NINJA.ING · Lick Lab

Fusion → Blues
Bridge Licks

Four lines in B that start as busy modal noodling and arrive as blues. Over a Bm9 ↔ Em9 (B Dorian) vamp — drop them on your /jam backing.

The bridge, in one idea

Fusion noodling is even subdivisions, legato, forward motion, colour tones. Blues is arrival — you stop, bend, add vibrato, leave space. The seam between them is a pivot tone that belongs to both the mode and the pentatonic: aim the flurry at it, land, and the instant you arrive, switch language — the stream of notes becomes one bent, sustained note.

Make it easy on yourself by routing the noodle through the blues spice notes so the line is already bluesy before it resolves: the b3→3 slur (D→D# in Bm), the b5 passing note (F), and setting up the b7→root and 4→5 bends. The “outside” chromatics are the blues notes in disguise.

1Dorian cascade → bend home

Liquid descending legato, then a 4→5 bend and a minor-blues tail.

noodle———→blues

e|--10p9p7--------------------------|
B|---------10p9p7-------------------|
G|----------------9b11~~ r9p7-------|
D|-----------------------------9~~--|
A|----------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------|

Noodle: Sextuplet descending B Dorian: D–C#–B / A–G#–F#. Pure pull-off motion, even and fast. The G# is the Dorian flavour note doing the work.
Pivot: The cascade lands on E (the 4th) on the G string — a tone shared by Dorian and the blues box. The even rhythm stops dead here.
Blues: Bend that E up a whole step to F# (the 5), vibrato, release back to E, pull to D (b3), and settle on the root B. Five → four → b3 → root: textbook minor-blues resolution.

2Henderson chromatic climb → bend to root

An “outside” chromatic run that secretly contains the b3→3 and the b5.

noodle———→blues

e|----------------------------------|
B|----------------7h8h9h10b12~~~~---|
G|--7h8h9h10------------------------|
D|----------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------|

Noodle: Chromatic ascent on the G string: D–D#–E–F. That’s the b3→3 slur (D→D#) and the b5 (F) buried inside a fusion-speed run — it sounds outside but every note is a blues note.
Pivot: It rolls onto the B string (F#–G–G#–A) and arrives on A, the b7.
Blues: Bend the A up a whole step to the root B and hold it with vibrato. The vocal resolution — all that chromatic motion answered by one sung note.

3Pentatonic-with-colour spin → unison bend

A fast string-skipping climb through the box, capped with a unison bend on the root.

noodle———→blues

e|--------------------------------7~~~--|
B|-----------------------7--9--10b12~~~-|
G|------------------7--9----------------|
D|------------7--9----------------------|
A|------7--9----------------------------|
E|--7----------------------------------|

Noodle: Sweep up through Bm pentatonic box 1 with the Dorian colour tones (F#, G#) added: B–E–F#–A–B–D–E–F#–G#. Even and quick, two notes per string.
Pivot: It tops out on A (b7) on the B string with the open-ish root B sitting right above it on the high E.
Blues: Bend the A up to B while holding the B on the high E — a unison bend on the root, with vibrato. Rock-blues drama to cap a fusion run.

4Repeating cell → BB-box wide vibrato

A machine-like fusion sequence that suddenly stops and sings — the Landau move.

noodle———→blues

e|-----------7h9h10----------7h9h10----------------|
B|-7h9h10-----------7h9h10----------10b12~~~~~~~~~-|
G|------------------------------------------------|
D|------------------------------------------------|
A|------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------|

Noodle: A repeating six-note cell rolling between the B and high-E strings: F#–G#–A–B–C#–D. Run it twice, perfectly even — the relentless sameness is the fusion tension you’re going to release.
Pivot: Break the loop on A (b7) on the B string. The rhythmic stop is the bridge here as much as the note.
Blues: Bend it up to the root B and milk a wide, slow vibrato — the whole point is the contrast between the robotic cell and the human bend that answers it.

Reading the tab

h hammer-on · p pull-off · b bend (number = the fret pitch you bend up to) · r release bend
~~ vibrato · / slide up · \ slide down · e.g. 10b12 = fret 10 bent up to sound fret 12 (a whole step)

How to drill them

Loop the Bm9 ↔ Em9 vamp slow (60–70). First play just the noodle half, freely, until it’s clean. Then play just the blues tail — the bend, the vibrato, the space. Only then join them, and exaggerate the handoff: the moment the even notes stop and the bend begins. Once it’s in the hands in B, walk the pivot tone (the b7 A) through other keys — the shape is the same, the door is always the b7→root or 4→5 bend.