Active Melody

Learn to play blues guitar.

Improvising Rhythm In a Minor Key – Useful Tips Guitar Lesson – EP384

Description

In this week’s guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to improvise rhythm while in a minor key by playing through the minor chord progression triads and using notes from the minor pentatonic scale as fill licks.

Part 1 - Free Guitar Lesson

Slow Walkthrough

Only available to premium members.
Register for premium access

Video Tablature Breakdown

Only available to premium members.
Register for premium access
Curious about the benefits of
Premium Membership?
Try it for FREE!
arrow_downYou need to be logged in as a premium member to access the tab, MP3 jam tracks, and other assets. Learn More

Add to "My Favorites"

You need to login or register to bookmark/favorite this content.

Comments

  5. Ian M says

    Good straightforward lesson that helps put things together. I like how you mention that we have a choice of scales/modes to play. lol you once said that you don’t like modes. Who doesn’t like the Dorian mode. Santana lives there. 🙂

  8. richard p says

    I love this. It’s perfect. I love the way you tie everything together. And, with this one I can really concentrate on FEELING the timing… I really struggle with that. Your teaching is great. I feel like you’re reading my mind… anticipating my questions perfectly. And, I’m following everything you’re explaining. Very cool.

  9. Thomas W says

    Great lesson — this ties in quite nicely with some of your previous lessons, such as “How to Use Modes” (374 & 375). Also it shows me how to add some nice coloring when playing rhythm guitar.

    • RNArizona says

      This really hit the spot. A number of light bulbs went off for me tonight. I’m continually amazed at how many different styles you really excel at, and how much you have broadened my musical horizons.

  14. Steven B says

    Lessons like this are what keeps me advancing. Really learning and starting to see options, not just learning the weekly lesson by rote. I love that i am improving by using your approach to learning. Please continue!

  15. Lefteris B says

    Brian, this is a wonderful lesson and a very useful, too. You’ ve answered a lot of my questions and you made it look easy. But I have one more question. What is the chord prograssion in a minor key? Thanks.

    • Brian says

      minor, diminished, major, minor, minor, major, major – the natural minor scale is the same as Aeolian mode – which is the 6th interval on the major scale… so you can see that the structure is the same as the major scale.. it just starts on the 6th

  19. Ralph P. says

    Nice lesson Brian. I seem to gravitate to minor keys when I’m just messing around because minor keys are easier on the brain. I especially liked the sliding harmonized 4ths “Japanese ” licks. My only complaint about this lesson is that it’s just dying to go to E7th#9! I kept waiting for it, and it never showed up LOL. I’ll have to add it in myself!

    • Brian says

      No, it’s ok to be disappointed – I know not everyone is going to like everything. I’m just trying to understand how it was disappointing so that I can take a look and maybe improve something.

    • JohnStrat says

      Anton I have thought I m not keen on the sound of that one from time to time and it’s obviously going to apply to us all intermittently. But as has been said often things can often times grow on you which can be a surprise.
      The value in the theory revealed in the lesson is a separate consideration. Here is something of fundament importance for us all and so like it or not I think it will empower your knowledge if you are not fully aware of it currently. If it reveals something new why not have a crack at it and then reflect on the teaching it might just turn on a light bulb that you had not discovered.
      If you are already hand on heart fully upsides with the principles maybe you will have to review an earlier lesson or two for this week. Learning many times involves a chore or two.
      JohnStrat

  22. peter v says

    usefull lesson Brian.
    As I understand your teaching: in one aspect you try to make
    things simpel,easy to handle without making it boring. So works it for me.
    To Anton I must say that it is quite normal not to like everything.What counts is the whole thing, the progress.
    Go ahead Brian , for me you are a good teacher ,altough I dont like everything.Then I change that in the way you showed me somewhere else.It brings me a lot.

  24. charjo says

    Not disappointing at all, Brian. At first blush it seems simple but, aside from the voicings, the syncopation is quite complicated and that’s what makes it so amazing. I would be very happy if you continue the rhythm ideas, especially with a concentration on syncopation, stabs and muting.
    John

  28. obie123 says

    Great lesson love it when I can actually learn and understand. One simple thing I still don’t quite understand is….I know the major scale is wwhwwwh and what is major and minor but how does the minor scale work? Is there a lesson on that. Thanks

  29. Ted R says

    Now you’ve done it. For a very long time I have played that chord progression using the Am shape on the first fret then slide up to the third fret then to the A shape on the fifth fret. I would play that over and over but I never could figure out where to go from there. This lesson has shown me that I was on the right track. Thanks for getting me unstuck.

  30. Martin A says

    Brian, I cannot thank you enough, i have learned more in two weeks from you than i have in the last two years using another well known guitar learning platform. Suddenly pennys are starting to drop and this is consolidating things for me.

  31. Randy H says

    For those who may be disappointed, you need to look on the other side of the coin. There’s always something to be LEARNED from all lessons. We all learn at a different pace, but music is music and the more you can understand the theory the easier it gets. I have learned soo much from these lessons and may not LOVE everyone, but I get something from all of them. I love the way Brain has presented this lesson as being in the key of Am and then slides in Oh, by the way this is A Dorian Mode. Little pieces of the puzzle that are starting to come together to make the BIG PICTURE.
    Thanks again Brian for all of your information to progress down the road.

    Randy

  32. Buzzy G says

    Thanks Brian! I finally subscribed about a month ago. So many of your lessons are spot-on with what I want to progress to in my playing; especially moving around the neck combining fills with solid non-boring rhythm. And your style of teaching highlights these gems (skills) in the context of a song or progression, which allows the student to readily apply them to real playing situations. Another Great Lesson!

  33. Barrie E says

    FIrst of all, I have nothing but praise for your lessons! Even though I have musical training, I still get a little confused and I may be wrong about this. The chord (triad) progression in Am is
    Minor (ACE) , i.e. m-M interval)then, Diminished (BDF i.e. m-m interval ) if you go to a B minor chord, you are actually playing an F# and the F# is not in the natural Am key. I know its just a (minor ha-ha)theory point. I think this is where the Dorian comes in, as you mentioned. Do you agree or have I got this wrong?

  34. Vernon says

    I wasn’t too thrilled with the lesson on dissonance—at first. I played it and kept an open mind. Now I love it and even understand how dissonance works. The bonus was my wife and son telling me they liked what I was playing and that they enjoyed it. Now I keep playing it over and over. I love it. I suggest giving a piece a chance. Wait, that sounds like John Lennon……By the way, IMO, this has a Doors sound to it. Interesting.

  35. E Minor 7th says

    Another very useful lesson.

    Suggestion: You often reference previous lessons that support or explain things that are relevant. Why not put links to them in the lesson description or in a reference links section?

  36. Buster89 says

    Am not sure if I got that right but I sort of figured that C and D could also be interpreted as Am7 and Bm7 ? Great lesson. Am trying to play them now without listening to the explanation first , just to see how far I can go in figuring out the whole piece. This was a good lesson for that. Will try to go through future lessons using that approach a bit more.

  37. Laurel C says

    Every week is a learning adventure with a lesson objective and an insightful musical arrangement. Some more chord shapes in different positions to think about from the minor key scale and to add to the toolbox. Easy to follow building blocks and the ambience of the arrangement sounds great. Trying to replicate the rhythm practically is challenging but then this is why it makes these chordal progressions so sophisticated. To be able to improvise rhythm like this is inspiring. Will take the oriental demo as a takeaway also.

  38. Barrie E says

    Brian,
    Further to my last comment, I have been thinking more about theory. There is both the harmonic minor and the melodic minor scales. The A harmonic minor contains all the notes of the relative major (C) without sharps, whereas in the melodic minor, the F and G are sharpened. Interestingly, whereas the melodic minor scale creates a true B minor triad, the next triad in the progression (CEG#) is actually an augmented triad (M-M). Perhaps I am thinking too much and I should just listen to your excellent compositions with chord sequences that work!

    • JohnStrat says

      I took a moment on that one because I think Brian says bar the first 4 strings and so one is thinking root 5 minor shape but listen a little more and it’s play the 4,3,2. Not the high A note and there is the difference

  41. kdcmarsh says

    Oops …can’t find the edit on comment…anyway. On your discussion of F chord using C shape on 5th. I tend to look at that as a partial Dm7. I am sure it is my lack of understanding of music theory but how should someone not get it confused?

  42. eames28 says

    love this lesson …I am a novice and this lesson really helped me learn how to use chords up and down the neck. Just wish the tabs had more labels on the chords.
    like in the beginning you teach how to go from the am to the bm and back but only the A is in the tabs. Thanks

  43. Jean Jacques P says

    Thanks Brian,
    always brillant, inventive, well sounding with a lot of pedagogy
    I’never leave a reply since I subscribe
    but all the stuff you give along the weeks to us makes me progress slowly but surely with enthusiasm !
    take care, jjp

  44. Glenn says

    The last several lessons have been a great help, Brian, and thanks for the reminder about EP275. I went back to it and got a lot more out of it this time. Say, I wanted to comment about your “guitar Hero” question, but couldn’t get in for some treason. I lived briefly in San Francisco and Oakland in the later sixties. I think of that time  as the decade of rebellion, and I think of today as the age of compliance. Rock and Roll was a rebellious voice, hence the emergence of the musician hero. Who is the musical heroic voice today? Certainly not John Mayer, who you mentioned. There is no place for them today. You have to go up against something to be a hero. Will the guitar be eclipsed? I can’t imagine how, because I think it is a superior instrument. More expressive, more versatile, more dynamic than almost anything else you can mention besides the violin and its cousins. It is ideally portable, too! The only drawback that I can think of is its inexactness and noisiness, if you get me. But then I like dissonance in music (deadhead). If you are wondering if your customer base will die off, that may have more to do  with your roots based approach. Well, we can’t change who we are, can we? Thanks again for the lessons.

  46. Randy H says

    Brian:
    Just stumbled on Your “OUTTAKES” on Youtube. Very Impressive. Your presentations are not easy and you put a lot of work into making them. It’s interesting to see that you also have to deal with Murphy’s Law and recover nicely. We all have dropped a pick and some of us have also dropped a guitar once in awhile. Even the ones that make it look so easy can have a bad day once in awhile. Keep’m coming I like the simple approach .

    Randy

  47. Klaus G says

    Thanks very much Brian. I am am member since 2016. Please excuse my “germanlike” English. I like your lessons about modes, scales, CAGED, Triads, harmonic 3th and 6th best.
    And so is this lesson one of my favorites. I came across this way of improvising in the lessons of David Wallimann last year. He played in a 12 bar Blues progression in mixolydian A D E the notes of D G A and in each chord he uses the note “e” as a base. In this way he played in the modes dorian, äolian and mixolydian.
    But for my improvising is your methode easier. Thank you again.

  48. John H says

    Thank you Brian for this wonderful lesson. People are starting to notice my playing and compliment me more. Not because of my lead play but because of my rhythm playing. It’s more captivating. And, I have you to thank because of lessons like these. I’m disappointed that somebody is disappointed! This sounds so refreshing and has a lifetime of lessons and chordal licks in it’s arrangement. We do waste education on the young. When people are expecting lessons in the vein of Van Halen, ACDC and Lynyrd Skynyrd I guess they feel short changed when they get a lesson that is cool and breezy. Oh well, this per usual is nothing short of brilliant. Thanks for another great lesson.

    • Brian says

      Good question. I would describe this as being in the key of A minor – because the tonal center revolved around that A minor – even though they are the same chords are in the key of G. If i was jamming this and someone asked what key this is in – I would totally confuse them if I said “G” – hopefully that makes sense.

      • Phil H says

        Hi Brian/anyone, I’m a bit confused. If you were playing in the key of Am, then wouldn’t you play Dm, not D major? And Bdim not Bm? So are you really playing in the key of G, but over an Am rhythm? Why did you choose G and not the relative major of Am (C)?

  57. Davie d says

    Brian, awesome lesson! Just loved every minute of it and as usual learned so much! Once again you make us think and be inovative with our own playing! Love the theory behind what you are doing and it excites me to apply this knowledge to other songs! The way you have set your site up and what is provided has so helped me to improve beyond where I thought I could reach!! Your site is so easy to get around and use! You teaching style is so down to earth and comfortabke to sit down with and learn!!
    Dave Delisio
    Boise, Idaho

  60. Kathryn L says

    I just get excited to learn – there’s so much you, Brian, point out. I had a lots of “light bulb” moments. I’m not even a jazz lover, but I’ll take it all in – to keep learning – and hopefully, even be able to put some neat sounds together – someday!

  61. Cary says

    I am finally getting to this lesson and greatly enjoy it. I had been playing around with these concepts previously. Light bulbs went on for me with Lesson 384. Plus is sounds great!

  62. Greg B says

    Hi Brian,
    Good lesson. Simple, yes, but clear and useful. I wind up taking a lot of lessons or even songs I hear and creating loops to play over. It’s one reason rhythm lessons are so useful from my point of view. Trading back and forth vamping with a friend while the other plays lead is good for hours of playing together, which honestly is a joy. So please keep up the conceptual and CAGED based lessons which encourage us to experiment in different keys with some basis of understanding.
    Thank you,
    Greg

  63. Ted M says

    Ok. Been working on this all week and a finally starting to get it. For such a simple lesson there is so much for me here. Trying to get the timing and vibe down and I get caught up in the cool factor and just fall apart. AAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!
    Man I love this style. As always THANK YOU. I see progress every week.

  65. naftali k says

    Thank you Brian!! If I can master the principles of this lesson it can really enhance the music that I play. You are the master at teaching people how to fish rather than just give a fish!!

    Hope all is well.
    Rabbi Kalter

  66. John J says

    Great lesson Brian. I really like the minor bluesy ones. When are you going to take a look at Walking baselines, and simple jazz comping stuff..I would love to have a bit of that in my repertoire.

  67. Riff Raff 60 says

    Thanks Brian. I’m getting so much out of your lessons. Been her for about 10 months now and try do something from your site every week to get better. If a particular week’s lesson doesn’t work for me, I’ll go back and find something from your past lessons. Some weeks I grind for several days but stay with it until I get it. This week came after only a few pass throughs and I’m starting to be able to pull from shapes and concepts I learned previously. Old dog, new tricks…never say never.

  69. Andy N says

    Been a very enjoyable week working through this one. Lots of ideas to take away and explore and that rhythm is so infectious (if we’re still allowed that word these days!). The more I get into the rhythm side of playing the more it feels like the main game in town and the more I realise there is to learn.

  70. Barry L says

    Hi Brian,
    A brilliant brilliant lesson !.. The AM community that havent played this soooo smooth jazz progression, will get such a wonderful experience learning this one. Your playing is very very cool. I’ve used this Am progression, or something very close to it, when I learned Tony Rice’s version of Wayfaring Stranger in Tony’s Spacegrass element. I’ve played it for years when I want to escape into the soft acoustic jazz genre. Thanks man for teaching it.

  73. Roger S says

    Fab. As usual Brian, you come up with something that looks and sounds so simple, until I try to play it! weirdly, it reminds me of water colour (color) painting, deceptively simple 😉
    My brain has finally cought up with the CAGED system thanks to you. Unfortunately, my muscle memory is still lagging behind. I agree with an earlier comment… it would be great to have some more insights into the dynamics of rhythm, including string muting, or more specifically, how to stop horrible unwanted noises from ‘unplayed’ strings etc. Also, timing and strumming / picking – in other words, more left hand stuff? I Renewed a couple of months ago after my first year as a subscriber and am finding your site the best value for money on the web – no question! Please keep up the great job you are doing.

  75. Grant D says

    Hi Brian .
    Have to say you are the best guitar teacher I have found , not only online , but regular guitar teaching classes also .
    I went a way for a while from this site and found myself stagnating . Was searching all over for things such as learning modes and how they relate to chords etc . And just could not find Anything that was consistent or that made any sense .
    I logged back in tonight and the first thing I found was this teaching just what I was looking for . For me it was a God thing .
    I have a question .. i don’t play In a band anymore , and I ,miss it a lot . Would you recommend a looper pedal , Iv been thinking about a basic one like the boss RC5 ? Thoughts comments ?

    Kind regards
    Grant

  79. Capt Dan says

    Brian,
    This is simple and brilliant at the same time. I conceder myself on the advanced side of the wide, wide world of intermediate guitar players. I have been on a journey (deep dive) on triads, 3rds & 6ths and really investigating, seeing, hearing and just plain feeling the intervals all over the fretboard for improvisation. I just revisited this lesson (and a couple others) and found the “gems” of knowledge you presented during this lesson. I have been a premium member for over 3yrs and the best investment I have made in my musical guitar journey. I live just north of Nashville since (4/2020) and would love to meet and have coffee sometime. Maybe Ill see you at Kimbro’s someday…

    • Greg W says

      Capt Dan – thanks for the msg on this lesson. I completely agree. Learned this one a while back and have it memorized. Now – went back to the lesson and really has me digging into 3rds and 6ths up and down the neck in relation to A, D and E shapes. Man, I’m really enjoying this and gives me fresh approaches for my rhythm playing.

Leave a Reply

Recent Lessons

Contact

For all support questions email: support@activemelody.com
For all other inquires email: brian@activemelody.com