Description
In this week’s guitar lesson, you’ll learn a classic, 12 bar blues composition that you can play by yourself on electric or acoustic guitar. This uses the “call & response” technique which allows you to easily go back and forth between rhythm and lead licks. As always, I’ll break everything down note for note and explain the “why” behind the notes so that you can start using these licks when you improvise.
Part 1 - Free Guitar Lesson
Part 2 - For Premium Members
Only available to premium members.
Register for premium access
Register for premium access
Slow Walk-Through
Only available to premium members.
Register for premium access
Register for premium access
Video Tablature Breakdown
Only available to premium members.
Register for premium access
Register for premium access
You need to be logged in as a premium member to access the tab, MP3 jam tracks, and other assets.
Learn MoreAdd to "My Favorites"
You need to login or register to bookmark/favorite this content.
Nice lesson Brian. Love the blues!!!
Merry Christmas, Brian! I have just joined Active Melody as a Christmas present. I am very excited about what I can learn from your excellent teaching over the next year(s). Congratulations on your successful approach to web based guitar instruction. You are an easy person to get to like and that makes your presentations very engaging. Best wishes!
I’m a newbie to the sight as well, another Christmas present member, can’t wait to get into it thanks Brian!
Brian its feb2019 just getting the lesson now lol.. great stuff .
Ur a fine teacher Brian, and I just love ur lessons that can be played on the porch…
Love this! Hop on this tomorrow! I really think this is genius and this is a very popular Blues shuffle in E ! A must learn for me! solid foundation for mixing both major/minor pentatonic shapes up the fret board!
I love this one! Thanks for always keeping it interesting.
Merry Christmas!
Beautiful!🎶
From first listen to favorite list! That old rescued guitar sounds great on this Brian.
Great little stand-alone 12-bar composition. Have only had time to listen to a couple of minutes of the breakdown and have already picked up a number of take-away ideas.
Thanks for your outstanding efforts throughout the year Brian – and a very Merry Christmas and happy and healthy 2019 to you and yours.
Rick
Brian:
This was one of your best ever videos. The guitar was gritty and ballsy – perfect complimentary instrument to this type of blues.
I hope to see more lessons like this.
Thanks and have a Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!🎶
Blues the way I like it………
Merry Christmas from over the pond.
There is a very good reason why these type of lessons are so popular. Timeless.
A great lesson to learn and practice. I am going to add it to my list. Thank you Brain.
Merry Christmas to everyone.
Great licks and other takeaways!
I am going to learn this for Christmas sounds great and runs for a good time. Which Christmas will be the question…ha
Hi Brian. Really enjoying these blues lessons. Many thanks for another year of great teaching and inspiration. Season’s greetings and best wishes to you, your family and everyone at Activemelody,
exactly the Stuff I like – and I need. Best wishes all,
Dieter
Something new to takeaway every time,, many cool classic fill response licks here and am sure I never did them here or elsewhere so, really enjoying this lesson today!.. so many fun lessons and very educational too,, explaining a classic 12 bar here on active melody!
Thank you Brian.
Merry Christmas to all from Canada.
The guitar was made for blues in E. Thank you, Brian, and Merry Christmas to you and your family.
John
Vielen Dank für die tollen, lehrreichen Lexionen 2018.
Ich wünsche Dir und deinen Lieben ein besinnliches
Weihnachtsfest und ein gutes Neues Jahr, bei bester
Gesundheit und Schaffenskraft.
Thank you for the great, educational Lexions 2018.
I wish you and your loved ones a contemplative
Christmas and a Happy New Year, at best
Health and creativity.
JohnStrat via google translate
Excellent lesson Brian! You are a great teacher! My regards from Argentina for this Christmas. BTW, is there no Christmas offer for Premium Membership? because here in my country it is very expensive. Thank you!
Another great lesson. I have learned not only song and theory from you but also how to make clean sounds. What I mean is that your hammer on, pull off and other techniques are spot on and by following your examples I am learning how they should be played to sound good . Also the jam tracks force proper timing, very important.
Thanks so much, I think we all appreciate the hard work it must take to put these lessons together.
Happy Holidays to you!
8am – Wake up – Xmas spirit.
8:05- get on Active Melody lesson 288
8:07 – got the blues
Ditto
Thanks Brian, very nice one. I noticed from the last Blues lessons that you repeat the licks – which is great because we learn thru repetition and it gives me a good feeling that I am actually making progress. Thanks from Hamburg, Germany.
Merci beaucoup Brian, super Blues, super professeur, joyeux Noël de France.
Nice Christmas present, thanks Brian. I love this type of lesson!! Merry Christmas all
Thanks, Brian. Awesome. Merry Christmas. Love and best to you and your family.
Merry Christmas to you and your family Brian.
Hi Brian,
Brilliant Boxing Day lesson! Goes nicely with the mince pies and sherry!
Wishing all AM members a continued great Christmas!
Rich F
Another gem. One of the things I love about your playing is the way you switch from the down and dirty part of the spectrum to the sweet and melodic part of the story. Lonnie Johnson was a master of that kind of playing. Although she wasn’t a guitar player, Dinah Washington sang a lot of songs that way; her songs are a gold mine for musical ideas.
Yeah..Bayou Self Blues..!
good stuff..
Lonesome stranger is one of my EC fav’s. .learned it a while back and play it all the time..l yrics are awesome…and I know thqt riff but I NEVER THOUGHT OF USING I IN A SETTING LIKE THIS!…
Another brilliant solo lesson. These are so great, Brian – very few have your combination of skills – as a composer, a musician (performer), and as an excellent instructor, thanks!
Hi Brian, it’s difficult for me to know exactly where we are on the strings. Could you also announce the notes. For example when you change to the four chord previously you end on a note in the second pentatonic position which matches the four chord…
I love the takeaways and explanations as well. So it’s not just memorizing, its very helpful to learn improvising without memorizing.
Hi Brian, first comment from me …. to say these are exactly the type of tunes I love to learn. A little groove to return to makes this much easier to learn than some lessons – yet still superb. Many more like this will go down a storm. Happy new year.
Hi Brian, I’ve just signed up and already enjoying the lessons which I think will help me a great deal and I really like your style of teaching.
I have one request though. It would be useful to have an idea of your amp settings to help me get the right sort of sound, I know amps are different but just an idea if you are using a little bit of gain or reverb etc.. Of course you may have a lesson on this I don’t know about.
Thanks.
What are you using for an AMP and pedals ? I would like it if you mentioned your set up when you intro the lessons.
Great lesson, Brian. One comment/question- when you are playing the 4th position of the B minor pentatonic scale, there’s one note ou’re playing that is actually not in this scale, the G# note (4th fret of the high E string). The 4th position of the B minor pentatonic would have the A note (5th fret of the high E), correct?
Mitchell
I love these lessons in E 12 bar..w/ the open strings…I usually finish your lessons in the first week but I am still here working on these awesome ideas etc..really good one for me
Thanks Brian, the last two blues lessons are great. Very rich in content and tips to practice call and response licks/rhythm. I end up playing the blues for hours and hours after listening to your lessons.
Bryan, great lesson. It would be great to see you do this same lesson in A. Is that a possible?
Thank you Brain. Is all that has to be said.
How do I register a comment so I can easily find the reply?
Just enough theory making it easier to memorize this tune. Creative and fun to play. Thank you Brian!
My husband bought me a membership for Christmas. As you can see I am opening my present early. Is there some way to print out the music in NOTE form, not tabs? I see the notes on the staff in the “on screen tab viewer” and would love to print them out, but all I see for printing is the tabs. Thanks! I am so looking forward to searching through all the lessons.