Lyle: Grab your guitar and jam along! Join in on these jam sessions, which are designed to teach you theory and technique, rhythm riffs, chords, scales, riffs, and solos, as you play along to the jam tracks. Listen or watch the media clips below to see and hear what you'll learn in this lesson:

Jam Sessions - Funk Style - Lesson 6

Jam Sessions - Funk Style - Lesson 6



Lyle: Here's the jam track for this lesson:

Jam Track in F#7

chord chart


Lyle: The first rhythm riff is made from the minor pentatonic scale. I'm using a wah-wah pedal, rocking it to the beat:

rhythm riff 1

rhythm riff 1

Support: Make sure you have the guitar neck visible when you play back the notation, you will see the scale underneath the lick being played.

Lyle: The first rhythm riff is made from the minor pentatonic scale. I'm using a wah-wah pedal, rocking it to the beat:

Lyle: The next riff is the arpeggiated chords of the jam track:

rhythm riff 2

rhythm riff 2

Lyle: You can select the loop funtion for each of these TAB files so you can play along to each riff. Once you can play the riff, try playing along to the regular jam track.

Lyle: Rhythm riff 3 is a real easy and simple riff. The hard part is making sure all the other strings don't ring or make any noise:

mike: What fingers should I use going from the A lick to the B7

rhythm riff 3

rhythm riff 3

Lyle: mike, when you playback the TAB file and view it on the virtual fretboard, it should display which fingers I suggest using.

Skip: What do they call that sound in rhythm riff 3?

Lyle: Skip, those are octaves, two F# notes played an octave apart.

Lyle: Rhythm riff 4 has you playing the chords again like in rhythm riff 2, but this time way up high and using a beat that doesn't get in the way of the other rhythms:

rhythm riff 4

rhythm riff 4

Lyle: Here's another jam track that is just the 4 rhythm guitar parts, all playing at the same time. Try playing any of the rhythm riffs along to this jam track or use the other one with the drums:

Jam Track - just rhythm guitars

rat: The A chord in riff 1 and 4 sure sounds like an F#m7, why call it an A?

Lyle: rat, you're right. The A maj and F#m are the same thing. It all depends on what you perceive as the bass note of the chord.

Lyle: I have in my mind the bass note shifting there in the second measure to the A bass note, even though you don't hear it in the recording. The chord I'm having you play is an inversion of the A major triad.

Lyle: I have made a short solo that jumps around to different scales against this simple 4 bar jam.

chord chart


Lyle: Here's the first solo riff:

solo - riff 1

solo - riff 1

Lyle: Remember, you can loop each of the TAB files to help you learn it, try playing along with me on each of these riffs.

Lyle: Notice in the chord chart that this progression is in 2 different keys, F#7/B mjaor then the IV and V chords (A and B7) of the key of E, then back to F#7/B major for the final 4th measure.

Lyle: It's fun to shift keys while soloing. Notice the sound of solo - riff 1 changes as it goes into bar two.

Miles: so for this solo ur using a single vibrato pull

Lyle: Same with the next riff, you'll hear it change keys slightly in bar two:

solo - riff 2

solo - riff 2

Lyle: The 3rd solo riff has you shifting from the F# Mixolydian, then to the E major scale:

solo - riff 3

solo - riff 3

Lyle: The 4th and final riff is simply made from major pentatonic scales and following each chord:

Skip: Lyle, if you had to learn the most important scales/modes, what would they be?

solo - riff 4

solo - riff 4

Lyle: Skip, I would say the major scale would be the first and most important scale to learn, in every key, forwards and backwards, right-side up, and up-side down. All the "church modes" come from the major scale. Learn the major scale and you're learning 7 different modes at the same time, you just might not realize it at the time.

Lyle: Here's a video of all 4 solo riffs played in a row:

solo - all 4 riffs

Lyle: So a quick recap on what scales you might try along to the jam track. Use the F# Mixolydian, F# major pentatonic for the 1st and 4th bars as well as the B major scales:

F# Mixolydian

F# major pentatonic

Lyle: F#7 is the V chord in the key of B major, which is why you can play the B major scale against the F#7 chord!

B major scale

Lyle: During the 2nd and 3rd measures, you're in the key of E major, so try using the E major scale during those measures:

E major

Lyle: You could also use the F# minor blues scale dirung bars 3 and 4:

F# minor blues scale

rat: When I play the E maj scale here in the middle of the progression during bars 2 and 3, I usually would think of this as an F# dorian....because it seems like the F# is more dominant. Am I incorrect?

Lyle: E major and F# Dorian are the same notes, just different starting points and different finger patterns.

Lyle: Let's take a break here. Thanks everyone for joing us live tonight! Hope to see you again. Have a good night, I need to get going now, bye....