This is a impromptu demo I did for customer in the shop. He was buying a looper for his grandson and wanted a video of how I suggested it could be used for developing both rhythm & lead guitar skills.
I started with a selection of four open chords: Em | G | D | C (See CHORDS 1 & 2) from the key of Em = E F# G A B C D E.
The triad chords of this scale are Em, F#dim, G, Am, Bm, C, D.
Then I picked a simple pattern to keep the timing task easier to manage for the purposes of activating a loop, because you have to split your attention between the part you are playing and the forthcoming task of clicking the pedal at just the right time to start the loop and then again to play it back accurately. This will take some work but if you keep simplifying the backing then this timing will be easier to manage.
Once the loop was going I started to think about a solo using the Minor scale and Minor Blues scale. The Em scale gave me the chords.
Before this I added a layer of volume swells with notes from the Em scale to give the backing a little more depth.
Use your guitar pickups and controls to vary the tone of each layer you add.
Use the looper volume to adjust the backing volume of the first loop so your subsequent parts stand out.
Put a metronome on in the background to help you keep in time.
Regarding the solo, I positioned both scale shapes (see SCALES 1) at fret 12 to give the notes a different register from the chords in open position, once again for clarity).
I started by playing the scales as is over the chords to check I was in the zone. Then I started testing some techniques and then moved towards devising a simple melody. I introduced the Blues variation and combined to taste.
Going forward you should challenge yourself to introduce different chords (search the archive for Chord Scales and Chord Building), different rhythm techniques (search for Strumming, Fingerpicking and Hybrid-picking), more fretboard positions (search for ‘Modes’ and also ‘Expanded’) for the scales you start with, and then generate and introduce melodic arpeggios (search for ARPEGGIOS) for each chord.
If you have a bass or acoustic guitar then you can switch out guitars once the first loop is going.
