Mixing a few ethereal guitar chords with some synth pads and a laidback 100bpm tempo forms this backing track’s homage to 80s pop funk (albeit with a slight nod to Stevie Winwood). The chords are relatively standard for an Am 12 bar blues (Am7, Dm7 and Em7) except bars 3-4 feature F major to provide further chordal colour. For your soloing, try A minor pentatonic (A C D E G), A blues scale (A C D Eb E G) or A natural minor scale (A B C D E F G). Once you’ve jammed over it a few times, aim to next align your A natural minor notes with the chords. For example, try referencing F notes over the F and Dm7 chords and a B note over the Em7 chord. For your guitar tone, try either a SRV style clean neck singlecoil (Let’s Dance period) or a darker bridge humbucker overdrive reminiscent of LA session master, Mike Landau. Enjoy!
If you like the smokey sound of bluesy hip-hop you’ll love soloing over this backing track by Jason Sidwell. With a mellow 110bpm tempo and a standard 12 bar structure, the sound is hip and modern with three string chord voicings that imply m7 and m9 chords. For your soloing try E minor pentatonic (E G A B D), E blues (E G A Bb B D) or E natural minor scale (E F# G A B C D). Be it with a clean neck pickup setting or crunchy bridge humbucker, the tonal choice is yours!
