Description
In this week’s guitar lesson, you’ll learn a classic blues lead (with a few diminished lines) that you can play by yourself. You’ll learn how to connect these notes back to the chords that they come from.
Part 1 - Free Guitar Lesson
Part 2 - For Premium Members
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Slow Walkthrough
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Video Tablature Breakdown
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Sounds nice and sophisticated for a stand alone piece Brian! This will be a fun one to get under the fingers!
I’ve been an AM member for several years & both enjoy & look forward to your weekly lessons Brian. Some of your lessons, I’ve been able to learn & play now regularly. I plan on working hard to learn this one as well. Thank you for sharing & your inspiration.
This sounds like another favorite! Thanks Brian
Love this one already! Thanks Brian.
A classic stand alone Brian. Thanks heaps! 🥸🎸🥸
I’m just blown away how week after week you come up with something new and amazing. I couldn’t come up with this much material in a year much less every week! Your the best in the business Brian. Thanks and keep em coming!
Indeed! So much great information in this lesson. It will keep me busy for a month or two. Can’t thank you enough Brian.
I like these kind of stand alone blues pieces too. Sweet and has style.. This is the kind of stuff you play when you pick up a guitar in the guitar shop, to subtly show off a little. Ha!. YES! One of my new favorites now. Thank you so much Brian. Please, MORE like this.
I take that back, and no offense. – The first part was like OMG YES! That’s the sound where you find yourself emotionally playing that guitar, really feeling that smoky blues flavor. Then at about 0:22 / 0:;49 on the bottom play along, it broke the feel and flow for me when it switched up. It was a valuable lesson as always, but felt detached and not as cohesive or true to the first first part. Felt like two different pieces put together and then the end sort of redeems it a little. Just my 2 cents, that’s all. I still do and always will love and appreciate what you do Brian . 🙂
Sweet liking this one a lot
Great Brian – very good solo piece – and really well explained.
This is rich! Love it, Brian!
Brian were you spinning Spoon’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga back there before filming this week’s lesson?! Nice A+
Yes! good eye 🙂
Hello Brian, always so happy to follow you over the years. Every Saturday morning in France, same pleasure, I pick up the guitar 9 times out of 10 after 5 minutes…. Before, I didn’t understand much about it at first listen, a lot of work, it was built little by little. Now I’m in familiar land throughout the plans, but always surprise… always a part of your composition that leaves you perplexed… and of course the most surprising is often the most beautiful… and therefore always work, progress, an infinite journey with this wonderful instrument .
For the record, I have been playing a steel guitar for some time, I recommend it to everyone! Pleasant, reinforces musical understanding, really accessible when you are a guitarist!!! See you next week !!!
Guy
Not quite sure what you mean by a “steel guitar”. Would you mind elaborating please, e.g. what sort of guitar and why you recommend it, particularly over other guitars.
This is a Recording King lap steel, basic model. (which is played flat on the knees)
Tuned in open tuning, allows you to clearly understand the basic harmonic sequences (chords 1, 4, 5 at least).
Played string by string, we have the intervals before our eyes, this also helps to understand.
Furthermore, an electric guitarist often has a pedalboard provided… when you plug the lap steel into it, you get sounds that greatly improve its possibilities.
The left hand technique (still easier than the guitar) allows you to play cool things… with a harmonica, it’s great !!!
Another great lesson Brian. What I like about your lessons is that you always go through the chord shapes, (even though most of us that have been with you for a while know the chords) so no one is lactose out. Thanks again Brian
Sounded so good to play as the appetiser…. but then what followed was a wow of reveals. You were right for a 40 second arrangement there was so much content unpacked within this piece. (1) A great way to understand chord tones as a lead by using a 1-4-5 base (2) D# dim 7 as a transition between 4 chord and 1 chord or 5 chord and 1 chord (3) the D9 or E9 shape off the 5th string root note (4) Movable #dim 7 Arpeggio and movable #dim 7 Whole, Half Step Scale options (5) Arpeggiated Harmonised 3rds from A Mixolydian (6) A Chet Atkins Harmonised 6th move (8) A6 to A9 – 2 fret move and (9) A T-Bone Walker voicing connected back to the E Shape. So succinctly and creatively put together through unpacking it into its variety of parts. 👏
well summarized Laurel!
Wow – this is one of the most helpful comments I think I’ve ever read. It really outlines all the wonderful content within this short piece… there are even elements that didn’t occur to me until I read this. Thank you!
Agree!
I’m starting to see that #dim7 and the associated scale all over the neck – so many possibilities for resolving back to the tonal centre.
ML072 is also worth a mention when you touched on whole step half step especially when transposed to A. Thanks again for a great lesson.
Just delightful Brian !!!!! Thanks !
Such a dense lesson. Holy smokes I could spend a couple of weeks studying this one. Great ideas in here. Thank you Brian!
Wonderful lesson Brian! Thank you!
Always very good Brian, never obnoxiuos!
Some great ideas on how to use and move the dim, 6th and 9chords around.
Thanks
18:30 In memory of Elizabeth Reed?
Just to explain my comment above, you can hear this arpeggiation of the diminished seventh on the above named track (one of Dickey Betts’ most famous songs) at about 1 min 25 sec in on the Idlewild South studio recording by the Allman Brothers and around 2:35 in on the Live at Fillmore East album version. Wonderful piece of music and band – for those who aren’t familiar with their work.
Brian I’m confused…here you show the D#dim7 starting on the 4th fret but on the previous lessen EP534, you show the C#dim7 starting on the 5th fret. I’m just trying to understand Diminished chords a little better. I know they are just the root, flat 3rd and flat 5th basically.
This explains it:
https://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2021/the-three-diminished-chords-blues-jazz-and-classical/#:~:text=The%20good%20news%20is%20that,and%20B°7%20respectively.
Thanks bro! A little more info than I was looking for but one can never have too much theory!
Jammed packed with takeaways. Thank you Brian.
Wow. Thank you.
! I’m gonna grow up to be a guitar player 😀
My bad, are you playing a Byrdland?
1961 Gibson ES-175
Thanks.
Awesome
Thanks, gives me much more appreciation of the blues, love how you work in the diminished and mixolydian parts, stretches my brain in a good way.
Another great one! I’ll have to do some thinking regarding the harmonized mixolidian bit.. but it’s clear as far as coming from a D shape..
hmm
When in part one when arpeggiatindg the dimminished chord, why not just pick the notes of the chord you already have formed or made ?
More gold generously passed to us by Brian. Thank you!
Great lesson Brian, thank you!
So glad I renewed my subscription. These latest lessons are so tasty. Thanks!
Another great lesson. ThanksBrian!
Really a nice lesson with a lot of fun stuff to try and pick up
Great lesson. Thanks, Brian!
I came back and watched this one again and man do I love it! Like you said at the end, there is so much information in this short solo and I learned so much!
Thank you Brian!
This a great example of a solid tune loaded with golden nuggets. I cant play it completely, but thanks Brian, great stuff!
Short but sweet, 10 lessons in one! Love the diminished arpeggio and whole step/half step runs.
I have learned so much since finding your stuff, Brian, thank you!!
I am a little confused at a couple of parts, though. First, I see you’re playing the A minor pentatonic even though the chord is an A major—do you have any videos explaining why/how this works?
Second, the a6 that you walk down is basically a D minor triad, isn’t it? But the 4 chord is a D major, so I’m a little confused at that—this seems to be the same idea of mixing major and minors, so just curious again how this works.