Active Melody

Learn to play blues guitar.

Country, Rock, Blues Licks for Days – This Guitar Lesson is full of licks to steal! – EP515

Description

In this week’s guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play a rock, blues, country style lead by learning each individual lick, and where it comes from – putting everything in context.

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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Comments

  10. Scott C says

    This is great Brian- you know, prior to Active Melody, I would learn a solo and it was just stand-alone knowledge. I would learn the notes to play and it was as if the creators of those solos had some kind of magic that I could only dream of. Nothing of what I learned was transposable to other keys- it was fixed knowledge in the key it was taught. What your lessons do is reveal the magic behind the curtain- the chord shapes, scales, and “where” the notes come from in practical, usable, guitar theory. When I learn a lick from you, I can play it in any key because you explain your thought process and where things come from. You are the only one out there doing that so keep it up.

  11. Raymond U says

    Hi Brian, love it! You have an amazing knack of making something that sounds really complicated look so easy and obvious when you break it down. Great gift for a teacher. And I also love the backing track. Any chance of a mini lesson on that guitar rhythm?

  13. sciencefiction says

    Amazing, Brian! Thanks for posting!! It’s not the licks themselves, but how you put them together and and make it sound this way that is so mind-blowing to me. Non-stop action on this one for sure. I sure can tell you must have spent the week on this one!! Fantastic playing.
    Larry

  15. Daniel H says

    This lesson was a total overload for me. There are some great nuggets in the lesson that are now accessible to my playing (thank you for that), but the shear volume of licks detracted from the value of the lesson in my opinion. I reckon the guitar slingers in AM gobbled this up but for an intermediate player it was indeed trying to drink from a firehose. I like your lessons that are bit more compact.

  16. ELIZABETH S says

    Love what you do and get so much from each lesson.
    I come from a classical piano background and discovered guitar and improvisation at the ripe age of 68. I am coming to grips with major and minor pentatonic scales, licks, etc. And am understanding where the notes come from.
    However, I am struggling with understanding the rhythms you use when improvising. For instance, where and when to add some licks .
    Is there a lesson here where you cover that?
    Thanks,

  17. Patrick J. G says

    Long way to go before I sound like that! Love trying to get there. You just keep impressing me with your talent and teaching abilities. Been a premium member for almost a year and have enjoyed it and learned so much from you. I am so grateful.

  20. Paul N says

    Brian, you aksed if we approved of this style of lesson. That would be a YES from me! I can’t get enough of this style. I’ll never get it that fast (it works at any speed), but the way you show how you get there through the shapes and pentatonics is of great value to me. I think I’ve watched more than 1/2 of your archived lessons (retired, so I’ve plenty of time). But a lick referencing Mr. Rogers is a first! There are probably very few people who could even remember that sound, let alone turn it into a lick, then add it to a lead guitar lesson! Awesome! Thanks!

  24. Jere R says

    Hi Brian, as usual a great lesson. I really dig your in depth explanation(s), it helps put everything in its place. One request. When you mentioned in the latest lesson the scale patterns I think it would be helpful to put up the two patterns superimposed over one another, I am a visual learner and this would be extremely helpful. I believe you were referring to a major pattern and a minor pattern in the same place on the neck, yes?
    Thanks
    Jere

  26. Dale G says

    Love this one I can sink me teeth into! Take me a while to get up to speed but determination usually will prevail! There’s lightbulbs all over this one! Thanks for this style all rolled into one . I don’t look at it as stealing these licks as much as a gift that you share your talents making guitar playing a blast again!

  30. Derek W says

    Love this Brian.. I don’t have the time to learn every lesson every week. So usually pick out what I like from each one. As a premium member your lessons have certainly improved my playing and understanding of theory. So having that knowledge now, this lesson lays it in front of me like I’m looking at a road map I understand. This is one lesson I will definitely be learning start to finish. When I look back ( a few years now) and you spoke about major and minor pentatonic scales, mixing them together, etc., I hadn’t a clew and it took me a long time to get my head round it. Now I understand and this lesson brings it all together for me. Cheers Brian great stuff

  33. rainmon1 says

    Great lesson, Brian! In answer to your question, yes, I really like this style of lesson. it sounds impressively fast, but with so many open chords and single notes, it’s easier than it first appears. and these are licks that could work in many types of songs. Thanks!

  35. Chris A says

    Jim Thanks for explaining the G chord.
    Brian I love the sound of mixing major and minor scales together, but it’s a little harder to visualize the 2 together.
    More exercises of this theory technique would be good.
    Your friend down the street in Brentwood.
    Chris

  36. Chris A says

    Also I was playing with Bar 23 with the 3rds coming down to the A form of E and realized I was playing Bob Dylan Everybody Must Get Stoned.
    This is a great movement you have showed before, but I keep forgetting about it.

  40. Shelly T says

    I enjoy all your lessons but I always have to pick just one to work on for a couple of weeks. I need time to physically learn and mentally absorb the material. So much good stuff to choose from.

  44. Douglas B says

    When I first watched this lesson I was terrified. I said to myself, there’s no way you will be able to tackle this one. But, the instructions were clear and after a few tries it really started to click.
    I would really love to see pick directions on some of these lessons. Would help a great deal with some of the faster passages.
    🙂

  48. Robert C says

    Thanks Brain!! I love these type of lessons were you tie the licks to the cage cord. You had me from the open e major cord, I’ve played the extension before but really didn’t think about how I was going from pattern 2 to 3. Then you throw in the minor I am like yeah!! Can see these all over the neck now. Great Lesson!!

  51. John E says

    Wow!
    I recently joined and have tried a few ‘Active Melody’ lessons. This tune is going to be a challenging ride for me, but I’ll take one lick at a time and as I get up to speed (if ever) I’ll put this tune together as this original. Either way, I’ve got hours of enjoyable practice here thank you so much.

  52. flamejob says

    I’ve spent all week playing this and not to diminish the awesome country rock vibe here but I have found that if I slow all these licks down just a little against a James Brown style funk groove they work perfectly ! I guess the versatility of the pentatonic scale at work here – thanks Brian, these are awesome licks and I’m stealing them – just retooling them a little.

  53. hankunck@gmail.com says

    Yesterday, at a house-warming gathering, where the owner had an acoustic guitar on a stand, I picked it up and played this – just tapping my foot to maintain rhythm. All conversation stopped, and when I finished; applause. One person asked how I learned to play like that, and I told them from a friend named Brian.

    By the way, I discovered that this is also a great “finger-limbering” exercise, especially for anyone with a bit of finger-joint arthritis, which I have, after nearly 60 years of playing guitar. Even after all of those years of playing, I still find nuggets of new and useful information from your lessons. As someone once told me, “You get better but never master playing the guitar,” I used to consider that to be frustration, but eventually realized that it’s actually a blessing, because it’s an opportunity for discovering and learning new things.

  54. Alice F says

    Country, Rock, Blues Licks for Days – This Guitar Lesson is full of licks to steal! – EP515 <— That lesson is great. So much fun to watch Brian play through all those chord changes without a hiccup. I have watched it several times. It is wonderful. I have been struggling with coming up with new lead ideas and boy this lesson packs a punch – thanks Brian. And all the supporting items that Active Melody offers – I am glad I am a paid member.

  55. Scott N says

    Yes Brian, the detail and the explanations of where the notes are coming from, and why it works is exactly why I’m a member. Love the detail. There were some places I could’ve used even more-occasionally it’s not clear to me where I a scale a note is coming from, and I prefer to know how you knew each note would work! Great toon too. I agree with another member on this site that mentioned that some instruction on pick direction/strumming direction would often be helpful if you could add more of that to your lessons. I wish it came naturally…maybe one day it will….but timing and rhythm can still be a bear for me and some instruction along the way would be excellent.

  60. Rod Smith says

    Love it Brian! Breaking down solos like this really helps. Love the blues/country vibe. One problem I have is getting it to speed. I can play the notes along with you, but remembering where to go, and when, and doing it at speed, is the challenge!

  62. Klaus G says

    I thank you very much for your weekly lession brian.
    They help me very much by my lerning to improvise.
    My greatest problem as a guitar player of mostly classic guitar music ist the timing of the notes.
    For example in this lesson measure 4 my muscle memory insists that the notes should come half a beat earlier.
    I would very much appreaciate a lesson from you to adress this problem.
    Greetings Klaus

  64. Sandy B says

    WOW! This is an mazing lesson. Crazy fast and crazy cool. I probably won’t get any of the licks up to speed, but all of them are transferable to so many other ideas. I really appreciate the understandable breakdown of how you navigated the chords and licks around the neck. The connection to the E shape for all the different “boxes/licks” are invaluable for me. Lots of Ah Ha’s and Yee Ha’s. Yes indeed, it resonates. THANKS!

  65. Tom Gordon says

    Wow this is a lot of fun. Sure there’s a lot in it, but with the help of all your materials, with
    tabs and the ability to slow down the audio, I’ll be fine. A lot of this I’ve encountered before.
    Its a nice recap and a chance to practice a lot of nice licks.

  66. Mark says

    This is just what I needed. I can’t play full speed yet, but this will give me a challenge for the whole week. Tons to work on here and I love the County tones in this. I think I’m done with blues…too depressing. All I’ve been listening to and trying to play lately is country (major keys).

  67. Keith S says

    Decided to work on this entire piece. Been at it 3 weeks and about 90% with the first free video. Likely take me 6 good months to complete totally, I want one electric guitar “show tune” and decided this is it. It does combine much of what I’ve done at AM last 2 years. I need to concentrate on this lesson and not skip to others each week. Do try and work on at least an hour a day. Thx!

  68. owen a says

    I have always wondered how to play this type of lead. I will go over this lesson until I learn this completely. Being 74 this could take some time. Thanks so much for demystifying this. Kind regards Owen.

  69. Jim L says

    Brian, I agree with many posters that this is one of the better lessons you have put up in years. I have been a premium member for 10 plus years and have learned so much over that time. I have been playing guitar for 60 years but have gotten more serious about it in the last 10 years. That is the reason I signed up for your service. You are for me the best teacher on the internet as far as I am concerned. We all learn differently and your style of teaching fits me perfectly. I have gone from being a strummer of the same 10-20 songs for my first 50 years of playing. Since signing up for your service I now play in a alt type band as the lead guitarist. This could not have happened without you Brian and for that I am eternally grateful. Keep up the great work. I could not have ever even attempted to play this lesson up to speed or any speed for that matter 11 years ago. Now I mastered it at speed in 5 days. Thanks for giving me this gift and please keep it up. The most treasured people on earth should be effective teachers. They are so rare. You are one of them.

  74. Natarajan R says

    What a scorching composition – thank you! It has taken me two weeks to learn all the notes to be able to play along at slow speed. Still working on playing it at full tempo. Difficulty-wise I find this lesson comparable to EP161 (James Burton style lesson). Thanks for the careful explanations as always. And thanks for showing those fast chromatic runs; now I understand how I should attempt ‘Caravan’ as played by the Ventures (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkBy_HnILG4).

  75. Eric T says

    Hi Brian, thanks for another great lesson. I had hit a wee rut, not as much as a brick wall in my learning over the last few months, but this lesson has given me ideas to get going again. Love the hyper detail of the first 30 seconds of this intro, lots of context which is what I’m here for! Keep up the great work.

  82. Brian H says

    Also, especially in Country music, it is not unusual to use the major chord instead of the “proper” minor chord for that key. For example, the “proper” chord for the Key of Emajor is Gm. However, you can sometimes use the major chord. I have seen Cmajor and Dmajor used in a similar way of the key of Emajor. Brian H

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