The 3rd Blues Position is one of B.B King’s favorites.
He likes it because you can play around with the 2, b3 and #3 of the scale real easily.
Solo 7 targets notes around the 3rd Blues Position, key of F.
In solo 7 put your index finger on the F on the 2nd string and your ring finger two frets up.
By bending that last note half a tone up you get the b3; a whole tone gives you a #3.
Albert King used these positions to bend the notes even further, playing a 4 and sometimes even a flat 5 in the scale.
The 6th of the scale is easily accessible too; one fret and one string up from where your index finger is.
We’ve got blues and mixolydian right under our fingertips!
The type of lick we play in bars 5 and 6 of solo 7 (on the Bb7 chord) is a Texas/Chicago style blues lick that has found its way into jump blues.
You’ll find it on albums of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmy Rogers and Duke Robillard.
Bars 8 & 9 give us a new Standard Riff Position; play the tonic with your middle finger on the fifth fret of the third string and slide to the major 3rd with your index finger on the second string.
Standard Riff in 5th Blues Position
