Description
If you feel like you’re just playing up and down scales when improvising lead guitar, you need to learn to stop and create phrases. This lesson gives you a guide for which notes to stop or “land” on, while using the minor pentatonic scale.
Free Guitar Lesson Video
You need to be logged in as a premium member to access the tab, MP3 jam tracks, and other assets.
Learn MoreAdd to "My Favorites"
You need to login or register to bookmark/favorite this content.
Great lesson. An example of how teachers and students often got tied up on more complex techniques and theory when simple powerful truths get lost. Right I’m off to get back to my roots (and 3rds and 7ths!)
Valuable tips Brian. Definitely something to practice. I know you like for us to figure things out on our own, but for those of us who are dense, I sure would have appreciated some tabs for those great sounding licks. Thanks
Ken, I agree. In fact, I’ll go a bit further. I think Brian’s short blues guitar statements using the appropriate intervals, are masterful. OK we all get the concept. We can maybe figure it out ourselves. But I really wish that Brian had spent 5 minutes demonstrating possible licks on the one chord, then a few more on the four chord and a way we can quickly note and move on from the five chord.
I really like Brian’s lessons a lot. I do wish he would talk a bit less about his main point. In this video he spends 50% of his talking time about mindless scale playing. He beats this topic to death and almost drowned out the fabulous presentation he gave about how to play under the chords.
I hope Brian reads this. He is really a fabulous teacher, so positive in his approach.
Sometimes he’s a bit fast in his exuberance. Slow the tempo when playing his grade A stuff, please.
For me, concerning the licks, I went back to EP418 “Target Notes” where Brian goes through a series of licks in “B” which I then carried back to the “A” that Brian uses in this very good sequel to ‘TARGET NOTES”. Incorporating those licks into this progression. Hope this is on point.
The only thing Id say is……this lesson has only the first video unlike the other lessons where you can play it in the different versions
Another fantastic lesson from Brian. I have learnt more about guitar playing from him than any other teacher or publication. I took his his advice a few years ago and purchased ” The Amazing Slow Downer” software. I use it all the time.
Ditto for me.
Check out the Lead Guitar Course under My Account > My Courses. Starting with module 3 you have more pentatonic licks than you’ll be able to remember.
You got my attention but when I searched Lead Guitar category; I got 28 pages of Brian’s lessons; could you be more specific as to where in Lead Guitar you found a series of licks I(we) can use over this lessons backing track.
Thanks Dennis Y
Not the weekly lessons but the Courses section. If you click on “My Account” it’s the second item.
Why is there no tab for this lesson??? It would be very helpful.
Me too. those are great licks
BAM!
Don’t forget the flat 5 😊
This was very helpful. It makes being able to tell a story, or have a conversation very straightforward. Simple but very effective. Thanks, great idea here.
I mean I would love to see this in a tab. it would help
Thanks, I just joined. 527 is my first as a premium subscriber, This is so helpful!
Just starting soloing and this was a real eye opener.
It would have been great and more useful if the licks were tabbed but after many requests and going back to 2023 I guess this is not going to be the case.
I sure wish you could provide all the riffs you’re playing and their pdf. I would learn the lesson better
Light Bulb!!
This is great and helps to underlying the changes playing the lead tones (3rd and 7th) without using scales. It’s the perfect prosecution of the previous miniserie. Thanks Brian
I couldn’t agree more!
This is a lesson that I really need. Thank you Brian
Thank-you Brian!
Yet another excellent lesson reminding us to focus on just a few critical notes for each chord, with a pause, to emphasize it’s sound.
As with all of your lessons, this is very helpful! You have made a big difference in my guitar playing and knowledge.
Thank you for the big effort you put into each of these every single week! Your paid subscription is tremendous value for anyone trying to improvise and learn the fretboard.
Brian’s the best 😊
Bonjour Brian, would you tell me what is the structure of the jam track ? 1-1-4-4-5 or 1-1-4-5 or else ? I guess my ear to bass notes is not very good !
Here you go. It’s 1-4-5 blues with a quick change to the 4 in the second bar, and a 5 turnaround on the end.
Each number is one bar, i.e. four beats:
1-4-1-1 4-4-1-1 5-4-1-5
🙂
Era e we reed ezAsaw
That’s the single easiest progression for me. You rock on the four play the 5 4 1 walkdown and the spin around on the 5. I’m trying to move my leads away from 1st position. The first position to second position stuff is helpful .
Great lesson on how to add phrasing and how to listen for those spots and where to land. I’ve been a long time member and am very appreciative for the lessons you bring to all of us.
Thanks Brian, valuable lesson now I am finally getting the hang of the scales. Good to have the landing on the right notes covered, then I am planning to get back to the previous lessons that were a bit to advanced for me the last couple of weeks.
Really like the graphics lately
Me too.
Graphics make it easy to follow and understand.
Great Lesson. For me, these are better as I am learning to improvise. Too many times I have run across random lessons that are technically correct, but then say, “now just use the scale over these chords”, and it does not sound like music, just playing scales. I love the formula concept as that’s how my brain works. I have always said there is an art and science to most things. This lesson has both! Thx as always.
Great lesson Brian.I really needed these nuggets.Thanks for all your hard work.Adds to all the lessons you have already given us. Large nuggets. Dave
Brian, just downloaded the jam track and 15 of the most fun minutes I’ve had in a long time. Now could you put together a similar track for those really down and dirty blues. Around 30 or 40bpm? You have some really good tracks in the lessons but the bass is kind of way in the background and it would be nice if it was around 25 minutes long. Thanks for any consideration. Plus thanks for the great lessons and the manor in which you present them. Delbert
Try this jam track. It’s in key of A and slow: https://youtu.be/LOK7qfDGMPg
Holy Charmin!!! I sound like I’m playing music now. Best simple lesson ever. More like this.This is bringing everything together. Thank You,Thank you,Thank You,1 more Thank You $$$$
Great lessons. Getting this stuff down is exactly what led to my progression from being a guy who knew some licks to a guy who’s making music within the 12 bar from. Getting the form down, hearing the changes, and applying the notes I was hitting to the changes. For an added tip—don’t forget to applying some quarter step bends to the minor thurs and the flat seven while on the one chord—this subtle technique adds another level of sophistication to any line. Bravo!
Just watched the video on YouTube and this is exactly what i’ve needed! I’m comfortable with tge CAGED system, but have still been unable to lead because it would just sound like I’m playing scales/triads repeatedly. Now I know where to stop, and the second video is next. Thanks!
Excellent lesson. Looking forward to practicing this. Brian I think you have really outstanding and interesting timing. I don’t think it’s just pausing or even when your pausing as I believe includes varying the length of phrases and starting and stopping the phrases at sections of the measures. All feel or is there any method to that?
there isn’t a method that I can think of for that – that part is more about feel – which you get from listening to others
Wow the light has just come on this just makes so much more sense now great lesson Brian
Love the last 4 lessons and especially the graphics depicting what your saying and playing. Thank you Brian, and your son for giving you this idea!
This lesson was a real eye opener on what target notes to land on, when to pause. A lot of great information I needed and will use right away. The tab download with target notes is a tremendous help too. Hopefully you’ll be able to give us more lessons like this too.
Thanks Brian
Brian this is such a relevant lesson. Your presentation here is superb. How about extending this to a combined lesson with say the fourth position for next week? This must resonate with so many.and hopefully make some of the wildly diddly players who just play streaming notes as fast as they can hear the difference. You’re really getting the blues across.
JohnStrat
not a bad idea John. let me see what I can come up with
Ditto for me – another one please. I can go and find the notes but hearing how you apply those to your improvising with your experience is pretty valuable. Thanks
The “Rock Me Baby” lick is a classic to follow the changes. I have to keep that one handy.
John
Thanks for reminding me the importance of targeting notes and letting the music breathe.
Loved it! Very much needed and appreciated. Especially agree with the spaces between the notes being as important as the notes themselves. Look at what BB did with just a handful of motes and serious phrasing.
This is absolute GOLD for any beginning lead player!
I agree with strat. How about extending to other positions on fret board
I agree with strat. How about extending to other positions on fret board ?
Great lesson.
Yep! keep it going. I was always wonder what notes were there to open up a solo. The key to the Highway. Wonderful
Light bulbs going on and doors opening. Ben was a terrific inspiration for this lesson. Keep listening to him. He is us.
Wish I had found this lesson sixty years ago! Fabulous! Thanks so much.
Brian, just what I needed. Where to land and when. But now I got a bit of homework. So are you going to have your son watch this lesson? Or did you give him a private lesson?
he gets all the private lessons he wants! although he prefers to just figure stuff out on his own
Also three years with you and good to go over and be reminded of some basic premises. Very much enjoying when I get to your lesson at end of each week. Thank you, Max
Very straight forward and easy to understand. Great lesson.
Brilliant game changing lesson. If only this had been EP001 instead of EP527! 🙂
Superb lesson Brian, this has to be one of the best explained and demonstrated lessons online today. This theme is definitely worth expanding gradually into more positions over the neck.
Richard
Very clear .Great lesson !
Very poignant lesson.
Along with the spoken word music can be analogous to the written word where periods, commas, and exclamation points are similar to pauses, accents, and bends.
Your lessons are adept at impacting players of all levels.
At the end of the day you have to jump right in
Fantastic lesson Brian. The Ah Ha moment I have been looking for. A full course on the 5 positions would be incredible material. Thanks, and as always, I look forward to next Friday.
Along with EP273 perhaps the most meaningful lesson on the ActiveMelody site. This is EXACTLY what i needed to know when I started playing. Amazing lesson.
I”m starting to get it. Can hear the best notes to land on , but now I know why they do sound good. I’ll be working on this , sometimes it takes me a while to GET IT, but when I do get it I figure I have LEARNED it. THIS IS A BIGGIE! I’m excited! I guess you son deserves some credit. Tell him thanks.
great lesson thank you.
Thanks again Brian for your wonderful lesson.
If I understand you correct with the I-chord you can play the 3 because the underlaying chord is a major chord (A or A7). If the underlaying chord was a minor chord (Am or Am7) than this 3 would clash with the flat 3 of the Am7. In the same way, if I am correct, you can also land on the 3 of the IV chord (D), although it is not in the pentatonic form 1. But you would probably say you mix the minor and the major pentatonic, like you said with the 3 of the I-chord. If I am correct this makes the position of the landing points very easy. In the I-chord you can land on the notes of the E-chord form (which is in this position the A major chord) and also on the flat 7 of this form. In the IV-chord you can land on the notes of the A-chord form (here this is the D major chord) and on the flat 7 of this form. In the V-chord you can land on the notes of the C7-chord form (here this is the E7 dominant chord).
But one thing puzzles me. Why don’t you mention the 5 as a landing point with the I and the V chord. Is there a special reason? Because the 5 is a landing note with the IV cord?
it’s totally fair game to play the 3rd of the D chord as well – I ended up playing the 5th instead just because it was the same A note, and I thought that would simplify things (less to try and remember) – and it’s a commonly used interval
Brian thank you for your answer. This clearifies for me a lot.
Apart from the notes you can land on, one of the most important things I learned in this lesson is that you HAVE TO LAND ON A NOTE and by doing so you are learning to speak a (musical) language, with phrases which are devided by pauses (commas = small pause and periods = longer pause).
well said!
Lightbulb lesson!! …and great Q&A WilW. Thanks Brian!
Great lesson. I’ve always wondered lead guitarist find where they are and now I know. Lots to practice but feel I can really go somewhere with this. thanks.
I suspect G# might be feeling a little left out. After being highlighted for the 5 chord I don’t think Brian actually landed on it once
Lightbulb lesson btw, thanks Brian
Brian, question: How come the third of D is not fair game here? Sounds fine to my ears.
it’s totally fair game to play the 3rd of the D chord as well – I ended up playing the 5th instead just because it was the same A note, and I thought that would simplify things (less to try and remember) – and it’s a commonly used interval
Very helpful, thanks
Hi Brian, this is the first time that I am writing a comment, thanks a lot for this excellent lesson, you gave me some useful keys which help me to improve my guitar skills I wish to see more of this type of lessons, thanks again
Thanks again for a great video. This is a coincidence because for a wee while now I’ve been trying to work this out myself. So I’m glad you have put this lesson on and pinned it down. Now I understand. Thanks again Brian. Keep up the good work. I alway look forward to Friday
Hi Brian, I have learned a lot from your lessons over the past 3 years. Thanks a lot for this!
Where I unfortunately only make little progress is the rhythm. I find myself playing the same one over and over again. Maybe you can go into different rhythms in one of the next lessons. Thanks!
This is something which I was looking for but could not express in words due to my lack of music related terminology ! Will work on this seriously. For the past many days, I have been revisiting various music theory related content. Now slowly getting a grip on scales, modes, how chords are formed, chord progressions, arpeggios, intervals, key etc. So when I now hear Brian talking theory stuff, I can somewhat visualize or relate it to theory. Now I am coming nearer to making a few seconds melody of my own but will take some more days before I do it. This lesson is the perfect one for this future melody making of mine !
Thanks Brian !
Even for somebody who has played for years, this is very valuable stuff to revisit and think about. Thank you Brian. Light bulb moment.
John H.
I love these kinds of lessons. I know all the patterns but they just sound bland when I don’t know the best notes to play. And the .pdf helps because I can just print it and lay it on my desk for easy reference.
Another very useful lesson Brian. So, following the same theory that you talk about in this lesson, wouldn’t it be fair game when changing back and forth between Major and Minor pentatonic to do the same? Basically, remember to end your phrase on one of the actual chord tones? Either the root, 3rd, 5th, 6th or flat 7? Thanks
yes, good point – whether major, minor pentatonic – or any scale for that matter, these are always going to be safe landing notes
An opener for ears, eyes and doors (as you would meintoin it). Hope with this I will be able to transform my noodling around into something with a meaning.
Thanks a lot.
Brian:
This is a great lesson and I appreciate your providing it. I (and I suspect many others) are at the stage where we think we know a lot of the mechanics of playing guitar but are having a difficult time making music baswed in this knowledge. Knowing how to transition from playing scales to making music is proving to be a significant challenge.
Understanding that you should play music in the same manner that you speak (in phrases, sentences while using punctuation) is something that makes sense to me but has proven very difficult when trying to implement on the guitar. This lesson has provided some guideposts that are very helpful in beginning to understand/appreciate how to have that musical conversation. Thanks.
Cool lesson, I found it easier to find the roots and thirds by switching to an appropriate triad on the changes and using those as a jumping off point to lunch into a pentatonic shape. not rocket science, but it really helped me target those notes. Thanks Brian
Years of lessons and no one has ever taken the time to explain this.Up until this lesson, I’ve just been playing scales, and man do I know my scales. Haha. Well, after 10 minutes, I’m playing something that sound good to me for a change. Great lesson. Very valuable to me. Thanks
Great lesson Brian! Could you demonstrate this concept over a song in a major key using major scales. I want to work out a lead break to “Tequila Sunrise” and I am not sure if I can play the pentatonic in the key of the song or play arpeggios as the chords change to mimic the melody line.
Thank you and appreciate all you do to make us all better pickers.
Dick Spindler
Hi Brian,
What’s so good about this lesson for me is reinforcing what I’ve learnt from you on previous pentatonic lessons, it’s always valuable to return to the fundamentals and as you say start expressing the scale in a musical sense and not a mechanical sound.
Perfect! I didn’t realize all the notes that you could land on! I love going back to basics there’s always something I miss!!!
Maybe do some more with other progressions, minors etc…
This is why you have me. Thank you!!! You rock.
Thanks for a really great lesson. Simple concepts but I have really struggled to target key notes in my blues phrasing. I understood the scales but struggled to know how to use them. This lesson really helped.
Great lesson. Very well explained . Wonderful licks and sound.
Brian,
Man I can’t tell you how much this lesson means to me. I have played off and on for 40 years and this is I think the best lesson I have ever seen. The reason being that I have always had trouble soloing the blues even though I know all the major and minor pentatonic scales. Occasionally I would jam and not have a clue why I sounded good as opposed to mostly sounding lost and like crap if I could even form a simple original phrase.
I started in classical guitar when I was 16 so the Blues has been somewhat something mystic to me. Face it, on a major chord progression anyone can pick random notes from a major scale basically and it makes a melody. I have gotten so mad being able to play a complicated song Chet Atkins version of Vincent, but couldn’t play a simple blues solo. Now I know how to connect the notes and I don’t know why no one has explained it like this before. If they have, I haven’t seen it and I am sure I have watched 100’s of guitar soloing videos.
You have finally explained it so well now. I realize now why a chord progression like BB King Darlin you know I love you goes like that with the solo and why the notes you outline fit. I now actually think I am starting to heard how to create blues phrases from this lesson and listening/watching other blues players. I am really excited about this.
I have been a premium member for a couple of years and unfortunately don’t have enough time to play daily or watch all your videos, although I have gotten good training from other videos you have made. Now I think with this lesson that I can start creating melodic blues solos. This being something I thought I would die first before I could do. I knew just running up and down the scale sounded painful, but I couldn’t put together from what I heard the basic structure of putting the notes together.
Big Thanks again and looking forward to more video lessons from you.
Brian,
Great lesson! I was definitely running scales and kept thinking this sounds like crap! Love the graphics too. Thanks so much!
Rob
Hey Brian, great lesson. I agree another follow-on lesson on extending to other positions would be beneficial. Another possible suggestion would be to maybe throw in an E Mixolydian mode (mode of A Major) which has that bluesy feel/color as well. Thanks for all you do.
Ned
This is an excellent lesson. It helps me figure out what is going on for sure. Thank you Brian.
Love the nice long backing track with this. Lots of time to have fun and practice.
Great lesson. Very glad you covered this.
I smirked at the idea that MY father might tell me to get out there and mow the lawn. Imagining having a father whose business it was, to play the guitar…
“Son! Son!, what are you doing in there!? You’ve got to pause. Don’t just keep going up and down that scale like that! I wanna hear you land on some fours and threes!”
Dad, leave me alone!
Great lesson Brian……this one is aimed right at me……thanks!
Most helpful lesson. Thanks
Ah, really dig this one. It’d be great to see the same thing with the other most popular patterns.
Thank you for what you do!
Putting all the pieces together. Great Job! Would love to see the tabs for licks.
This is brilliant! So simple and thus so helpful – especially for luddites like me!! Many many thanks.
I’ve been struggling…no, more like lost. Wow. This is great. Simple as can be, but it’s music and I think I get it all much better now. Looking forward to practice and expanding on this framework. Thanks! Hey, blues – here i come.
Hey Brian – are blues backing chords normally played in minor keys? And if they are in major keys are they most of the time played in lowered 7ths? There are probably all kinds of variations, but I guess I am just wondering as to what is the most common?
You answered so many questions I have had for a long time with this fabulous lesson.
Thanks Brian. Keep on making it fun. So easy when you explain it. Great teacher.
Great lesson but how about a tab for the sequence that you played at the end of the lesson putting all of the 1-4-5 sequence together.
C . Skinner
I have a low wattage light bulb when it comes to this sort of thing, but this one really helped – simple ideas and valuable for us dim bulbs out there. Thanks!
I resemble that remark! ;->
Great lesson by a great teacher.
Thank you!
This was the best lesson for me out of all of your lessons!
Very practical and perfect for a person who is a beginner lead player. This was a door opener for me. I very much welcome future lessons like this one!
And no, you don’t talk so much as some have said, since all of what you say has a bearing on that lesson or provides reinforcement of past lessons. THANKS
excellent lesson brian, important to know the fretboad. phrasing so important, working on that. thx
Hi Brian
This lesson is the reason why I subscribed.
I’ve been totally stuck at first base.
Thank you.
Tony (England)
I hope your so.n has subscribed to Premier membership !!
Excellent lesson today, I really learned some new concepts and plan to study this. I like these type of lessons second to stand alone blues songs that you write. The biggest challenge for me is trying to get through the stand alone songs, as they usually contain too many new concepts.
really good lesson – thank you!
It’s as you suggested. This lesson was like a door was opening for me, and it was just what I needed to make progress. Thank you so much.
I can’t help wondering whether you learned this just based on your own experimentation, or whether you had lessons in the past. Perhaps you picked it up from other guitarists at jam sessions?
Given enough time and experimentation I find I make progress on the guitar , but given lessons such as yours you progress much faster!
Rod
Brian, this is indeed a great foundational lesson for playing lead. Phrasing and landing are the keys for sure. Thanks again.
Hi Brian: I have been following you for about four years now. I wish I had this lesson four years ago. I can play up and down the neck using the CAGED positions, But I find myself just playing the alphabet. For me, I feel like you finally gave me the tools that will allow me to play sentences. If you could expand this lesson to the other CAGED positions I think it will add the tools to play more confidently. Thanks again for all you do.
Brian, although I did not hear it mentioned, This seems like a companion/sequel lesson to EP418 on “Target Notes”. Went back to 418 and am using those licks over this progression in A to hit those sweet Target Notes.
This lesson was one that I surely needed.
I have been trying to get out of the box for a long time now and this lesson nailed it.
Could we have a lesson on 5th and 6th string origin major and minor pentatonic scales? I have been learning these and I would like to see your take on the 5th and 6th string M & m Pentatonic scales.
Thank you
This is great and it came at just the right time in my progress. Thanks Brian!
Hello Brian,
This is a great lesson. I will start with it, to become familiar with blues improvisations. Thank you for sharing this knowledge !!!
Hi Brian,
You continue to blow my mind with your lessons, don’t ever stop.
Great Lesson. learned a lot about improvision. thanks Brian.
Thanks Brian, a great lesson. Been with you a few years now. Don’t practice enough, but I have nevertheless learnt a lot. Best wishes.
Thanks, Brian,
One of the best lessons I have come across. I agree with some of the other comments. I would love to see a lesson to accompany this lesson, with some phrasing. It would bring it all together and we can be making music that makes sense and sounds great. It’s everything I have been trying to understand. Playing correctly over the chord changes. Fancy.
Brian, Thank you for your approach to guitar philosophy and theory. Your content is a treasure trove of motivation and inspiration for me. For the first time in my 50+ years I have found the way to improvement. Please keep up the excellent instruction. Best Chris
Absolutely a great lesson Brian, so clearly put.
? possible to do more on this.
thanks++++
john
The usual tsunami of gratitude, praise and affirmation – you must have excellent self-esteem! And well deserved.
I’ve been watching your videos about lead playing for a few years, and have learned heaps about the theory – basically why a given note sounds really perfect at the end of a phrase over a given chord (the target note I guess), and why others don’t, but that doesn’t really get me truly improvising. I have the target note in mind to land on, but how do I know which note to START on to get there?? You do this effortlessly – cool licks and phrases that lots of people want tabs for so they can learn them. Your skill (or gift?), elusive to most of us I suspect (certainly me), is that you don’t have to think about it – it just tumbles out of your head. That is truly what the art of improvisation is – making up the melody in your head (even if just a few notes) and knowing instinctively exactly where each note in that melody is on the fretboard, and instantly playing it. That is the holy grail for me, and many of your thousands of on-line students no doubt; we marvel at the effortlessness of it, but on picking up our guitars just can’t get it to happen. I can improvise in my head, and hum it easily, but absolutely not play it on the guitar.
I don’t know what the secret is to reaching that place of instinctive musicality is, but suspect that rote learning licks and then stringing them together aint it!
Thanks if you actually read this far – brevity is not one of my strengths, and you are deluged with comments every lesson.
Brian, this is what I’ve been looking for, for a very long time. Could you please have a lesson using this method and make it slow and not too many notes per bar?
good lesson
how about repeating notes
like a horn player
Thanks. Very helpful.
Just what I needed, Brian! You made just the kind of music I want to make in my solos without straying too far, and very accesible to beginning and intermediates that are struggling with how to improvise! Light bulb moment for me, sir!!!I will be spending a part of my day everyday with this for months!
Absolutely Brilliant Brian.
This is probably the BEST and most important lesson I’ve ever seen related to the pentatonic and improvisation.
Anyone wanting to learn lead, should NOT pass this lesson by. It is GOLD!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Brian this “where to land” lesson is perfect timing for me–but I’m also trying to figure out what notes to bend, so I”m wondering if you’d do a lesson on that.
Might be a silly question, but is there any way to know quickly what chord the backing track is playing ?
I needed this. Thanks!
Is it fair to say that you can land on any note in the chord? first third or fifth?
Question : If box 1 of the pentatonic scale is always on the E shape cords, What boxes go with the other shapes? I’.m motivated to move on and learn them also.
This is super helpful
So this is for 1,4,5.
What about adding in the 2,3,7 – the rest of the chords? What happens then?
And what exactly is the “formula” – its unclear to me – I don’t see the roadmap here?
This was a great lesson. This is a great introduction to playing the chords. I hope you continue this series. Thank your son for giving you the inspiration to make this lesson.
This is exactly what I need. “Cheat sheet” to help put all the information to use!!!!
I would love to see you expand this into other chord progressions like a 2-5-1.
Awesome Brian. When I seen this. I was so excited. I turned the couch into a trampoline. Great stuff. Thanks for all your help.
By landing on the major thirds for A and E (C# and G#), presumably this works because the chord sequence are major. If the underlying chords were minor then you would land on the minor thirds. Is that right?
Great lesson!!! Thanks! For me it was exactly as you said, noodeling up and down the scales, without playing musik. Knowing about notes to land on and pausing it sounds much more like musik now.
Hi Brian,
For the record….these lessons this past six months have been all but Awesome to learn from….the Musician Studies only getting better each month, especially for what I have in mind lately. Thus also inspiring changes, improvements in my own practice sessions lately!! Please keep up the great Works with the Lessons as I continue looking forward to the rest of this year’s Lessons in similar proportion, of a similar stature as well as part of my own ongoing Studio Musician, Session Musician studies!! Sean
great lesson Brian and I love the feel that you clearly demonstrate on the videos in terms of phrasing and building the space. Could you point me in the direction of any lead lessons where you build lead parts especially off the back of using octaves and/or incorporating more into the lead structure? You do this a little in this lesson regarding safe notes but I’m thinking in particular in terms of building the melody around Octaves, if that makes sense?
Really useful and well explained. Many thanks Brian
As I struggle with phrasing, this lesson is eye opening. Man, how lucky we are to have Brian’s education genius. Thanks Brian!!
This simple lesson is the one I have needed to hear from someone for years, and I am very grateful for it. Thank you!!!
hey Brian,
in your film you are talking the best landing notes of a chord and you mention the root, the third and the flat 7
but for the D chord , the third is the F# , you do not mention this and is also not pointed in the tablature
is there a reason for this
waiting for your answer
reg Pierre
problem solved
i have seen EP 418
Brian- first and foremost, I have to say that I have learned more from your website than any other guitar website I have visited, hands down. The combination of your teaching style, reinforcing concepts consistently, and the ease of the tech on your site is fantastic!
That being said, as a student I would say I get stuck at this place a lot- I find that I know a lot of the “non-creative” material (scales, triads, harmonized intervals- thanks to you), but trying to put it together and fashion something musical from scratch is the biggest challenge for me. I just get stuck in the “where do I begin” phase.
When I listen to you play, whether it is a blues lead/fill or a stand alone composition, it seems like you DO tell a story, and come home at the end- like a walk through the woods with a tour guide or something. How in the heck do you DO that? I always sound like I don’t know where the trail starts, then I meander around and get lost.
I would get a lot of value if you spent a portion of time in each lesson explaining the creative process that you go through from scratch. When you look at the song structure, chord progression, etc., how do you create the phrases, then have them sound like a story with a beginning, middle , and end?
And thanks again for all you do for us!
James
My Son Jonás who is also learning guitar had this AhA! moment and lightbulb went of in his mind after watching this lesson with me.
So helpful Brian.
Thank you Man.
This is so awesome , I have learned so much from all of your lessons .
Thank you !
Getting much more focused on the fretboard for what I have in mind lately…Awesome…Thanks Brian!!
Nice licks and very helpful information.Thank you Brian.
Great information in this lesson I feel like I can make real Music now… You are one of the best sir!! Thank You.
Thank you, helped a lot!
Great lesson. Really helps to give me the next step that I needed in my guitar playing.
What notes do you land on when playing the a major chord progression?
That is a gorgeous telecaster! I can see me using this video a lot in the next few weeks thank you!
Thanks for this lesson.
This one along with EP418 have been super helpful for me. Two part question:
Here is the general rule of thumb to my understanding, regarding notes to land on:
1 chord – 1, 3, b7
4 chord – 1, 5, b7
5 chord – 1, 3, b7
(of each chord being played, NOT of the 1 chord/key of the song)
Question 1: Does this apply to both Major & Minor chord progressions?
Question 2: What about other chords, the 2 or the 6 for example? What are the “safe” notes there?
Many thanks.
Awesome lesson!
This lesson is super. I had just gotten to the point where my playing stayed in key, and as a consequence was aimless and overly exuberant. It was lacking punctuation. This lesson is tremendously helpful. Rests were happening spontaneously after following this. Awesome.
Love this could you show the different licks used when landing on right note it sounds so great. Maybe by learning the different licks will train your fingers to end on the right note and train your ear to hear the blues sound. I can make up my own but there is something about how you play and the sound that is amazing, I want to be able to play what I feel and land on the right note, I feel like I am still missing something!
Yes a lightbulb but Tabs would have made it so much easier but as it goes back to 2023 it’s not going to be unfortunately
very cool. more backing tracks for this one would be very cool.
Brian
When the cord changes are coming fast and you have 5 different cords.Whats best the root and the 3rd or the 7th ?
Brian
Two years later, this lesson keeps on giving when playing the I IV V blues…
Is there now or would you consider a lesson very similar to this, and tackling the safe notes to land on when playing lead for songs with ii, iii and vi chords?
With much thanks…
I’m having a blast with this, working each lick over the jam track. Mixing each lick up as the 12 bar blues goes around. This lesson is so much fun. Thank you Brian.