Active Melody

Learn to play blues guitar.

Classic 12 Bar Blues Rhythm and Lead (Easy) – EP149

Description

Someone brought to my attention in the forum last week that it’s been a while since I created a 12 bar blues guitar lesson, so… here it is! This is a 2 part lesson that has a classic rhythm shuffle (with a few fill licks thrown in). The second time through I’ll show you how to play an easy blues lead with some Eric Clapton and Jimmie Vaughan inspired licks. Make sure practice the rhythm along with the jam track to work on your timing. These slower rhythms can be tougher than you might think!

Part 1 - Free Blues Guitar Lesson

Part 2- For Premium Members (Lead)

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Slow Walk-Through

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Video Tablature Breakdown

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Comments

  10. Rip says

    I always look forward to Fridays and the new lesson, but I rarely comment on them. So I guess this is my exception; I am looking forward to this one……(more than usual). This past week I have been busy with playing surf guitar genre, so it will be good to get back to some blues!! Thanks Brian. Rip

  18. harry9000 says

    Great work as usual Brian but again its kind of frustration when you spend so much time explaining what the blues pastern is when what is really the most difficult part for me about the first lick in the rhythm part is the fingering. I find it a difficult transition to get back to the G5 shuffle from the lick. Youre having us bar the 5th fret with finger 3, hitting the 4th then 5th strings, then the F 0n the 4th string back to the C then A with the same finger then to the A# with the index finger resolving to the G with the 2rd finger on the 6th string. That looks andfeels awkward when trying to get back to the shuffle. I wish that was better explained.

    • Brian says

      I did spend some time on this – I don’t remember where it is in the video but I did explain how to get back to the G5 chord from the lead… and even showed 2 ways that you can do it. You can either play just the single G note (3rd fret 6th string) for the first of the 2 strums, or you can play the G power chord (G5). Also have you checked out the on-screen tab viewer version. I’m playing it very slow and you can slow it down to 50% and play it even slower to watch exactly what I was doing.

      • harry9000 says

        Thanks Brian.. I kept looping over the same spot and it looked as if you moved on to the next lick. Im glad you spent more time on it because even as simple as it should be I keep flubbing this part.
        Thanks again.

  19. lee c says

    Hi This is referred to as Lee Choong woo of Korea
    Thanks to guitar lessons are getting better
    Even though English is not so good
    Learn with video screen, but
    It was a wonderful and funny too
    I look forward to some good information please

  21. Rollover33 says

    Beaucoup de plaisir à jouer ce blues. Comme souvent avec Brian’s lessons, ça semble easy puis une, puis deux, puis trois difficultés subtiles… qui finalement renforcent et changent tout question feeling ! Brian is a great musician AND a great teacher !

  23. sunburst says

    I got to feel the slow blues shuffle.. i will be enjoying this lesson as much as everything you teach here Brian ..i like vibrato with my hand too, only screw in the trem bar on my American strat when trying to play famous artist solos like, David Gilmour but i honestly don’t care for bending with a trem bar unless it is required.

    • Brian says

      Yes, the notation is available in the on-screen tab viewer. You can also print from the on-screen tab viewer if you need a paper copy by clicking on the little gear icon in the bottom right corner.

  25. JDStout says

    Hey Brian,
    Hope all is well with you and family. You never disappoint with the lessons and I am proud to support what you are doing,(since 8/14). You are very gifted and we are blessed to have you.

    Question: I know the two pedals you most always use; (Boss & Ibanez), Do you know how to achieve similar results with a modeling amp, say, a Line6 Spider 4 and/or would it be better suited to run on a clean channel and just get these two cool sounding pedals?

    Thanks your friend,
    Jim

    • Brian says

      Hey Jim, just put your amp on clean channel – no effects… and then introduce a little reverb to that clean channel. That’s really all I’m doing with my amp – no overdrive at all.. amp EQ’s all around 5, a little more bass (maybe 7). I think the thing to remember with effects is the old “less is more” rule. The one mistake a lot of people make is trying to add too much of something. In this lesson for example.. I’m using very little overdrive.. just enough to break up the sound. It seems less than normal at first, but as you start trying to play it, you’ll realize just how much overdrive is being applied. I hope that helps.

      • JDStout says

        Hey Brian,

        That does help and thank you for taking the time to comment, one more quicky, what about the sound of the Boss BD-2 (that nice growel we are trying to achieve) and/or the futone OCD pedal. Any hints on trying to achieve those sounds with a modeling amp? any suggestions will be welcomed. Brian, I cant thank you enough for what you do, and making the premium membership so affordable.. I have a chronic back issue so im not knocking down the big bucks anymore. Brian, you are a real blessing to me and my family. If there is anything I can do for you ( i live in central Florida, please dont hesitate to ask. I pray for you and family regularly). I will be there

        . I dont believe i have heard you talk about to amp you normally use with these pedals The line 6 modeling amp was really affordale and has alot to offer. on another note, would it be better to buy a clean amp , then buy the pedals. Just trying to walk in your footsteps because of how blessed you really are. I believe there are (2) types of guitar players in this world. Learned & blessed. I fall in the learned catagory, which is still ok with me. It just means i hasve to work alittle harder than most. (Im not Scared).

        Brian ,any comments,suggestions are welcome. Again, thanks for all you do.

        Your friend
        Jim

        • Brian says

          Thanks for the kind words and the prayers Jim – I really do appreciate that! I don’t know that you need to go buy a new amp… those Line 6 amps sound fantastic. A lot of it depends on your goal. If it’s to play around the house, or a small coffee shop or something where the noise level isn’t too bad, then you should be fine playing the Line 6. If you’re looking to play with a band and play gigs in a bar… it’s h ard to beat the sound of a good tube driven amp. I’ve always been a fan of Fender tube amps. The Blues Junior is a fantastic amp for around $600 and it’s very portable. The Dual Reverb is also and excellent amp for the price. The Twin Reverb that I use sounds amazing, but it’s VERY heavy and a real pain to move around. I bought a case with coasters to help with that – but that’s just another expense to deal with.

          The amp that I use around the house the most is a Yamaha THR-5 (a little 5 watt amp) – very small and super portable.. even runs on batteries. I use that amp with my acoustic when I go to my Tuesday night jam sessions – it’s perfect for playing with a group of musicians in a small room. They also make a 10 watt version.. if you get a chance, check those out!

  28. John s says

    My three year old grandson came into the room as you played the lead on the promo and said two words: Good Song! How right he was! Thanks for helping us wannabes accomplish something that we could not without your help. The double stop vibrato will take awhile but so did the full bend with vibrato (couple months) the first note on the first lead in LaGrange. Only way I ever learned that was to do it in stages: do it twice, three times, four times, etc (two bends/pushes, three bends pushes…)

  29. drlknstein says

    very nice trip and riffs from the land of pattern one and two- where I tend to dwell mostly- my wife stuck her head into the room and said thats nice- big compliment- i told her I had brian playing background rhythm -big help- thanks-

  32. sunjamr says

    Well…I think we can tell from the comments that this is an extremely popular lesson. Well worth committing to memory, then expanding upon with some of our own improv.

  40. Per N says

    Hey Brian

    been a member for a months or so now, absolutely love it, and all your other material. My guitar playing has improved a lot a already (still sounds like crap though 🙂 but better crap now)

    and finally here in lockdown, means I get to spend some time on the guitar, happy days

    keep up the good work mate!

    Per

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