Active Melody

Learn to play blues guitar.

Using triads (chords) to construct a solo – Guitar Lesson – EP603

Description

In this week’s guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to visualize major and minor triads (on the first 3 strings) to compose a Ragtime Blues guitar lead.

Part 1 - Free Guitar Lesson

Part 2 - For Premium Members

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Bonus: Chord Structure

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Slow Walkthrough

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Video Tablature Breakdown

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Comments

  1. slopace says

    A lot to digest but very helpful. If I were just starting out I would be completely lost but after seeing so many of your lessons, I can comprehend so much more. I love how you keep incorporating ideas over and over until they start to stick. Your a great instructor and player!

      • Barbara J says

        Do a playback where Brian explains that the E7 is actually part of a dim7 chord..in this case an Fdim7…and these chords are movable. Moving up three frets results in the same diminished chord, same notes in different order. So, in actuality, it can be considered a G7 triad which is part of an Fdim7 chord. Hopefully I am correct here after doing a bit of a deep dive into it the other day

    • Bill F says

      Another great lesson what would help me the most is when you’re going through chords, you would reference fret and finger positions more often I’m blind and cannot see charts or your hand positions. If you have any suggestions, I’d appreciate it. Thank you, Bill.

      T

  5. John I says

    This is a sweet little composition, Brian. It’s fun, classy to play, and full of melodic triad insights for stringing à lead together. Did I mention the chord structure is brilliant.

    Cheers, and thanks for the quality lessons you provide every week. TGIF.

  6. Alan V says

    A wealth of great insights in this lesson Brian. Stunning in fact! It’ll be a long time before I’ll play things at that speed, but I like to grab an idea and use it to make up my own solos at about half that speed. You are surely in the top 1% of guitar instructors on the internet. Great insights often repeated so that in time they become established in the student’s brain.
    I teach popular piano and have been using that concept with great success. The fresh take each week with regular new creations from your creativity means there is something for every level of student

  13. Daniel H says

    I am so glad you did a break out on the chord structures. There is a symmetry in the circle of fifths that has escaped me. The i, vi, and ii chords of your current key re-present as major chords in the exact same order starting at the V of the V chord (of the current key). Difficult to express in words but now that symmetry stands out when I am using the circle of fifths to help me compose. So cool, not sure how missed that all these years. Thank you Brian!!

  16. James A says

    Very nice Brian, I have watched your free videos and learned so much and now I to am a premium member. Thank you for a sweet compiston, I’ll play it every where and really sound like I know what I am doing.

  18. Michael H says

    Hi Brian
    I couldn’t help but notice the II major chord leading to the V could also be a G#dim7 chord. In fact you have done compositions this way has well. I’m not asking which is more correct rather than interested in the relationship between the two chords.
    Perhaps this is not the right forum for this question but still curious nonetheless.

    Thanks for all you do. I have learned and progressed more than I had hoped for since joining.

    Have a great 2025

    • Michael H says

      Boy I had that all wrong
      As I was on the treadmill at the gym thinking about it I realized my confusion.
      Anyway the Target Chord is the II chord (A)which can be approached by the VI – (E7) which is also the V of the II or the G#dim7 same notes as the E7 in the composition has no root. I also understand better now when it is said a triad “represents” a chord since in the case of E7 having the B – D – G# could represent other chords depending on the composition
      I hope I didn’t cause anyone else confusion.

  20. Robert R says

    I loved the bonus video. Once we get beyond copying licks and playing scales, having a deeper understanding of where it all comes from opens the possibilities. I have started concentrating on jazz fundamentals and it really drives home ideas like the secondary dominants and how standard progressions come about. Keep throwing in these types of lessons. It helps us grow as improvisers!

  22. Patrick J. G says

    I thought this was a great lesson. Fun to play and a whole lot of things to learn. Joining the premium membership 2 years ago I have learned so much it’s really a great feeling. You are an awesome teacher and one heck of a musician. You can tell you put a lot of effort in your lessons and it shows. I’m a happy member.

  23. houliAK says

    I agree with previous commentors. The bonus chord review was great. You’ve covered it in the past and it’s great to hear it repeated. Kind of like your comment in the first video about forgetting licks but over time and hearing it repeated increases your lick vocabulary or tool box.

  24. Bruce G says

    Fun lesson! And thanks for connecting in the “slidey lick” into this next lesson…Recency really helps solidify a new thing we just learned by applying it again. Keep doing this please!

  25. Jeff B says

    Very nice job Brian. I worked on your previous episode of the chord changes and now learning the lead lesson (using triads) is right on time. You have a great teaching method in conjunction to a pleasing personality which is a powerful trait to have. Im an active TrueFire member and use several Nashville on-line instructors. However, you offer my favorite lessons. Don’t change a thing on your process. I do enjoy your many instruments and the stories about how you obtained them. Thanks Brian..

  26. David G says

    Really good to see the extra video about chord sequence.. really very helpful. You have very interesting sequences in lots of your lessons but this is the first time I’ve seen you make specific reference, and the sequence is so important to the development and character of a melody.

    • Bill F says

      I agree with you, David I am loving these compositions and how it all goes together. I am blind and had to rely on my hearing only. I wish he would explain what position where the note or at least explain the fingering what finger Fred, etc. at least once during the lesson so I can get all that figured out Otherwise I’m still lost just going by hearing so I miss out on a lot of that good information that would be so far ahead if that was the case

  28. Steve says

    Great lesson and really liked the extra chord talk, that 1,6,2,5 is a real gem and would make a good micro lesson by itself, sometimes I like to just strum chords, e.g. campfire noodling.

    So to keep it simple, to go left on the circle of fifths can use the 7th chord or secondary dominant of where you want to go. But to go right on the circle is a little harder and something like the classic jazz ii, V, I of the target key, that would make a good micro lesson.

    • Steve says

      Thinking about it, you showed the ii-V-I with an additional VI, like VI- ii-V-I, which through secondary dominants helps you go first 2 right then 1 left. Sorry if I sound confused, this helps me think it through 😎

  29. James S says

    Great follow up to last week’s lesson, Brian. The walkup from one note in the major scale to the next was a light bulb for me. I noticed that you the idea works in a minor kind of way if you go, say from the two to the three. The great solo in Paul Butterfield Band’s East West does something like this, I think.

  30. Mark H says

    Great lesson, thanks! The tricone sounds perfect for this, and yes, it really does resonate with me.

    Also, it’s a great lesson topic from my POV since I’m always looking to incorporate triads while improvising.
    You came up with some new (to me) ideas for that which I will endeavor to work into my playing.

  34. michael f says

    I had thought secondary dominants were just part of clever endings as in playing gospel, but this arrangement uses them as part of the tune like in ragtime. Very nice. Then you double time the 1-6-2-5-1 change to use it as a tag ending, so we get to use it both as part of the song and a clever ending. Thank you.

  42. Bill F says

    Another great lesson Brian. I wish you would verbally say as far as chords go finger positions, fret number and string numbers once in a while I depend on that type of information since I’m blind otherwise I just use my ears. Any suggestions? Let me know.

  43. michael f says

    Thank you Brian. I broke down your great arrangement as 3 8 bar blues progressions; just tried to play and hear the chord changes before tackling the notes. That seemed to work. It was great returning to a 1-6-2-5-1 progression not only as an ending which you have taught in gospel lessons but as part of the song. You get both in this lesson. As usual, you provide enough theory to know what you are playing and flashing your previous lesson devoted specifically to secondary dominants provided additional context. You even returned to the slidey lick in your previous micro lesson.

  48. Lee R says

    Brian — At about 4:45 (slidey lick area), your chord names start being displayed outside of your tab box. Before that, they are OK. I initially thought that you had omitted them, but they are faintly visible in the video’s background. I find the chord names very important to follow your licks. Please investigate & fix for the next video.

  51. Stewart K says

    I appreciate the time you spent putting this together. Unfortunately too fast and confusing for me as I spent 3 hours and really couln’t make the first 4 bars make sense ( I did learn the first bar lick though) . I could probably spend 3 hours a day for six months and it would never sound like you make it. That’s ok though, not every lesson works for everybody and I’m sure your more advanced players are having fun with it. I do like the micro lessons every other week as that seems to give you more time to put together full lessons like this. I really wish I could make it sound like ragtime but I make it sound more like a wet dirty wash rag.

  53. Dan B says

    Wonderful lesson! So many ‘lightbulb’ moments for me in this one. I loved the using the minor 1st on the change to the 4th (and it’s a 9th! BOOM!). It really made me appreciate the importance of all those lightbulb moments and how they will go off differently for each and every one of us,

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