Active Melody

Learn to play blues guitar.

  • Log In
  • Weekly Lessons
  • Take The Tour
  • Forum
  • Hear From Our Members
  • Membership Sign Up

May 2026 Challenge Response – Jonathan Amos – Slow riff in A minor

Home › Forums › Active Melody Member Challenge Response Submissions › May 2026 Challenge Response – Jonathan Amos – Slow riff in A minor

  • This topic has 20 replies, 21 voices, and was last updated 15 hours, 1 minute ago by Pap.
Viewing 20 reply threads
  • Author
    Posts
    • June 14, 2026 at 12:06 am #417654
      Jonathan Amos
      Participant

        I thought this was an excellent idea for a challenge. I took three great licks from EP622, one of Brian’s best with a fast tempo, slowed them down and changed the key to fit the much slower backing track on EP576. Then added some more of my own ideas to flesh it out.

        On a technical note, I do sometimes find it difficult to bend strings smoothly. For example, in the first lick, when I bend up the third string and then pick the fretted first string, I have to let go of the third string so my ring finger can fret the second string, which makes the open third string sound. Played quickly with a noisy backing track it does not matter so much but when played slowly, as in this piece, precision is important.

        Jonathan Amos, Matsuyama, Japan

      • June 14, 2026 at 12:36 am #417671
        Dieter
        Participant

          Very soulful playing.

          Dieter

        • June 14, 2026 at 12:39 am #417676
          Lights
          Participant

            Very good composition, Jon! Your guitar weeps nicely.
            Lights.

          • June 14, 2026 at 1:33 am #417685
            AndréM
            Participant

              Excellent playing Jonathan on that Quist BT.
              Great riffs from Brian that fits this BT.
              Well done.

              AndréM

              AndréM

            • June 14, 2026 at 2:55 am #417693
              Scott W
              Participant

                Sweet sound. Nicely done.

              • June 14, 2026 at 3:37 am #417697
                Mike W
                Participant

                  Very soulful, lovely moody music. Great composition and playing.

                • June 14, 2026 at 5:07 am #417716
                  Alan L
                  Participant

                    The licks sound perfectly at home in the new tempo. I like the repeated motifs keeping it all anchored and cohesive. Nice work!

                  • June 14, 2026 at 5:25 am #417726
                    Andy N
                    Participant

                      What a superb, moody bluesy composition. Sounded so good and those licks worked perfectly. I had to go to 622 to check them out as they sounded so different here. Though that’s the point of course. They made an excellent foundation for the song. Excellent playing and I love that tone

                    • June 14, 2026 at 5:25 am #417727
                      Denise
                      Participant

                        I very much like your lead with these licks incorporated into that sad Quist track.
                        The repeated motif sounds very effective and your playing sounded fantastic.
                        I remember that I played an own lead over that track a few years ago.

                        More Blues!

                      • June 14, 2026 at 6:50 am #417755
                        John H
                        Participant

                          Jonathan
                          Man-this oozes with gorgeous tonalities and melody… what a beautiful arrangement. Your bends are spot on my friend. Love that guitar!

                          John

                        • June 14, 2026 at 7:06 am #417763
                          Martin W
                          Participant

                            Ah , I remember that backing track it’s a fine one to play over , as you so well demonstrated, clever use of the borrowed licks using them in a different context.
                            Your own ideas fitted in so well to .
                            I agree with the bending technique the clean tone doesn’t hide anything, I thought your bends were spot on .

                            Martin

                          • June 14, 2026 at 7:38 am #417772
                            Wayne Nunez
                            Participant

                              Love the nice slow groove great playing Jonathan

                            • June 14, 2026 at 9:07 am #417800
                              Manfred M
                              Participant

                                You’ve put together a beautiful composition around these licks, Jonathan. Beautifully played, with so much soul. A perfect arrangement!

                                Take the chance to meet your AM friends on Zoom
                                The next Meetup will be July

                                There will be a detailed announcement here in the forum
                                I look forward to meet you.
                                Manfred

                              • June 14, 2026 at 10:13 am #417811
                                wannaplayblues
                                Participant

                                  Some wonderful work – and lovely audio production work too!

                                  "I hear you talkin' son, but you 'aint sayin' nothin'" - Will McFarlane quoting Muddy Waters hearing a really fast guitar player

                                • June 14, 2026 at 12:08 pm #417846
                                  James B
                                  Participant

                                    Great job working these licks into that track, Jonathan. Such a relaxed groove. Really enjoyable listening.

                                    James

                                  • June 14, 2026 at 12:45 pm #417852
                                    JoeD1
                                    Participant

                                      What a nice melodic piece Jonathan. Great bends and prebend/releases. Space was used very nicely to let the licks breathe. Beautifully done.

                                      Joe

                                      The sight of a touch, or the scent of a sound,
                                      Or the strength of an Oak with roots deep in the ground.
                                      --Graeme Edge

                                    • June 14, 2026 at 3:19 pm #417889
                                      JoLa
                                      Participant

                                        I checked out the lessons you mentioned beforehand and would have never thought to marry them together, so the way you implemented the licks was brilliant to me. A perfect example of what the challenge was about. Love that slow backing track by Quist and I love the soulful blues solo you played over it!

                                        🎸JoLa

                                      • June 14, 2026 at 3:22 pm #417891
                                        Michael Krailo
                                        Participant

                                          Super good playing Jon. That slow blues gets me every time.

                                          Go slow and practice correct technique, and your abilities will dramatically improve.

                                        • June 14, 2026 at 4:12 pm #417902
                                          sunjamr
                                          Participant

                                            Nice arrangement, Jonathan. There were indeed a lot of bends in it, but to my ears you did a great job on all of them. I especially liked the phrasing throughout, and some pretty good dynamics also.

                                            Sunjamr Steve

                                          • June 15, 2026 at 1:08 pm #417991
                                            Michael L
                                            Participant

                                              Hi Jonathan, what a wonderful, mellow, track, and melodically expressed playing. Very enjoyable to listen. As fantastic as bends can sound, they are a lot of work to get right, aren’t they? I only play acoustic, so I’m limited to start in that arena, but we do our best. You’re here sound really nice… in tune and timed well. I enjoyed it.

                                            • June 15, 2026 at 3:45 pm #418007
                                              Pap
                                              Participant

                                                Wow Jonathan….really moving emotional and expression-full! Pap

                                            • Author
                                              Posts
                                            Viewing 20 reply threads
                                            • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
                                            Log In

                                            Search Forums

                                            Quick Links

                                            • Latest posts
                                            • Most popular posts
                                            • Posts Freshness
                                            • Posts with most replies
                                            • My active posts
                                            • All my posts
                                            • Posts with my reply

                                            Links

                                            • Blog
                                            • Resources
                                            • About
                                            • Contact
                                            • FAQ
                                            • Refunds & Cancellations
                                            • Sitemap

                                            Recent Lessons

                                            Your Blues solo may be missing this! Hint (it’s chords) – Guitar Lesson – EP637

                                            Learn how to construct a classic Chicago Blues style guitar solo – Guitar Lesson EP636

                                            How do I jam with someone on guitar? Learn both rhythm and lead parts in this lesson – EP635

                                            Contact

                                            For all support questions email: support@activemelody.com
                                            For all other inquires email: brian@activemelody.com
                                            • Facebook
                                            • Twitter
                                            • YouTube

                                            © 2026 · Active Melody. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use

                                            Free Weekly Guitar Lessons

                                            Enter your email address below to have the weekly guitar lesson delivered to your email address. I take privacy very seriously and will not share your email address.

                                            • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

                                            Active MelodyLogo Header Menu
                                            • Weekly Lessons
                                            • Take The Tour
                                            • Forum
                                            • Hear From Our Members
                                            • Membership Sign Up
                                            • Log In

                                            Insert/edit link

                                            Enter the destination URL

                                            Or link to existing content

                                              No search term specified. Showing recent items. Search or use up and down arrow keys to select an item.