Description
In this week’s guitar lesson, you’ll learn the how to play both the rhythm and the lead tracks for a minor key blues composition. The rhythm track using a percussive fingerstyle technique that makes playing a solo rhythm sound so full (includes the bass, percussion, and melody). In addition, you’ll learn a bluesy lead to play on top of the rhythm track. The jam tracks allow you to practice either rhythm or lead parts.
Part 1 (Rhythm) - Free Guitar Lesson
Part 2 (Lead) - Free Guitar Lesson
Only available to premium members.
Register for premium access
Register for premium access
Slow Walkthrough (Rhythm)
Only available to premium members.
Register for premium access
Register for premium access
Slow Walkthrough (Lead)
Only available to premium members.
Register for premium access
Register for premium access
Video Tablature Breakdown
Only available to premium members.
Register for premium access
Register for premium access

Add to "My Favorites"
You need to login or register to bookmark/favorite this content.
Love it, very cool. Can’t wait to try it.
Bravo, vous êtes un musicien formidable, Manuel Wollman,
I dig the Mule! I can always use a good rhythm and lead lesson combined. Thanks Brian
When brain says middle and body lifts pinky… this will take some time … Love it 😃
beautiful guitar. awesome sound.
Your versatility makes you awesome as a mentor, Brian !!!
The rhythm part is challenging but the entire piece sounds a little spanish and bluesy like. Very cool. Have to work on this one.
It’s the slap for me.
Congrats on the new guitar. Is it a vintage instrument or built to look that way?
new build
Great sound! Which Mule model?
Brian, is that a wood body or is it finished to look like wood? I’ve never seen a Mule like that before.
it’s a wood body.
I think the riff you referred to is reminiscent of “I heard it through the grapevine”. Thanks for a catchy new tune to play, Brian.
Great lesson, nice laid back feel. Good having the Rhythm and Lead to work on. Thanks Brian.
Super sweet and cool, happy weekend hear again 🙂 much appreciated Brian..
Nice groove, can’t wait to get to work on it. Thanks. I get up early and Saturday mornings are my check out what’s new at A-M, you never disappoint
Beautiful guitar!
I have a resonator although not nearly as cool as that one and don’t play it much. I’ll pull it out and work on this lesson. I love to check out your lessons every Saturday, Brian. They keep me inspired.
having trouble chewing gum and making a sandwich at the same time. maybe this lesson will help.
Oh no! I want a Mule resonator. Gonna be hard to get this by the wife. Love that sound. That guitar is beautiful. Oh ya, pretty good lesson Brian.
Love everything about this: The groove, the minor vibe and especially that sweet resonator. Great choices, Brian, and something really fun to work with.
Brian definitely a nice sound. Is that a wide neck guitar? I know the camera can make it appear that way.
average size i would say
I found the ryhtmn in Amy Winehouse version of monkey man live .great lessons..no thanks really .:)do i get higher grade ?greetings from the netherlands
not rhytmn but the hook .and no points here just personel growth .
Great Lesson Brian! It has a little David Gilmore in the rhythm…
Well I got the rythm down but the only sound i hear is that i imagine in my head. I guess its therfore you use resonator becouse its easyer to bar?
Othetwise i would like to get some good tip for that.
/Lasse
I really enjoyed when you showed the same scale shape tied to different caged patterns leading to different modes. This might make an interesting lesson where you say take one scale shape and show it in E Major, Mixolydian, Minor and Dorian for example. Not sure if it can be made into a song or just a practice routine, but it reminds me of what I heard about Miles Davis using modal interchange on A Kind of Blue.
I too would like to see a lesson on moving the shape
I bet all the information is in your archives I just don’t know how to find it
Great guitar, nice sound, great
Teaching. Jerry Garcia
Sounds
Joe
Hey Brian,
I’m hearing “I’ll Take a Melody” by Jerry Garcia
A lovely enchanting duet for this lesson. Perfect choice for introducing the Mule.
Thank you Brian. Bravo!
G’day Brian,
I’m on a Fender(Yes Fender) Jumbo 12 acoustic, and I am lovin’ it.
M.J., Kilmore, Australia.
Bravo Brian, very good lesson !
Love the guitar and the Lesson!! Thank You for what you do.
That chord change remind me of something by the Vaughan Brothers
Love it. Sweet, dulcet and just grabs a hold of my soul.
Really nice lesson Brian, thank you.
Hi Brian,
I cheated and learned the melody first. I love the tune combined with the Rhythm. but the rhythm is the problem. I can’t play fingerstyle using steel strings, so I am now searching for my classical guitar which is hiding somewhere in the house. Hopefully I can handle the rhythm using nylon strings.
Thanks for the lesson,
Tom
Great lession..
There was a key moment where you turned a picking patteren around….(12:49). You mentioned that you didn’t really know exactly what you played until you went back to explain it… which tells me..
You were playing in the moment! Which i think is how most good players work…
There is a discipline to the techniques you’re using which is important to try and master… I have my own style of finger picking… (thumb and 2 fingers) that seems to work well for me.. But learning note for note… not my strong point…. So at some point I have to adapt it to my own playing style… Or I’ll never get anywhere. 🤣
I believe you’ve often alluded to the idea that… There is room for variations on these themes!
Thanks again for a great lesson!
Yes, exactly! well said.
Absolutely brilliant rhythm guitar. It’s a nightmare, I’m still working on bars 3 and 4. I don’t see myself getting this anytime soon. Please provide more of the percussive playing., I love it. Another great lesson
I’m really enjoying these rhythm + lead lessons! Please keep ’em coming!
This really awakened my enthusiasm after a slack period. Doubt that I will ever get there but it still sounds good with enormous simplification !
Best wishes to all. Brian is THE BEST !
Robin
Great melody & percussive rhythm, which is added to by the resonator A cracker of a lesson!
Brian – There is a lot of new stuff on this lesson that I am not familiar with. As much as I love the sound and the guitar I feel like an idiot trying to learn it – the slap and the finger style is kicking my butt. But I am determined. Also the last bar when you quickly bar and slide from G to A to B then back again to G. I can try it 20 times and maybe 2 tries is almost passable. I may have to modify that. Frustrating, absolutely! but I will keep trying!
Wow. It took me just over a week to get just the first two bars down. On hearing the rhythm for the first time, thought it wouldn’t take too long to learn… Nope, getting the percussive slap on beats 2 and 4 made my brain hurt, trying to think and do multiple things at the same time. About halfway through the past week, my brain suddenly re-wired itself and my right hand started to automatically slap the correct beats. Really took away a lot from this lesson and felt like a new skill had been learned. Thank you.
Brian, THANK YOU so much – you just gave me a perfect lesson combining the 3 skills (Like J J ‘s style on resonator guitars) as a finger-style guitar student of yours. Great guitar too.
HI Brian,
I have a Modest Mavis Mule. Lovely guitar. I do not see your guitar on the Mule site. Did you order it specifically to your specs?
A
it’s a prototype that Matt sent me – they can build them just like that though … not sure what they’ll be called
Thanks for the response Brian.
This is a great exercise for my fret hand and wrist too. I have realized my strumming thumb is finally going on autopilot when I play the bass notes. Not 100% there yet. But it no longer feels like a pat my head and rub my belly exercise lol.