Stops
Many Blues intros feature the use of stops or “stop time”, where the band plays a short riff ending with a stop and the guitarist or another instrumentalist plays fills in between these stops. Stops can also be used in the middle of a song to create extra interest and drama. Here are some examples of riffs commonly used for stops and the type of lines that can be played over them.
This is one of the most common riffs used for stops. It works at a variety of tempos and is shown here in the key of C.
Here is a shuffle line which can be played in between stops which use the riff shown above.
Here is another commonly used stops riff. It is played on the recording as a slow Blues, but try it at faster tempos as well. This riff uses the same rhythm as example 71 but the notes are different.
This is the type of thing a Blues guitarist might play over the above stops.
