In my previous columns, I’ve demonstrated a handful of what I consider to be essential “blues approved” licks that work well both as embellishments to rhythm parts or as phrases within a solo. Our ...

A big part of blues is playing over a “shuffle” groove – a triplet-driven swing-eighths feel with a backbeat (accents on beats 2 and 4) – at various tempos. There are many great shuffle-based tunes.