Description
In this week’s guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play lead guitar in the style of B.B King by learning how to blend the major and minor pentatonic scales in a few zones that he often used on the fretboard.
Part 1 - Free Guitar Lesson
Slow Walkthrough
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Video Tablature Breakdown
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Man that sounds great! I love it and can’t wait to learn it! Thank you
how do u leave a new comment?
Looks like you figured it out
Big chuncks for the beginner and nice polishing for intermediates.
I new at this How do you play A6?? It would be nice to see the rhythm too
Brian, this is Great stuff! Having the time of my life learning guitar from you.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Awesome, thanks Brian !
Great thanks a lot Brian
yes great lesson on BB that and learning slide in standard tuneing is what I want Thanks Brian
Sooo good Brian. Love your BB KING lessons. Thanks and hope all is well!
Garry
Thanks Brian – Love it!
Love it! Thanks Brian
Brian, you have that B B King tone dialed in. Soooooo soulful.
Can’t get enough of that BB King! Love this one Brian, and I get to play the Dot this week!
Year after year, you just keep cranking ’em out!!! Thank you for the effort you put into your lessons. Always fantastic instruction.
Can’t wait to get into this one!!!!!!!
How do these shapes/zones/boxes relate to the one you have in EP380 ???
I’m stoked! This is the style of young BB King. As he got older, he slowed down his licks, but when he was a young guy, he could shred with the best of them.
Yes. Good point. I meant to mention that in the video for this. You can definitely hear him slow down in his later days.
Saw him play in 09. He was down to about three licks. Mostly talked but his band was smoking hot.
I had a similar experience when I saw John Lee Hooker. Smoking hot band played 5 or 6 songs alone. John Lee came out and could barely play or sing for 10 minutes then left. Band continued without him with a smokin set. John Lee passed away the next
night. Rest is peace.
BB may be the king of blues , Brian is the king of teaching the blues. Hats off again to a spot on lesson. Thank you!
This should be fun! Hey Brian, how about something really scary for the spooky holiday coming up. Seams like a real scary time we are in these days, so something that makes the hair stand on it’s ends would
fit right in this year.
You are right saying this is gold for learning the blues.
If I only could of learned of these zones and shapes when I was a young
what a privilege to have you as our teacher
cant thank you enough
Thank you Brain,
Very enjoyable yet again, looking forward in starting this one.
This is great. I have been hoping for something on BB’s style and “BB box”- related for quite a while. Well done, Brian!
You are absolutely right. There are loads of “BB Box” lessons out there but they never explain it sufficiently so I always got a bit confused. But this nails it for me.
Good to have a bit of blues again.
Theory nerd alert!! Two points I don’t see discussed often. When playing the B.B. box in the key of A , if you consider the G and B strings, you are actually mixing major and minor in the key of D box 1 just like you would do in the key of A box 1. That why it sounds so awesome over the 4 chord. Also, if you look at the intervals in the B.B, box, ie. major 6, root, major 2nd, 4th and 5th, you can recreate a B.B. box in the box 1 major pentatonic on strings 4, 3 and 2. That actually gives you access to a root note on the high E string in addition to the BB notes.
John
yes I’m following what you’re sayng!
Great lesson. Any chance of getting a fretboard diagram of the boxes you are using ?? That would be so helpful for visual learners
Found the appropriate fret board diagrams on EP 130.
Great BB King lesson Brian. Can’t thank you enough.
Ray P
love this, one for my favorites
BB all-time favourite guitarist, Brian all-time favourite teacher. All good. Just one question, which are bendable notes? My other teacher, Harry, says I bend notes that shouldn’t be bent. Can you help me out? A micro lesson maybe?
I was taught to go with the style that best suits you, Playing noted differently is what makes you an individual and unique player, Only my opinion but I see that as useful , Just reading your comment and it seems to me you should play music the way it feels best to you, I hope you don’t mind me replying.
thanks. useful if I can get away with it…..
I was taught to go with the style that best suits you, Playing notes differently is what makes you an individual and unique player, Only my opinion but I see that as being useful , Just reading your comment and it seems to me you should play music the way it feels best to you, I hope you don’t mind me replying.
one of your best lessons!! Thanks!!
First, this is really a fun lesson. Second, it helped me to visualize mixing pattern 4 of the major pentatonic and pattern 3 of the minor pentatonic. I seem to mostly mix pattern 1 of the minor and pattern 2 of the major. Very helpful.
in the A major box you have 12,10,12,10,11. I only see 12,9,12,10,11. Is this a sort of variation?
This is what I’m having trouble understanding. Brian referred to this shape in the video as “pattern 4 of the major pentatonic”, but it really is a variation-all the notes don’t line up. Am I right that another way to look at it would be as the BB box, which mostly includes pattern 4, but also can be looked at as incorporating pattern 3 of the minor pentatonic scale?
Sorry a month too late, but I think the 10 is from the minor, similar to the 13 on the 2nd string being an extension that hits the minor.
Love the new teaching technique. Less fret talk and more reason why you’re there. Zones, thirds etc.
Hey Brian the Rythm is quite easy to work out and play along , when you play the Bm just before E9 is that the 5 chord of the 5 chord before the 5 chord senario you keep telling us about , and i notice you also chucked in the D sharp diminised 7 before going back to root chord is this to create tension . There is a whole lesson here and as it is quite simple some of the not so advanced players would get plenty of enjoyment and theory out of this and would great to see how you played it choice of chords etc . Love the lead lesson . Thanks Chris
Thanks Brian, great job! Rythm guitar is awesome too…I wish you had published the tablature;)
Love it.
My riffs do not sound like yours.??
You have that gift.
Excellent lesson. On a recent lesson you encouraged us to suggest interesting guitarists you might not know about. I can’t do that, but I have not come across anything on Frank Zappa in your catalog yet. I’ll also mention Robbie Robertson. And Danny Gatton, tho he is in a different category I guess. Glenn Campbell?
Cool lesson. All the major and minor scale mixing seems like it flows much easier over the 6 and 9 chords. Maybe because the major or minor of the backing track is kind of ambiguous?
Brian, thanks *so much* for this lesson. There is a ton of great stuff to be gleaned from it. Exactly what I had in mind a few weeks back when I asked for a lesson on the “BB King box”–but I really like the term “zone” much better. The lesson inspired me to go back and explore that extended triangle created from the D major triad with the 13th fret being brought into play as well on the first and second strings, and it was so helpful to have your tips on which notes are “fully bendable” (or more!). This has sparked some really exploration for me. Thanks again!
What chord on the slow backing track minus guitar is played at the 11 second mark. Sounds like it goes from an A6 to something else but can’t seem to figure it out.
Great lesson!
Could you create a fret board diagram like you have for other lessons?
I think it would be really helpful to see and visualize the major and minor notes.
Thank you,
Michael
The appropriate fret board diagrams can be found on EP 130
Thanks for sharing Brian and keeping us very sharp in the box.
jc
Great lesson Brian !! Love BB King . I agree with some of the other comments that adding the boxes will make it easier for us visual lerners .
If you can edit the video and put them , it will be great
Thank you for all these great lessons
superbe lesson BriaN. I REALLY enjoyed it and will practice it very soon!
Back to the blues, Blues Boy-style! Great lesson, Brian, with a lot of interconnected take-aways. Now time for some ERIC CLAPTON. I think your last one was EP 176. That was awhile ago.
Great stuff Brian!!! keep it up, love those BB King lessons
If possible, an explanation of how you developed the chord progression would be helpful.
that’s a separate lesson – would be too much to try and cram into a single lesson
Thanks for the reply. I greatly enjoy your lessons.
Just an idea. Have you ever thought about posting a rhythm video below the lead video in the Video Tablature Breakdown section? This would show the chords matching the lead.
I like this. Does not have to be an explanation. Just being able to see the chord changes and stroke pattern would be great. We can figure out the rest.
Amazing!
Brian your teaching is so simple and great.
Great Lesson
I’ve always loved BB King and this is my favorite lesson so far. Looking forward to more like it.
Brilliant BB King lesson, Brian! Just working my way through your video. I have just reached 17.22 minutes, and you asked for a comment about the major pentatonic triangle zone at frets 10 / 12 etc … yes: absolutely wonderful… gold-dust indeed! The different bends we can do in that zone to get either major or minor pentatonics. Fantastic!
The whole lesson is wonderful! The slide from the A minor pentatonic pattern 2 shape up two frets to the A major pentatonic pattern 4 shape is brilliant! I am a visual learner, and you are helping me to see patterns now… Gold-dust! More lessons like this please… particularly BB King!
Hi Brian, about 25 years ago I took my 16 year old son to see BB King in concert in Glasgow, Scotland. BB was far better than my already high expectations and it was a great show.
On the way home (a three hour drive) I asked my son what he thought about the show and while he confirmed it was one of the best things he had ever seen, he turned and asked my why BB seemed to copy a lot of Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix guitar playing.
Once I got over the shock of his question I simply said, how old is BB King and how old are the other two?
The rest of our journey was very quiet apart from my youngster saying he just didn’t realize, several, several times.
It did wonders for my credibility of being a cool dad!
Brian, this is a great lesson. Thanks for putting it together. I love BB King’s style and phrasing. Any chance we can get some Albert King or Freddie King lessons?
I’ve been trying very hard to understand going between the major the minor shapes and this didn’t help any. Brian plays the shape 2 ( E shape) “BB King box” of the minor pentatonic. He then moves the whole shape up 2 frets and calls in the Major Pentatonic shape 4. This is not shape 4 but still shape 1 moved up two frets. When first played it’s the bottom part of shape E of A Minor pentatonic. The next one, two frets up is the bottom of the B minor Pentatonic shape 2.
Can anyone explain this to me?
Wow! Great stuff and easy-to-follow exposure of B.B. King’s style for a us, blues wannabee-aficionados. Also, I know you post your lessons on the Friday (for us in WA), but thanks for the Tuesday reminders, Thank you from Down Under, Max
Crystal clear again. Thanks
Been away from the guitar for a couple weeks, you know how life intrudes sometimes. This lesson is going to get me back into it. Thanks Brian!
Hi Tariq.
Great question! I have posted a response to your query in the forum section “Blues Guitar Discussions”. The reason that I have posted it there is that I cannot add attachments here.
There, I have drawn out a fret-board that I find useful for practice. In an early BB King lesson of Brian’s, I was very confused at one time about this sliding up two frets with the same shape from pattern 2 of the A minor pentatonic… it was only when Brian started teaching major pentatonic (which I knew nothing about until I joined Active melody: before that, I only knew of the minor pentatonic) that I understood it!
If you look at my fretboard diagram in my “Blues Guitar Discussion” post, the solid dots are the A minor pentatonic, so you can see pattern 2 there at frets 8 and 10 on strings 1 and 2, and fret 9 on string 3.
The circles are the A major pentatonic. If I am playing A major pentatonic, I put my pinky on the 5th fret string 6 as an anchor (instead of first finger) and then think about the pentatonic “going the other way”‘compared to minor pentatonic.
So you will see in the circles, pattern 4 of the A major pentatonic is two frets up from pattern 2 of the A minor pentatonic, as in Brian’s lesson here. The triangle shape on strings 2 (frets 10 and 12) and string 3 (fret 11) are exactly in A major pentatonic pattern 4. However, what fascinates me, by sliding the exact “house” shape up (I think of it as a house with a pointed roof on string 3!), BB played fret 10, on string 1, which is not in the A major pentatonic shape for pattern 4. It is a minor scale note within pattern 2 of A minor pentatonic ! For pattern 4 of A major pentatonic, It should be fret 9 on string 1!
Incidentally, I am currently also checking a great lesson that complements this one: EP380… where Brian focuses in the key of E) on this major pentatonic triangle for pattern 4 on strings 2 and 3, and adds a square extension (pattern 5). In this lesson’s key of A, this would be 12 and 14 on strings 1 and 2 (and 14 on string 2 is the same as 9 on string 1: so this triangle square method is totally correct for A major oentatonic!)
Hope this helps!
Love what you do, very helpful !!!
Thanks!
André
Brian, great practical lesson with lots of little easy moves that sound great!
you turned the light switch on!!
Thank You. keep it coming.
Love it Brian, would also love to get the comping
Can you explain why moving over two frets moves you from minor to major.
Thomas; in the first position Brian showed at the 8th and 10th frets you are emphasizing the flat 3rd, flat 7th, 4th and 5th. At the 10 and 12th frets you are using the 1, 2, 4,5 and 6th of the chord which sounds major (because of the 2 and 6) This pattern is similar to the 4th pattern of the minor pentatonic but starts on the 12th fret of the 5th string which is an A. Start with your pinky on that note and continue playing pattern 4 going toward the headstock. Now, put your index finger on the 6th string 12th fret and play pattern 4, this will be the minor pentatonic of A
Hope this helps
Great lesson Brian, I wish I had been taught which strings were bendable years ago, quite an eye opener
Thank you!
Man, this is gorgeous! BB King at its best!
I was having fun with this lesson all day , addictive, thanks Brian another great lesson,
I feel with this lesson, that I have seen a ray of golden sunshine streaming into my dark box-breaking out of my box through your interpretation of the classic BB box. I’m excited, thank you Brian.
Hi Brian, I saw B. B. King at the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach CA. He blew me away. The thing I remember most is his vibrato. He had more talent in his little finger than I would ever have in my entire body if I live to 969 years old. You mentioned doing a lesson on his vibrato.. Please do. I eagerly await it.
Fabulous ! Like a curtain coming up and revealing solid gold. The boxes and their extensions present possibilities I’ve heard and couldn’t figure out. There are months of happy experimenting packed in this exceptional lesson. It really showcases the value of your original compositions. Thank you yet again. You create much faster than I can absorb. Don’t slow down, though. Thanks again.
Brian,
A tab on how to play or finger position the chords would be very helpful. Thanks
Wish I had this video back in my teens. I could have done more than all the jackasses that lorded their limited Blues over what was going on. Love that sweet spot between Major & Minor.
Great lesson. It would be great if you could provide a list of songs (recommended listening) that you got inspiration from when creating it.
I LOOOOOVE that one !!!!!!
Didn’t like this lesson. You went too fast and didn’t really show how to play it.
This is a great lesson!!
Thanks for your dedication in explaining in detail what you are playing Brian , Long may you continue lighting up those bulbs !
In the video you said you have it note for note for premium members. It isn’t there. Your constant digression and glossing over the actual lesson makes it impossible for me to follow. I’m a big fan of BBs and thought this lesson would be a big help but it isn’t. How about revisiting it with just the actual tune?
what do you mean by “actual tune”? and did you miss the On-Screen tab viewer? It’s the tab on the screen with me playing it – and you can slow down the tempo to however slow you need… you can also loop sections if you need something on repeat.
Great lesson of course I Love BB King…..
Many years ago he signed my little Fender Acoustic guitar.
Love this lesson. My favorite so far. At my level of playing this really stretches me. To be able to play like this is why I started playing. The tablature and the video loop really helps.
Thanks Brian
Wow! I can’t thank you enough. I have been trying to get that feel down . Now I understand. Thanks again.
.
Love the lesson. Just wanted to know why bending 10th fret (high E) A minor and 12th fret (B string) in A Major sound so good. Is it because on the 10th as you bend the D it travels thru the flat 3rd on its way to the 3rd? And in A major the B travels thru the flat 3rd to the C# third?
Hi Brian, with your help my ‘lightbulb’ has gone off and for the first time in my 71 years, I played a blues lead guitar solo with your jam track and it sounded like the blues. I am just beside myself with joy! I’ve been playing acoustic guitar practically all my life, mainly finger style, but how to play a blues lead has always eluded me, other than learning note for note. I didn’t do that tonight, I improvised with the techniques you showed in this video and in the Ultimate Pentatonic video and it sounded just great!
You have helped my achieve something I never thought I would so I can’t thank you enough you fabulous man! Onwards!!!!!!!!!
Loved it, definitely a light bulb moment for me. The last time I watched a BB king box video (years ago), I was trying to memorize the notes and never really absorbed what was going on/why they worked. Makes a whole lot more sense now after watching this, thank you!
Thanks Brian, Great lesson. Open some windows for me.
Absolute gold. Prior to yesterday I didn’t even know the minor and major pentatonic scales could be used together… after watching lesson 436 and then this one I am unlocking things that I have been searching for forever. Thank you so much!
Brian Fantastic video, I wish you would consider doing more of your artist series as it is very valuable for those of us who are looking for our musical voice
I like the mixture of blues , rock-a billy, swing and country.
I would like to see a lesson dedicated to a 70’s twangy country ( flat picking or hybrid) I haven’t seen one of those for quite some time
but once again FANTASTIC LESSON!
Morning Brian, from Abbotsford, BC!
Great lesson, thank you. Getting to be more comfortable with playing lead and understanding the theory behind it.
Cheers, eh!
Tim
Great lesson, Brian! You’re an awesome instructor (and player)??
This is a great lesson. Thank you for sharing all of your knowledge.
Jerry
Loads to learn here! It also mixes well with the Cream Clapton- Mayal lesson also in A Key. I am still a very unexperienced player and managed to pull out several licks with the box visualisation and your tips. Great lesson. Thanks
This is defo a bucket list lesson for me… Absolutely love it…. thanks so much 👍..
One legend teaching you to play like another legend…. Fantastic
When you slide to the C note on the second string to band up a whole step to the D (the 4th) for the minor sound, my question is can’t you stay in the major position and Bend the B on the 12th fret second string up a half step to the C (b3) for that minor sound?
Brian,
I have been making great gains for (non-pro) living here in Nashville. I am turning that corner melodically marking the chords as they pass using triads, scale notes and arpeggio’s phrasing. A lot of things are coming together the last few months (with the AM premium help along the way). This video is perfect for my M/m mixing and phrasing ideas of B.B. related to the 2 zones and connecter busline. Thank you for sharing in your style of educator.
Brian ,
Quick question.
Is there a section on your website that has a downloadable pdf of the major and minor scales that I can print off?
j adore!! merci!
I retured to your lessons about mixing maj and min pentatonics (EP 471 and others) to strenghten my lead playing. After spending the past week on this, I came back to this lesson and it really helped me visualize and operationalize the various patterns and how you can mix and use them. I think its because you use BB King style music, which is something I know very well, and through that the mix of the maj and min pentatonics fell into place. Really great lesson.
Hi Brian: Love this lesson. This was a light bulb moment for me. I really like the way you relate all of these licks to the CAGED System which was my first major light bulb experience. a couple of years ago. When I play to blues backing tracks however, I am still having problems coming up with leads that match the tempo of the backing track.
I circled back to EP435 as I love this straightforward stuff so much and it was a light bulb moment for me but I’m old so the light bulb burns out a lot. Haha. But all your videos that simplify and “cut to the chase” so well are most appreciated! Thanks Brian! Keep the focus on …
This is such a great lesson! Pulls together so much of your teaching.
Much of BB’s sound (and Brian’s) comes from his amazing vibrato and bends. I’d love to see a lesson dedicated to both of those techniques.
The Bends and Vibrato Lesson!
Thanks Brian. I learn so much from your teaching.
Much of BB’s sound (and Brian’s) comes from his amazing vibrato and bends. I’d love to see a lesson dedicated to both of those techniques.
The Bends and Vibrato Lesson!
Thanks Brian. I learn so much from your teaching.
Thats me jamming to Live at The Regal this week, thank you, that was brilliantly explained, I know the BB box but never knew why it works, this makes so sense and now I can apply it without the guesswork!
Love it 🙂
I like this lesson and i learn a lot. Thanks!
After watching EP436, this is really cool!… And I love the fact you have Nipper in the background of a lot of your Weekly Lessons. The story behind him is amazing and heart warming. 🙂
Brian
This is a great lesson to reflect on – I love the BB Box and now I am spending a lot more time in the section of the board – helps to create more material coming out of the box and going back in for more. Enjoyable 👍
Another great lesson but itneeds two things.
1. World famous Brian cheat sheet for the BB zone (fret 8-13 in A?)
2. I’m still confused by where the major patterns are relative to the minor patterns are in a given key. I think I know enough (a little knowledge can be dangerous thing) to work it out for myself but I’m sure Brian can explain it better.
The second thing might be just me 🙂
Fantastic lesson, one of my all time Active Melody favorites. Thank you, Brian! Great play-through as well!
Hi Martin. I am a 67 years old beginner and totally uneducated to music theory. Over the last year, I was happy to learn by heart some songs and to practice again and again until I reach a decent speed without any error. EP435 is the first lesson I attempted to understand « why » instead of « how ». I spend a lot of time exploring the boxes you proposed. For me, this was a great help and, definitely, a big step forward. Thank you very much. Keep going !