Active Melody

Learn to play blues guitar.

Easy 2 Step System for Melodic Country Lead – Guitar Lesson – EP382

Description

In this week’s guitar lesson, you’ll learn a 2 step system of combining arpeggios and the major scale to create a melodic country lead. This lesson comes with tablature, MP3 jam tracks, and a PDF file that illustrates the 2 most common arpeggio shapes.

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

  3. Randy H says

    Very interesting light bulb moment tying the chords, arpeggios, and scales together to paint the fretboard. You make it very easy to understand how to construct a simple melody that sounds good. You mentioned that you are using a Reverb Pedal into the Little Walter amp into your UA OX Top Box. Have you tried using the Reverb within the UA OX Top Box that runs on the MAC app ? Just curious.
    This is like learning a foreign language…………… I’m building my vocabulary one chord at a time….

    Thanks again,

    Randy

  4. Blaine L says

    Another great one, Brian…. love them sad country tunes you come up with. What about another lesson building on this one that gets into Western Swing a bit… maybe some jazz chords? Just a thought.

  9. Mark C says

    Brian, will you give a lesson on hearing the chord changes while soloing? I can hear them when I’m not playing but get lost when I’m trying to solo. It would probably help a lot of us.

  13. Andre H says

    Another very cool lesson. The theory is great but the solo in itself is also great. The combination of learning the theory and the solo is pure magic. I was going to learn the Dave Rawling one but this one just moved up!

  17. James S says

    This is brilliant, one of your best lessons ever, which is saying something. And this is exactly the kind of jam track I’ve been hoping for when I have commented about the jam tracks having too many chord changes. Something slow and simple and melodic like this allows students to really stretch out and gain confidence. Thanks!

  21. San Luis Rey says

    Great job of mixing arpeggios and the major scale Brian! It’s like happy and sad together. Really pretty track you wrote for us too. Thanks for keeping the process going and making it interesting and fun!

  23. timjtay says

    Brian,
    Thank you so much for another outstanding lesson. Hopefully you will continue a couple more just like this one. I was so bored with just using doing scales. This lesson has helped me see I can get something out of the scales and chords.

  24. Michael W says

    Great lesson, I’ve been wanting to work arpeggios into my playing for awhile. Don’t mean to preach but I’ve been clean for about 6 months and it’s thrilling to know that I love grabbing my guitar as much as ever! All The Best

  27. Glenn W says

    How do you do it? Another great lesson. The passing mention of the modes help strengthen another light bulb moment from your lesson a few weeks back. I don’t expect these things to come easily without loads of practice but these lessons are always a great anchor to make sure I practice useful stuff and with purpose.

  28. Will L says

    13.10 in part 2, you say to “let me know if you want more of this kind of lesson”.

    YES PLEASE.

    Lots of light bulbs went off.

    Even if I don’t get completely fluid in the week of each lesson, my soloing changes to incorporate something from each lesson.

    I notice the difference in my jam sessions with friends (well, YouTube at the moment, we are still Covid locked down!).

    I’ve been using one Jam track since March to improvise, I do it different each week.

    https://youtu.be/5pYmgywC9us

  29. richard p says

    This was a great lesson on arpeggios… how to weave in/out between arpeggios and major scale made lots of sense. I’d love to now see the same type of lesson with a minor scale. To see and hear the difference between the major vs minor and how a minor weaves vs a major weaves could be very enlightening. I can tinker with this myself, but your melodies are still much richer than I can come up with, so I don’t think I’d get as much from my own tinkering.

    On a related note… I’ve been tinkering with weaving between pentatonic and minor scale. I really like the way that sounds also. So, to now also weave in some arpeggios will be fun. I’m just starting to feel comfortable enough with the scales that I can concentrate more on the sound… I’m starting to hear the melodies that I want.

  31. Vic B says

    You’ve got a talent beyond just the theory you explain, Brian. I’m talking the way you improvise and feel a song to come up with a pretty melody. I agree with some others, more of this type of lesson, and more country please. Thanks!

  32. Steven B says

    This approach really helps me see the connections to the progression and if I can get to seeing the scales more quickly start to play more fluently. I guess disciplined practice is the answer. I’m going to practice the same melody at different positions on the neck as well. Another brilliant lesson.

  35. Anthony L says

    thanks for this one, very helpful as always! 2 more or less unrelated questions :

    1) when you count off 3/4 time as you do here, are you thinking 1 2 3 , 2 2 3, 323 hence the spoken 2 which really is a 1? just a little confusing i guess if not used to counting off – actually a short lesson on how to count off a tune (different time signatures, and/or different lead-in times) would be really interesting. i’m always at a loss there.

    2) so there’s no mic for the amp? guessing there’s a line out from head of amp to digital interface? do you listen in the room, then, to the amp speaker or monitors out of computer?

    thanks for any clarifications!

  36. Hans Rehorn says

    I enjoy all your Lessons Brian , biggest problem is, I spend too much time watching, and by the time I have finished watching I’m ready for bed!!!! I really enjoyed your Mandolin and Guitar lesson, Have you anymore Mando blues lessons?
    I play more Mando than Guitar and would really like some music including Mandolin, is that possible Kindest Regards Hans, From down under, actually in Lock down cheers

  37. John B says

    Hi Brian , I am a new member all the way from Australia . I love your lessons and the way the site is set up . Just wondering about the pdf print out of tab.

    the notes or numbers that are on the tab are so small you almost need a magnifying glass to read them . I also wear reading glasses so my eye sight is not as good as it used to be.

    Tried to enlarge it in print setup but did not have any success.

  40. SeanM says

    Hey Brian, More lessons on this would be awesome. like others mentioned light bulb moments here! Especially the little nugget you threw out about playing the D maj scale over the A chord being the mixolydian mode and the same over the 5 being lydian. Love that tie-in. that was the 1st time I got the way modes work. not a brain buster as I thought it was.

    So glad I am a member!

  43. Jim K says

    Great Lesson Brian.

    I’d like to see more Arps too! Perhaps you might consider adding a b9 to let’s say a G7 Arp, maybe even a diminished arp, in the right place these all sound good. It does take time and I have to work at it. I like to noodle around with different Arps, because they are loaded with inspiration. This is also a GREAT lesson for practicing/adding that Pedal Steel sound.

    Regards, Jim

  44. Rastuscrab says

    Nice, thank you Brian….Last night I couldn’t get that D- Major progression out of my mine…Where have I heard the before? 4th string 7 to 9, 5th string 7 to 8 to 10 and back. 4th string 7, 3rd string 7 then a hammer 9 and back to 4th string on 7! Bingo…The Marshall Tucker Band “Heard it in a love song”…Thats the lick along with the flute that gets your attention…….

  45. John L says

    Just joined 3 weeks ago. Joined to get courage to move away from open chords. First lesson was 380 but before it posted I found 362, triads
    Those two lessons are joined at the hip and gave my subscription fee a bargain Had been trying to work out an arrangement of Love Potion No.9. Those lessons blinded me by the light. Finally playing with more confidence up the neck and REALLY learning the fretboard with more. Clarity.

    Plan to submit for the challenge. Bummed that I cannot use no.9, but I’m a songwriter so I have a modest catalogue to choose from.

    Sorry this is off topic Could not find a better way to reach you. I’m a dinosaur in several ways

  47. David G says

    Brian, I meant to post this comment last week but completely forgot. Lights went on for me big time when you talked about how playing the A maj or G maj scale over a D maj chord gives you D Lydian or Mixolydian. I swear I had never thoughts of the modes that way, but that one comment inspired me to go back to the modes, draw up a new table that shows what notes to play over what chords to give which modes, and then do some really intensive practising of modal scale patterns (just working through Lydian and Mixolydian so far, and starting to get into Dorian and Aeolian). A real eye-opener, and thanks so much for that brainwave! It has revolutionized my thinking and my understanding of the modal scales.

  52. Peter B says

    Great song! I really learn a lot from this kind of lesson Brian. Alas, by the time I get it right you have already moved on to the following week and even more but I’m getting better.
    More like this please.
    Peter

  53. jnewman says

    It’s been a while since I’ve had an ‘ah-ha’ moment like this lesson gave me. Hard to believe you can play an instrument for 30 years and still not have discovered all the ways the shapes and patterns relate to and connect with each other, but that’s guitar for you.
    I find that anything that it’s very, very easy to get overloaded with information; quite often I find myself trying to transpose a certain location on the fretboard from major to minor or from a CAGED shape to a scale shape when I’m supposed to be improvising. There’s too much thinking going on in other words. Something like this helps me stay anchored and actually use the information at my disposal to make music.

    • jnewman says

      Edited version!
      It’s been a while since I’ve had an ‘ah-ha’ moment like this lesson gave me. Hard to believe you can play an instrument for 30 years and still not have discovered all the ways the shapes and patterns relate to and connect with each other, but that’s guitar for you.
      I find that it’s very, very easy to get overloaded with information; quite often I find myself trying to transpose a certain location on the fretboard from major to minor or from a CAGED shape to a scale shape when I’m supposed to be improvising. There’s too much thinking going on in other words. Something like this helps me stay anchored and actually use the information at my disposal to make music.

  55. David Walker says

    Thank you Brian another amazing lesson. Such a break through for me. I love how you bring everything back to the chord shapes. Sometimes, I don’t clue in but as I work through the site and older lessons things start to click. I am a older beginner but this site has made me such a better player (to a beginner level). You explain things so well.
    Dave, Canada

  57. Kathryn L says

    I’m months later reading comments about this lesson. I “echo” all the great things folks have said. My goal is to impress myself with a tune (melody), and as I am getting pretty good with this one, I will sooner or later – get to impress myself (I hope!!!). The lesson is really good. I just have trouble liking the place where I go from the 9th fret (G string) to the 5th fret (B string) (same melodic note) to the 7th fret – at the 13th bar. Must be a timing thing. Kathy

  58. Richard M says

    Hello Brian
    I learned so much using apreggio

    I really like using caged shapes
    Apply it to E and A chord shape

    I like D major Apreggio and E major Apreggio
    Dominant 7.

    I am using acoustic electric guitar is
    Mitchell MX 430 cutaway.

    Thank you

  59. Dan S says

    Brian == I keep going back to this sound, so now I’m going to do a deep dive using all your resources. There’s a lot of nuances in this lesson and music you developed. I may work on this for days to get it just right. My first cruise through this lesson picked up the obvious parts and then I moved on .
    One subtle phrase I totally missed is in measures 12-16.
    My advice – slow it down with the onscreen “soundslice”. Playing the notes is one thing , but getting the “voice” in the music is a real challenge.
    You must have worked a long time to capture this sound.
    Kudos
    Thanks

  61. Matthew M says

    Thanks for this lesson. Playing slowly with a triplet feel and making the space matter can be much harder than playing rehearsed licks at practiced top speed. Really like your phrasing on this and other lesons. Do you ever do lessons on time signatures/phrasing approach?

  62. James S says

    I keep coming back to this one for several reasons. The first is the brilliant simplicity of using these two techniques as a system for soloing. The second is this has to be one of your most beautifully melodic compositions, played with such feeling and style. And lastly, even though it is “just” a 145, this is a great jam track and hugely useful. Thanks again!

  63. James S says

    It’s also interesting to note regarding the little ascending figure you play on the top two strings at the 1:06 mark in the first video, that not only are all four notes in the D Major scale, but also you are basically playing double stops out of the G and A chords of the D shape, which are of course the other two chords in this progression. Really neat lick to add to the toolkit!

  64. Richard S says

    Hey Brian, learning a lot in fundamentals and theory that works for my guitar learning curve. One comment is the composition of many of your tracks. I find the chord progression and the number of bars are very unpredictable. In this lesson. Your chart shows 7 D’s (although I count 6 D’s playing) then 8 A’s, 6 D’s + 2 D7’s, then 2 G + 2 G7, 2 D, 2 A7’s ending with D.

    Each one, for me is very non symmetric.

    Thanks

  65. David L says

    Brian, In your first video on this lesson, you talked about your setup with the amp and the Big Sky into the Ox Box and then into your computer. What is creating the sound that you hear? Are you coming out of your computer into speakers or is the amp speaker somehow put back in the mix? I ask because this is the piece that seems to never get mentioned when talking about using a DAW and I’m trying to figure this out for my own setup. I’ve not had good luck with going from the computer to speakers, but maybe that’s because my speakers aren’t that good. If speakers are involved, which speaker do you use?
    Thanks so much,
    David

  67. Barry H says

    In case anyone else finds it as useful as I did, there’s an alternative (earlier) treatment of this lovely tune in EP229. Different key, different tempo, different guitar & tone, and some different licks.

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