Sometimes the exhaustive approach to guitar playing yields new ideas and sometimes it clarifies that which may have been attained by rote. And at other times it combines the two. This lesson is the latter and revolves around a trademark lick from Jerry Reed's "The Claw". Although the fundamental template is still barely there, it has been made more friendly, both in terms of difficulty and in it's application to improvisation. Since we will be playing over an A7, we start by harmonizing the A Mixolydian tones as they ascend on string 2 (the same tones as D major) by playing a diatonic 3rd on string 1. The intervals shown are in reference to the A7 chord.

The next tabbed example shows the same string-set with the upper note being the diatonic 5th, still referenced to the A7.

This next line is the same as example 1 except it is being played on strings 2 and 3. The diatonic 5ths will be skipped for the sake of easier playability. It was stated that this was quite exhaustive! To really be thorough, this should also be repeated and referenced to any other chords that might be used. We will only address the A7.

We could continue in the above manner but this type of lick sits better on the smaller strings. So now we will look specifically for chord tones; those are Roots, Thirds, Fifths and flatted Sevenths (the intervals of our A7).

If you practice these harmonies and look for ways to combine them with your current repertoire of lines and scales and allow yourself to be musically influenced, you should soon be able to assimilate various styles more efficiently. The final example below demonstrates a country-flavored double-stop lick. To hear the example click here.