Description
In this lesson we’re going back to basics regarding the blues. I realized it’s been a while since I’ve created a standard 12 bar blues (I, IV, V progression). I wanted to create a solo guitar composition so that you can play this one completely on your own, no jam track required. These no accompaniment pieces are great for both practice and playing for others. When practicing, try to take the licks that I’ve given you and expand upon this piece by adding some licks of your own. You’ll eventually get to a point where you can just improvise it and do it on the fly.
Part 1 - Free Guitar Lesson
Part 2 - For Premium Members
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Slow Walk-Through - For Premium Members
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Video Tablature Breakdown
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Brian, Another nice lesson at a nice pace thanks
Now we are talking! Perfect for my new Gretch
Good one as usual
Hey Brian How you doing? I’m a four month beginner that was getting stale with all the chords, scales and callouses until I came across your blues formats and it put new life into my guitar playing. I look forward to the new challenges and riffs every day. That last one #327 is a doozie. Getting a little frustrated and telling you to slow down like you could hear me lol. Thanks and see ya on the next one 👍.
Highlight the tabs and it will loop that specific section, then slow down the tempo until you are comfortable enough to speed it up.
This is perfect as I have been working on my blues foundation.
Thank you!
I’ve been checking in every 5 minutes or so waiting for this one. It’s worth the wait! (Now I can work on 6 things simultaneously instead of 5!)
Thanks Brian!
Jim
Brian, You have captured my soul!! Thank you for this outstanding lesson.
Gary
ahhhhhhhhh…………..beautiful….and you gave an ending!!!!!
Thanks Brian…..
Roberto
As always, a great one 🙂 Thanks Brian!
That’s great Brain, for the life of me I don’t see how you come up
with good tunes every week.
Yes,
Another great lesson Brian. I don’t know how you do it, with a new lesson every week. Always keeping me busy and playing my guitar.
Also, love that you are including endings.
Thanks,
Mark
Brian,
You always say to print out the tab to follow along.
Well I’m not the smartest knife in the drawer sometimes.
Until today. By doing this I was able to add in notaction to
The tabs and this is going be so much less confusion.
And to you thanks for being a great teacher, I have learned
A lot especially over last 3, 4 lessons.
Manley;
Awesome Brian very easy to follow and soulful
Brian, that open D7 is worth my yearly subscription…….wow, what a great add to the chord library….
Roberto
Love This Brian!! Happy Thanksgiving… Alfie lives on!
Brian, when you mentioned not playing on the beat what does that mean. And how do you tell if you are playing on the beat or off of it?
Thanks. Good lesson.
I expect there must be a lot of people like me out there who just want to hang in a music room and learn songs like this. I love this stuff, keep it coming.
Brian you deserve a raise!
This is really fun. I show up at my buddys house and nonchalantly throw down these 12 bar “blues” tunes. They really help connect so many dots ……Thanks bud!
Thanks Brian, another great lesson.
Brian, last night after I worked through the lesson I shared it to couple guitar groups I belong in.
One is called Blues Guitar Lessons, and the other is Guitar Alfonso.
The video has gotten a lot of likes and shares from both groups. Now how I did it was I took the Facebook lesson you posted then save it to me only and from there I was able to share the video to the groups. In other words they only got to see the free version.
As a business owner I would never steal the pay section and just give it away. I think you will be getting few more clients.
Every week I talk it up for in appreation of you having a course that I’m able to play.
Wow, thanks for taking the time share with your groups Manley 🙂
Great lesson Brian. I like the bluesy pace and the play alone.
Hey Brian,
Love the Jimmy Reed style shuffle/groove that anchors this piece. Now so much to work on…and loving every minute.
Best wishes always.
Just can’t get enough of dem 12 bar blues. Another great lesson Brian. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
So easy and fundamentally:) , I don’t think I ever played 12 bar blues 145 like that,,just another great practice tutorial and well done too Brain, happy thank giving to you and family!
Great lesson Brian, I am loving these blues “no accompaniment” lessons. Great fun to learn and play. I’m trying to extend the length of them by making up additional 12 bar arrangements, but don’t have the level of musicianship that you do. How do we get the knowledge to know that ending on an A sixth chord, for instance, resolves perfectly in this piece. Had I not seen you do it, I might have been inclined to end on A, for example. I’d really like to be able to make up and play longer pieces. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Cheers, Peter
Another great post Brian! Thanks!
You seem to out-do yourself every week.
Problem is, I can’t keep up to all the posts you put out.
But hey, I’m not complaining – just wishing I had more time.
Lately I’ve been trying to fit in some of your old nuggets like from way back on page 7 or 8.
Who needs any other guitar course?
Like others Brian, I’m always amazed how you can come up with a new lesson each week. Now if only I could learn them in a week! Learning to copycat what you are doing is one thing, but creating these lessons from scratch puts you in a whole different league. Thanks for sharing with us copycats.
Thanks for another great blues lesson Brian. You’re an amazing composer and teacher. I really like this slower tempo, which gives my poor brain and fingers a chance to keep up. I printed the tab and wonder if you’re missing a note at the end of bar 22? Does this run go: G#-B-C#-E? If so, I’m not clear on the timing. Is it the same as bar 10? Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
Thanks Brian! More licks to add to the tank . Lovin it! Mike
Nice Lesson Brian, I notice you mentioning a few more notes and cord names. Thanks.
this one is right on the money Brian. Thank you. Can’t say enough about the tab viewer, it really helps to figure out the little extra to get it just right. Cheers.
On the 3rd bar do you play open A and the fifth on the 4th string?
Thanks Brain! Love the blues lessons…just enough to challenge us further. And then it’s the Grand Finale I always look forward to.
I really like these blues lessons, Brian. That first lick after the introduction is just the epitome of the blues!! Many thanks.
Thank you! Another excellent lesson. You’re teaching at a pace that’s both understandable and challenging for me, adding much to my riff vocabulary.
Funny thing about the I-IV-V blues–that exact progression never appears. I’m not disputing the usefulness of the term, just saying.
brian
I have a tc flashback and usually have it on around 25% for each dial..I notice you use it a lot too..how do you usually set yours for that “slap back”
thanks
I put it on the “Slap” setting and the the delay and feedback dials at around 30%
hmmm, doesn’t look like the download tab tracked that well. Not the notes you went thru in the lesson, doesn’t look like it matches the video with the tabs running on the bottom. I just got thru the first few bars so far….
Frankie, if you go to the onscreen tab viewer – change it to “Synthetic” instead of “Video” mode, you’ll be able to hear the actual MIDI notes. I listened to the playback and it sounded accurate to me. It’s impossible to get everything 100% – I might have overlooked a note or 2 which happens when I play it. No matter how hard I work at memorizing it exactly, sometimes I might do something slightly different. It should be pretty darn close though.
Brian, I’m really enjoying this lesson! Sounds good, exactly what i’ve been trying to work on. 12-bar blues is still a bit of a mystery to me though. Could you explain how it works in one of your lessons?
Thanks
Thank You Brian !!!
Another great lesson, keep them coming.
I really like this style of lesson.
You do a great job explaining how everything works….
Thanks I really like this lesson. Brian is there anyway we can save these to use off line? I live in a place where I have to us a 3G phone for the Internet and it is not always good. Would be much appreciated
The site isn’t designed for video downloads – that’s partially because it goes against subscription (i.e. if you have all content saved locally there’s no need to subscribe). It’s set up to be more like a Netflix type subscription where you gain access to videos.
That said, you can download the MP3 jam tracks and the tablature.
Living sometimes in a remote area of New Zealand, I have the same problem. I deal with it by printing the tabs, then watch the video and make notes on the tab sheet (slide here, palm mute there, keep index and ring finger in place there). That way I only need to watch the video once.
Lord have mercy! To quote Muddy Waters. Great lesson. As someone said earlier, these licks really start to make sense when you see them played in the context of chord changes.
Best wishes from Canada ,for Thanksgiving ,to you and all the site members.
Very, very nice! And lots of interesting variations.
Many thanks.
PS Is there going to be an mp3 for this lesson?
Another awesome lesson! It’s good to get back to the basics every now and then. Thanks for the time and effort you put into these weekly lessons Brian. I love them all!!
I loved this lesson also, but without wanting to sound at all negative, as a beginner, I found it quite a complex arrangement of licks. If I heard somebody play this down at my local pub, I would have assumed that they were either playing in a regular working band, or some kind of session musician.
As a beginner who has just got to the stage of being able to play a 12 barre blues without having to actually count out the 12 barre’s in my head, I would have been very keen to try a simpler set of pentatonic licks between the one/four and five chords and to work up to something more complex over the course of a few lessons ( Brian?? )
David Miles ( UK )
David, it’s obviously impossible to create something that is suitable for everyone, because we’re all at different stages of learning. As for playing a simpler set of pentatonic licks between the one, four, and five chords – you can do that. In all of these lessons I encourage you do create your own licks in those spots if something is too difficult.
You are right of course Brian. it is just easier to jump on to something where the licks and timing has been already worked and you know that they will work!
Keep the good stuff coming!
David.
Brian This lesson has motivated me in picking up my guitar again and practice for hours. What is unique about your lessons is that you always show and tell how you arrived to your licks..
Thanks for another great and inspiring lesson.
Kim
This is another great lesson Brian! It really amazes me how you take a little from various artists and turn these lessons into master pieces. You are a great teacher Brian!! Thank you so much… Brad
I really liked this lesson! Some really good sounding old tricks you taught this time. And then put them together in one song, great. I’m going to make this one of my standards, that way all these licks will become part of me. More of this, please!
Hy Brian, I would apriciate any sugestion about how to combine this incredible lesson with any other posted based on a lead guitar in A and 12 bar blues.
thanks a lot!!
Juan
Thanks Brian, I love these no band needed pieces. Would like to see more using the same rhythm but different lead styles to show what else you can do over the standard 12 bar. Keep it up! I’m enjoying playing more now than for a long time.
LOVE IT !!
Hi Brian, just when I hit the wall, you always come through with something to work on. A big THANK YOU!
Thanks Brian, brilliant, more like this please
I love this 12 bar blues sequence. I haven’t got an electric guitar, but my acoustic handles it pretty well with a few modifications because I can’t do full bends. It also works nicely with a finger style approach. I like the key of A, it’s so versatile.
Lots of handy licks in this piece. It’s a great lesson Brian. Thank you – keep up the good work.
Love this piece, fun to play, great licks, thanks Brian.
Really enjoyed learning this.It has taken me 8 weeks but is the first tune i have studied.
As a relative novice l find your comments such as “a James Brown “chord and then a little demo helps enthuse me.
Best Wishes from England!
Brian, another great lesson that I would like to thank you for!
Never underestimate how important what you are doing is for so many people
This is the perfect lesson for my level. By playing through this song it helps me to perfect and remember the licks which are all amazing. I now have some nice moves to use and improvise in other keys around the fretboard. Many thanks for this lesson….
Please share more of these building blocks so I can construct my own houses 😉
Brilliant, just brilliant, looking forward spending hours on this one 🙂
Hi Brian i know the to do list is very long but I wonder if a que hopper might grab a spot?? Being entries for the forum quest have to be in by the end of the month it sees to me that a jam track made from your slow play through being repeated two or three times would be really helpfull for practicing with kind regards john strat
Love this sweet little arrangement! Been happily learning and playing. Thanks so much!
Great lesson! This is the first one to learn from you. Thank you!
i got it ! thanks mate ! it’s a very clever and beautiful progression in A key blues… opens up the mind on what we could do with a bar chord… if we use our greymatter a little 8)
thank you again, very very nice piece !!
it made me laugh and smile when i first played it straight !! guess it got me proud upon myself… that’s another reason why i’m re-apropriating the instrument, it nourishes the spirit !!
cheer-up comrades !! see you all in a while for another tune… 8)
Brian, this is so good it makes my brain FIZZ like sherbet. You have unlocked several entire areas of the blues for me in a single lesson.
Thanks for all the hard work you put into it – you are a gifted arranger and teacher.
Graham
Such a great one!
This is a great lesson… I really appreciate this type of piece that can be played unaccompanied.
Part 2 video seems to be sticking. Can’t finish the lesson….: (
This is so good because less is more. I find it harder to play less notes and this type of lesson makes me SLOW down and play for feel. Thanks Brian.
This is a wonderful lesson Brian, opened up the blues for me.
Is there any way to LOOP a video? I use Chromecast to link from my mac to a larger TV and I have to get up from the guitar every 3 minutes to re-start the video on my laptop. Would be great if I could just click a button on the video that would loop until I was finished practising.
Thanks in advance
Graham
Defenitly;
A Blues another character building lesson.
Every lesson is a great help into achieving my musical goal !!
Thank you Brian
Regards
Wow.
Awesome, but for the life of me I can’t do that pull off and hammer to make it sound loud enough to hear. I tried so many different ways to do it but it still so weak.
this one drew my attention to active melody. didn’t think i’d ever subscribe to a site like this until i saw brian teaching. very pleased to be a new member and am looking forward to raising my level of play and musical knowledge over this next year and beyond
I am digging this blues piece, it’s challenging but starting to come together. So happy to have your site Brian! Thanks.
As with all lessons and even recordings I always find a ‘hook’ that draws me in. In this lesson it’s that D7 you did at the very end …..I’ve heard you do it before I just can’t remember where! Love this one.
Lately I have been trying to learn which scales to use over the caged chords- both minor and major. Whenever I get bogged down and wonder why I am playing, I come to Active Melody. You are always providing a more practical way to apply theory without getting into the black hole. I really appreciate your approach. I get cues in all your lessons of how to apply the theory I am learning to make MUSIC. Thanks
great teacher; great teaching instincts. Best for me on the net.
Brian – many thanks. Dug this one out of the archives and joined your group. This one lesson was worth the one year price of admission. It ties together a lot of things that were scattered around in my head but could not be put into a coherent plan! Hours of fun and some challenges to be sure. Many thanks. Mark
So many incredible lessons in the library! I’ve been playing this one on acoustic, has a wonderful bluesy vibe (but of course that is true on electric, too).
Great one, come across this whilst sitting on the john so reached for the Jim Dandy I keep on a wall hanger next to it, didn’t even have to retune from drop D. Hendrix and Clapton practised sitting on the john too, but that is the only similarities my guitar playing has to theirs : )
oops commented on the wrong lesson, it was intended for MicroLesson: 058
Great lesson this one. Discovered it by accident. Foundational electrical blues guitar.
This is one of your best Brian! I enjoyed learning it.
I didn’ realize folks were still commenting 7+ years after a lesson’s release! Anyway. as I work my back through your catalog. it’s all good Brian! As you got older, your teaching methods and your use of technology got better, but the roots, explanations and compositions of the music were, and still, all great!
Sad for me. My old fingers can’t do hammer ons with notes only 1 fret apart. My middle finger hit on my pointer finger. Two frets apart is ok. But I love the first but n.g.