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Learn a Jazzy, Blues Composition That You Can Play By Yourself on Guitar – Blues Guitar Lesson – EP289

Description

In this week’s lesson, you’ll learn a solo blues composition (no accompaniment required) that isn’t the typical 1, 4, 5 blues format. This has a jazzy chord arrangement to keep things interesting and give you ideas for other ways to play the blues (similar to Lonnie Johnson’s approach). This also uses the “call & response” technique to allow you to alternate back and forth between chords and lead. Los of takeaways in this one!

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Comments

  1. Biker13 says

    December 28, 2018 at 10:22 am

    Really beautiful Brian. One of my favorite solo lessons you’ve ever done (and that’s saying something). I honestly don’t know how you do it – week after week. Always another beautiful composition. Happy New Year!

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    • Joe W says

      January 17, 2019 at 9:39 am

      Hey Brian, this is a great lesson. I have learned a lot from it. Love the blues, It will take awhile to get it down, but most importantly I’m learning different ways to look at things.

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  2. Ricardo V says

    December 28, 2018 at 11:27 am

    Amazing again Brian. Probably my fav ever, love this blues/jazz ones. Happy new year mate.

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  3. JohnStrat says

    December 28, 2018 at 12:08 pm

    Very Nice Brian a good finish to the year. Wishing you all the best for 2019.

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  4. gbhstrat says

    December 28, 2018 at 12:44 pm

    This is the reason why I keep my membership. I have been a member since 2011 and it’s these solo call and response lessons that I enjoy. Another good one!

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  5. MYRX says

    December 28, 2018 at 12:47 pm

    Excellent! I love the solo lessons

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  6. luc p says

    December 28, 2018 at 1:47 pm

    Love the great lessons you send us every week Brian.

    From Belgium…,all the best for 2019.

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  7. Colin L says

    December 28, 2018 at 1:54 pm

    I love the 1940s and earlier blues and jazz, this is exactly what I was looking for. Can you do a Charlie Christian inspired lesson soon? BB King often said his two biggest influences on how he played guitar were T-Bone Walker and Charlie Christian. Unfortunately Charlie died very young from TB, so we only have a few dozen recordings of his music.

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  8. Leonard U says

    December 28, 2018 at 2:36 pm

    another great lesson. I’ve been playing guitar for many years but with each one of your lessons I improvise and since I signed up I’ve become a completely different guitar player. thanks.

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  9. JoLa says

    December 28, 2018 at 2:45 pm

    Hah, you thought about taking off during the holidays (nice try 😉) and then you just noodle around the night before and come up with something so delightful?! Only an incredibly talented song writer can do that, not to mention the fantastic lesson you made for us! And then you actually have done it every single week for the last 6 or so years! 😲Brian, you will never cease to amaze me and I LOVE the fact that you are just as addicted to your weekly lessons as I am (as many of us are). Hope you are enjoying the holidays and looking forward to another amazing year with Active Melody! Thank you, Brian, you rock! ❤️

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  10. Jay Guitarman says

    December 28, 2018 at 2:59 pm

    Incredibly good and beautiful…

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  11. brian-belsey says

    December 28, 2018 at 3:13 pm

    Very interesting! I can’t wait to start on this.

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  12. Buster89 says

    December 28, 2018 at 4:18 pm

    Love those jazzy compos ! They are my favorite types. So much to learn at the right pace. Thanks so much Brian and looking forward to more exciting compos in 2019 !

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  13. mike jams says

    December 28, 2018 at 6:25 pm

    another amazing lesson , can’t wait to learn this one.
    i’m very glad to be part of the Active Melody music train.
    i have learned more in the last couple of years than i have the prior 25 years.
    the theory and logic behind the songs really helps me be more creative on my own.
    keep up the great work, looking forward to a fun 2019

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  14. Michael Allen says

    December 28, 2018 at 6:35 pm

    Thanks of another great lesson! Happy New Year!!!

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  15. sunburst says

    December 28, 2018 at 6:44 pm

    very nice, another nice soft melody which reminded me Chet Atkins , going to enjoy this!

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  16. Jim M says

    December 28, 2018 at 6:50 pm

    Long Live Active Melody !!!

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  17. San Luis Rey says

    December 28, 2018 at 6:57 pm

    Sweet way to wrap up the New Year Brian! This is a great sounding progression that leads up to an ending that I can’t play enough.
    Thanks and Happy New Year!

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  18. sunburst says

    December 28, 2018 at 7:15 pm

    wow, you are some composer! Just went through and noticed how really good you are Brian! So lucky you enjoy sharing as you do! bless you sir!

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  19. mritalian says

    December 28, 2018 at 8:41 pm

    Wow! Another Great lesson, Yea Folks out there this is the place to learn to play. Thanks SO MUCH! Happy New Year Brian continued Success.

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  20. Don D. says

    December 28, 2018 at 10:42 pm

    Great lesson, thank you, Brian! Here’s to a happy, healthy 2019!

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  21. Chuck W says

    December 29, 2018 at 12:55 am

    This really hits the spot!
    Thanks Brian.

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  22. Mirabel S says

    December 29, 2018 at 3:27 am

    Love it,
    Happy New Year, to all at Active Melody and thanks Brian for another great lesson.

    Myra.

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  23. phil l says

    December 29, 2018 at 6:18 am

    that is good!!!!
    it can be played bluesy or jazzy too, keeping the same stucture of chords with jazzy notes
    I really enjoyed
    thanks Brian for all your good working.
    the best for 2019

    phil

    from France

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  24. charjo says

    December 29, 2018 at 7:36 am

    So many takeaways in this little lesson! It occurred to me that your little X pattern is a 1-6-2-5 turnaround. Thanks for another great year. All the best in the New Year and looking forward to another year with Active Melody.
    John

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  25. Mark M says

    December 29, 2018 at 1:18 pm

    What a great lesson. I agree with many of the other comments. You wow me week after week creating lovely melodies and little leads with a minimum of effort. Explaining how the licks come out of chord shapes has taken my playing to another level. Playing doesn’t have to be that complicated if a person understands where the tune is coming from, and where it’s going next. Thanks Bryan

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  26. Michael H says

    December 29, 2018 at 3:50 pm

    Smooth Brian real smooth! Love this lesson sounds to me like baby please come home for Christmas progression by the Eagles. Not sure if I am right. Thanks again. Happy New Year!

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    • Andre L says

      December 30, 2018 at 3:39 am

      Another great lesson and amazing one.
      I will polish this one until I get it all.
      Thank you and Happy new Year

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  27. Lights says

    December 30, 2018 at 2:20 am

    Sounds very Christmas. Happy New Year!

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  28. Lights says

    December 30, 2018 at 3:50 am

    Be somebody so kind and creating a soundtrack for this melody, it’s even as asking it!

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  29. Raymond P says

    December 30, 2018 at 11:30 am

    What a beautiful sounding lesson.
    Thanks Brian

    Ray P

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  30. Nicolas R says

    December 30, 2018 at 11:40 am

    Love it! Would love if it’s possible to have more Jazzy Blues in the future. Really love this lesson, thank you!

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  31. Bruce B says

    December 30, 2018 at 12:19 pm

    Great!

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  32. Michael vdh says

    December 30, 2018 at 6:36 pm

    Shwiiiiing love love love … this is great work Brian. Worm tone, delectably deliciously warm.

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  33. Ted D Boy says

    December 31, 2018 at 1:54 am

    Brian, you have done it again, I absolutely loved this lesson!!! I couldn’t put my guitar down till I had it completely sussed out..
    Keep up the good work, you are my guitar teaching Hero.
    Thank you once again & a happy New Year from Safety Bay Perth Western Australia.

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  34. DerekBlue says

    December 31, 2018 at 7:31 am

    Thanks Brian. I know its a labor of love. I’m sure the composition for you is the easy part. Then you have to produce it into a lesson. Appreciate your work ethic. It pays off or all of us out here in the happy struggle. Great piece this week.

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  35. Geoffrey C says

    January 1, 2019 at 9:40 am

    Great lessons every week. Brian a Happy New Year from across the pond.

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  36. Randy G says

    January 1, 2019 at 9:52 am

    Brian thank you for another wonderful lesson. I know it is crazy I feel like we ‘re friends. love spending time with you every week Buddy. happy new year

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    • Brian says

      January 1, 2019 at 11:59 am

      I suppose we are friends – in a virtual sense 🙂 Happy New Year

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  37. Iman A says

    January 1, 2019 at 3:10 pm

    Brian,
    Happy new year with best wishes for you, your family, Students and followers.
    More than 2 years i have been your follower and learned lots of things
    Appreciate for your kind attention and teaching.

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  38. Mike H says

    January 1, 2019 at 4:53 pm

    One shot of “Ain’t Nobody’s Business”, with a twist of Brian. Nice work and Happy New Year 🙂

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  39. Michael M says

    January 1, 2019 at 10:56 pm

    This is the Right Stuff! Love the jazzy tones in this. The lesson is just chock full of fabulous tones and takeaways. More like these please. perhaps even a Pt. 2 to add to this super piece????

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  40. ben4given says

    January 2, 2019 at 9:03 am

    I love these call and response type lessons. They are especially good for me since I primarily play alone. Unfortunately my acoustic guitar gets a bit crowded for my dainty fingers to make bar chords that far up the neck. I’ve been working on transposing down a few frets.

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  41. John F says

    January 2, 2019 at 9:26 am

    Cool little lesson, Brian, and fun to play. Good techniques to add to my limited repertoire!

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  42. Ian C says

    January 2, 2019 at 10:42 am

    What a fabulous lesson. Cool sound and introduces lots of learning points. Also, I really love these lessons which address chords across the fretboard and ‘force’s us to put caged into practice.

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  43. Helmut F says

    January 2, 2019 at 2:20 pm

    Beautiful composition and lot of stuff to learn. Great job!

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  44. gary foster says

    January 2, 2019 at 2:39 pm

    Great lesson. Something new to work on. What guitar are you playing?

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  45. rjwheeler says

    January 2, 2019 at 3:05 pm

    Really lovely; thought it would take longer to learn because it sounds so cool. Thanks for not taking the week off.

    Bob

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  46. Olivier P says

    January 2, 2019 at 4:33 pm

    Another great lesson. Thank you Brian and Best Wishes for 2019.

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  47. Mike H says

    January 2, 2019 at 5:24 pm

    Hi Brian, would that little pattern you show in the beginning of part 2 be a 1-6-2-5 in D? (Just trying to get my head around that Nashville numbering system)

    Cheers
    Mike H

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  48. john l says

    January 2, 2019 at 11:10 pm

    What a nice way to start the year! So tasty!

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  49. dave t says

    January 3, 2019 at 12:14 am

    ever been asked this question? can you play a guitar. yeh…little bit. play something then! and you don’t know what to play? I just found my “song”. thank you xxx

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  50. Eric Y says

    January 3, 2019 at 3:33 am

    To this point, this is my favorite. The chords and the accents. It is beautiful and i enjoyed learning this.. Thanks a million Brian.

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  51. Frankie Cole says

    January 3, 2019 at 6:25 pm

    Always “GREAT Lessons”. This is the reason I’ve kept my membership . Even though, I haven’t been able to play my guitar for little over a year (15 months).
    So, I just filed ALL of your lessons for future USE. Yes, was GOOD and now “GREAT Stuff”, just keep it coming and Happy New Year. Frankie Cole, Prime Member

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  52. Andy N says

    January 3, 2019 at 6:51 pm

    Very, very nice Brian! Love that jazzy laid back feel and a great way to end the year. Happy New Year to you and all the family.

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  53. Terry H says

    January 3, 2019 at 9:14 pm

    Brian,

    In the 8th Bar.
    The A6 moving down to the A9….
    Isn’t the the same shape we learned
    in an earlier lesson as a minor shape?

    Very much enjoy the lessons!!

    Terry Harper

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  54. lost says

    January 3, 2019 at 9:35 pm

    Thanks Brian. You nail it every time . I hope you and the family have an incredible new year.

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  55. philippe aka philswolf S says

    January 3, 2019 at 11:54 pm

    … a really classy little jazz flavored blues, Brian …and really instructive at that !!!…I really dug the X trick, and how one can shift the chord around a note …as the 6th of the D becomes the 9th of the coming A chord…enlightening, and so well illustrated…I’ll definitely keep my premium membership…
    …All the best to the ActiveMelody team for the new year…
    …A wish : – more jazz, please !!! “My Funny Valentine” is worth a lesson, don’t you think ?
    Greetings from Geneva, Switzerland…

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  56. Sergio L says

    January 4, 2019 at 11:00 am

    Really beautiful. Fantastic composition.

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  57. Rudy K says

    January 4, 2019 at 5:58 pm

    Definitely one of my favorite lessons! So glad I’m a student of Brian’s, learning compositions like this one! You’re the best! Happy new year to you and all the Active Melody community!

    Best
    Rudy

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  58. Dalton H says

    January 4, 2019 at 6:08 pm

    One of these days i’m going to learn an entire lesson and on that day we are going to have a forum party.all these little tips and tricks really help a lot.Thanks Brian

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  59. John G says

    January 4, 2019 at 11:43 pm

    Hi Brian, thoroughly enjoyed this weeks tune. Can’t stop playing it. While I can see the ‘back cycling’ i.e. 6, 2, 5, 1, I’d be grateful if you would share some insight into the progression. Thanks, John

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  60. Francis M says

    January 5, 2019 at 7:51 am

    @ 19:25 is that a dmin cord shape you call it a a9? I don’t understand where the root is. Thought it would be the E note on the B string?

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  61. Mark G says

    January 6, 2019 at 4:10 pm

    Fantastic lesson – I just rejoined after a long hiatus. Best teacher on the net

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  62. Dennis R says

    January 7, 2019 at 5:17 pm

    I am a new member. I really like what you are doing and especially lessons like this that teach a composition. It’s nice to be able to play a cool song. I hope you do more of these.

    Thanks,

    D.

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  63. DaveR says

    January 8, 2019 at 9:14 pm

    Brian, this lesson is a beauty – working my way through it. Could you do a Part 2? It feels like it could use another section or bridge to follow about measure 17.

    Thanks for all these lessons – much appreciated!!!

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  64. maurice e says

    January 11, 2019 at 9:47 am

    Hi Brian, I really love this one and I shall do my best to extend it to a longer version it`s so relaxing to play

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  65. riteus1 says

    January 14, 2019 at 1:31 pm

    Another great lesson! Thanks for taking the time to explain the theory behind the song. Quite helpful in creating my own songs.

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  66. john b says

    January 14, 2019 at 6:01 pm

    awesome lesson enjoying it best regards john

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  67. patrick m says

    January 21, 2019 at 12:48 pm

    Lovely arrangement, I love this one! Perfect difficulty level for me although I am struggling memorizing it…

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  68. Dirk V says

    January 29, 2019 at 4:02 pm

    I just love this very nice lesson. Thank you Brian

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  69. Robin S says

    January 31, 2019 at 11:35 pm

    This is a really great lesson, Brian. Even if that D6 is killing my fat fingers. 🙂

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  70. Alexandre F says

    February 14, 2019 at 9:17 am

    This is a beautiful song to end this winter and start with a lovely spring afternoon or at least it´s what it comes to my mind so emotively with the variety of chords and composition sure it´s a pleasure for me being able to play this song for now to amuse myself as in the future for my personal growth as a guitar player.

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  71. Hung L says

    February 16, 2019 at 11:12 am

    An extension and more jazzy/blue please.

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  72. Rich B says

    February 20, 2019 at 5:50 am

    My favorite lesson so far. I really feel that I’m learning something that goes beyond the song. I’ve been improvising with the arrangement to make something that suits my ear.

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  73. Dag J. says

    March 14, 2019 at 2:33 pm

    You can do MORE like this one, Brian–love it!! After Classic Rock and Blues, my love for Jazz guitar is growing (as is my vocabulary of Jazz-style chords and licks, and this dovetailed nicely into what I’m learning now. I recently adapted this piece to a fingerstyle acoustic version, with a few embellishments, and slowed it down a touch–soul music! Keep it coming, Sir!

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  74. Dag J. says

    March 14, 2019 at 2:37 pm

    You can do MORE like this one, Brian–love it!! After Classic Rock and Blues, my love for Jazz guitar is growing (as is my vocabulary of Jazz-style chords and licks), and this dovetailed nicely into what I’m learning now. I recently adapted this piece to a fingerstyle acoustic version, with a few embellishments, and slowed it down a touch–soul music! Keep it coming, Sir!

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  75. helmut says

    August 1, 2019 at 4:49 pm

    Cool piece of music that I like a lot. This will be my
    starting point at ActiveMelody. Very nice and moving chord structure.
    Brian, Thanks for the great work I will ddig into it.

    Helmut

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  76. Jim K says

    August 23, 2019 at 7:03 pm

    Brian,

    Every once in a while I find myself tapping my foot to your compositions, this is one and definitely one I want to learn, just great Brian. Thank You, Jim

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  77. Les Brown says

    November 21, 2019 at 2:41 pm

    Stunning lesson. I use several online teachers, and they’re all great in their own way. But yours is by far the best value for the material, and the most compelling and fascinating method of instruction. Original compositions that are filled with fretboard understanding and navigation. You open up the neck like no one else. “First let me show you how to play it, then I’ll show you how to think about it.”

    Excellent. And the material is always beautiful. I can’t sing your praises enough, Brian. But you play them VERY well…

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    • Brian says

      November 21, 2019 at 6:34 pm

      Thank you Les!

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  78. donna p says

    May 21, 2020 at 3:31 pm

    Brian, Love when you bring back these really cool compositions! Sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised that I could not play them the first time around,
    but this time they make sense and I can play them:) Thanks for all your work on this great website!!!

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  79. pschlosb says

    May 23, 2020 at 3:59 pm

    More like this one Brian, please

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  80. Nam N says

    July 8, 2020 at 7:28 am

    Being able to create such a piece by just chilling, no doubt you’re a genius.

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  81. Peter B says

    January 19, 2021 at 2:47 am

    I absolutely love this lesson, as I can see do many others. It is probably my favourite so far, although there are many rivals. I am learning so much from your lessons Brian. You explain everything so simply and well, so that what seems difficult at first becomes easy to grasp. It’s rare that someone as obviously gifted as you is able to pass on their knowledge in such a modest way. You treat your students as equals and your enthusiasm for music and the guitar is infectious. Please produce more lessons like this one.

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