Description
In this week’s guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play a slow blues lead using the 5 notes of the minor pentatonic scale (in multiple positions). This lesson is perfect for those that are interested in blues phrasing ideas!
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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Theodore J says
I love it!
Telemaster says
OMG !! I cant keep up with all your guitars…..I”d go broke…but luv em….
Dave M says
Reason I just joined, I love the slow blues vibe.
Phillip B says
Me too Dave!!!
mattman544544@yahoo.com says
as always you are the best!
Michael Allen says
My kind of music! I love me some slow blues !Thanks for another great tune Brian!
Michael Allen says
I love Ronnie Earl and this tune reminds me of his playing
Michael W says
Another huge Ronnie Earl fan checking in from Boston. I’ve actually met him a few times after shows and he’s one of the nicest guys on the planet. Heard Heart of Glass yesterday on Pandora and it still sends chills down my spine.
John T says
This is one of my favorite Ronnie videos with Anna Popovic. https://youtu.be/BRqhTnwTkJk
Cari S says
Just saw Anna Popovic a few weekends ago. She is BRUTAL!
JohnStrat says
Brian
Your right up my street with this one I am sure this will prove to be yet another AM mega hit
JohnStrat
Klickitat Jim says
Please feel free to do about 50 of these style lessons in a row!!!!!
Ian M says
You keep coming up with refreshingly cool lessons and it’s why I’m still a member.
Chris R says
Awesome!!
Cary says
Oh yeah, low down dirty blues… love it!!!
Christopher S says
Tab is not correct.
Christopher S says
In the sound slice.
Jean-Marc M says
Could you elaborate please? Which bar?
sunburst says
wow ,, great explaining in this intro slow bpm.. cool guitar too sounds awesome.. yes you certainly intrigue me, what a different lesson from 326 which i enjoyed lots! ..totally looking forward to starting this fun slow blues next week
madams says
Gary Clark Jr., Stevie, Jimi, Clapton, and a few others all rolled into one!
Michael
jerryeaton says
Nice touch playing over the jam track as you build the lesson.
PB says
I really liked how you had your large album collection in the scenery in the last micro lesson. It really created a cool vibe. Thanks as always for another great lesson. Studio is looking really good…..congratulations on it!
david holzberger says
More, more ,more!!,,
Bill B says
Nail on the head with this one! Holy cow, what a great ….everything !!
John T says
Yes! Slow blues says it all and is what got me interested in playing in the first place…. I heard a Johnny Winter piece 25 years ago and went out and bought an electric guitar. More of this would be awesome.
John B says
I love it. nice and greasy!!!!! I’m gonna treasure this one!! By the way nice guitar. I’m going to have to check it out. Thanks again Brian for a great lesson!
Brent C says
That beautiful (kinda fast) 2nd phrase….., at first listen I thought this might take a while. As a 15yr (former) drummer, the timing feels natural, just need help putting all those notes together in a run. But your instruction is so crystal clear, everything just comes to life. Some good practice-time will make it smooth but man, this is EXACTLY the kind of blues lead I want to grow with. Man, what fun!!! Thanks Brian, just fantastic!!!!!
BRENDAN G says
Hi Brain,
I am going to see Joe Bonamassa tonight .
This has put me in the mood foe Blues. Thanks.
Brendan.
PS cool guitar.
Martin P says
Can’t wait to get started on this one Brian, many thanks.
🎙
John H says
Hey Brian,
I love this style… backing track really cool too. Very SRVish and this is right up my wheelhouse. Thanks for your prolific and creative performance worthy lessons. Much appreciated.
John H.
Raymond P says
Great slow blues lesson. I look forward to playing this today.
Thanks again Brian
Ray
nostril says
Appreciate your hard work! This too cool……Love It
Jim M says
This will be a challenge to get the timing right . Love the growth this piece offers.
roco says
Great takeaways!🎶
Larry R says
Brian is getting down and dirty. love it
Robert Burlin says
Smoken!
Robert Burlin says
After playing around with this I realize that the track is slow but the lines are moving along , which is cool, and now I request you do a slower tune with real slow melody lines.
sunjamr says
This could be my all-time favorite lesson. And like others have noticed, the first thing I thought was “Wow, this sounds like Ronnie Earl, my slow blues hero”.
JohnStrat says
Steve yes Ronnie earl and Muddy came to my mind on hearing this. It’s going to be a while before I can get that second lick up to listenable! Brian certainly has some nimble fingers when he needs them. Can you get it any way near his take ?
JohnStrat
Don D. says
Really nice Brian, thanks! Great backing track!
San Luis Rey says
Great slow blues Brian! Thank you again for all these lessons.
John s says
I can’t stop playing this one… It’s the most FUN one you’ve ever done! I don’t see how you can do this on a weekly basis; keep coming up with great stuff. Wow!
Dieter says
Wonderful exciting Blues lesson – but where do you store all your fine uncountable Guitars???
Dieter
Allan says
Oh yes Brian love this type of lesson can hear BITS OF MY FAVE GUITARISTS IN THERE WHERE DO YOU COME UP WITH THESE GREAT TUNES CHEERS.
Bill C says
Hey Brian.
Just wondering if you can come up with a few more songs from ” the public domain “. Your compositions are great but sometimes its easier to learn a song where the tune is already in my head. St. James Infirmary was a good one.
Graham F says
I have tried Jamplay, Guitar tricks, Texas Blues Alley, Justin Guitar and one or two other sites for lessons but yours are for me the best. Everyone is different so I appreciate what works for me might not work for others but your music is original, broken down well and easily playable if you apply yourself.
The embedded tab and looper/video/audio software is also great. I know I can also put the fretboard at the bottom of the tab but what would make things perfect would be to have the minor/major pentatonic positions shown with the phrases highlighted over them so that it would be easy to relate the phrases visually back to the patterns. This visualization would also help to move the music to different keys and solidify the riffs and chords notes in my mind. It’s much easier to learn visually than by saying put your fingers down on this fret and bar this one, etc.
Dave P says
very soulfull, brian
Richard B says
Yeah, trying out new guitars is dangerous. You must have a very understanding wife – or at least a foregiving one!
Mike H says
That guitar is awesome, it just looks killer. I think this is the first time in my life I’ve seen a new guitar model and thought, “I want that!” I’ve seen other guitars and thought, “that would be nice”, but I really have fallen in love with that shape. I’m sure it sounds as good as it looks too (a bit hard to tell from the little speakers on the computer). And last but not least Brian, that is a beautiful bit of tasty blues right there brother. I’m reminded of SRV’s Tin Pan Alley. Thank you so much 🙂
Brian M says
Love this lesson, two months now being a full member, my playing has grown, I was lost in the morass of just scales , but your courses have taken me to the next level, what I love so much is your not just literally copying someone but you put a variety of players in your lessons, this really helps at least for me in expanding my knowledge ,
Brilliant
Pat says
So funky , fun to play! But ain’t exactly slow?
Tony says
All the above
Erik V says
My dear, this gives me goose bumps. Can’t wait till I can play music like this. Motivates to further practise.
More of this please, also at beginners level? Thanks Brian!
Aloyse P says
Greetings from Luxembourg (Europe)
thank you for this. It’s this kind of music I’m looking for.
I hope you’ll do more stuff like this
John s says
New blues comment. The best thing you’ve ever done IMO. Worth the price of this year’s subscription alone. Rock on!
abraxas1 says
Love the set and the lighting,
Let the Kemper Shine!
Great idea to cut away to the pre-recorded piece for reference.
emjime03 says
Thanks Brian, that’s a very cool lesson, awesome!!
Leroy R says
Great Brian just Great
Mark K says
I’ve been listening to Savoy Brown’s ‘Witchy Feeling’ lately. This lesson will sure help me play along.
Cheers
Michael vdh says
Brian … nice playing, nice groove. A good reminder that emotional playing can guide you, apart from your lesson “structurally” I see another lesson here … and that is LOVE what your doing, dont be afraid to rattle off a few extra notes. HAVE FUN. And that to me is what your site is all about. Thank you.
Jeem says
This one moves to # 1 on the “to-learn” list!
Nice!
Peter B says
Sound slice settings malfunction. notation size and transposition.
ARADTech says
Awesome, definitely more like this please 🙂
jeannot18 says
Great lesson again, and you sold me on the guitar…
charjo says
Brian,
That E minor chord lick comes from ” All your love( I miss loving)” originally by Otis Rush and covered by John Mayall with Eric Clapton. It’s a classic.
John
xiamen602 says
Really great piece to learn! Like the guitar but I was, rightly or wrongly, a little shocked by the cost of this Mexican Fender.
Andy D says
Fantastic lesson as always, Brian. Thanks so much.
Abdelhamid B says
Love it!!!!
Rick L says
Guessing no one here is old enough to remember John Lee Hooker…”Cotton” being one of my fav blues tunes ever…spot on honking blues…nice job Brian
Ted M says
I saw him JLH in Buffalo NY a long time ago. Everyone was smokin weed… he comes out with a can of Bud and says:” Different strokes for different folks”. Man it was awesome.
Thomas M says
Saw John Lee at Tulagi’s “on the Hill in Boulder,” many winters ago
Philip H says
I grew up listening to John Lee Hooker. I was a 13-year-old white kid from the suburbs with all these John Lee Hooker albums. Very strange, then I saw him play up in Amherst Mass. a few miles from home. Great show, I wanted to go over and say hi but I was too scared.
Thomas M says
This one reinvigorated me; I was getting a bit lazy and distracted in my practice/playing. Thank you for rekindling the spark!
David G says
Another great lesson – thanks Brian! BTW, I believe the Meteora has a 9.5″ radius. I thought maybe it would be a short scale since you mentioned bending was so easy, but it’s a standard Fender 25.5″. I have an old strat that I’m thinking about putting a new neck on – maybe going with a 24.5″ superwide with a 12″ radius if they’ll make it for me. But I digress, this is a killer lesson!
Dan D says
famous last words Brian : ” I had no intentions of buying it”
Roy C says
Brian, this is my favorite lesson, this is awesome, my type of music!
Jim K says
Brian,
Reminds me of that early music in Chicago from Chess Records. In the 50’s , I was just a kid, we used to shop on Maxwell street and there would always be a few guys (on the street) playing “exactly” this sound, as I remember it. I’ll spend some time on this and reminisce. Thanks Brian.
Jim
RNArizona says
I’d been wanting to take my playing in a new direction, learning more blues, and I came across this. I loved it so much I signed up as a new member 12 hours later. I agree with everyone who wants to see more lessons like this.
Douglas c says
What’s up Brian I was trying to play what I think was your first lesson” blues rhythm in E” and I can’t seem to get it to sound like yours? It sounds like a back up rhythm but it’s hard for me to capture that beat and sound at the same time. I’m usually really good at keeping rhythms in my head like after you hear a song I can’t get it out. Have any suggestions?
Risto M says
Hey Brian,
after more than a year being with you in my living room it’s time I say something…
I am 48y.o. and first time I grabbed the guitar with good 40+. Really being serious learning guitar started with 45+ after I got my first electric guitar.
What can I say. If I was able to get where I am today (being able to decently follow Brian’s pieces), than everyone can do it. And on top on my age handicap, I am right handed with serious damage to my left hand fingers. Initially I wanted to beat my handicap and tried to play a right handed guitar however I hit the limits of my fingers. Then I switched to left handed guitar because of the love for music and the instrument was way too strong and giving up not an option. So now I continue this journey and never thinking on quiting. I love it every day coming home from work and turn Brian on and learn and play along.
So Thank You for giving all your knowledge to us!
Risto
Brian says
Thank you Risto – that made my day!
tommc says
Throwing a little slow tremolo on for extra Jimmy Vaughn sounds good also. Enjoyed this one.
Craig F says
Going through this lesson now; man, it’s great. I went out to youtube to find a teacher, went to a couple of other sites, just keep coming back here and this lesson is an example of why. I’ve been a member for years but, after looking around, I’m a full blown “believer”. If there is a better teacher in this genre out there, I couldn’t find him/her. The playing is great but what I really appreciate is that you ALWAYS explain how you can use this in other keys and on other parts of the fretboard– which means I spend half my practice time playing around with your lessons in other keys and in other positions. (Same thing happened with this lesson; only half way through but I could spend easily twice the time I’m doing with different variations of what you are teaching, different positions, etc.) On top of that, I’m still trying to practice what I learned LAST week and the week before that. Like one member put it, sometimes its like drinking through a fire hose. I don’t know if it’s possible or not, maybe not, but have you thought about splitting a “study” up into two weeks? lol. I got half-way through this one and another one comes out and I’m thinking, “Holy crap, I’m barely half-way through this one and I’m still trying to get last weeks lesson to the point where it’s a part of my own playing.” I know you have a responsibility to keep putting out lessons each week but, for example, I really am enjoying this lesson as, I think, a lot of people are, could the “study” be stretched over two weeks by any chance? Just a thought. Sorry, hope I don’t sound like I’m complaining, that’s not at all the case. The recent lessons on the CAGED system (major and minor), the playing lead over chords, Man, just about everything I’m enjoying immensely. It just feels a bit overwhelming at times trying to keep up with all the great stuff you are putting out and, I’m not even a new player; I would probably consider myself an intermediate player– not great by any means, but able to follow along and learn consistently. (I understand that I could be “tighter” with my practice time and get through the lessons faster; spending less time “canoodling” with the concepts you are teaching but, that’s most of the fun of playing and learning with you, as I said above, you explain it in a way that invites “canoodling”– not just memorizing the licks and techniques, as you say often but, trying to incorporate them into my own playing. i.e. trying it down here, up there, in this or that key, etc..) At any rate, thanks once again for a great lesson.
glen s says
OH BRIAN ,
That was a most excellent lesson. Quality at it’s finest…. I learned so much from many of your video’s over the years. But this one in particular, the emotion of those licks and patterns… you just opened the door for me….. I can’t explain how this lesson just just elevated my guitar playing ….
THANK YOU SO MUCH….G
Philip H says
I love these hairball licks like the second one here. At first they sound like, well, a big hairball. But once you tease them out and understand where they’re coming from and get them under your fingers they’re fantastic. This is the stuff I like.
Steve W says
One of your best lessons! Thank you and more please!
Qi H says
One must be selfless to give a lesson like this!
Thomas M says
Brian, I’ll add, don’t forget the great Otis Rush when giving credit for that little Em lick.😉
David H says
I’m terrible at counting in. This one is particularly challenging to come in on the right beat.
I’m counting, ” One and a 2 and a 3 and a 4 and a. Seems most of the phrases come in at 2and a, in the measure? Comments from any smarter music theorists out there would be appreciated!
JOSEPH G says
Slow blues with fast licks… really cool, thank you Brian
Gary D says
This is that painful, sorrowful blues tempo that spellbinds me. Makes me close my eyes and and feel that gut wrenching power that is slow blues transcends.
Rebecca B says
You’re speaking my language, Brian. Still playing on my baby Gibson (3/4 guitar) 1961 . oh yeah
Who says a little ole’ white lady growing up in the 60’s can’t play the blues??
I’ll post my playing sometime. You’ll see…….tube amp
heading towards a vintage “Jesus blues worship band”
um-hmmm
Rebecca
Brian says
I want to hear!
Rebecca B says
Recording on my iphone doesn’t capture it.
Can you suggest a better, user friendly, high quality home recording device? Garageband with external mic? Money is no issue, but space might be.
I’m in a tiny, (but waterfront, thank you Jesus) condo in St. Pete, FL. Rebecca
Rebecca B says
I want to. I’m studying now Bryce’s recording tips. might be a different song than this…..really getting into rhythm from BLG 005
Rebecca B says
I’m getting there. I just ordered the interface ( Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 ) Bryce teaches about.
Thought I’d spend my home bound time learning this. Still healthy, and a great time to learn the blues
Rebecca
sunburst says
I’ve been watching and going it tight tonight with your intro videos which you do specifically terrifically bluescally! lol I’m so into this now!
sunburst says
I think you taught this very well,, one thing for sure is your video instrutionals made it way so much easier than just trying to go directly to the soundslice
I’m going there now to memorize what you showed here in the videos.. much easier and fun this way!
Mikael N says
So sweet
I love it!
More of this PLEASE!
Jason K says
I just love this one….if I could just learn to play this way all the time…I wouldn’t play anything else.
RIFF DIGGER says
Coming back to this tune in my Favorites, this guitar tone is getting me, so good. Single coil pups are not me, so this humbucker tone I just love and on a light body that is not just an SG type. Having said that, I’m thinking of an Artist Series EC Strat which has singles albeit enhancements and it will work well with Blues. For me. Scrolling down, this lesson generated a large number of comments! Excellent playing and licks on this one, it’s a total win all the way around!
Eli P says
love all your lessons.
one thing I would really like and I think will help everyone is if you also post your tone settings for each lesson.
awesome site and material.
thanks.
Jason K says
If this backing track is in E, can I improvise and just play the Em scale throughout the song?
Dorothy S Guinn says
You must have read my mind , exactly what I needed to try on my new LP. special .
Mark H says
John Lee Hooker came immediately to mind, both the electric- and 1949 Gene Deitch acoustic recordings as well. https://www.allmusic.com/album/unknown-john-lee-hooker-1949-recordings-mw0000065992
If I get enough playing time this week I hope to learn this arrangement in the fond hope that the phrases and licks find their way into my daily blues.
Foundational stuff IMO, thank you Brian.
James R says
Need more like this! slow, badass and learnable! And I’ll add. To those that say Brian talks to much. That what a teachers does. some of us want to hear it and are listening. Thanks, Brian! Pay them no mind!