Active Melody

Learn to play blues guitar.

Minor Key Guitar Composition That You Can Play By Yourself (Playing Over 3 Chords) – EP314

Description

In this week’s guitar lesson you’ll learn how to play a minor key composition that requires no accompaniment. This composition uses just 3 chords and can be played on acoustic or electric guitar.

Part 1 - Free Guitar Lesson

Part 2 - For Premium Members

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Slow Walk-Through

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Video Tablature Breakdown

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Comments

  4. Aussie Rick says

    A beautiful composition and a great lesson.

    Brian, this got me wondering about the process you follow in writing a tune like this. Do you have a clear idea of the melodic direction of the tune right from the start, or, do you start out with no firm idea and the melody evolves as you’re working on the tune (i.e. do you try things, and include those phrases/licks that sound good and are consistent with the chords and emerging melodic feel of the tune)?

    Thanks again,

    Rick

    • sunjamr says

      That’s exactly the question I’ve been trying to answer lately. So I’ve been trying to develop my music composition skills by just diving in and going for it. So far, the easiest way for me is to develop a chord progression and choose a tempo and record it as a jamtrack. Then I loop it and just start noodling around with various melody options. Have you tried that?

      • Aussie Rick says

        Yeah I have tried that Steve, but the melodies I come up with usually sound pretty uninspiring. I thinking part of the problem is I don’t actually listen to a lot of music and so I don’t have much in the way of melodic ideas to draw on.
        Rick

  6. San Luis Rey says

    That sounds great Brian! Was just watching some really famous guitarists do some fabulous performances on youtube . This sounds simply wonderful and by next week I hope to have it down. Thanks for another gift!

  7. John B says

    I love playing the stand alone composition you created! You’ve created this hint of Stairway to Heaven with a spanish feel. I love it! This is a beautiful song to add to my playlist. Thanks and once again you are an amazing teacher!!!

  12. Ian C says

    Just listened through the first part lesson. That is a genius learning composition which really whet my appetite for learning it. It sounds so beautiful I know will create real sense of achievement once it’s mastered, and many of the components are novel and will embed themselves easily in the mind. Superb job Brian.

  16. Chuck W says

    Took me right back to Time In a Bottle which was one of the first songs that really made me want to learn to play. Oh to have had the internet and ActiveMelody back in the day. I never learned Time in a Bottle because it was just too overwhelming. Your teaching style and ideas give us tools to accomplish far more than books, fake charts or tabs ever could. Thanks for this and all the others!

  22. sunburst says

    I watched the intro video like it all especially mentioning the three main minor scales.. this you do great , Really done well, this lesson should really get a lot of likes imho… I naturally like the harmonic minor is my favorite scale lol (inside joke) again excellent instructional video ,, that guitar sounds great too!

  29. John J says

    Love this one..not too tough to do but cool., has a sort of Eastern-Europeanish vibe with those discordant notes? Have you touched on Travis-Picking? could be a good lesson. Thanks.

  34. Rob M says

    Wow … what an outstanding piece of work! I knew this lesson was going to be something special as soon as I heard the intro and Brian’s great teaching skill just puts icing on the cake. Great stuff, can’t wait to give it a try.

  35. rjwheeler says

    Beautiful piece; it is fun to play sounds so impressive. I improvised a new A7 chord in measure 5 to make the slide to the 7th fret easier for me and I also wrote a new ending. Your teaching about the theory has helped me with the changes because I understand where the notes are coming from. Thank you so much. Saturday has become my favorite day because I am so excited to see what you have for me to learn.

  36. Andrew T says

    A great lesson for my return to AM after a break. Remember that the walk-downs can also be used as “walk-ups,” so it’s good to practice them both ways. Not that I can name any tunes that use a climbing bass note pattern–can anyone pitch in?

  37. George W says

    Brian, this is the reason I joined your site….I love the stand alone lessons……(wish I could sound like this while I am on my back porch “noodling”….lol great lesson…thanks and PEACE

  39. RIFF DIGGER says

    Oh, man. One of your best. Once you get a feel for it, love the On Screen Tab Viewer that scrolls in one window with your hands playing the entire tune in a separate window. To get the flow this is really helpful because it conforms to such a pretty melody. Love the Premium membership. Give me something usable, something people will take notice of- you gave it HERE! Fun to play and worth the time to learn. This technique has amazing dividends and not ridiculously difficult to play. I print the tabs, love the mp3 tracks, but with this slow melodic cooker, the ON SCREEN TAB VIEWER WINDOW on the web browser page with your technique above in another window is brilliant. And helpful. Thanks, Brian!

    • RIFF DIGGER says

      Posted June of 2019 and just wanted to say as of Sept 15 a year later, I’m back on for the 2nd part. This composition has legs and I really like it. True, I’ve been studying all sorts of lessons in the meantime as well as purchasing a few more great guitars and perhaps it took that time to get my muscle memory to a more sustainable level as a new guitarist. It’s a very clever melody and I feel Brian put a lot of effort in this lesson. Thank you. This is a challenge and to polish each nuance, well it’s a great weekly exercise as well.

  42. JoLa says

    I loved it from the first listen but there is so much more to it than awesome melody, this lesson is pure gold! The minor chord walkdown alone is a killer – sometimes I feel like Brian is a magician who is giving away (revealing) all the magic tricks! And then on top of it, he makes it so do-able and easy to learn, it’s just amazing. Thank you, Brian for another golden nugget, you are a true gift 💖

  44. Rich F says

    Hi Brian,

    This is a beautiful piece. As others have said here, a very Spanish feel over a 14 5 progression! I love the Spanish feel!

    I have been away from the site for various personal reasons: nice lesson to come back to!

    What I love about this lesson (as with all of your lessons) is that there are loads of standalone segments and takeaways that we can take in isolation and focus on. In this lesson, I love the segment around 12.50 where you go from Dm in first position, with the hammer on/pull off, going to A7. I love that, and could play it all day!

    In summary, this lesson is genius, and Brian is an amazing teacher!

    Rich F.

  46. Jay Kay says

    Hi Brian, good job! A very nice composition. I love this kind of laid back music. By the way….I’m from Germany 🙂 Go ahead with your execellent work.

    Warm greetings, Jay Kay

  48. Keith M says

    Wow, your style and lesson presentation is a beautiful thing. Your teaching style and professional web presence is a gift that brings me a great deal of happiness and reward.

    I am not one to comment online but the pleasure I get from your teachings far exceeds any other form of entertainment. Its both relaxing and exciting as these lessons have expanded my playing enjoyment in a way that I hadn’t thought possible.

    It must be a lot of work but your efforts do a lot more than teach guitar.

  52. Jim K says

    Brian,

    I think this will be the stepping stone to using my classical hybrid guitar at last. This is a very nice tune and I am patiently working on it with (no nails) finger picking. What at BIG plus to be able to listen to your recording, pick it up by ear and then read the notation and improve my timing.
    Thanks a lot, it was a lucky day when I found your site.

    Jim K

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