I’ve noticed there is no comments on this very cool lesson, so I thought I’d leave one.  I think that alot of us (myself included) tend to over look these simple kind of things in favor of the more complex flashy stuff.  But simple little melodies like this are an awesome thing.  BB King is one of the biggest and most influencial blues men ever, and he can make a simple little lick with just a few notes say so much.  I really dig the classic, 50’s kind of sound that this has too.  Very cool, and I’d like to say again that it is awesome of you to take the time to post these lessons.  Oh, and thats a sweet tele… :o)

Cool, thanks StratoBlaster and yes I agree it’s the simple stuff that often gets overlooked yet can leave the biggest impact and yes I also agree that B.B. King can say so much with just a single note.  He’s one of the best.

Thanks Brian for all the blues lessons, Im playing leads to your jam tracks and that is the best way to practice, my leads have never sounded better, Im new to the blues really, always tried to learn stuff that was way over my skill level…..Love your teachings and i am now listening to Albert King a lot. blues sounds so good amd so pure. Keep up the hard work. G.

That is a nice and shiny Tele!

Thanks, I spotted that Telel on Craigslist and had to have it

almost tempted to trade in my ibanez for one
of those great sound great lesson

Trade in your Ibanez for a Telecaster?  I’d support that decision.

Greetings Brian, me again, well had a very productive purchasing weekend, on Saturday picked up a MIM standard strat(lefty) and today picked up a fender blues junior limited edition, blonde and brown 2 tone exterior…..now I’ve got blues tone for days. what do u think??

I’m just learning so great lesson.
Thanks

Very cool licks. I was always stuck on minor pentatonic stuff. I really like the sound the major produces. Have anymore?

Both the Emaj/c#mi and the Emi/Gmaj pentatonic scales can be used in blusey playing and therefore can be considered “Blues Scales” along with a host of other possibilities.  Your assertion that the Emi penta is THE blues scale is gross oversimplification.  In addition, your tabbed pdf for the video is COMPLETELY WRONG!!!  The first two notes of the phrase are PICKUP NOTES which occur BEFORE the first beat!  I’ve checked out a few other of your tabs and they too were dead wrong.  As a pro guitarist and a teacher, you’re making my job HARDER by MISINFORMING those who are TRUSTING you man!  The sad part is that you sound pretty good playing the stuff you play but it’s amateur level playing at best.  Go back to school my friend.

Easy now Gary, I never proclaimed that I was showing the entire scale.  I’m trying to simplify playing for people, and most instructors make the mistake of trying to show everything at once.  Unfortunately you’re making the same mistake that most guitar instructors make by assuming people get caught up on theory and this scale or that.  People that are trying to learn often just want to know some basic boundaries so that they can start creating music and having fun.  The more complex stuff can come later - no need to show someone Calculous when they’re struggling with basic addition and subtraction.

In the few months this site has been live I’ve received thousands of extremely positive emails/comments and work very hard at trying to grow a community of guitar enthusiasts and I can honestly say your comment has been the only negative (downright mean-spirited) comment that I’ve seen.  If you disagree with my style 1) you didn’t have to create an account to leave the comment, 2) you’re free to work on your CAGED system workout DVDs and fill them with whatever content you like.

I enjoy all of Brians lessons, making them simple, so we can get a base going, things to build on,aside from “marty” my favorite lessons on Youtube, I have got the most out of Brians lessons than any other, so i can get the most out of only playing a few notes.These days less is more and figuring out my own riffs….......Keep up the good work Brian! and dont change.In my mind i would love to play Eddie VH type riffs….reality? not gonna happen.I would rather play blues all day long.hey “truth” if u dont like Brians lessons…there is plenty of others out there.

Bryan (attn. 1976lespaul),

Thanks for your timely response.  I don’t disagree with your style at all.  In fact, as I said, you have a nice feel and some of your inflections are very nice sounding. You’re very personable on camera, your guitar’s in tune, the potential is there for a powerful exchange.  It’s just that your content is incomplete and the tabs are consistently, well you know, dead wrong.  Also though, let me add that your site is really well done.  Your 10 years in the field of online education served you quite well in terms of it’s form and function.  So, to quote someone, “easy there”....Brian!  You’re puttin’ it out there and you better be ready for any and all comers…right?

The fact that mine is the only “negative” comment you’ve received means little in my view except that I’m possibly the first person with credentials to view your site and take the time to comment.  Presumably, you viewed my fossilized site and am aware of my background.  I’ve spent over 40 years helping world class artists express their music and 17 years developing a teaching method that’s stood the test of time.  I teach harmony, theory, technique, phrasing, ear training and am conversant in all styles except classical.  I work with beginners every day and have trained men and women who are now in the field making a living, playing in bands and getting degrees.

The the points I made still stand Brian.  Your tabs are wrong buddy.  That means you’re misinforming people.  I have a student who struggles with rhythm who showed me your site.  Your tabs succeeded to further confuse him.  So, in part, the result of your efforts; confusion.  Is that what you want?  Doubtful…

While I applaud you for creating space for community, the internet allows guys like you who have “passion” but incomplete education to create “communities of the misinformed”.  I don’t know you and so I’ll assume the best; that your intentions are honorable.

The sad part is that you and I need each others skills.  You have the ability to put together a beautiful site with incomplete information that can and will result in confusion and I have the comprehensive knowledge and experience to create clarity but no web skills.

Are you interested in the fact that your tabs aren’t decipherable and, in fact, dead wrong?  Your response didn’t include an inquiry as to how you might improve them so that they reflect the truth.

Can you see that you identified something as the blues scale and then proceeded to play blusey licks in another grip?  Do you know that the Emaj pentatonic grip you were using is a G form grip and that it also is a C# min / E form grip?

I’ve never been successful teaching harmony and theory first.  Especially with guitar, which is a “folk” instrument, most of us need to learn some “cool” or fun stuff first and then find out what it means.  You’re in the business of starting them out on the “cool stuff” and you’re on your way to doing a fine job.  But there are clearly some points that desperately need attention if you want to look at yourself in the mirror in the morning and call yourself a teacher.  Fair enough?

I’m interested in the pursuit of excellence, integrity and truth.

Your servant,

“TRUTH”

The tabs are all accurate from a note perspective - so if someone is trying to see where to fret the notes, they are 100% accurate - the timing may be off (quarter note / half note / etc) in some places and to be honest, that mostly has to do with the tab creation software I’m trying to use.  I never proclaimed these tabs to be pure, they are simply a guide to help someone find out where there fingers belong on the fretboard, they are meant to be supplimental to the video lesson. 

Another point, I’m putting out all of these for free, which means I don’t have hours to pour into tab creation making sure something is a quarter note versus a half note - besides, there is a lot of tab out there that doesn’t contain any of the time signature elements - that’s the purpose of tab… to show you where to put your fingers - unfortunately the software i use also creates the sheet music.

I don’t mind criticism, in fact I welcome it - but I found your original comments with your all caps (shouting) and statements like, “but it’s amateur level playing at best” to be mean-spirited and most unappreciated.  There’s a right way and a wrong way to help someone out by pointing out what you perceive to be a flaw. 

Keep in mind, all of the tabs and videos that I’ve created that you’re complaining about are 100% free, and are designed to help people that either don’t have access to an instructor or can not afford one.  So my clunky content is better than no content at all. 

As for your comments on grips - who cares?  I have people writing me every day telling me how happy they are that they’re actually able to start playing music and that it’s making sense, which is my original intent.  I’m trying to make playing enjoyable and accessible to people.

Hey Brian thanks for taking time to put this site up for us newbees. I enjoy the lessons that you have put together. It let’s us get a feel of playing while keeping it simple. It’s fun to learn licks here and there and like you said its the simple things that get over looked.

Brian has helped me more than I ever thought and there is nothing wrong with his lessons. They are just what this beginner needs. Go somewhere else if you don’t like it here.

hey brian! keep up this fabulous work for us slightly frustrated guitarists. have just come off a reunion with my old band from the sixties,and couldnt wait to get back on your site..I went down with depression about 15 years ago,and part of my problem was not being able to play lead breaks.I found most sites going way over my head.as my old lead guitarist said; dont get caught up in the guitar olympics.I am 65 and have been a rocker most of my life.your lessons are what I have been loking for for years.keep it up,and thank you so much…....densehead.

Brian,
This is my favorite guitar site. This is exactly what I’ve been looking for. I’ve been playing (learning) guitar for about 2 yrs. I dig playing rhythm mixed with lead. I have learned more about rhythm at your site than anywhere else. Plus I love these jam tracks. This lesson and jam track is great because it sounds good and I can branch out from here. I start adding some vibrato and slides and bends and mix that with some of the rhythm ideas from your other lessons, and I can have hours of fun. My wife is impressed with how good your lessons make me sound.

I agree ... great lessons that we can apply right away and sound good (relatively speaking).  I also like that your introductions are short and to the point.

Sweet little lesson..,a nice way to show how to lay out the backbone of the twelve…thank U Brian.

Maybe U told us before…..but,what is in the other end of that guitar cable?

Sunday morning, just going through some of your blues soloing, light bulbs going off lol. Thanks so much, great insight and like you say from a little you can learn a lot. I’m seeing similarities to how Jimmy Pages’s solos are constructedand and how it all fits. Great stuff keep it up

Im new on here and im stuck at play n minor penatonic scales n my blues solos i liked tha lesson on mixing minor “E” scale with major “E” scale im ready to learn other keys

Im also new to this site Brian, and im a guitar teacher working out of Nottinghamshire in the UK and im here to tell you that according to myself and some of my pupils that have discovered your site your doing a great job. Were all looking for new ideas and you`ve put some excellent lessons out. If these lessons fire people up enough to delve further then its a job well done to me mate.  Keep up the good work Brian and good luck.

Hi Brian. This is not a comment about this particular lesson, but a comment about your website and your entire approach. I thought that I should comment because I use so many of your lessons. I am an older guy who always wanted to play guitar, I am now retired and spend a lot of time learning. I find your lessons extremly valuble. I spent 30 years in government as a project manager and the one piece of advise I would give to students. Small bits at a time, don’t bite of more than you can chew and you will see steady progress. Again thanks for the lessons and hope to see more new ones.  Hoop

Haven’t played for 40 years now 62 and trying to learn new and old stuff.Great job Brian. Learned more from you in a month than I have in a lifetime.
Thanks Buddy

Comments posted by ‘truth’ 13th September 2010 ............
Maybe the ‘truth’ needs to go find the truth, so it may set him free!

Nice work Brian, keep up the good work, and never mind the petty so called professional. Your lessons are afterall free a valuable to many.

Your lessons get us playing rather than baffling over too much theory.

Those looking for perfection (if indeed they even know what it looks like) need to look elsewhere.

E

very nice lesson and you are correct that most instructors assume that we know things that we don’t as beginners and it has to be slow and complete for me and guess I must be sort of hard headed .

  Thanks again Gil

Hi

My 10 year old grandson is learning to play your 3 note blues in E but he needs some tab of soloing to the jam track, can you send him some notes that will fit? his e-mail is .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Thanks for your time.

can u give us the whole neck tablature for E minor pentatonic and E major pentatonic?

please can you give us whole tablature for all E minor and major paterns ?

Brian,I hope this post does show me as some kind of illiterate,in ther early sixties I learned a few chords,joined a garage band and started gigging and never thought of playing solo of any kind,your chet Atkins basic lesson I am now happy that while my right hand fingers are not yet dancing over the strings I am happy with my progress,I am now on your solo lesson in the major and minor pentatatonic in the key of E would have been my first time playing a solo of any kind as I was a rythm player I did not ever try to learn to play solo because I did not know how,apart from a couple of ditties like Apache and the theme from the One Nighters I could never work out how until I saw some lessons on Pentatonic scales and this is as good as you say it is for all guitar wannabes,I always try little riffs when gigging that surpises the others in the band,Brian the only thing I can offer you are thanks and prayers for the wonderful help I have got from your lessons in the last couple of months and with your lessons I will continue to enjoy this old Strat,Jim

Further to my previous comment,I found the comment from"truth"a little incomprehendable,having traweled a lot of lessons sites I have found yours the esiest to understand,if I could completely understand all the terminolgy and guitar speak I would have no problem with the guitar but like most of the young guns and us olduns we dont learn the guitar speak before we try to learn to play our guitar,after nigh on fifty years playing chords I can say in the last couple of months I have learned more about my guitar than I thought possible,I have taken on three modules the Chet Atkins fingerstyle,solo in Eminor/major pentatonic and Erick Clapton solo and while I will never be a Chet or Eric I am proud to be better than I was,accepting that there may very well be better sites to teach us for free I and many more like me choose yours and that says it all,Jim

i like it—the little lesson and the melody.

  Reminds me of an old Dwayne Eddy song—I’ll have to dig out the 12” er’s and give it some air…

Anyway thanks for this FREE gift.

nice tele 2….

Brian; don’t listen to that *&%^(*&^*(&^, I have been playing for years and your have inspired me to play blues more then any other. I come form a rock to heavy background so this is great for me. And for the TRUTH. Those who can’t teach BITCH!

Sheer bliss….......young 60+ yrs and have had no idea just how , and with practice your lessons fall in to place… i will have to stay away from those ..c.f.&g chords and enjoy this new experience..thanks again,,

Hi Brian,
Great site and your way of teaching is very laid back,relaxing and supportive and at the same time in line with the “kiss” idea and free to boot! so lots of appreciation. I am tone deaf….unfortunately so all music is a stern challange for me i would like to re-do the backing track in pro tools for my own practice purposes (nothing wrong with your backing track!) but i notice the piano part has one or two chords i dont “hear” i think they are flat chords…never mind i’ll have to work them out but if you have the time maybe you could mention what those chords are? and as for the remarks made by “the truth” they are offensive which he does not seem to fathom it is i guess a expression of anger rather then critic maybe a bit of resolve might help him…thanks again Peter

Hey Peter47, the chord progression is: E, E, A, E, F#, B, E, B

Thanks Brian
I’ll give that backing a shot too!

thanks a lot brian, now i can practice a bit on pro tools, which is a lot of fun(i have my own studio-hobby based) keep up the good work this site is awesome…..Peter

Great side, learning a lot keep up the good work.
Thanks and greetings, Hans

Hello Brian , thanks very much for this lesson . I played this my parents and my little brother and they say it’s cool:). Thank u very much !

merci pour les tucs,,,bryan the man
bunzoable…de gatineau (Québec,Canada)

Really good lesson Brian. Can you tell me, on the jam track for this lesson what chord progression are you playing. Just in case I did not use the proper terminology, in plain English what chords do you play in the jam track. Thanks Brian
P.S. always looking for new content

Oops, just noticed that you have already posted the chords.

Hi Brian.
Really nice stuff.
Where can I find something would fit with this…like a part 2…so I can continue on?
Regards
Ron from Colombia, South America

Dude inspiring to be able to play a little lead.

Thanks

hi brian just looking at the e maj pentatonic lead rift , i like it its nice and easy ,the thing is is the guitar a 52 reissue tele , and what amp are you useing to get that great tone ,  cheers frank

Hi Brian,
Do you know Vintage (Willkinson) guitar,just got one a Tele reissued 52, shiny as your Fender and sound great.
Thanks for this lesson.
Cheers

Hi Brian,
Another very good lesson, very helpfull!

Hey Brain..!!
I jus bought myself a Jackson warrior JS35WR..!!
what do you think bout da guitar…??
I relly need to know pls do tel..!!

Hi Brian,

Somehow I had missed this lesson and only found it today.  Just shows how good your teaching is because this time I got it in the play through at the beginning and only needed the close up to make sure I got all the notes right. Once you have your version licked you can add bits of your own really easily.  Brilliant - as usual!

Thank you very much.  I bought the Jimi Hendrix style lesson and that is really good.

Don’t see much of you again.  Hope its not work of the european problem again.  All the best, Dr Golf

Hi Brian,

Just looked through the comments on this lesson, and, from all the support you have received I don’t really need to add anything but I can’t resisit it.  Mr Truth is clearly a very sad man and not brave enough to declare his real name (so we can see what his teaching is like and make a comparison).  A most unprofessional approach to you which did nothing for the teaching fraternity.  I hope you ignore it and continue to create for the people who really appreciate your clear and simple explanations.  I have learned more from you that anyone.

All the best,

Dr Golf

Love the lessons Brian. Your teaching style is top notch. I like the fact that you do rhythm and solo lessons. Looking forward to more.

Brian was away for a while and was invited to play something and thought I would have a go at playing your lovely blues melody with your backing track they loved it,some asked if I had made it up sadly I said no but gave all your site A D,now I am back doing your lessons again and loving the freedom I get from being actually able to play some solo’s on this old Strat,God bless and keep this old guitarman happy,Jim

I just wanted to say whats up to Brian and all the other musicians on Active Melody!! This is a really helpful site. I havent had a chance to explore much yet. I thought this and other lessons are broken down very well. Not to mention tabs and jam track.. cant beat it!!

Hey Gibson Guy,

You are right.  The only problem is that Brian goes into hiberation every now and then and we don’t hear anything from him for a while.  Then the Active Melody students get worried and ask him what’s going on and then he pops up with another great lesson.  I have learned more from this tutor than all the others on the web and love playing his solos and things that he teaches.

Last time he had a new job but it would be great to see his floating head again!

Dr Golf

Yes DrGolf - floating head is back!  I just created a new video today and it’s uploading to YouTube as we speak - I’ll have it up on the site in the next few hours.  You inspired me!

Hey Brian,

Wonderful!  One good turn deserves another.  You have inspired me on many occasions and given me hours of fun.  Do another premium lesson and I’ll buy that too!  Some nice rhythmn with lead mixed in over a twelve bar.  Although I loved the F# in this lesson.  Very sneaky but a really nice tone.

I have been very ill and am recovering from a major operation so I have time to play my guitars.

Hope the new job is going ok.

Seasons greetings,

Dr Golf

Brian,

Your lessons are my holiday gift to myself.  I may finally be getting this thanks to you.  Your comments about sound, tone, and keeping it simple ring true to me.  I feel I can maybe justify my Strat purchase from last year.  Thanks again and happy holidays.

-Matt D.

Thanks for the kind words Matt - and yes, go ahead and get that Strat!

Absolutely great for me, just trying to het into solo’s. This is so great, improvising with the jam track really gives ‘the feel’! Thanks a lot!

Hi Brian,
I would like to say that your teaching is first class. As someone relatively new to music theory and trying to get to grips with the Stratocaster I have found “Understanding Major and Minor (Blues) Pentatonic Scales” and “Simple lead played in Major Pentatonic Scale   (key of E )” extremely helpful.  I must say that I find it hard to understand why some individuals have made derogatory comments.  You should not be put off by this ... your teaching method is excellent ... keep up the good work.

I have been unable to download the tablature and jam track to my MacBook ... PowWeb (with which I am not familiar) reports “This site has been suspended”. Perhaps you might be able to help me with this.  I will try to write down the tabs by studying the ‘simple lead’ video.
All the best
John-egabd

Hi Brian
I am an absolute beginner, just bought my first guitar and I stumbled across your website recently and I love it. I’m playing some of the songs now…sort of, and I am having so much fun.  Thank you.
Keep up the great work!

Hi Brian,

After googling and trying different sites coupled with trying some of the lessons on Youtube I stumbled across Active Melody.

These are some of the best lesson’s I have found yet, without question.
Maybe my skill level matches what you are teaching (in part) but your easy going style translates into better understanding.

Nice work!

Doug

Brian, why are you telling us your jamtracks are free and i can,t download unless i pay $5. whats up with that.

Hey RTantillo. $5.00 for everything that I have gained from this this site. You have to be kidding. I have already downloaded everything from this site that is available, but the moment I heard about the premium account I signed up. Good decision Brian you deserve some compensation for your time and effort.

@RTantillo - Well, for nearly 2 years everything was free (so back when I uploaded those videos to YouTube that was the case) - but with the popularity of this site comes lots of bandwidth costs.. i’m not trying to screw anyone, just trying to cover the costs and make a little spending money.  Sorry if you feel misled

@Hoopero - thanks for the support, much appreciated!

Hi Brian,

I’m amazed how some people are unable to be polite when they ask a question. In my experience you are much more likely to get an answer if you ask in the right manner. I have downloaded a lot of stuff already and will be happy to pay the $5 for my next experience.  I guess all your old lessons had “for free” in them and this has been misleading.  However, you can’t go back and change them all. Keep teaching and we’ll keep learning. I hope you do get some spending money - there must be a guitar you need for your collection!

Dr Golf