Active Melody

Learn to play blues guitar.

Slow and easy country rhythm ideas – Guitar Lesson – EP433

Description

In this week’s guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to use triads and harmonies to create rhythm fills by playing over the chords. This uses just a couple of basic 1st position chord shapes and is full of “takeaways”!

Part 1 - Free Guitar Lesson

Part 2 - For Premium Members

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Walkthrough (with tab)

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Video Tablature Breakdown

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Comments

  3. Mark T says

    Brian, please don’t ever apologise for sharing your love and pride of any of your guitars!

    We all spend a lot of dosh on our axes. You only need to watch some of the videos from members to see some gorgeous instruments that are obviously loved and cherished – and the responses show that we respect and fully get that (and sometimes we’re just a little jealous 😊)

    It’ll be a sad day when you stop giving us axe-envy 😂😂😂

    Best wishes 😎

  9. Jim M says

    Brian
    You keep your lessons interesting with presenting a variety of styles. This lesson show cases your vast knowledge of the different styles you play and teach to the Active Melody Community.

  10. Charles R says

    This relation of the A shape to the E shape via the major pentatonic 1st position is brilliant and super helpful. Now I have to go back to my workshop and try to see what this means for minor pentatonic. I am guessing it just slides over to that without modification, but off the top of my head I am not sure. What is significant here is how this relates to the minor chord family of a minor key blues (as opposed to major chord family in this example) and helps us noodle around in the minor chords of a minor key blues. Anyway, thanks, some great things to learn here.

  12. drlknstein says

    Very nice lesson
    Love the triads and 3rds etc and ideas to re purpose in jams
    I got a very nice compliment from an excellent player the other day at a jam
    he was playing one of his songs and I was just playin triads thirds and the relative minor 6s and nines

    And hey we love seeing your guitars and hearing about them and that one sounds exceptional
    Most of us prolly suffer from the same guitar affliction ..desire ,,,some call it
    Gassing- guitar acquisition syndrome

  18. Peter B says

    Great lesson Brian,
    Thank you so much for returning to the tried and tested “note for note” descriptions of frets and fingers that have ( amount other things) always set you apart from the other online teachers.

    The addition of the on-screen tab also works well…but without the Brian trademark “note for note” descriptions last week we lost so much ( in my opinion).

    Anyway…loads of takeaways in this lesson so thank you once again.

  24. Kevin L says

    Hey Brian
    I’ve been loving your lessons for a few years now. In this lesson I really enjoy learning how to play these rhythms (which are totally familiar but no previous idea on how to play). Also like that this further enhances my familiarity with the fret board in digging out the magic imbedded there.
    Question- I currently am looking to acquire an electric so I can make those bends. Storage is an issue so can you recommend what guitar to look for if I only want one electric? I like the country aspect but also like the jazzy sound. Thanks.

  25. Denise says

    My Chetty is completely in love with this country lesson!….such sweet sounding country licks.
    Not that easy technically, but worth the hard work to get them sound good.
    Never in my life would I have thought to play country guitar.
    Denise

  26. David S says

    Brian, In all the yrs I listened to music I hear the lead players swapping up and playing the melody behind the singers in the gaps.I can hear a lot of this lesson that you can use in the gaps.This is just what I need Light Bulbs going off with the triad lessons Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, as Elvis would say.

  30. E Minor 7th says

    Is that a 57 Strat, Brian? I’ve just got one (reissue obvs I’m not that rich!). The pickups seem to be a bit lower output than a modern spec strat which gives a slightly softer more mellow sound. Feels so good to play.

  31. mike w says

    I saw your lesson on Youtube years ago, I thought if I could just learn that number it would be worth the membership, Your lessons have gotten better in many ways but still remind me of that first one, You seem to enjoy teaching as much as I do learning, Thank’s for all the hours you have helped me pass and enjoy, This past year has been made so much better by you lessons

  34. Paul N says

    Brian, don’t look at buying the guitars as an extravagant purchase, but as an Investment! Works for me when I justify with myself and spouse my vinyl record collection purchases! And man, you earn those guitars!

  37. Gary W says

    I love this one Brian. I was listening to those little harmonised 6th moves in part one & could suddenly hear echoes of a well known riff from ‘Never Going There Again’ by Lindsey Buckingham in Fleetwood Mac. Another famous move de-mystified!

    Thank you also for the continued and constant evolution of your method – you are always fine tuning, and it shows. I am a big fan of the ‘here’s a snippet of what we are going to learn next’ technique:-) I’m also a massive fan of the emphasis you increasingly put on learning about ideas, to be adapted – this really suits my learning style. Thank you.

  38. Dean says

    Hi Brian, The newbie here..The tone on this lesson (my first) is great. For electric, do you get into or cover off either amp choice and or effects? Amp Modelling? I know I said it, but there are some nice units – Helix, Kemper. Sort of looking for an idea of your signal path from guitar ->> Amp….

    Again, I am just new and maybe this has been asked a thousand time. If so, my apologies.
    Cheers
    dH

  39. Thomas N says

    Brian,
    Funny … I just took delivery go the same exact guitar yesterday.
    Got mine used on REVERB… couldn’t afford it new.
    Getting use to the Hello Kitty Pink, and full 56 shape neck…. but she’s a killer.
    Great little lesson.Thanks

  40. Richard S says

    Does anyone know whether the guitar can be turned off on the video tab breakdown so that I can hear only the backing track while still seeing where I am in the song? I am having problems getting lost in the chord changes when I play the lead with only the backing track audio. I am thinking the tab view will help.

    I am working on learning to hear changes by ear, not there yet with this track. Any tips are appreciated.

  41. Fran Z says

    Thanks for the lesson and the lesson on diminished licks. Question. Can you play the whole half diminished a half step up and get the same notes as the half whole? I tried it and think it works. This may help us If we want to go between the two. Thanks.

  42. Rich F says

    Hi all!

    Just digging into (and, in fact “digging”!) this country lesson! I am a pentatonic fan, rather than using chord shapes. I have just reached 8:52, and I am blown away by the “major” takeaway here: the connection between the A chord shape and the E chord shape (both being E chords) via the bridge of the E major pentatonic pattern 1! This is amazing to me! A light-bulb moment indeed! I will definitely try to use thst going forward.

    I have just seen Charles R same comment about this. Like Charles, I am trying to think how this ties in to the minor pentatonic. I am sure that I recall a lesson that did the same thing for minor. I will investigate!

  44. Rich F says

    Hi again Charles R et al!

    I think I have it! Look at Brian’s excellent lesson EP275… there, he covers the minor chord shapes and how they relate to the minor pentatonic scale. So, for A minor pentatonic, for example, a ‘major’ takeaway for me is that we. An use the root fret 5, and bar there to play the A minor chord (or noodle around it) using the E minor shape on strings 4 and 5, or skip over to the stair-step on strings 1, 2 and 3 to play the 4 chord D, and slide that up two frets to play the 5 chord E.

    But also (this fascinates me), using the D minor shape, we can go to the other “side” of the A minor pentatonic to play another version of the A minor on the top strings… this is pattern 2 I believe too…

    So I think that is the parallel for the lesson here: EP275, using the Minor penatonic as the bridge.

    Hope I’m correct!

  46. Richard F says

    This is a great lesson. I was noodling with Don’t Let Me Down when EP433 popped up in my email. I was playing some of the keyboard fills around the 4th & 5th frets. I’m not unfamiliar with the E at 9th, but your demos in that area opened a window for expansion in my mind.. I recognized the F#minor & B nearby & and am no w busy wearing the riffs out. Thanks. RF

  47. Peter B says

    So many good things to learn from this lesson Brian. I can just spend hours lost in the magic.

    Love your new guitar too, I’m playing an old Squier Bullet but set up nicely and sounding just fine.

    Thanks a lot.

  49. Derek H says

    That little lick in bars 2 and 3 is pure gold. It’s such a useful lick for tunes like Dead Flowers or any of the country sounding Grateful Dead tunes like Bertha or I Know You Rider. Matter of fact, I was transcribing some of the fills from Rider and heard pretty much the same lick. Great stuff!

  50. JULIAN C says

    Brian
    I just got into this lesson yesterday – it is so good
    I finally know what it is like to actually play country music – It feels like Broadway Music City
    Fantastic steel peddle sound… precise – oh man – feels great.
    Many thanks
    jc

  51. james h says

    Ok, let’s talk about the drums in the backing track! Brian, did you play those, or get a friend to do it? It’s really good.
    was it made on a drum program?! If so, that’s amazing!

    =)

  53. Steve S says

    Great great lesson. I got to fooling around with this lesson last night and ended up finding two Rolling Stones riffs out of this. 19 Nervous Breakdown and the opening to Its Only Rock n Roll. Great lesson. Thank you Brian. Awesome stuff. Heck the lesson itself is a blast to play. Much appreciated.

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