Active Melody

Learn to play blues guitar.

Use chords to create a slow and melodic lead – Guitar Lesson EP280

Description

In this week’s guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play a melodic lead by using chords (instead of scales). By playing out of these chord shapes and targeting chord tones, you will be creating much more meaningful sounding solos when you write and improvise. The best part is that it’s relatively easy to do. Lastly, this technique takes advantage of the CAGED System (which was covered in lessons EP273 and EP275).

Part 1 - Free Guitar Lesson

Part 2 - For Premium Members

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Slow Walk-Through

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Video Tablature Breakdown

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Comments

  9. Mark O says

    Love the lesson, lots I can pull from this… I would give anything to be able to play those double stops as clearly as you do!

    I’m probably in the minority when I say I’m not a big fan of that Little Sister guitar. Decent sound, it must play very well for you to keep using it in a lot of LESSONS. But it’s just kind of a dog looks wise. Again, I’m probably in a very small minority.. Your poor 335 is sad, wondering when you are going to pick her up again LOL

  13. Ian C says

    As a lifelong Beatles enthusiast I have always admired the guitar style of George Harrison.
    To my ears, here in a nutshell is the secret to many of his inspired lead riffs for The Beatles, when I assume he would be given a run through and the chords of a new song his illustrious colleagues had written and asked to go away and come up with something( not that Something !) , and this style can be heard even more clearly throughout his self penned songs and most of his his post Beatles work.

    This is a great standout lesson in the technique, and one in which the enthusiasm in Brian’s voice is infectious!

  18. sunburst says

    An interesting lesson chords and arpeggio stuff with vertical and horizontal licks between.. I don’t know why but it reminded me of those old film tracks from like Safari movie,, perhaps the African Queen nah! Forget about what I just typed lol,, Man that little sister is cool looking and sounds even better! I am wondering if you ever tried one of those Godin electric nylons ? Been listening to a few models online,, thinking to stop in a guitar center check em out,, also still never made it over to that teaneck shop in new jersey about 15 miles from my home where i try them little sisterts! maybe call a friend stop over there! Anyway cool lesson !

  21. Paul S says

    This is a great lesson and I love Roy Orbison’s stuff. Check out “Class of ’55” and listen to Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash! Esp Carl Perkins on The Birth of Rock and Roll! Fun stuff.

  26. Arnold M says

    Terrific lesson again Brian. Really like the way this takes my revelation from the two CAGED lessons, of being able to stay in one fret location and use various chord shapes at that spot. Great to see that now applied to a song. Really pulls it all together for me. Thank you!

  27. Rich F says

    Beautiful lesson Brian!

    My Mum is a massive fan of Roy Orbison (she loves ‘Pretty Woman’: just hearing that rhythm in my head… perhaps a good future lesson, Brian?)

    So I am planning to learn this lesson, and surprise her by playing it for her!

    Thanks for this lesson!

    Rich F.

  30. rob y says

    BTW, the Black and White Night DVD is phenomenal. Done in B & W (of course) the video is superb. The backing band includes the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, and many more. An amazing performance.

  37. Jean H says

    Hello Brian,
    Excuse my american but i’m a french…
    My question : It’s a melody in G. The first chord is G, then why the 4 chord is a Cm ? You unterstand why I don’t understand ? The scale is G – Am – Bm – C – D -Em – etc… Could you help me please !
    A lot a thanks Brian, I’am a french fan !

  39. JimD says

    When I play this without the backing track rhythm it reminds me of the 60s Ventures and Shadows instrumentals I loved so much: songs like Sleepwalk, Telstar, and Apache. Great job, Brian!

  40. wrightclick says

    Great stuff beautiful i am going to wave a flag for the U.K and say there is a bit of Hank Marvin in that piece . I find the more you go on it makes you understand previous lessons even better if that makes sense because at the time most of your concentration is learning the new passage but once it is committed to shall i say muscle memory your mind is free .That CAGED system is invaluable .

  41. Gordon G says

    My first thought: this sounds like Hank Marvin! Not sure if you are familiar with him and the Shadows (Cliff Richard and the Shadows) but they were BIG in the late 50’s and early 60’s in Britain, South Africa etc etc. An amazing player still going strong today – a big influence on Brian May, Eric Clapton etc. Thank you for your fantastic lessons!

  43. kenford says

    Great lesson Brian, very 1960’s and reminds me of George Harrison and Hank Marvin. I usually will play a scale along with a track or song, now this lessons provides me with whole new ways to play and write songs.

  45. Walter D says

    Another of the many examples of lessons in which Brian not only teaches to play the guitar – but HOW to play the guitar. A very versatile lesson rich with nuggets. Reading through the comments you can see how this style covers many players. You can definitely hear Roy, but for me, Mark Knopfler jumps out. As Exhibit A, listen to Mark’s “The Fizzy and the Still” off the Kill to Get Crimson album.

  46. Gerardo M says

    Dear Brian! Inspiring as always… I’m only a few months old at Active Melody and it phenomenal to feel tangible improvement in my playing. Thank you, I’m keeping up with this lessons for the long run! Need to ask -your B&G, is it a Private Built or a Crossroads? Visiting the UK and came across a Crossroads cutaway… thinking about getting it.
    Thanks for your time… any advice would be greatly welcomed. Best wishes!

  47. John A Rowe says

    Every now and then a lesson comes along that I feel has helped me take a huge step forward… and this has certainly been one of them. That wonderful feeling when another piece of the puzzle falls into place… thank you Brian for another great lesson!

  48. mattygsmith says

    Brian, I’ve been an AM member now for several years and have never posted a comment. Playing lead through different chord voicings has been something I’ve wanted to learn for some time. I really enjoy your lessons and also the way you carefully articulate and breakdown each composition so almost anyone can follow, or at least pull some sort of technique from the lesson. This lesson is a great follow up of the earlier CAGED lessons. Keep up the great work Brian.

  49. Terry H says

    Great Information in this Lesson! I’m at a point in my guitar playing that I’m unable to learn and play all of the first and second parts of the lessons weekly.
    I normally do what I can to learn as much of the new to me techniques shown in each weeks lesson and then on tuesday, I start the new lesson and learn as much
    as I possibly can before the next tuesday lesson comes out.
    Brian is there a better way for me to do these lessons? Or do you believe this is a good way to work for now..?
    keep them comming! Thank You, Terry Harper

    P.S. I am learning new techniques from each lesson…especially excited to be able to make the chords in such a small
    area in different places up and down the neck!

    • John A Rowe says

      Hi Terry… yes, it’s much the same for me too, I just about reach halfway and then the next lesson appears and I just can’t help myself, I move on leaving many half-finished lessons behind. But! I mentioned this to Brian and he explained that you don’t have to learn all of each lesson, that even if you are able to absorb only some of each lesson, or only learn one or two pieces completely throughout the year, you are still learning, absorbing, and moving forward. So, that’s the way I look at it now, I even sometimes choose just a passage or two to learn from the whole lesson, sometimes things that I know that I need or will come in handy, etc. This lesson above, I want to learn completely and, luckily, the next lesson hasn’t tempted me so I am able to stick with this one for now, and hopefully reach the end! I think we will, over time, get quicker at learning the lessons, as Brian often says “I use this run, or riff, often in my playing” and now and then something comes up that I already know or have seen Brian play before, and it fits right in without too much effort… as I said above in the comments, it’s like a puzzle slowly being completed, pick up a piece here and there and it will all come together in the end. Good luck with your playing…!

  54. Jose says

    Absolutely agree with all posts, beautiful.
    I like to record these songs, maybe add what Im capable of.

    May i ask, is that a live drummer? If it is a keyboard, or some kind of hardware, is it manually set or is it a style already set… what would be the name of the style, just want to set it that way when I do the recording.

    Thanks for the music.

    Jose Guzman

  56. John s says

    More comments from John: Roy Orbison with a little Mark Knopfler thrown in for good measure. Amazing! Really enjoy playing this song and listening to myself play it. Forward to the past rather than back to the future… Simple and elegant. As always: How the hell can you do this every week?

  57. Jose says

    Hello Guys,\

    Could not get past the point where my acoustic guitar neck became too uncomfortable to make a fair notes play.
    Yesterday I got a Squier Telecaster, which Im going to use to record this nice song.

    Could there be a way to get the percussion in sheet notes???, it would not matter the sound those notes make, it would help a lot to have the excact, TA TA TA TA

    Ok… later.

  58. wjhmdcfi says

    Can’t express my appreciation well enough! You have been a tremendous contributor to my guitar efforts. The ability you now provide to see the written notes on the staff is very helpful in advancing my ability to read music! Thanks very much for all of your efforts. It is an education just to watch and listen to you play.
    William Horan MD FACS

  59. Marcus C says

    Hello Brian, I am greatly enjoying your site, all the lessons are relevant to the concepts I’m trying to ingrain. I am really trying to learn to improvise, so I try to break down everything I learn into where they fit into CAGED patterns, triad shapes and so on. One thing I am confused about in this piece is how, or maybe the better question is why, Cm fits into the key of G major? If I was trying to build a progression in G major, I would not think of grabbing a Cm chord.
    Thanks for all the great work you’ve got up here.
    Marcus

  63. Rodney W says

    Beautifull composition Brian. How on earth do you do it?

    As an older, former Brit,I have to agree with all of those who said it sounded like Hank Marvin of the Shadows.

    Did anyone else have the same experience as me? I had to keep looking at the video thinking “Did he overdub this with a Stratocaster”! I found it hard to believe that that sound that tone, came out of an acoustic!

    I am surprised no one else has mentioned this already.

    Rod

  64. Andrae C says

    That’s absolutely Beautiful. Definitely “Hank Marvin” like. Fantastic. Now this is something I want to not only listen to but learn to play.
    Thanks for creating this Melodic tune.
    Cheers

  66. Kevin M says

    Wow… This is one of those that I will archive and keep coming back to. Guess I missed it the first time around, but I want to get this one down in its entirety. Usually what I do; what I need to do actually, is listen… no guitar in hand, all the way through at first… and then pick the instrument up and work on the lesson from there. It might be a slower process of course, but I’ll get a clearer understanding of Brian’s nuanced theory within each lesson.

    I really want to be able to play this one very well… This is a really fine lesson..!

  67. Faye N says

    Hi Brian,
    I’m getting some difficulty in doing the pulloff on that first chord with my pinky. Therefore, I switch to my ring finger to do the pulloff after I play the full chord. I guess I just need to build up my strength with exercises. Will the spider walk exercise fix my problem?

  74. David R says

    Love the arrangement. Brian, you should give these original instruments names instead of a number and general description.
    This one is beautiful….needs a name. Something like Melody Meadow, or Harmony in G. or ???
    David Reed, Michigan.

  78. Mike H says

    I’m just now discovering this great little lesson. It’s chock full of good chord based stuff BUT… when I print out the tab, the title and the chord names are garbled into illegible squiggles. The title and chord labels are legible on the site page and the notation/tab prints out perfectly fine but not the chord labels and title.
    Not a huge deal but, is that by design? I’ve noticed it happens with other of your lessons too but not with other teachers’ lessons so… it’s not my printer.
    Thanks for the lesson, BTW.

      • Mike H says

        Thanks Bryan. I tried Chrome and Adobe Reader with the same result. I tried Preview and it was the worst, with Chinese characters superimposed over the tab notation. I thought it may be my iPad so I tried on a desktop but got the same results as above. Photoshop was the only app I tried that prints nice but, it only loads 1 page at a time. Easier to just copy the chord labels by hand.
        Maybe it’s just a Mac thang?

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