Active Melody

Learn to play blues guitar.

Lead guitar ideas: Diminished arpeggios for that “outside” sound in your lead. Guitar Lesson EP424

Description

In this week’s guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to incorporate diminished arpeggios into your lead when you improvise for that “outside” sound that you hear blues / jazz players like Robben Ford use.

Part 1 - Free Guitar Lesson

Part 2 - For Premium Members

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Slow Walkthrough

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Video Tablature Breakdown

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Comments

  1. jimbostrat says

    I get to first to comment?? Cool and different concept…………diminished is always great to add into our solos just to keep things interesting and let folks know we know a thing or two on guitar. Also………this Strat looks suspiciously just like my 1965 Fender Leo!!?? I was wondering where it had gone to!! :>) Jim C.

  6. Tom D says

    Hi Brian,

    You’ve done it again. Just when I want to devote a bit of time in revising songs I haven’t played for a while, you hit me with another lesson I can’t resist.

  9. Paul S says

    As much as I love the blues, I love to learn and play this style. Listen to The Fabulous Thunderbirds play ‘The Hustle is On’ and you can see the guitar player work the diminished chords into his lead. Thanks Brian! Paul S.

  10. Scott L says

    This is one of those tunes that can stay in your head all day long. There is a lot of just plain fun in this one in addition to learning some new techniques. Thanks Brian!

    Scott L.

  11. Anthony C says

    Very nice Brian, but you’re killing me man! got to put everything else on hold and start with this one as it moved up to top priority now. who else has this problem occasionally? A good problem of course..

    Thank You Brian for all yo do

    Tony

    • Ramona M says

      Yes challenging it is, but if you want to advance to become a better player you have to take on board to challenge yourself. I have been learning Triads just lately and it has really opened up my playing in heaps and bounds. I just love the harmonized melodies.

      I have been studying this great tune Brian has put together and I have got the first half down and now for the premium section which is the challenge for me.
      I am a country player and would love for you Brian to do a complete lesson on some really ‘Hot Country Licks and Tricks’ that are not overly difficult to suit all learning Members if that would be possible.
      Many Thanks Brian for a wonderful lesson.
      Cheers Ramona.

  15. Ralph B says

    I prefer music notation over tablature, and use Soundslice to print out the music score. Brian states that the piece is written in Bb Major. Soundslice however identifies the score as being in the Key of C Major. The I-III-II-V chord progression is based on the key of Bb Major and the music score matches the tablature. If I transpose it in Soundslice to Bb Major, the chord progression and score no longer match with the tablature. So it appears that the proper key signature is what is missing from the score? I don’t know how the piece is entered into Soundslice, or how difficult it is to have Soundslice recognize the proper key for the piece so that it could be correctly transposed in Soundslice if someone desired to do so. Perhaps someone can provide some insight. Thanks.

  18. Biker13 says

    Thanks for the play-through at the end of the second half of the lesson. I really miss the recap of Lesson 2 you always used to provide. The complete play through at the end of each half of the lesson is really helpful.

  19. Andy N says

    This is a must do for me. Especially having ventured into jazz territory for my challenge response this month. This mix of jazz and blues in a fantastic sound. A product of listening to Joe Pass this week? If so we’ve all benefited. 👍

  20. daniele f says

    Thanks so much Brian!
    I can see all the secondary dominants now even before you mention them and they are everywhere from the Beatles to you! They make progressions so much more interesting!
    And now the jazzy diminished 👌
    Learning slowly but learning a lot from you.
    So much thanks.
    Daniele.

  21. charjo says

    I think I understand why the #full diminished adds more tension to the resolution back to the I than the V7 chord does. The V7 chord wants to resolve to the I chord because it’s intervals, relative to the I chord , are the 5, maj7, 2 and 4 of the tonic and 3 out of 4 of those tones have a pull back to the root or major 3rd. When you compare how the intervals of the dominant 7 and it’s #full diminished relate to the I chord they are all the same, except there is now a #5, instead of a 5, which is more “outside” for more tension, and all the intervals want to move back to tones of the I chord.

  22. Israel U says

    Awesome lesson Brian, I learn so much also between the lines.. For example I always use the pentatonic that sits on the current chord I play, and only now I realized that I don’t need to limit myself to this. I tried to play this before getting inside the lesson, and on the Cm I played Cm pentatonic and it didn’t come out as nice. Then after seeing you explanation I played the B flat pentatonic, and it did the job!

  23. Gary W says

    Absolutely love this Brian. Thank you … I put a basic / adapted chord sequence on my looper & jammed away for hours today – using your ideas in this lesson and improvising from many other ideas gathered from you over the last ten years. Thank you once more or everything you do 🙂

  25. Phil G says

    Finally!! I understood, and liked, the #Vdim chord instead of the V7 chord. But, I had a hard time wrapping my head around how he found that dim chord off of the E shape I chord. Then I realized, he simply found [one of] the 5 notes in the I chord, sharpened that note, and used the appropriate dim shape (there are 3 usable shapes). In this case, the 5 note was on the B string. Also, I realized the dim shape he used, can be used for any #5 note that would be on any of the D, G, B, or e strings, regardless of I chord shape. So, for example, if your I chord shape was a D shape, the 5 note is on the G string, so move that note up 1 fret and use the same shape to make the #Vdim chord. (in this case, it is as easy as moving that D shape up 1 string and add your pinkie on the e string.)

    OK, the other 2 usable dim shapes. From the A string (for example Cdim at the 3rd fret), it would be A3, D4, G2, B4. From the E string, (for example Gdim at the 3rd fret) it would be E3, A4, D2, G3. Also remember; ANY of the notes in those dim shapes can be a root note. So, in this case, he could have used the 5 note on the A string, sharpened it, and used the “A string shape” (for lack of a better term).

  28. Carlo Laezza says

    I think that the diminished chord can be thought of as a superstructure of the dominant chord. Adding the seventh we have 2 tritones, the diminished chord is even more versatile than the dominant chord, because it gives us more possibilities of resolution and modulation, it’s more fluid, it’s more harmonic, it also gives us the possibility to move to another key with a softer passage.

    • Derek H says

      Tritones. A diminished chord is a stack of minor thirds. This isn’t directly stated in true lesson, but look at the arpeggio he plays across all six strings. This is also why you can take any diminished chord and move it three frets (aka a minor third) up or down the fretboard.

  30. Chris F says

    I am loving this. Struggling a bit with some parts but my old fingers don’t work like they used too.😁
    I am glad you have provided a slow backing track too on this one.

    I am new to activemelody .com. I have been strumming the guitar for many years. I am 67 years old and I have learnt so much about playing lead guitar from you in just a few days that I have now jumped into a new level of playing that I had previously believed was beyond me.
    I am so glad I became a premium member..I feel born again.

    Chris.

  31. BRENDAN G says

    Great song,

    I did some help with learning it.

    In the lesson video Brian teachers a lick at 18.10 which starts on fret 8 of the B string, but on sound slice he plays a different lick. that one starts on fret 11 of the B string.

    Can you help
    Brendan

  34. Tim K says

    Brian, I’m a newish member and have been learning a lot since joining in your lessons. But I keep hearing you say this is the I, IV, V chords or something like that and I have no idea what you are referring to. In reading the comments, your other students seem to understand that very clearly.
    Is there a lesson where this is discussed?
    Thanks.

  38. B. Douglas K says

    Awesome lesson as always. I’ve been wanting to incorporate this sound for a long time into my lead. The chords to this one remind me of “Blue Velvet” by Bobby Vinton with that nice chromatic walkdown. Thanks so much for breaking things down so clearly.

  39. David S says

    Brian, Just started on this one.Got behind but really like this one.Really like the arpeggio’s. Lot’s of good takes to use on other songs.Thanks again for all you do. Dave Would like more like this.

  40. David K says

    Nice lesson for review.
    Hey here’s a suggestion, not a criticism:
    Have a 3d video for advanced players. I slog through the new videos looking for the critical parts like chords, scale patterns, chord movement, scale degrees and intent for a given passage. But I dose off when you start talking about “put your ring finger here …. stuff for beginners (yes, I was one once.) The adult take could courageously talk about scale degrees without apologizing to the newbies why boring those who have been playing for awhile.
    I’m sure you could edit the first two videos and outtakes and provide some voice over.
    Just a thought.

      • Michael C says

        Brian, I’m coming into this discussion somewhat toward the tail end. As an annual subscriber for a couple of years you’ve taken my playing from cowboy chords to approaching jazz chords. There is so much information in this lesson that I find myself stopping and rewinding both videos over and over. And taking notes! One area I find I’m struggling with once in awhile, is a few of the chord shapes. I stop the video and try to see what you are fingering and even go to my chord encyclopedia for help. (Just my lack of enough knowledge of the neck to be able figure out the chord fingerings.) But what I love is the ability to learn a new tune without having all the theory knowledge, hoping that as my repertoire expands my knowledge of theory will follow. Hope you never burn out. The specific suggestion: maybe an occasional chord diagram??

  42. SamCrvs says

    Hello all,
    Newbie here… Worked half a dozen of Brian’s lessons. Great stuff! Just got this one up to the slow jam track stage, it was a challenge, well worth the work.
    Thanks Brian!

  43. Matthew M says

    Thanks for this. This was a very helpful lesson. I was trying to figure out Deal by GD, and had just got the same kind of thing (very roughly) going from the sharp 4 resolving to the tonic. Not to be crazy technical, but I have an easier time thinking 7 with a flat 9 and it seems to work all over the place. I feel like diminished chords resolve up or down a fret but it feels different when you are moving further if that makes any sense.

  44. Matthew M says

    Made it all the way though and have to say this lesson really opened it up for me. Back to Deal by GD — in the second part when you were pulling out a Jerry riff I was able to go back and work this stuff all over that song Deal, which is loaded with secondary dominants. Instead of copying his stuff note for note and then promptly forgetting it like I’ve been doing forever, this is really sticking. I basically try to fit these arpeggios over a domininant 7 chord, but really try to view the added notes as a flat nine and sometimes flat 6. Which I guess is harmonic minor, but the key is forcing myself to see the dominant 7 throughout. Thanks again!

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