Active Melody

Learn to play blues guitar.

Freddie King Style Blues Guitar Lesson – EP050

Description

After listening to several hours of Freddie King instrumentals, I came up with this little 12 bar blues (in B) that I feel is a fair representation of some of Freddie’s more common licks / approaches to playing blues. Freddie always sounds completely effortless, but you’ll find that there is a lot of sweat that goes into some of these licks! I’m not saying that to discourage though, throughout the videos in this lesson, I’ll break it down in detail so that even a beginner can accomplish most of this

Freddie King Guitar Lesson - Part 1

Freddie King Guitar Lesson - Part 2

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Comments

  1. jimbostrat says

    Very nice and informative lesson, Brian! It’s like receiving a thumbnail history on Freddie along with a super concept lesson! I still maintain that the Key of B is perhaps your best key on electric as I also believe your earlier (Slow Blues & Lead in B) mini course is also a standout!!

    Jim

  4. GnLguy says

    Not speaking bad against BB and Albert, but Freddie has long been my choice of Blues Kings. If you watch some of his lessons, you can see that he put 110% into every song not only as a player but as a singer as well.

    Interesting that Freddie used metal finger picks and a plastic thumb pick.
    Early in his career he used guitars with P90s into a Fender Super 6 amp turned wide open - 135 watts into 6-10” speakers.
    Metal picks with P90s gave him such an edgy sound.

    Yep Freddie had tone!

  5. GnLguy says

    Correction!!

    ** If you watch some of his videos, you can see that he put 110% into every song not only as a player but as a singer as well.

  7. jez ward says

    This is like a jam-with-yourself lesson in the style of one of my favourite artists.  Couldn’t be better!
    It’s a sunny day here in the uk,the lawn needs mowing and it’s not gonna get done.

  8. E Minor 7th says

    My theory about why those 1/4 bends on, in this case the 3rd string 7th fret, and the 1st string 10th fret work so well is that you are pushing the minor 3rd in the scale towards the major third which both work with the underlying chord.
    Great lesson though - I may be getting addicted to these. Thanks.

  9. DDHen says

    Great lesson Brian.  I can start to tell I am picking up concepts rather than just memorizing notes with your lessons.  Thanks!

  12. Evel Knievel says

    I tried the premium membership for a month. Then recently purchased a year subscription, and this awesome lesson makes me feel good about my purchase. I love it, love it, love it!! More Freddie King!! More Eric Clapton Cream style!!
    Thanks so much for the great lessons, Brian, they have done wonders for my playing ability in a very short time!!

  14. Matty says

    Another fabulous lesson. The only reason I don’t take out a year membership is that this way Brian gets more money.  These lesson have brought be so much joy it is amazing. Thank you so much.

  15. Stringlord says

    excellent sounding lesson, exactly what ive been searching for. Brian, please do more of these styles of lessons and more and more and more……

  17. bjordan says

    Thanks Brian! Another amazing lesson. This lesson is really helping me to learn how to stay in time while playing lead and solo. I’m thrilled to have a Freddie King lesson!

  20. Ben Sadler says

    Thanks Brian to be honest I’ve now spent a few hundred dollars on one on one lessons. In watching your lessons I always come away with real practical tips from you and something to show for it at the end. It’s great to learn a section and then build on it. Your method really works. Keep up the great work, your value for money dude and a great guitar teacher as we’ll! Thank you

    • Laura M says

      I agreed with you. I spent lots of money on one on one lessons. I kept insisting to my teacher that I wanted to learn blues…..He kept teaching me chords, couple of licks….I gave up and started going online for lessons. I tried jamplay 129 a year i think, I tried guitar compass 89.00 not bad but didnt teach concept, Justin Guitars not bad but Active Melody, Brian broke the mole for me. I’m going on 3 years, I learned more in 2 months than I have with any teacher. Thank you.

  21. Bluesman5364 says

    Fantastic lesson.  I had a ton of fun working this one.  The tabs help, but the clarity of your 3 video’s is so easy to follow and get down.  Great instruction, great teaching Brian, great website for anyone to learn guitar, and I’m tell anyone I hear that wants to learn.

  22. benplay says

    Hi Brian, I have just recently joined your site. I’m finding it great your style really resonates with me and your lessons are easy to follow lovin it. Thanks Ben.

  23. ochomarvo says

    You were right when you said that middle part where he mixes the major and minor scales would be the most challenging. I worked on that for I bet 2 hrs last nite..I’m close but still have work to do..I love a challenge ! The rest I can get through. There always seems to be a challenge most lessons I’ve done so far…that’s good for building muscle memory and getting some new chops for your arsenal :-)

  24. ochomarvo says

    I give up on this one. I thought I was an intermediate player, I guess I was wrong. .I can do the rhythm easily. The lead I can’t. I can play hideaway all the way through no problem.  This is much harder. It’s that middle part where he combined major and minor, too much going on for my pea brain. Time to find a new hobby. Gotta face music sooner or later. A guitar player I shall never be.

  25. ochomarvo says

    What a difference a day makes ! I’m getting closer . Sometimes you gotta put it down and rest.  I push myself too hard sometimes and I know better. This is harder than hideaway tho.  I can play hideaway easily all the way through. This has much more challenging licks 🙂

  26. ochomarvo says

    Well, I’m about to give up on this one. I pretty well got it all except that second lick after the double stops. I just can’t get it. People who can play this stuff don’t need lessons.  All the lessons are for advanced players. There should be lessons that gradually build you up to the licks in your lessons. People want to play songs, not licks anyways. It’s worth $7.00 a month , you can pick up a lick or two here and there but it’s not for learning guitar or music. It’s just for learning licks that nobody would know if you played it for them. I’m uncertain of my future with this site.

  27. DerekBlue says

    I absolutely love this lesson.  Another great job.  Just to demonstrate that I really pour over the material, I picked up on a conflict between the TAB and the instruction.  Measure 20 in the TAB is a variation on the instruction.  It moves some of the notes up the fret board. I’m taking it as a challenge to learn to both ways!

  28. Gezzer says

    Brian - This is wonderful. After years of learning by rote and playing simple campfire songs I have attained a new level of playing guitar. I am a left handed player and have always found books a challenge to interpret - turning them upside down to read scales etc. I have always wanted to understand how melodies are created within a song and now I am beginning to understand. Your technique in explaining theory is great. Simple and intelligent with an insight as to beginners feel when trying to understand theory. I really liked the Freddy King lesson particularly the melody runs - is there any chance that you may in the future do a specific lesson on how you would use 3rds and 6ths in blues and country songs and how to work out melodies. Thank you again for your inspiration.

  29. TheFixer says

    Hi Brian,

    Just signed up today, and it was this lesson that prompted me.

    About the ‘nudge’ on the third string, pushing it slightly sharp, - you made a comment in passing to the effect of “I don’t know what it is about that note…”

    It works so well because it pushes the minor third of the chord up towards the major third, but doesn’t quite make it there, creating a lovely bluesy tension.

    Looking forward to digging into the lessons.

    Cheers
    Karl

  30. T. S. says

    I’m really fond of this lesson. I put some serious time into it before becoming a premium member. I’m comfortable playing it with my vibratos. After becoming a member I downloaded the jam track and must say I’m back at this hard and heavy as my tempo was not sufficient to play along with the track. I love this more than I can put into words … Thank You Brian! I hope there may be a little more Freddie in the future …

  31. Laurent Valet says

    Hello, thank you for this lesson, it s great! But i have a problem, there is a major difference between the tab and the video. In the tab, the solo starts with the D note and in the video it starts on the B (solo starts just before the first time) and on every changes of chords, the same error is written . That really confuses me to learn it. Could you write the correct tab? that would save my day ^^

  32. LARRY G says

    If there is a thing called “jumped up blues”, Freddie King is the master. His energy and confidence makes you want to rock the blues. Thanks Brian. I practice this, then let it go for a while, then come back. I am at about 90% speed and loving it.

  34. Don Deering says

    Thank you, Brian! Excellent lesson—you’re among the great teachers, to my knowledge, only Dave Rubin, Cornell Dupree and Arlen Roth have created comparable teaching methods (by the way, if I may, although Cornell Dupree’s Rhythm & Blues Guitar book is short it’s laden with valuable info—I’d recommend it to anyone interested in blues and R&B).

  36. mikeanders says

    Love it!

    Sounds like you nailed the tone as well.

    What are the amp settings? Sounds like you have a little reverb, but that is all. How much? 3 or 4 out of 10? Or, have you talked about that already?

  37. Don Deering says

    Thanks, Brian, another clear, inspiring lesson.

    I haven’t read every comment, so I may be duplicating someone’s thoughts here. The “call” riff in the first six or so minutes of this lesson is what’s sometimes called a “downtown” riff—(usually two beats on the root) leaping up to the octave and descending down the 7 and 5 (commonly also including the 6, 4 and b3). I knew there must be a name for it and always wondered what it was called, when I found out, I was happy.

    There’s a corresponding “uptown” riff. I’ll point it out when I hear it.

  38. Don Deering says

    One thing I find confusing is your description of the F#7 chord at about 22:45 being the “same shape” as the D7 (with the open 4th string. It is and it isn’t (and it may confuse students who are taking the concept home as opposed to the grip).

    The D7 on the first to the fourth strings is D (tonic; open on the D/4th string), A (fifth; second fret on the G/3rd string), C (seventh; first fret on the B/2nd string), F# (third; second fret on the 1st/high E string). So that chord can be described as 1/5/7/3.

    The F#7 on the third to fifth strings is F# (tonic; ninth fret on A/5th string), A# (third; eighth fret on the D/4th string), E (seventh; ninth fret on the G/3rd string). This chord can be described as 1/3/7—not to complicate things, but if you want to grab the fifth of the chord (B), it’s directly below the root here; if you want to thicken the sound you can add it or substitute the fifth for the root.

    So the shapes of the tops of the chords are the same but they represent different scale tones and different intervals.

  43. wrightclick says

    Stumbled on this old one through the Throwback Thursday email what a gem , i knew it was what i wanted under my fingers as soon a s i heard it .Taking time over these licks to ingrain them into my playing .Great stuff Brian

  44. guitarmanny says

    Love how you lay out the single licks, nice and slow, now that’s what I’m talking about, What about some SRV (Little Sister) and (Mary had a Little Lamb) and so on! Anyway I’m getting all the lesson’s and now I can start and finish a song thank’s for the sound Track’s. My finger’s are getting a good work out.

  45. Mark O says

    Love love love Freddie King and this lesson nails it! Would love to see Brian expand on or do a take off from “The Stumble”, which also contains that double-stop bridge pattern from Hideaway…

  47. Chris Christie says

    wow I’ve been noodlin with this rhythm part for 20 years and NOBODY has been able to tell me where i’d heard it before (SRV) is the most common answer. But then I stumble on to this! Mystery solved! Thank you! Excellent lesson lots of practical stuff to use (as always)

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