Active Melody

Learn to play blues guitar.

Acoustic Blues Guitar Lesson in The Key of G – No Accompaniment – EP114

Description

Back with another “no accompaniment” style guitar lesson (because they’re so popular).  This 12 bar blues is played in the key of G and contains both a rhythm and lead part, so it will be up to you to play them both, alternating back and forth between them.  These lessons are so popular because they’re compositions that you can play for someone, without needing the assistance of another musician or a jam track.  All you need is a guitar and a pick.  This works on either acoustic or electric guitar.

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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Comments

    • ggreg46 says

      well this is my first time leaving a comment. In saying that U
      I have been a member for awhile. I have picked the guitar up after 35 years and absolutely love your site!! I am pretty good at picking up but do not have the speed I used to have. I am still pretty fast but not like slash anymore! lol. Your lessons challenge me to reconstruct the arrangement and put my own flair on it. It is so cool what I am learning from you. I not into theory and that’s ok. Your lessons are so easy to understand and learn. I would recommend yhis site to all who want to expand their playing. Thank you for your insight into arrangements. I also love the blues and the acoustic blues. God bless Happy New Year 2016

  3. Antiuga says

    Hi Brian,
    As always a great lesson and so full of theory that can be applied to other keys and tunes. What I especially liked about this one is that it is at just the right difficulty level that you can learn and enjoy it without spending a month on it! I, like so many others on here enjoy the no accompaniment videos since a lot of us are “couch pickers”. I hope you have a great weekend.
    Antigua

  4. jimbostrat says

    Once more Brian’s had his Wheaties for breakfast!! This lesson travels smoothly all over the gambit in that it’s covered G progression with octaves and nice turn around and BB King solo and connecting major/minor and cool double stop concepts and Keith Richards and all in a complete package that anyone can take out to their town’s live blues music venue tonight and not just sit in but do so while certainly turning heads!! Brian really is a genius because he just knows what not only sounds great and plays great but what we all need in our arsenals to hold ourselves out as superior musicians!! Brian did all this along with the unfathomable effort he had to go through to change over and nicely upgrade his site’s system!! My guess is after all the behind the scenes headaches he endured Brian really was feeling the blues and this just poured out of the poor guy onto paper and here video! The very least we can all do in a show of unilateral appreciation is grasp all of this lesson and embrace every cool aspect into our own repertoires!! This was a monumental lesson Brian…….no doubt!!

    Jim C.

  8. Sylvia says

    This is a great lesson. Can you post an audio of the song played at tempo (ie, not a “slow” version) that we can download? Actually, being able to download the “slow” audio version would be great too. Just wondering.
    -Thanks.

      • hankunck@gmail.com says

        Brian, when I click to download an audio file, another window opens on my screen and the track plays, but it does not download to my computer so that I can use it offline for practice. I’m impressed with your “re-engineered” site, but would like to be able to download the files, as I could before.

        Gtarman

        • sunjamr says

          Same here. I use Firefox for my browser and I have the Video Downloadhelper plugin installed. I found that after the audio window opens, I can click on the Video Downloadhelper icon and download the mP3 file that way for offline practice. I haven’t tried it, but I think you could just do that from the main web page for the lesson without bothering to click on the audio file. Offline practice is essential for me, since I sometimes live in a place where there is no phone line, no internet, and no cellphone signal for miles.

        • Brian says

          Try RIGHT clicking on the “Download MP3” link and choose “Save As….” to save the MP3 file to your hard drive, or if you’re on a Mac, hold down the “control” key and click.

          • sunjamr says

            Yes, for Macs that does work. CTRL click the “Download MP3” link, then choose “Save link as”. And here’s another bit of Mac weirdness: After you click on the lesson of your choice, you must not touch your computer for about a minute, or it will crash and you’ll have to re-boot. Watch the verbiage in the lower right or left hand corner of your screen about Soundslice loading. When it’s finished, then you can touch your computer again.

          • sunjamr says

            Actually, that second problem about my Macbook crashing while Soundslice is loading seems to be due to Firefox. It doesn’t happen with Chrome.

    • jimbostrat says

      Me too, Islamujeres!! I have long fingers but I hate stretching!! Try “cheating” like I do and play the G progression in the open position (on the 6th & 4th strings) which defeats Brian’s purpose of having a moveable blues tune but also will work on your hybrid or fingerpicking skills………..believe it or not I learned this skill from watching Billy Gibbons. You basically stay at the third fret but string skip………Hope this helps. Jim C.

  13. Maradonagol says

    You know what Brian, I’ve worked on this one now today and there is so much that is valuable in this lesson, one of your classics……….that little lick that you attributed to John Mayer is killer…..

    can’t put the strat down….

    Roberto

  15. rosco4457 says

    Hi Brian, you no im a basically new member but i been watching ur lessons on youtube for a while, but that was great showing us how to walk up the neck using pattern 4 major and pattern 2 minor, it opened my eyes to walking the frets, thx a million!

  17. bri-uklefty says

    Hey this is a great lesson Brian and it’s another one that’s got me hooked; it’s great how the lessons are challenging but provide a fantastic new tune and set of skills. I also enjoy reinforcing previous lessons such as the BB King and Keith Richards references; which were both lessons that I enjoyed.
    Thanks again UK Brian

  19. jimbostrat says

    Today is Day 3 since Brian released this great lesson and all I can say is: The sucker definitely has legs!! Especially after working it closely these three days……….I still feel as though I’ve been refreshed all over again and the best part is that this cool lesson has definitely influenced me to expand upon it and get even a bit adventurous which……if you think about it………..this is exactly what cool, well thought out and complete lessons are supposed to do!! Thanks Brian!! This was the best birthday present of all!!

    Jim C.

  23. frankferendo says

    What I really appreciate about these lessons is that the inspire me and motivate me to learn and practice. Brilliant, so happy to have them available. I spend most of my year living in Vietnam, so finding great lessons like these on line is a must. Thanks Brian! Well worth the price.

  26. hotrod1941 says

    Brian, another great acoustic blues lesson. I have really been working on my acoustic skills and even sit in with a soloist a couple of nights a month at a local speakeasy and will try and get this melody down for my next one. Nice Taylor, what model?

    Again
    Thanks

  27. Jim McD says

    Thanks, Brian.

    This is the acoustic lesson I’ve been waiting for. It’s like ‘Brian Unplugged’. A lot of your acoustic blues (as it strikes me) are bouncy ragtime tunes–and who doesn’t love bouncy ragtime tunes? If you did a John Hurt lesson, that would be great. But this is more soulful, as your electric blues tend to be. More Robert Johnson.

    I’d be interested to hear what you have to say about the Music Highway. I believe you’re a Nashville man, is that right? When I’m in Tennessee, I feel more at home in Memphis than in Nashville (I’m not even going to talk about Pigeon Forge).

    À propos, I know you’ve at least mentioned Steve Cropper, but I think lots of us would enjoy a whole lesson on Memphis/Stax-Volt/Steve Cropper groove. I know I’ve heard a ton of stuff in that genre that really makes me smile, but I don’t know how to play it.

    Anyhow, thanks again for the lesson. You’re the best.

  29. nicky says

    HELLO BRIAN, there are other good sites out there , an i give them credit for there hard work, truly nothing out there as well as this site. BRILLIANT WORK HERE !I visit other sites from time to time ACTIVEMELODY is my home PROUD MEMBER. AN MEMEBER HERE ONLY THANK YOU SO MUCH GLAD YOU DID NT GO BE A LAWYER ETC. THANKS FOR BEING WITH US.

  31. Frankie Cole says

    Well Brian, I’m just another Well Satisfied Customer (guitar player) that can’t hardly wait (excited) to see and hear your next guitar lesson. Even though sometimes I haven finished the one that I’m working on. I have (“I THINK”) improved a great deal since focusing more on your technique and style of teaching. What I trying to say is that you make learning guitar so SIMPLE. (Especially soloing, being creative, theory, etc.) I love being able to LEARN & PLAY on my guitar a whole song NOTE for NOTE until the END. THANKS !!! Frankie Cole, Student

  38. Sylvia says

    Thanks, Brian, –For the audio downloads of the normal tempo and the slow tempo. This really helps! I can use them to practice without having to be on-line while I am learning.
    -Syl.

  42. more toys than talent says

    Another great lesson. Can anyone recommend a couple of blues songs that have a similar tempo and feel to Brian’s composition. I lwould ike to adapt some things I learn from his lessons and apply them to a cover version of a blues song

    I like the new layout, but when I click on full screen it says this site doesn’t support full screen mode??. I am using the Edge Browser on Win 10

  43. baudolino says

    Well, I defenitely love this lesson, it’s the blues I like.
    Took me a hell of a lot of time to crack it and still I play it like sh..t !
    But what the hell, I enjoy working on it.
    Your explanations are really great (I’m a belgian and I understand everything !), things are becoming more and more clear to me.
    Thanks a lot Brian !

  44. greg505 says

    This is brilliant cheers Brian! Have been trying a few days now and am having a couple of problems. Firstly what is that rhythmic strum just before the D7 chord? I know you are muting something but what? I have tried it several ways and can’t get it. I have also tried leaving it out but it sounds so much better with it. Also, like a few people have mentioned on here ( and I have been aware of this before) but I am having trouble with the G chord stretch to the little finger 7th fret. Certainly for it to sound good. Any ideas? Or should it come with practice? (Hopefully..) Great lesson again Brian

  45. Aaron P. says

    Great lesson once again! I love these acoustic blues that I can play out on the front porch for the family!! This one was a good challenge for me and it’s finally starting to click as to how you can incorporate the different major and minor scales and over lap them. Keep up the excellent work Brian!

  47. w7cm says

    I just signed up for year number 2.
    I love these acoustic with no accompaniment lessons. I have played all most all acoustic for over a year now and this stuff really helps my playing overall.
    I have only been playing about 55 years but this stuff is really a great help to me.

    Thanks Brian

  48. Mark S says

    hi I’m new to the site – and this is the first lesson I’ve done all the way through and I love it. the no accompaniment thing makes it very satisfying to play alone and to people. I would love to see more.

    thanks again,

    Mark

  53. greg505 says

    This is the sort of thing I never thought I would do able to play when I started but with practice it’s getting better. Thanks so much Brian. You explain things so well and you make the theory bits make sense and it makes the actual playing easier if you understand what you are doing. I picked up a tip if you are struggling like I was with the long stretch with the little finger ( like I was big time ), lower your thumb down and loosen the grip a bit and arch your hand more. It’s still not perfect for me but defiantly better. Apologies if you have covered that tip somewhere Brian.

  54. Patrick van Rijn says

    Very nice lesson, Brian! Only recently I found out about your site when I was looking for a decent Robert Cray tutorial. I liked that one a lot, and the JJ Cale lessons also. As a matter of fact, all your lessons seem to match the ‘needs & wishes’ of a great variety of guitarists. Keep up the good work!

  55. russell1 says

    Hi Brian,
    Many thanks for this. Basically a modern piece for electric guitar played on acoustic! And just as you said, great to pull out when someone asks “hey – can you play this guitar”!!
    Again, many thanks and hey USD 7.00 a month – a bargain!

  56. Radar says

    Excellent video. Sounds great and not too difficult learn. I am also transposing to other keys as this helps so much in the learning process and applying to other songs. Will use this in Key of E for the solo parts of Drifting’ Blues that Clapton plays acoustically. Sounds great. Thanks again and please keep doing acoustical pieces like this one – very helpful.

  57. vasdef says

    I gotta tell ya, I can positively say that your method of teaching, for me, definitely makes it all come together.

    Besides that, its all the tidbits of info that you throw in while you’re explaining why your selecting “this” chord, or choosing “that” pentatonic pattern to fit with whatever you may be instructing. I find myself pausing your vids to explore other things that you have mentioned, then coming back to finish what you were actually teaching.

    Anyway, just wanted to tell you that your teaching style really works for me. Thanks.

  61. sunburst says

    What a great lesson and tab made it simply awesome fun..great classic blues/rock riffs..some of these I never played and yet know they come from great artists from decades ago.. really happy with ep114 ..always great practice on both acoustic and electric.. well done and thanks for Thursday throwback!

  62. Lionel Da Silva says

    I joined this site not too long ago and have really enjoyed the lessons. You get what you put into it. I’ve been playing off and on for the last 20 or so years, and felt I need more guidance and discipline. I take it more seriously now. I also take private lessons and this is a great supplement to that. Brian is a fine teacher and it’s well worth the money. This particular lesson is great because it’s just a simple blues in G that will really help you get the feel. You know, Jimi Hendrix once said, “It’s easy to play the blues, but hard to feel the blues”. This lesson can help you. Thanks Brian for all you do for us guitarists who simply want to express ourselves with music, and get better.

  65. John M says

    So … after watching your videos on YouTube for free for quite a few years … 😉 … I decided I should contribute some $ to the cause. Because, seriously … offering some of these videos on YouTube it amazingly cool of you, and I have greatly appreciated them.

    This, and almost all the other lessons I’ve seen and listened to so far on Active Melody are great. I’ve been playing music for years (play all kinds of strings and other stuff, and I’m 59), I am focusing on blues right now. The lessons are fantastic and I love all the different variations of blues you offer … it’s incredible how they “stack” to build a very solid blues base … I’m always going off on one tune I learn and incorporating some of the others in it. Fantastic. Just what I was looking for in solid blues guitar lessons. Thanks so much for all your hard work … even though I know you must be having a blast … I’m happy to contribute to the program.

  68. Robert K says

    Really glad I discovered your site. I’ve been practicing guitar for 3-4 years (fairly inefficiently I would say) so I concider myself maybe an advanced beginner. Your lessons are challenging but definitely doable for someone on my level. I’m learning a ton!

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