get it?

[stefanocharles]

where could i get the jam track forthis

[graeham]

May I develop your great 'mimic' idea? Buddy 1 plays 'question' riff/s - Buddy 2 plays an 'answer'. LOADS of permutations :-)