If you had to boil down the essence of Texas Blues to a single guitar riff, something groovin' would definitely be required to fit the bill.

The riff would also need a recurring triplet-based (shuffle) motif as shown in part one below. The feel would need to function equally well over the I and IV chords. And, there would need to be a functional turnaround. Plus, the groove would need to operate within any 12-bar blues format.

Watch the Video:



The riff in this session is in the popular key of "G." (G7, C7, and D7). This format can be traced back to T-Bone Walker, Gatemouth Brown, Freddie King and Albert Collins.



NOTE: Try adapting the riff to other keys once you develop it in the key shown.

PART ONE: The Primary Riff



The part one riff operates as a two-bar phrase over the "I-chord." Develop the note locations, and build the speed once your skill improves.



PART TWO: The primary riff transposed to the "IV-Chord"


In the part two riff, the primary idea used to cover the "I-chord" is transposed over to the structure (chord tones) of the "IV-chord" of "C7."




PART THREE: The chord progression of the 12-Bar Blues operates with a turnaround phrase that operates over the 9th - 12 measures. Here the "V-chord" is introduced, (D7).


In part three of the riff we've taken the first measure of the primary riff and used it as a riff template to cover the chords of the turnaround.

CONCLUSION:
Build up your overall technique and skills with this rapid Texas Blues Jammer! Once you have this riff up past 144 bpm on the metronome, work it out in a few other keys. And, take it into the open position as well, (Blues riffs seem to always function slightly different in the open position).

Also, keep in mind that this riff was adopted from the upcoming, "QwikRiffs Episode 005" that is due out for release in the CreativeGuitarStudio.com Members area on July 26th, 2017. Join the site for the next episode and take advantage of all of the great sessions available to both FREE and to paid members.

Thanks for checking out this post!

- Andrew Wasson