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Learn to play blues guitar.

Swiss Army Knife of Guitar Rhythm Ideas. Useful when improvising rhythm guitar – Guitar Lesson – EP598

Description

In this week’s guitar lesson, you’ll learn several ideas that are useful when playing rhythm guitar. We’ll explore an idea from each of the 5 CAGED System positions.

Part 1 - Free Guitar Lesson

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Slow Walkthrough

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Comments

    • Phip says

      It’s my favorite. Got me shopping back then. I know, “Shut up (stop farting around) and play).” Haven’t shopped since (bought an old archtop, not like this one but it’s got it’s own funky chicken.

  6. David S says

    Brian, The way you did this lesson was so easy to see . The way you moved from one caged chord to another yet staying in the same chord and then going to another chord was so much easier to see rather than going from one scale to another. I really liked this lesson.Hope you do more like this sometime. Hope you keep getting better with your bronchitis. Keep up the good work. Really liked the Christmas song too.Merry Christmas to all. Dave

  7. Kevin L says

    Brian you have a good sense of knowing when to emphasize something and your lessons flow from one to another. I have been playing for over 50 years but you keep me going. I wish you a speedy recovery from your bronchitis. I like it when you say it took me years to figure this out but here it is. Light bulbs going on, etc.

  9. Kevin S says

    Thanks Brian, fantastic lesson. Keep hearing the phrase, “wish somebody had shown me this years ago…,” sigh. Hope you feel better soon. My eyes, very old eyes, had to adjust to the new tab. Can you bump the font up a notch? Thanks

  10. Stacey says

    Thanks Brian for a great rhythm lesson gem. Focusing more in strumming chords helps to cement the CAGED concept for me. By not throwing in too many single note scales, the chord ideas stood out better for me to see. It was nice to have it simplified this time.

  12. Patrick J. G says

    A whole lot of new things to learn. Not a boogie shake tune but has things that are great to learn. What I like about your site is you keep us moving forward. I can always play a tune, but learning how the tune is composed keeps me improving. Great stuff Barry, I mean Brian.

  15. John S says

    Having worked through your caged pentatonic lessons over the past few months, it great to see this lesson bring together fun concepts. This is one of the first time I’m seeing the caged and pentatonic areas work together and actually understand what you’re doing. Great lesson!

  16. Nick Ll says

    Another gem of a lesson Brian and no need to apologise for sounding like the walrus. One problem I always have and I’ve never been able to find a solution – it comes up 5 minutes into the part 1 video – is when ‘full barring’ with the first finger I cannot sound that flat 7th. The contours of my finger don’t allow me to apply sufficient pressure on the 4th string while applying it to the other strings. Do you, or anyone here, have any advice as to how to crack this problem?

  19. William H says

    Great Lesson as usual. Nick and Ray I have both those problems too. Hitting that 7th and making it ring out and the big stretch. Although I am getting better at that. I find going up the fretboard is easier. Just keep stretching that finger. Here’s to a quick recovery Brian. Happy holidays all

  21. Robert M says

    Thanks. Coming up with an interesting rhythm is and keeping it in time can be a real challenge for the average player. Your insights are really helpful. Definitely an area worth revisiting from time to time. Bob

  22. San Luis Rey says

    I love this lesson Brian! There is room in a band for both a “rhythm” and “lead” guitar player. Many times it is done with just one guitarist who plays a mix of both all over the neck and then steps out for a solo at times. The main body of work though is the 80% or more when not soloing. I have great appreciation for players who do that well.

  23. Robert M says

    Brian: Is there any method in coming up with the chord arrangement for a song or is it just trial and error and experience ? All my noodling around could never come close to what you come up with. Thanks Bob

    • Brian says

      This one isn’t much of a song per se – just a simple / basic chord arrangement and playing through the different chord voicings. There wasn’t really a process.. i just picked some things that sounded good together. Lame answer I know, but I don’t really know how else to describe it.

    • Daniel H says

      Robert, use the circle of fifths. It gives you the chord families in one convenient place so you can understand the relationships. It won’t write the song but it is essential to getting you closer to a song.

  25. Dale G says

    Trying to do finger stretches before playing usually helps but still is tough to stretch and get clear notes on this one. Great lesson and love how much you can get out of simple chords. Thanks once again for you insight. Will definitely put or keep trying to put into practice.
    Wishing you best of health ahead .

  26. Daniel H says

    Hurray! A shovel and pick axe lesson. This type lesson is the best since they offer individual licks that are so easy to tie to the chord shapes. You have made easy what has been incomprehensible for years. THANK YOU! More lessons like this please!

  28. Daniel H says

    Brian, I count finding you as a guitar teacher years ago as a blessing!
    I am working this lesson through a second time and as usual I marvel at your teaching ability. You are truly a gifted guitar teacher. I don’t recall how I found you but I am glad I did! Please keep on teaching. I am looking forward to 700!

  30. T-Bish says

    Thanks for pushing through. Another truly inspiring lesson. One that builds a solid foundation to noodle around and visualize/connect the different CAGED shapes in the same key. Your examples of how else to use the same patterns in different ways beyond the lesson material, especially in the second half, are a lot of fun. I get lost repeating those sections and eventually find my way back to the lesson. It just proves how so much discovery can take place spending time between shapes to see what new sounds surface beyond the lesson itself. Thanks a lot.

  32. David W says

    Thanks for the cord shapes above the tab, I usually end up penciling it in.
    Just purchased my first acoustic electric, any ideas on how to use effects to sound like the electric your are using? I’m a newbie on amplification.
    Hope you feel better Brian, looking forward to lesson 600, what an accomplishment!

  34. michael f says

    Thanks Brian. Scales are great and have their place in progressing, but not so much in this lesson.. The benefit here in this rhythm based study is to “milk” each shape for licks that fall within that chord shape, especially the flat 7 for blues players. , I have been spending time writing out which modal scales go with the chord change charting out whole and half steps but I often cannot change to that scale fast enough because I can’t hear the chord change. The value here in this lesson is that you “milk” the shape by pulling out licks that are easy to find within that shape. I can hear the chord change better as a result. I’ll use this lesson to lock down chord shapes because your tab ties in the lick with that shape. I expect that if I can hear which chord I’m on, then I will get better at matching the scale.

  36. Bob B says

    Great idea for a lesson Brian. I agree with the earlier comments re stretch and on-screen tab. Also I found the D shape hard to manage- maybe it’s because I don’t’ use it much. Get well soon!

  41. John G says

    Brian: thank you again for! This is one of my favorite lessons you have ever provided us…”finding that flatted 7th in real time” all over the fretboard becomes so much clearer and easier with the skills you teach here…playing rhythm indeed does not need to be drudgery ! I can use these skills/riffs whenever I play. Thanks again. keep up the great work.

  42. Ray V says

    I would like to see this exercise repeated as a Swiss army knife for playing lead. Using the same chord progression but suggesting options such as major and minor pentatonic, mixolydian and Dorian modes, chromatic runs, etc.

  43. tom r says

    Hi Brian, Good lesson! all your lessons are good. I’ve learned a lot from you. I don’t do exactly note for note that you do, but you’ve open my eye’s to what I can do. Thank you.

    Happy Holidays to you and your family.

    Tom

    P.S. I wish I was 14 yrs. old again. lol

  46. Gingi L says

    Hey Brian I thought I was costing along little a bit and then you posted this. Full of very useful stuff and challenging for me but keeps me trying. Your lessons these last two years have really moved me forward. I’ve learned so much. thanks gingi

  47. Paul E says

    Hi Brian, Greetings from Oxford, England. I’m new to your lessons and I’m loving them. I’m learning so much. I’ve been trying to play better for years, Now I can study your lessons and gain so much.. Many thanks to you and I hope your head cold improves.

  52. Michael M says

    Brian
    I know the shapes of the 1 4 5 progressions in the open part of the neck . But when playing higher on the neck and the 1 choerd is an A shape what shape is the 4 chord etc. You dealt with it in your lesson about all chords within one fret. But that required knowing all the notes on the fretboard which I still haven’t mastered. Could you do a lesson to find progression based on shapes within each neighborhood of the fretboard
    Great lesson. Keep up the work.

  56. Gary C says

    Thank you. You seem to keep anticipating what I am working on at the moment: chord tones, arpeggios, pentatonics, rhythm fills, country blues, etc I can even relate to getting over bronchitis.

  57. Tom B says

    Brian
    Excellent lesson, really stretches me ( my left hand)
    One suggestion , it is difficult to read your smaller tabs than usual from my iPhone. I prefer the black on white background. And larger like your previous lessons.

  58. Michael D says

    More of these please, rhythm, with licks off chord shapes while moving through chord progressions up and or down the neck via Caged. This type lesson builds perfectly off the CAGED deep dive where you showed how to access all the scales in the various shapes – wow, cant thank you enough

  59. Huub L says

    Hey Brian, have a wonderfull Christmas,,, and a healthy 2025,,,,,, i love all the lessons , time to short, but this one is so realy good and helpfull, i see that i make so much progress, little by little i discover the neck , and iIcan remember the things ,, ik hope that you will do the lessons for a long time in the future , i have so much fun with your lessons… again and again you are the best ,,, I play thanks to you so much better, and see when Iplaying the next cord with the CAGED ..help………….. Yess i will be a member in 2025 ……….. sorry for my bad english.
    Huub from the Netherlands ,,,,,

  67. Steven W says

    This is seriously great stuff. I waited to join until I felt I had a good handle on the CAGED system, and major and minor arpeggios and scales. I can understand all of this now and the ideas are really helpful in starting to put what I’ve learned to great use.

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