Active Melody

Learn to play blues guitar.

Major Pentatonic Blues Ideas – Featuring QUIST! + the Eric Clapton Crash Strat – Guitar Lesson EP547

Description

In this week’s guitar lesson, you’ll learn an Eric Clapton style blues lead that primarily uses the Major Pentatonic scale (with a few minor pentatonic licks). The jam track for this lesson is provided by Quist!

If you like this jam track, be sure to check out Quist’s social media accounts below:

YouTube channel – full of classy sounding backing tracks by going here
Spotify – Stream Quist backing tracks by going here
Instagram – Featuring some of Quist’s amazing guitar work by going here

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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Comments

  3. Dale G says

    Aw man I love this one Brian. You put so much feeling in it with your vibratos and the way you have on working in the lead with the chord changes on an awesome backing track. Can’t wait to learn this. Going in my favorites for sure! Hoping to get somewhat close to the tone with my strat . Love that as well. That is an awesome clapton strat you have. Love the blue and it goes real well with the blues I might add. Thanks for this one!

  4. houliAK says

    Why does the G Major Chord work in the Key of A? It’s not a sub Dominate (5 of V) or the 5 of the IV. (But it is the 4 of the IV). Does that make it one of the those borrowed chords you talk about?

  6. Peter R says

    I don’t think you have it in you to create bad lessons. Some great lick ideas and great practice to connect the pentatonic patterns in this one, and also a nice jam track. Personally though, I have a stronger preference for the stand alone call response compositions. I would love to see one of these in a Robert Cray style of playing if you could. I like playing the strats but I will only buy one for myself when my playing gets significantly better.

  8. Klaus N says

    Love this lesson! Full of insights and nice mellow melodies! Thanks also for talking about your Helix setup and the amp/fx combinations you use. I’d love to see more of the settings you use, but knowing the amp model at least gets me in the same ballpark. Thanks Brian!

  15. James S says

    Since you asked, I will say that it is very rare to see you playing guitar that is not truly drool worthy. Today is one of those rare days.

    Maybe with the white guard it wouldn’t be so bad, but I also don’t understand why Fender would release a higher end guitar with a bone white fretboard instead of giving it a vintage tint. That really doesn’t help in this case, but maybe that’s the way Eric likes it.

    You are right about the investment angle, though, and it’s a great jam track and lesson, thanks!

  16. San Luis Rey says

    Thanks for another great lesson Brian! I knew this would be special when I saw the HAT IS BACK!!! The guitar is really a cool kind of psychedelic design that goes perfect with the maple neck. That boost is a nice touch also. Fender should be sending guitars your way whenever they come out with a new one. Congrats

  19. Ian D says

    Yay……it’s Quistmas !

    Brilliant lesson, I love this. Every time I first watch these it boggles my mind…However, when Brian breaks it down it all starts to fall into place and I get it. I also love the sound of harmonized 3rd’s & 6ths as they seem to add a more soulful sound.👍😎

  23. sukumaran u says

    Hello brian,

    that guitar looks fantastic !
    I am thinking of changing the white acrylic of my Fender Squier-bullet with a similar blue one, myself !
    At the age of 16, I had modified my friend’s guitar with Yamaha pickups and homemade pre-amps with low noise devices !

    unni

  24. Don R says

    I am new to AM and in the process of getting back to fundamentals after many years away. But now when I practice (sitting down on a stool with foot rest) my lower back is very tight and stiff after my session. There is nothing I can do about being 71, but maybe there are “best practices” out there I should know about. Should I have a stool with a back or perhaps wear the strap? Thanks for any ideas. I should add that I am very active and in good physical condition for my age.

  26. Dennis V says

    Great lesson, and I like the Clapton Strat. I’m on the road but I played through it a few times on my travel guitar. Challenging but fun to play. I was able to get Oh Holy Night EP285 under fingers too before Xmas so I can play it when I get home for my grandkids. It’s a very nice piece.
    Thanks!

  28. JoeD1 says

    Love the lesson and the guitar except the pick guard…it seems very conservative for such a bold guitar! It should have a bolder look to it. Not sure the white one would be any better.

    But the lesson was excellent and I could actually follow along with where the licks fit in with all the pentatonic patterns and which chords were in which patterns. And I don’t know much theory!

    Bravo for teaming up with Quist for the backing track…he has some of the best tracks available!

    I’ll have more like this please!

  29. Kathryn L says

    It’s all so very cool – the guitar – the colors are so awesome! Di d you plan your shirt to go with the guitar. You had to, the brown color goes perfectly with the guitar brown color, and your glasses are right there too! The melody is cool and yet warm to listen to. I’m was a country music lover, but um.. I gotta say I like this lesson’s melody, and some of your bluesy ones too.

  30. Ronald J says

    HI Brian,
    Light went off regarding the Major Pentatonics and Minor Pentatonics in the same key. I knew that the Major pentatonic was 3 frets lower than the Minor – however, the way you explained it and used it – all of a sudden it made sense and opened the door to mixing them!
    Thanks Brian – keep up your excellent teaching!
    Ron

  34. Joseph F says

    Hi Brian, I’ve come so far with your online lessons, what a ride. I still struggle coming up with my own lines. When it’s my time to create, I come up with some really bendy, speedy, bluesy licks that sound good, but I still struggle with the sweet stuff. Am I supposed to copy things to a point or completely remake the wheel for my own original stuff? Hey thanks man. !!

  35. Mark H says

    Crashocaster looks very cool to me, blue pick guard included. It’s called “art”, folks… 😉

    I think all current EC strats have light white maple necks, as specified by EC originally. I may be wrong.

    The lesson is really cool too, I’ve just been through it for the first time with guitar in hand.
    Placement of the phrases within the bar I really need to work on.

  37. Mike R says

    Sorry for the late response. The lesson is full of feeling, love the 6/8 timing and especially the feeling in measures 4 to 5 and then again in measures 6 to 7. I think these measures set the feeling for the entire piece. I have to remember to slow down for the 6/8 timing. The guitar sounds and looks great! It is a piece of Art and probably a great investment also. Keep it coming Brian and Merry Christmas to you and your family and everyone else out there.

  38. Fred P says

    Great lesson, as always. I like the guitar! My 2016 Strat is a plain, boring ol’ Olympic White, but it plays and sounds terrific! One thing to note for anyone considering one — the mid-boost is “active electronics,” which is a fancy way of saying there’s a 9-volt battery under the plate on the back. If the battery dies, the guitar begins to sound very strange. And I learned (through experience), that leaving the guitar plugged into an amp, even when not playing, is a sure-fire way of killing the battery! Always have a spare 9-volt around if you have a guitar like this.

  40. Marc V says

    Absolutely beautiful composition Brian. Love this and will be trying to learn it.
    Guitar sounds awesome, but yeah that blue pickguard wouldn’t be my choice of color +;).

  42. Craig S says

    Great lesson. I appreciate the slow bluesy chord progressions. It allows me to work on my bends and slides and vibrato and so on. And I LOVE that Strat including the pick guard! It’s a nice piece of artwork and it’s absolutely unique. I looked into that guitar auction that Clapton does for his recovery centre. I recall that he uses as many strats as possible in concerts so he can have lots of inventory for the auction. They were all out of my reach but for a Pub or Music Store, or even an avid collector, they weren’t crazy expensive. You got a real beauty IMHO.

  43. glyn b says

    Great lesson. Just love to learn slow blues . Will work at this for a bit. Clapton Strats are fantastic but don t like the messing with traditional colours of them. Got a black one myself.

  44. rickwallenbrock says

    I know I am a little late on this but hopefully you read this. I wonder if you could add the chord at the top of the section you put on the screen that shows the notes. Not sure if that made sense, but like you show the chords in the tablature breakdown, it would be nice to see the chord in the lesson as well so we can see what chord is being played as you show how to play the notes.

  47. Chris W says

    Hey Brian,
    I really enjoyed this lesson. I sent you an email the other day with a similar jam and this brought some clarity to that video I sent you. I would still like you to do a lesson on the video I sent for even further clarity lol and always appreciate your style of teaching! I do have a question that someone maybe can shed some light on…the jam is in the key of A right? And why do we play a G major in this? Is it because it is the 4 chord of the. 4 chord of A? D being the 4 chord of A…..when does that become appropriate to play a 4 chord of a 4 chord?

    Thanks!

  51. Lance J says

    Great video. Really feel my ability to play lead took a big leap with this one (especially having learnt the triad shapes to use around the neck from your other videos). Thanks, yet again.

  52. Dennis V says

    I finally remembered to come back to this one and plug in the Strat. I like every bar of this piece. It was pretty easy to get under the fingers, and a great way to spend some of a cold Sunday.

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