Description
MicroLesson (ML111) – Have you ever been in a situation where a person (or people) are strumming cowboy chords and you want to play a different rhythm, to compliment what’s going on without copying what they’re doing?
This lesson is exactly that. 3 triad positions (on the first 3 strings) that will allow you to play major and minor chords all over the fretboard.
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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These ideas will be invaluable Brian. Thanks! 😎🎸😎
SO MUCH OF THE LITTLE ” LIGHT BULB ” STUFF THAT WE HAVE LEARNED OVER THE YEARS ALL LINKED INTO A SINGLE LESSON THAT IS REALLY GREAT. THANK YOU BRIAN
This is EXACTLY the lesson I had hoped for! Invaluable! Actually, it’s valuable but they always say invaluable. Anyway, it’s just what the doctor ordered!
hi brian
just wondering if in your huge collection of guitars you have any classical guitar ?
do you ever try to play any classical stuff
i would love an answer from you or a lesson
regards
david clancy
I do have a couple of classical (nylon) string guitars. I play it around the house, but never on video – mainly because it doesn’t have fret markers and i know i’ll get roasted!
If a Bm triad can be thought off as an. E9, a C#m trial could also be an E6, right?
Hi James,
I found this bit confusing too because Brian normally plays that 9 and 6 over a major chord, but here it’s over the relative minor (Emin).
You’re right, the ‘stair-step shape’/C#min triad would work as an E6, but you probably wouldn’t want to play that in this context (a song in G).
It’s confusing because the stair step ‘Bmin triad’ contains the same notes (B,D,F#) as Emin9 (E,G,B,D,F#) and E9 (E,G#,B.D,F#). In this context, it’s working as an Emin9 over an E minor chord.
Perhaps Brian led to further confusion by saying the triad works here because ‘it doesn’t have a third in it’. But the third of a Emin9 is a G note, which isn’t out of key, while the third of an E9 (G#) would be.
I think I’ve got that right, but welcome any corrections.
It’s an E minor 9, see 16:48 in the video. That E minor 9 chord is missing it’s 3rd.
Hi Brian,
Thanks for replying. I understand that in this context, the ‘stair step’ minor triad is acting as an Emin9, because the underlying chord is and E min and we are adding the D and F#.
Is it correct to say that in a different context, for example if the underlying chord was an E major, the same triad would act as an E9?
Yes, if the chord under was E major – I’d call that an E9
If you are new to Brian’s great lessons, stick at it. Had I seen this 2 months ago I would have struggled. Pick the genre you like and mine the content. As between lessons there is sometimes repetition – which is extremely valuable. You begin to recognise ‘ Ah that’s the 6ths run or that’s the augmented embellishment ‘ Then take a song you like and apply it…even a peice of what you’ve learned and you can start to improvise and be a more interesting player. The rhythm lessons are the best to make a start and grow your playing. Thank you Brian !
Wonderful lesson Brian, inspiring too. Helps so much to enlarge improvisation-skills. Thanks again for your great work.
Hi Brian and thanks for another great and useful lesson. You mention in the video that you have problems with humidity for your guitars and I live in Sweden and have the same problem myself, especially during the winter. I live in Sweden. I was wondering if you talked about that problem in any of your lessons?
Kind regards Peter
i have mentioned the humidity issues a few times throughout the years but haven’t made a full video on it – i probably should though because we all deal with it in one form or another. I basically put my good guitars in a home made humidity “tent” and keep them in it all winter, while the humidity levels drop. I do that to keep them from drying out.
Hi Brian – Great lesson and one I realise is ideal for a ‘Chicago’ tuned tenor guitar . I am awaiting delivery of a 1954 Gibson TG 50 archtop tenor and I am eagerly searching your site for instantly adaptable material . Perhaps you or other members could please point me towards some lessons on ActiveMelody which are ideally suited to this instrument.
My very grateful thanks for the vast wealth of material you have provided to premier members like me over the years. Although I have been playing fingerstyle acoustic guitar since i was a teenager [ Now 74 years old]my goal remains the same – never stop learning and improving.
Kind regards
Adrian
Belfast- Northern Ireland
A Palace of Music
This is how I feel about this site–week after week.
Great lesson Brian. Would the Bm be the sub dominant when you are going to the Em? Seems like there are a gazillion explanations and don’t want to over analyze. Thanks
To answer my own question I guess it would have be a Bm7 to be a sub dominant?
No – to be a sub dominant it needs to be major – a dominant chord is a major chord… with the flat 7
Please, more lessons like this.
So many light bulbs going off i thought the paparazzi were after me
Love the Triad stuff Brian!
Even when I think I’ve seen it before there is something new or much needed reinforcement. Thanks Brian
When you say because of humify you mean lack of humify right? I live in Norfolk and have gas heat, and it is so dry I can’t have a
nice guitar i almost ruined a
co 8 it caved in, a guitar shop saved it, I sold it when you say I put it up do you have a
special humidified room?
l
Having Throw back Thurs. EP399 was a great idea for this follow up micro lesson. Micro lesson deluxe. Great tune also.
Great lesson Brian. A got some really great ideas for how we can use the three CAGED shapes you demonstrated. Thanks. A follow up ML with 7ths would be great too.
This helped me a lot. I wasn’t good with embellishments because I wouldn’t skip strings or repeat strings to get a nice melody. Or arpeggiate. I don’t know why. So I’m working slowly with each triad. That Em using only the 5th, 7th, and 9th was good news to me. Thanks!
Very nice. I’m playing Dead Flowers with my friend in a gig in a few weeks from now. These ideas will help liven up a basic 3 chord song.
Great lesson I love the way you teach chords but not having to play the whole but to pull pieces or fragments out of that chords jts really helpful and makes it so much easier
Definitely will add sauce to a rhythm part.
Great lesson! Very useful. I noted in the walk down from V to I you did it chromatically–in this case D-C-B-A-G. However what you didn’t mention is that the triads follow the I ii iii IV V iv vii-dim (M-m-m-M-M-m-dim)pattern. It’s an opportunity to reinforce several theoretical concepts. It may be obvious to most of your subscribers. I’ve been working on double stops and knowing that really helped me play them on all adjacent strings. THANKS!
Grabbing the stairstep minor a half step down in a I-rel minor situation is a great tip! Saves me having to think it through.😎
I love these informational videos so much. Lots of ideas here thanks!
Nice lesson………lots to practice here……..thanks
Hi Brian,
Thank you for sharing your “secrets” with us. In the part where you discuss how to get from a G to an E minor chord, or basically from a major chord to its parallel minor chord, it’s great to know that with the E-shape one can find a substitute chord for the parallel minor chord via the “stairstep-shape” so easily. You say that this is not theoretical but that doesn’t matter at all, because that’s exactly the knowledge we need to be able to play along with others. I love the “grammar” behind it and it helps my understanding, yet for a real life scenario these little “secrets” are the true gems.
All the best,
Georg
Hi. Thanks for the lesson. I was looking around for stuff like this and now I found it, much fun to play.
Best regards. Michael, Hamburg, Germany
Hi Brian yet another great lesson, always inspiring Brian thanks heaps, Will
Hey Brian. I have one question. At the end of part two you mention that you put your good guitars away not to crack them by whatever (humidity).
Is there something special? You have them in a case? Cold room, warm room? Thank you
Really enjoyed it Brian. Laid back & cool.
The reason the B works before the Em is that if you play the 5 of a chord BEFORE the chord it’s a nice introduction to the chord. For example, if I play a 1,6,4,5 progression ( C , Am, F, G) I can play C then the 5th of Am, Em THEN Em. Then before the F Play C ( 5th of F) THEN F. Try it. It sounds so cool. Maybe give a lesson in that.
A lot of good embellishment information in this video. The light blub went off. Thanks
Hi Brian,
I am learning this lesson. It’s easy fingering but understanding the chord names is confusing. I just try to memorize via the tab and play with my finger style. I also like the guitar you used. It looks like beautiful instrument.
Cool !
Very helpful ideas and reminders of ideas in this lesson! Really like connecting triads to harmonized 6ths and 3rds, and all of it.
Thanks Brian!
Hi Brian , I love your work but please change the lesson title to “complement” 🙂
Hey! Brian
First of all, I would really like to thank you. Your Lessons are very informative and easy to follow along. You have given me some very essential and valuable information. I’ve been noodling on the guitar for 40 years now. I couldn’t seem to get it. Within a week I learned to use the cage system to improvise my soloing. Even my wife was impressed. I’ve subscribed to a few online guitar lessons. I never seemed to get anywhere. The lessons were confusing. all I did was get frustrated. I would recommend your lessons to everyone. I enjoy playing guitar again.
I want to thank you again Brian. I really appreciate it.
Hi Brain! That’s a nice looking resonator you got there. I own a National Resophonic M2 and a Triolian version. Nice guitars but hard to play them! Thinking of getting other strings for them because I start to develop some pain in my left index finger when playing on them. Which gauge strings do you use?
By the way, how many guitars do you have in your collection? Maybe make a video of them showcasing them one by one! 🙂
Really helpful lesson. The embellishments off the triads excellent! Thanks,
I really appreciated that you said that the Bm7 triad was a good sub for the Em triad because the notes are equivalent to E9 (no 3)….without dumbing it down (too much).