Guitar Blues Lick #7: A to E Chord

Today's lick is a great way for you to introduce the E, or V chord, of a blues in A. Here it is:

e----------------------------|------------------
B----------------------------|------------------
G----5h6---------------------|------------------
D--7-------7--6--5~~~~--~5h6-|------------------
A----------------------------|-7~~~~~~~~~~~~~~--
E----------------------------|------------------

You start the lick with a typical blues hammer-on from the minor 3rd to the major 3rd. Then you follow this with a chromatic - one fret at a time - walk down from the root A note to the b7. This b7 also happens to be the minor 3rd of the E chord.

Next you go right ahead and use the good old minor 3rd to major 3rd trick, on the E chord this time. I've shown a hammer-on but you can also try a slide or a bend. Choose whatever you prefer.

Finally, you end on the E note on the first beat of the V bar. You can let the E ring out with some heavy vibrato as shown here, or rock ahead with an E lick through the rest of the bar.