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.