Active Melody

Learn to play blues guitar.

Creative Rhythm Ideas – Rhythm Fill Licks plus a Simple B.B. King Style Lead – Guitar Lesson EP338

Description

In this week’s guitar lesson you’ll learn several creative rhythm ideas to play over a soulful jam track. I’ll show you several of my “go-to” rhythm fill lick ideas so that you can start using them when you play. I’ve also included a simple B.B. King style lead that uses what I refer to as the Blues Triangle. This one is full of takeaways!

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

    • Luke O says

      Hey Brian, great lesson as always. Minor key progressions confuse me – There is Dm (1), Gm(2), and Amaj(5) which you have explained in previous lessons. But it seems like 3,6 and 7 should be F#, B, and C#… why are they flatted?
      Thanks, Luke

    • JohnStrat says

      Mike ,

      I’m really likeing the grove of this one its too. I have been working on it this evening. I am determined to get this one fluid. Simple in essence but so much packed in too. It is a beauty.

      JohnStrat

    • David B says

      Great lesson! I know the 5 boxes of the major/minor pentitonic and I know all the shapes for caged system. I just need to connect all the dots in my head…. Do you have any suggestions on how to help with that besides good old practise? Also, do use intervals ever? Instead of using ei. Fifth string, ninth fret maybe use learning the names of the intervals and how to use it would help.

  19. Buster89 says

    Thanks Brian. Great composition once again. More and more, I really enjoy the time you take in between explanations to talk about the way you construct the chord progressions, talk about how to resolve and other aspects of learning which are so important, maybe less technical but so importantly motivating week after week. You do this effortlessly in a concise and constructive way. You are the best !

  20. Laurel C says

    I could make the same comment each week … Each week is a treat to open the new lesson for the week. Thanks for opening our eyes to what can be done with 6 strings and 12 frets (or more). My playing is not up to speed but I just love the theory around each lesson. However my workbook is and looks rather like a navigational and mathematical report.

  21. Jay Guitarman says

    Chord progression principle… Hi Brian, when I learn a chord progression I always try to correlate it with the intervals of a scale. What would be the “mother” scale of this song? Especially when you start on a minor chord I find it difficult to find the root scale….

  23. Roger A says

    Thanks Brian. Been following you for a while now and am so impressed. It’s not just that you show how to put my fingers in the right place (lots of sites do that) but that you show me how to understand the underlying structure behind the note choices. Linking chords melodically is so satisfying – even more so when I take what I’ve learnt from you and use it in my own playing.

  25. Mark N says

    I’m new and just signed up but already learned some cracking slow blues lines and the theory to go along too. I love this weeks upload, I want to learn them all in a rush but there’s so much material here. I’ve decided to take my time and learn a few properly early on to get nicely going. Great website for members, already feel it’s well worth the cost if you are into blues.

  26. Brian P says

    How about a lesson on songwriting- chord progressions, borrowed chords, parallel chords, creating verses, intro’s, etc. Do you ever try to put words to your creations ?

    By the way, Great lesson !

  31. deece says

    Brian, Thanks for another useful and practical lesson. I found this approach extremely helpful. On another topic: I know that phrasing is an individual thing, and that you covered it in a mini-series awhile back. However, I hope that in another lesson you might present phrasing in a similar way in which you presented this lesson. While some of the phrasing in your lessons is quite challenging for me, I usually am able to “get it,” although sometimes it might take a week or two. But, I would love to understand the thinking that goes behind your approach to your phrasing. You touched upon it in this lesson when you illustrated a beautifully elegant approach using the triangle/BB box. Would appreciate a deeper discussion of this in the future (i.e., starting simply and then moving into your more complex phrasing/timing). Thank you again. Merry Christmas and happy holidays.

  33. Duane S says

    WOW! What can I say that has not already been said? This song is absolutely beautiful! I am going through some very sad emotional trying times at the moment and putting my own lyric’s/words to this arrangement is helping me release my blue feelings of sadness from a loss. For me, this song is a godsend and I am very grateful for your level of commitment to developing this extremely important guitar lesson for all of us to learn and enjoy!

    Thank you, Brian!

  35. Jim Dog says

    Great lesson. The way you teach using pentatonic and caged opens up all sorts of possibilities. Your lessons teach practical theory and technique. Real learning, not memorization.
    For me, the question of where to resolve is the ROOT. The root is King. BB, Albert, and Freddie all seem to land there.
    Merry Christmas to all.

  36. Geof C says

    Love seeing the relationship between the chords on different parts of the neck and the possibilities of the fill licks in-between. I’m still a ways off from being able to play fluidly with the jam track, but, yes, light bulbs are starting to wink into focus here and t.here.

  40. Luke O says

    Hey Brian, great lesson as always. Minor key progressions confuse me – There is Dm (1), Gm(4), and Amaj(5) which you have explained in previous lessons. But it seems like 3,6 and 7 should be F#, B, and C#… why are they flatted?
    Thanks, Luke

  42. sunburst says

    This 1st riff reminds me of Carlos Santana , yes the aspect of following the full chords is key to improvisation connecting minor chord shapes and major using the notes /scales for lead soloing etc.. i’m on this tonight great stuff!

  45. Peter R says

    Hi Brian,

    In bar 2 there’s a G# (or A actually) to F single note descent. This fits the Dm tonality, but not the A7 chord it’s being played over.

    Can you explain how to think about this please? It works thinking of the whole piece as being in Dm pentatonic.

    But it doesn’t work so well as a series of embellishments over the underlying chord.

    Any thoughts to give me a better concept?

    Kind regards

    Peter Rich.

  49. Craig F says

    Really enjoyed this lesson. Thanks. On a side note, I was also worried about where to “resolve”; I tried memorizing where the “key” notes were in the 5 scales, that was useful to a point, but, in the end, I found what Brian said was true: your ear and sense of tone “tell” you where you need to go. After awhile, your fingers naturally seem to go there by themselves… even at my level of playing, you don’t think… okay, going to have to hit this note in two beats. Your brain is following the music and amazingly enough sends your fingers to the right notes… most of the time, lol. But, even when you don’t hit the right note to resolve on, you know right away that it’s wrong and, I think, that is part of the “train your brain” process.

    At any rate, thanks once again for a great lesson.

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