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Learn to play blues guitar.

Blues Out of the C Shape – Blues by Yourself – Guitar Lesson – ML129

Description

In this week’s guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play a Blues composition out of the C shape from the CAGED System. Blues you can play by yourself.

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Comments

  8. Mike R says

    Did not think you would do a lesson today but thanks. Hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas. This is just another great sounding, fun lesson to play. The more I play these the more I see the scale patterns within the chords. Someday soon I won’t have to think of keys anymore but think about how the chords and scales fit together within the Caged system. Happy New Year!!

  11. San Luis Rey says

    This is soooo cool Brian! Like you said, we usually do blues with the E shape. Using this C shape opens up the fretboard for me to do runs and turnarounds that sound amazing. I’ve fumbled around with this a little before but your explanation with chord shapes nailed it. Thank you!

  13. Michael Krailo says

    This is a nice workout on position #3 minor pentatonic. It reinforces a lot of what I learned in last weeks lesson which involved knowing where the flat 3’s are for 1/4 bends, and now the blue note awareness is sharpened along with that b7 for either the A7 or B7 chords. Throw in some blending of major and minor pentatonic licks and you have a great reinforcement of things that I have learned in past lessons, but are not always used on a daily basis. Fun micro lesson.

  14. Martin K says

    Hi Brian,
    I enjoy and learn a lot when you base a lesson around (and mix) the different Minor/Major positions. It helps me blend together transitioning up and down the fretboard vs. isolated positional riffs (I hope that made sense).

    Happy New Year!

  18. Olivier P says

    Dear Brian,
    Another very informative lesson on CAGED positions. All my best wishes from Switzerland to you and your family. May the new year bring peace, joy, and happiness, and renew our pleasure in seeing you each week.

    Sincerely,

  21. Ann N says

    I always look forward to Fridays to see your new lesson and as to whether I can learn it or not. My goal in 2026 is to more thoroughly learn some of the basics you teach and understand and get better at playing the blues. Thanks for being such a good instructor and explaining all that you are doing. It helps so much. Happy New Year and to a successful 2026.

  22. Daniel H says

    I like your focus on a specific I chord shape and its associated scales. The C shape doesn’t get much attention and the 3rd position pentatonic is great to play with.

    Don’t forget your “Frankenstein” lesson structure where you build a composition/lesson out of a few preceding lessons. The Frankenstein lessons offer nice material reviews.

    Merry Christmas Brian!

  24. houliAK says

    This lesson was great timing for me. I’ve been focusing on triad shapes and their major and minor scales in the areas. I’ve been kind of stuck in the “E” and “A” shapes! This lesson tied some great ideas in the mP3 (with some MP4) and related them to the “C”shape.

  28. Nelson V says

    This was excellent! a real Aha moment…. playing blues out of the C shape. Keep ’em coming. Would like to see some lessons on ‘jazz blues’ at some point, love the variety you put out there.

  29. Georg B says

    Hello Brian,
    First things first: What strikes me most about you is your ability to explain things with crystal clarity because you have thoroughly understood and internalized them. This clarity rubs off on learners – at least that’s how it is for me.
    Here are three important, enlightening moments, breakthroughs, or lightbulbs from your latest episode that I wanted to share with you.
    First one
    The connection between the “normal or basic” D major chord and the dominant A7 chord in terms of their shapes. In addition, I don’t need to play the root note for the dominant A7 chord to represent the dominant A7 sound. The third, the fifth, and the minor seventh are all I need. That’s excellent!
    Second one
    The three chords (E7, A7, and B7) belong together like a connective tissue and this connective tissue can be found everywhere on the fretboard. Therefore, it doesn’t make a difference how the chords are labeled. This gives me an idea of how to play freely.
    Third one
    It’s great how you connect the E minor pentatonic scale (third position) and the dominant E7 chord in the C shape. I also understand how you add the blue note and two notes from the E major pentatonic scale. (As far as I understand, the two notes from the E major pentatonic scale come from the fourth position of the E major pentatonic scale. Please let me know if I’m right here.)
    In any case, it’s all absolutely clear and understandable. This demystifies the fretboard and makes it easy to understand.
    Have a nice Sunday,
    Georg

  32. Joe S says

    It took me hours to get through this lesson. I had my guitar in my lap as I watched and I kept pausing the video and noodling around to apply the concepts as you taught them. Pattern 3 is an area rich in possibilities. Thanks for the great lesson!

  33. Lance J says

    Definitely a helpful one. I’ve been wanting to be able to throw in some lead while I’m playing by myself for years. I’m thrilled I’m actually doing that now. This lesson absolutely pushes that on further. Thanks Brian

  36. Brent N says

    Great Lesson. I hope you will can continue with AGED. Your approach is very good. Thank you Brian In this lesson, I think all your licks over the A7 chord fit the Em pentatonic pattern 3 and the Am pentatonic pattern 1. Just something I noticed.

  39. Rick B says

    Brian…l love how focused this lesson is on one position and nearest I, IV, V chords. Box 3 always baffles for what to play but gives great ideas. Hopefully you’re setting up a series of similar lessons in other positions for more great ideas on how to use them

  40. Aaron P. says

    The simple lessons seem to resonate with me the most. I spend so much time in patterns 1 and 2, this one was nice to focus on some licks out of pattern 3. Thanks Brian, I can’t wait to see what 2026 holds!

  41. John I says

    This micro lesson has been a bit of a revelation. I can’t say I’ve used minor pentatonic pattern 3 in improvising. And certainly the notes are the same all over the fret board, but after playing with this a few dozen times, my efforts somehow have a whole different bluesy flavor and intervals that I am enjoying.

    Thanks for another excellent lesson and year, Brian! Happy New Year to all.

  42. Carlo Laezza says

    Hi Brian and everyone in the ActiveMelody community,
    After spending about a year away from my subscription, I rejoined a few months ago — and I realized how important it is to build a real repertoire. I’ve understood that repeating the lessons until I can truly play them well is the key, because having a repertoire also means having a musical vocabulary when improvising.
    Through these lessons I’ve learned so many riffs, phrases and ideas, and I find this approach incredibly effective. In my opinion, this is the best learning method there is — nothing works better than this.
    I just wanted to thank you for your passion and dedication, and to wish Brian and the whole community a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
    All the best,
    Carlo Laezza

  43. Rob N says

    Coming back to my guitar after the Christmas celebrations and I realise how far I’ve come in the past year – I’m starting to play along quite a bit before the TAB and explanation, recognising the sounds of certain notes etc. Still have a long way to go, but the AM approach feels so natural and enjoyable.

    Best wishes for the New Year and here’s to another year of great content.

  46. Jeff Davis says

    Thanks for another great lesson Brian. I love this idea of learning a blues rooted in the C position. I usually think of this position relative to the 5 chord in a blues progression (D7 in G for example) or as a sub dominant in a C ragtime progression. I can’t wait to learn these licks and see if I can find ways to use them into some of these other contexts. I’d also love to see you do some blues lessons focusing on some other closed positions.

    Thanks for another great year of lessons, Happy New Year to you and your family!

  47. olplucker says

    I love this lesson!!!
    I haven’t picked up a guitar in quite awhile (years, I got into woodworking) but this one made me dust off my cases and get into it again.
    The C shape 3rd position was, well, I had a “wow”moment.
    I’m so glad I kept my membership and receive your emails, you got the fire going again!
    Thank you and Happy New Year!
    Jim

  50. Steve M says

    Hi Brian, hope you are still reading the comments because I got a great deal out of this. I’m probably more used to positions 1 and 2 and with some relatively straight forward instruction you have. Opened up another blues area of the fretboard for me. Love those turn around. My best wishes to you for 2026

  51. Thomas W says

    Thanks Brian – I always enjoy your sessions with the Blues. Although, I’m just starting on the journey, I’m wondering if you have done any lessons on traditional walk-ups & walkdowns to add into improvisations. ?

    I’d love to add a few to my “toolbox”

    Thanks again !

  52. Jeff H says

    Great lesson Brian. All the best for the New Year, thanks for all the very inspiring lessons throughout the year. I read your New Year message, I thought you must have been a guitar teacher before Active Melody.

  54. Amador R says

    Guys question.

    I my iPhone I can’t get the play along with the tabs to show on the full screen. Does anyone know how too. On my iPad I have the full screen, but with my phone I don’t even see the button to make it big. Thank you.

    Brian thank you!!

    • JoLa says

      You can zoom in (with thumb and middle finger) to just see the video and the tablature. The video can be removed by swiping up on the little menu box (3 lines). Use the same zoom in/out hand gesture to control the size of the tablature on the full screen.

  55. Raymond G says

    Thanks Brian, im just 1 year in the family. And learned so much already. You make a habit of it to sound difficult and explain it easy. Thanks again.
    Still struggling with combining everything i learn from you. A few weeks ago you made a lesson i loved very much. The one were you combined parts of your last four lessons to make it a new composition again. I love to experience more of these things. Greetz from the Netherlands, Raymond.

  56. Lynne R says

    Fantastic lesson as usual Brian but I have a suggestion that would make it even better for visual learners. Include a PDF with the fret board diagrams of the chords ,scales etc that flash up onto the screen as you give your explanations. It would save everyone a ton of time instead of trying to create these on out own. The time I spend making up these visual aids could be spent with my guitar instead .

    Happy New Year ….looking forward to what you have in store for 2026

  57. Robert F says

    Happy new year Brian, I loved this lesson. I’ve been doing E blues a long time, but this is new and fresh. Your content, teaching style and teaching tools make you the most influential instructor I’ve had in over 50+ years of playing. Thank you for all of it.

  58. Richard C says

    Great presentation. Enjoy your Micro lessons. As an older learner, I find it much easier taking the lessons in small chunks and not get so easily overwhelmed.
    I believe the old adage “The guitar is the easiest instrument to pick up and play and the most difficult instrument to master”.
    ML’s Rock!

  60. JimB77 says

    Hi Brian, I was actually going to pass over ML129 heading for some great lessons of yours from earlier in 2025 that I wanted to get back to but I saw it was the latest (at the time) and decided to have a look. At first, I didn’t think much of it and was going to go on with my original mission but something about the use of the chords and 3rd position connected with me. So glad I dove in and I am writing to you about this lesson and haven’t even though there are so many of the other great lessons from years past (I’ve been a long time subscriber). I think Georg B’s post from 12/28 did a great job of explaining the nuts and bolts of why this lesson is important and I wanted to add on as to why I think this lesson is GREAT and IMPORTANT! I’ve played guitar for 50 years and know the scales very well but in this region of the fretboard it was ALL memorization. What this lesson does is present a wonderful MUSICAL CONTEXTUAL FRAMEWORK for using the scales in context to both the chords and key major tones in a way that makes it USEABLE to the player. After this lesson, this important “middle” zone of the fretboard is comfortable to play in – not just a pass through for different runs. Scales are a Framework and I’ve had that for at least 40 years of my playing, this lesson has given me both a way to play the I-IV-V chords in this position (such an important glue) but how to find everything I need major/minor/bluenote-wise. This one lesson takes that “middle desert” of the fretboard and has made it a comfortable home for me. I can’t recommend this lesson highly enough if you want to make the overlooked middle fifth of you fretboard(more like middle third) of your fretboard a home.

  61. Renaat B says

    Indeed (and once again) a breakthrough in my guitar playing. The blues sound and references to Robert Johnson, for example, complete the picture. Thank you for this clearly explained, and perhaps not so simple, technique.

    Happy New Year to all of you!
    Renaat

  63. Barry W says

    Yes, I’m guilty of automatically going to the first fret when playing a 1-4-5 in E. This opened up my eyes to adding variety and a different color by playing in a different position. Thanks!

  64. Slimpicker says

    Man is this lesson inspirational. EP 621 had incredible licks out of E shape and now these incredible phrases out of the C shape. It would be cool to have a deep dive series with more phrases out of the CAGED shapes.
    Your phrasing on that ODELL guitar was incredible. It sounds amazing.

  69. Steve R says

    This lesson appeals to me. The C7 shape is easier for me to form than the C major shape. In fact all the seven chords seem easier. I won’t spend weeks just trying to form the damn chords. This also sounds GOOD. I get the whole theory this time. The chords and the scale both. As a beginner this works for me. I will probably skip the slides initially save my fingers and dumb it down further. I added this to my favorites. Thanks and please do more easy stuff like this. Three chords and one scale position is attainable for a beginner.

  71. Tom B says

    Hi Brian,

    I’m from Scotland and have been a member for many years. I’m now in my 70s and can’t play what I could 10 – 20 years ago. I still get a lot of pleasure out of you lessons. So a big thanks from me.

    Lang may yer lum reek.

    Tom

  76. Raffaele S says

    Great lesson, Brian, as always!
    I’m Raffaele, an Italian who’s been subscribed to the channel for about 3 years.
    I’d like to ask if you could always add the multilingual audio track to your future YouTube videos, which is very helpful for those who don’t speak English.
    Thank you for what you can do.

  77. Avery C says

    Thankyou really enjoyed this by learning different chord shapes that can be played in different places on the fret board plus using position three of the scale and different harmonies. I hardly play position three but this forces me to play and learn it. Also like the ending.

  79. Kevin K says

    Alright Brian, Just finished this lesson ( I did the “D” shape last week) and I really learned and enjoyed it. I’m going to practice this a bit and go on to the “C” shape. Keep em’ coming. I must say that when I signed on I was a Beginner player thinking I was intermediate. Until I woke up, learned the fret board, learned the CAGED system, learned the major and minor pentatonic scales vertically, I was always lost. Now that I have that under me, I really enjoy your lessons and the format you use for teaching. I am slowly moving past the intermediate level. I recommend Active Melody to my friends now because I know where your going and am glad to be along on the ride.

  81. scott m says

    After monitoring you for 6 months,,, I finally became a member with 1 yr subscription. Why,,, because you are talented and explain things so well.. I’m looking forward to future lessons..

    This one in particular in great. Good Job.

  82. MICHAEL B says

    Great stuff Trying to catch up on what I’ve missed but gotta say this is taking hold and adding needed context…right now the lights are coming on but just flickering, but heck they’re coming on!!! 😉 I’ve needed to take time for QUITE some time to “get” these ideas. Its coming thanks to you. Really eye opening

  83. Tony P says

    Great lesson. For me, it was lucky (and essential) that I saw ML135 first. The cheat code for finding both the major and minor pentatonic scales was excellent background to get the most out of ML129.

    This little CAGED micro-series has answered questions that I’ve been trying to sort out on my own for many years.

  84. Fran M says

    Brian I appreciate the lesson series you’ve done for each shape. So much material.

    I’ve been trying to watch both the left and right hands. I just can’t get some of the picking down right. By any chance do you use hybrid picking?

    Thanks,
    Fran

  85. RIFF DIGGER says

    This is quite a complicated little lesson if you’re not used to the shapes exactly. I don’t want to seem like I’m high and mighty, because I’m not- but I put the lesson PDF on a USB Flash Drive, take it to my local Staples store, enlarge it to 140% on 11×17 paper, and print that. Then at home I can write in little comments on phrases or measures that coincide with what Brian is explaining in the video. Later I can refresh the practice and finger positions off the paper for memorization. The last step would be to play along with the auto-tab SLICE feature on the Premium Page. I do this only on certain Active Melody lessons that I really can personally learn from as there is a considerable amount of time and focus involved and it works for me. Thanks, Brian- this is an educational one for me.

  86. tjwillemse@icloud.com says

    I know I probably should be able to figure this out on my own, but your compositions are so great but often times I would like to make them longer or repeat then but I struggle to find a natural turnaround in the composition. can you advice on how to find a natural turn around.

    • Michael Krailo says

      That’s a very good question. 12 bars are the meat of what is played and can be repeated. The turnaround is in the last two bars setting up a return to E7 one chord. So what you are looking for is 12 bars that can be repeated. How many bars are there total? 17 right? Subtract 12 and you get 5 extra bars which end up being the intro bars. That means bar 6 is really the beginning of the repeatable 12 bar blues section, so you can skip the first 5 bars when you repeat. That 12th bar obviously has to be modified to remain in B7 chord territory instead of the E9 ending chord. Hope that makes sense.

      This would make a good lesson though, to go through the process of creating a looping piece of music and then create an alternate ending phrase to end the loop.

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