Active Melody

Learn to play blues guitar.

How do I jam with someone on guitar? Learn both rhythm and lead parts in this lesson – EP635

Description

In this week’s guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to jam with another instrument (mandolin) by playing both lead and rhythm. You’ll also be playing the chord changes in the lead. Lots to learn in this one!

Part 1 - Free Guitar Lesson

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Slow Walkthrough

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Video Tablature Breakdown

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Comments

  2. slopace says

    Hey Brian, you have done at least one lesson with Aug chords before but unfortunately I can’t remember what lesson(s). I mean come on, you’re Brian. You teach everything! Great lesson, but memorizing all the chords will definitely require using a cheat sheet for a while.

    • Michael Krailo says

      Do not be hard on yourself. Identify your weaknesses and turn them into your strengths. First, what is an augmented chord? The formula is 1 3 #5. It’s just a sharpened 5th. Just learn where the 5th is and you can then easily augment any major chord that you already know. No cheat sheet necessary. I add every single lesson I have ever watched to my favorites and try to put them into a category that makes sense to find again later on down the line. Today I made the category called “Augmented Chords” and added this lesson to that group.

        • Rob N says

          It’s both. The E augmented is made up of E (root);G#(3rd) and C (#5th). The G# augmented chord is: G#(root); C (3rd) and E (#5th).

          So, same notes just different relationship. It’s also a C augmented (C;E;G#).

          There are four ‘families’ of augmented chords each containing three chords with the same notes. So, you could say there are only 4 augmented chords.

          E aug and G# aug belong to same ‘family’ as C aug.

          Any corrections welcome.

        • David S says

          Yes, if the root is on the 4th string. (E caged shape). But if the root is on the 2nd string (D or C caged shape), it’s an E augmented chord. I had to think about that one for a while too!

  4. Mike R says

    Nice lesson Brian. Really like the sound of playing chord tones. Starting to visualize the chords more as I play. This piece sounds like a jazz tune from the 40’s with the secondary dominate chords.

  9. Imerio A says

    Fantastic lesson Brian. Lot of thinghs to learn in a fun way. I know you play mandolin but it’ s the first time I see you.
    A beautiful Gibson…is it an oldie like many of your guitars?

  18. JEROME L says

    Hi Brian and every one.
    Once again you did a great job this week with that lesson, but I have some question(s), or at least I am confused with some rythmic elements.
    Usually you recommend keeping the same regular movement for the rhythm (down up down up…..) and so far this is the best approach I can have for the strum pattern proposed (usually it helps me a lot).
    Today I remain a little confused about the rythmic pattern :
    it would have seemed more natural to me to do down up XXX up down… down (I naively try to keep on downstroke for each time and upstroke on the “and”).
    The way of playing suggested today unsettles me.
    I don’t know if I am clear enough considering my poor level in English, and sorry for the mistakes.
    Thank you very much for reading and your possible response.

      • JEROME L says

        Ok thank you Paul for your response.
        I will try to keep my usual way of understanding rythm ; for me it’s more natural.
        By the way i got a poor level in guitar too and it is more reassuring (and effective) for me not to change my habits.
        Thanks a lot

    • Michael Krailo says

      This is a deviation from the standard rhythm pattern of using up strokes on the off beats, but you should learn this as taught because it is a certain groove that will benefit you. Just work on it as taught and soak it in to your feel for this type of groove. The fact that you say it doesn’t feel natural means you have to work on this new feel. I cannot count the number of licks that did not feel natural to me at first. I had to force myself to do it as shown and after an appropriate amount of practice, realized how valuable it was to do it that way. So on beat 2 mute the strings with the right hand and then play the off beat of 2 with a down stroke. Do it over and over to get used to it. You can count the 3 and 4 beats silently if you want, but feel this groove as taught. The fact that the strings are muted on beat 2 with the strumming hand breaks the standard alternate up/down strokes.

      1 & 2 & 1 & 2 & 1 & 2 &

  19. Robert R says

    I like the jazz theory that you add in this lesson. It’s not so complicated when you break it down in your easy to understand and practical way. I’d like to see more of this type in the future.

  21. Paul N says

    Brian, I was wondering during the lesson if that A-aug Shape was moveable, like a CAGED shape. But when you drop down 1 fret to G#, it’s not a G#-aug, it’s E-aug. Any quick guidance on that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

    • JEROME L says

      Hey Paul, if it can help you :
      For making an augmented chord you need the following ingredients : the 1, the 3, and the 5#
      |X|- |- | -|X|- |- |- |X|- |- | -|X|
      |1|- |2|- |3|4|- |5|- |6|- |7|8|
      There is the same “gap” or distance (I don’t know the right word in english) between them : four semitons;
      So mathematically, the augmented chord of the 1 is the same as the augmented chord of the 3,
      and the same as the augmented chord of the 5#.
      In the case of an E chord the augmented is : E,G#,C
      So it will be the same as G#aug (G#,C,E) and the same as Caug (C,E,G#).

    • Michael Krailo says

      How did you determine that moving down one fret produces an E+ chord? If you have an E as the lowest note, then yes that would be E+ chord (D-shape), but with a G# in the lowest position, you have G#+ chord. If you know your scale degree’s within any CAGED shape, you will know how to sharp the 5. So of course the shape is moveable just like the standard A major chord is movable. In the case of the E-shape A triad, the 5th is on the the 2nd string and it is an E note. If you sharp the E, it becomes an F.

      The real issue here is not knowing triads well enough to see the 1 3 5, 3 5 1, or 5 1 3. If you did, sharping the 5 is easy. Play each of those triads in different places on the fret board and sharp the 5th to see what it looks like. The C-shape augmented A triad is the easiest one to play (between 10th and 12th frets).

      • Rob N says

        Michael, you ask how Paul determined moving the ‘A augmented shape’ down one fret became an E augmented. He’s just repeating what Brian did and how he labelled it.

        You seem to be implying it’s not an E augmented chord because the lowest note is not an E? Please correct me if I have misunderstood you.

        The root doesn’t always have to be the lowest note (as you seem to acknowledge when describing 351 and 513 triads).

        As I understand it (as Jerome seems to) that chord is an E augmented, a G# augmented and a C augmented as those chords all have the same notes (E G# C).

        The E augmented played in the D shape at the 4th fret (with the lowest note being the third) is also a G# augmented played in the E shape (with the lowest note being the root) and a C augmented played in the A shape (with the lowest note being the #fifth).

        I’m supposing Brian labelled it an E augmented (rather than a G# or C) because the song is in the key of A.

        Apologies if I have misunderstood your explanation, but I am genuinely trying to understand this myself.

  24. Steve says

    Really like the jam, lead and rhythm ideas in this lesson, especially with another instrument, have you done ukulele yet? piano would also be good.
    I really need to be more disciplined with my rhythm, i think my mind wanders too much and I find it hard to do the same thing over and probably sound amateurish as a result, having the consistant rhythm then can alternate on the actual strings being hit instead. I really like the augmented and diminished touches, am gradually adding them into my playing as a result.

      • Daniel H says

        Steve – Humidifiers from Sweetwater. They have digital humidity read out on them. Every one of my acoustics has one and lives in their case in the winter time (northern hemisphere). I use distilled water to keep the element wet so there is no mineral buildup. Total game changer.

          • jgreen says

            How about a work around. I use Govee “smart” hygrometers for where I store my guitars. Connects to a phone app via bluetooth so you can see all the humidity levels in one place. Also can set an alert range to notify you if a level goes outside it.

  25. Lesley O says

    I love this! Actually learning to play the chords for the rhythm helps keep those chords in mind for the lead which is really helpful. When I first listened to Brian’s play through at the beginning of the lesson I thought it would be far too difficult for me to get under my fingers, but in fact it is very achievable and sounds great……and hopefully I will be able to make it sound great by the end of the week!!

  26. daniel M says

    Love the lesson, just an aside I saw James Taylor out here in Lake Tahoe on Friday night. Great 2 hour show with an 11 piece backup vocals and band. His version of I’m a Steam Roller was fantastic. At 78 he’s still pretty great. I hope in another year at his age I’ll still be loving to play as much as he loves it.

  28. David S says

    I should be logged in as David E.S. Brian I felt completely lost with this lesson,its not your fault as Iam not gifted like most people.Ill go on to another lesson Iam feeling discouraged.

    • T-Bish says

      David, we’ve all been in your place. We’re asking our hands and fingers to do things that aren’t natural. Use that discouragement as motivation to keep trying and working on small bite size pieces of Brian’s compositions. Who knows, you might just be surprised on what you can do six months from now.

    • Rob N says

      Hi David,

      Active Melody is based on a ‘dive in to any lesson and get out of it what you can’ approach. You say you were ‘completely lost’ but is there something small you can get from this? Maybe a phrase you like that you can slow down and loop and try and play? Maybe a new chord shape?

      Some people (not me) are naturally musically gifted. Most of us have had to learn gradually and I suspect all of us have felt frustrated at points. If you can isolate something more specific that you don’t understand perhaps one of us could help?

      Best wishes

  29. T-Bish says

    A great follow-up to last week’s rhythm lesson – this one has a satisfying percussive feel once the timing clicks. It takes a little practice to nail, but it’s a lot of fun once it does.

    The ringing on the third string may just be a crease or bend in your finger causing the gap, even under pressure. Try nudging your index finger slightly – does that fix it? If not, yep, it’s something else.

    What a find – a ’51 Gibson with a story like that is a true treasure. Learning it belonged to Grisman must have been an unforgettable moment.

  32. Graham E says

    Hi Brian,

    Great lesson. Enjoyed working through it. One trivial observation, there is a typo on the PDF in the titel which reads EP 365 rather than EP635! Hope you don’t mind me mentioning that!

    Keep up the good work

    Best

    Graham

  36. Georg B says

    Hi Brian,
    Thank you very much for another truly outstanding lesson. The short sequence in the solo — from C-sharp minor to C minor to B minor and then to C augmented, à la “Mister Sandman”, — are gems that keep me busy for entire evenings as I practice them and try to get them under my fingers.
    What I also appreciate is that I can then play these sequences not just in isolation in a specific key, but — thanks to your explanations — apply them to other keys as well.
    It’s also fantastic that you explain the strumming pattern in such detail. Your strumming pattern is very effective, subtle, and versatile as an accompaniment.
    I’m sure ep635 was a lot of work, since two instruments are involved. However, the resulting increase in learning opportunities is enormous. Actually, just a fraction of your many lessons would be sufficient to learn to understand all the principles at work in free improvisation. One would simply have to carefully follow and analyze everything you say and explain in each lesson. And yet I am very grateful to you for coming up with a new piece every week. The different styles and perspectives, which shed new light on the same phenomena time and again, help me immensely.
    It’s actually just like back in first grade, when words and then sentences started to come together for me from the letters. I still remember when words “clicked” for me for the first time. I’m at that threshold on the guitar — the point where I’m gradually realizing which chord “lights up” behind a lick. That’s amazing. Thanks!
    Georg

  37. Jeff T says

    I LOVE this one! The chord sequence and substitutes explanation is awesome! And of course the lead following the chords is tremendous. All your stuff is soooo detailed, easy, hard, wonderful, simple, difficult… I mean seriously I’ve been playing for 50 years and all your lessons simplify … everything I’ve ever learned. Gotta go play this somemore!!! Thank you SOOO much!

  39. John I says

    Superb lesson, Brian. More of these would be welcome any time.
    Clever and catchy composition with a really interesting chord structure!! And the classy turnaround at the very end of the lead.
    Also enjoying doing this one with a looper – with acoustic and electric swapping lead/rhythm.

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