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Learn to play blues guitar.

MicroLesson: ML105 – Blending the Pentatonics using the “SLIDEY” lick.

Description

In this MicroLesson (ML105), you’ll learn how to play a fun little slidey lick to blend the major and minor pentatonic scale, giving you lots of options when improvising!

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Comments

  6. Mark P says

    Thank you Brian!
    Look forward to trying to work through this – I have watched the video but I have no guitar at the moment as I’m having one of the potentiometers replaced or re soldered on the wiring harness as there’s a short or something.
    Hope to have the guitar back early next week. It’s a hollow body Gretsch and I didn’t want to attempt it myself!

  9. Robert H says

    Brian, I find every one of your lessons has light bulb moments. Your approach is perfect…you present concepts in such a way that students must do some of their own in-depth research on those concept and then practice. For example, in this lesson I needed to figure out which notes you’re playing in the different positions to see the relationships that you set out to explain. I think that is more effective than spoon-feeding us every little detail. In any case, that works best for me. Thanks.

  14. Ralph P. says

    SLIPPERY, SLIDEY LICKS…WOULD SOUND GOOD IN BLUES, COUNTRY, OR BLUEGRASS. VERY JERRY GARCIA. GONNA HAVE TO PLAY AROUND WITH THIS IDEA. ESPECIALLY LIKE THE RUB OF THE FLAT 7 AGAINST THE ROOT. VERY BLUESY.

    RALPH

  19. James S says

    Brian: Great lesson. As Werner says, very digestible. I wonder if you could maybe do something like with other shapes. Like the A shape and maybe the C shape. I’m much more comfortable with the E shape than I am with the other shapes, so I need to get as comfortable in the other shapes.

  25. Wil W says

    Brian an excellent lesson. I like these MicroLessons because I only have to focus on one item. Besides the combining of minor-/major-pentatonics, for me this lesson is also about phrasing. If I am right you start a phase by (eventually sliding in) a chord note (1, b3, 3, 5, b7). Then you play some pentatonic (minor/major) sequence of notes (I know I am oversimplifying) and you end this sequence with either a b7 with a small pause (like a comma in a sentence) or a 1 followed by a longer pause (end of sequence like a point in a sentence). After a b7 there can also be a longer pause to accentuate the blues sound even more (like in measure 2).
    Please correct me if my interpretation is wrong.

      • Wil W says

        Brian, thank you for your reply, this helps my learning process a lot. Now my thoughts are first establish the chord via one of the chord tones, next do something and finally return home (the 1) or the end of the phrase (point). But before returning home you can accentuate the blues feeling (the b7) by a little pause (comma) after this note. This gives me the logical explanation why these phrases work so well, and now this method can be used in general.

  29. Lyn C says

    Hi Brian.. this is really useful and it is well explained. Love it.

    I think there is a technical glitch with the Soundslice print out showing notes and tabs… Some of the tab notes are missing. e.g. in the first bar of the piece, the first note that should be the flat 3rd, or a “C” is missing on the 5th fret, 3rd string. It does show the C# on the 6th fret, 3rd string. The end of each bar doesn’t agree with the on screen tab.. I am correcting my print out as I go!

  30. Lyn C says

    Hi Brian.. Skip that last comment about a glitch.. looks like the tab I downloaded is only for the composition. The other tabs (without actual notes) work fine for the lesson.
    Thanks again!

      • michael f says

        Signed up for year 5 and your teaching has been amazing. I must be improving and much thanks to you for your lessons are so creative and you really know how to teach. Having said that, I think I agree with Patrick, but to be fair, I should be able to be creating my own slidey licks in other positions at this point.
        The scale and scope of your EP lessons which you cranked out every week must have been exhausting, so the micro lessons are a bit of a reprieve for me (and you?) Will you now be mixing in micro lessons with larger EP lessons? You have a vast library of lessons at this point. I love it when you refer to and flash on the screen a reference to another lesson. That’s more work to be cross referencing new content with old lessons but maybe this lesson was inspired by or built on a previous lesson. That would be fun to see how your creative process works.

  40. John R says

    Hi Brian, As other members have commented, I really like these micro lessons, as in addition to some digestible content, it affords me some breathing room to go back to review old lessons and make time for scale drills, etc. Also, I stacked the licks in this lesson onto to last week’s excellent EP602 backing track and had some fun with it, and helped reinforce both lessons. Thanks for all the great work. John

  41. Paul S says

    My son-in-law plays mando so I sent him a link to the Mandolin instructor you mentioned. In the mean time I’m having a blast with this micro lesson. Some great sounds in there that are really cool. Can’t wait to keep going. Paul

  42. Roy M says

    Wow … That’s sweet Brian … Well done. Very concise, easy to understand and major lights were turned on. I found I am able to really improvise using these licks and just mixing up …. SO MUCH FUN…

    Thank you

  44. David488 says

    As others have mentioned I agree that you are on to something here mixing in a very specific Micro to the format. I’m digging the lesson too!
    Here is an idea —once a month, take a specific song and break down a specific lead part, how they did it and the scale and structure behind it. We could then apply that technique elsewhere.

    More cowbell and bluegrass runs! Thanks Brian

  45. Pierre B says

    It was nice to slide into this week’s micro lesson; it was nice to focus on one very specific thing; it was nice to add it to our major-minor blend. The Slidey lick is a nice addition to our blues toolbox.

  46. Adam K says

    Microlesson: Unfortunately, I often forgo the weekly lessons simply because I don’t feel I can dedicate the time I should to the full lesson (work/family/etc). With the Microlesson, I have no excuse as it is so brief & I get to add a foundational concept to my skills. Thanks Brian!

  48. Alan V says

    I love this Brian. The Micro Lesson becoming more important is a Win/Win I think for the majority. Not so full on for you, easier to grab for more I think, and for those who are above this level, you have a wealth of back lessons. Even then the more advanced could surely have fun improvising on the concept

  49. Michael B says

    This is the type of lesson that gives you time to improvise with the backing track and add your own bits to it.
    Personally I would probably learn from the micro lessons than the longer versions mainly due to practice time.

  50. Steve says

    a powerful idea in a small lesson, i get to work up to 100% speed on these simpler ideas, whereas some lessons i only get to 70% speed, so the variety is good, also like the jam track so i can practice myself and combine with the previous week idea, joining the positions and relating minor to major.

  51. Lesley O says

    Great micro lesson again Brian – thankyou so much! Such useful content and the right amount to be able to get it under my fingers in a couple of days, then have the rest of the week to aim to perfect it. Good to work on technique without having to rely to much on memory.

  52. KIRK E says

    Hey this deal turned out way better than I first thought. I really suck at doing anything on my own with the guitar. I’m kinda ok at coping somebody but don’t try much on my own. I bout skipped this one but after watching the whole lesson I played it a little, mainly cause it was easy and sounded cool. After working on it a little, I’m able to change it up a bit and somewhat go on the fly. Thanks again buddy

  53. Debra Amesqua says

    way love the micro lessons… I was thinking of ways to incorporate the concept into other keys? like in songs I already know. can you add other Keys in the lesson backtracks? or will this work if I just try it out on another existing lesson? this is going to be fun! thank you Brian

  57. Chuck H says

    Brian, this is really great stuff. Combining the maj/min scales is just what an idiot like me needs with the slidey lick kinda thing. I would crave more of this. Think about a mighty lick with some kinda of a lost note thing that will have listeners begging for more. Less is more when I think about it. It’s magical, even alchemical in a sense when I think about what you did with this lesson – you know what I mean.

    Keep us “PICKIN” right. You’re a great teacher Brian.

  58. Doug C says

    Brian, I love the concept of alternating microlessons and regular lessons. It would be icing on the cake if you pulled the microlesson content into a regular lesson to study it further. I would love to see the slidey lick in the type 4 position!!!

    Great job as always!
    Doug C.

  68. Roland W says

    Thanks Brian, again a very inspirating session you gave us here.
    The with distant most important thing, what I learned in a couple of years here from you (don’t worry: but not the only!), was the “move 3 frets down and you have the same pattern in major” concept.
    With this, it was easy to me, to understand, where suddenly the major or minor poped in. But without this I would not have been able to follow this sessions background.

    BTW: in an other comment I read that the writer would appreciate these smaller lessons inbetween. I totally agree. That fits better into my working week. At the other hand I had many more complex sessions, where I am busy with since the came out. And them I also I would not want to miss. They are my challanges.
    So to sum it up: a mixture between “full size” lessons and shorter not so compley lessons (You may call them “micro”, but they are not.) would be fine for me, and perhaps also for your family.

    And before you ask for it, and because I know, you are interested in your customers oppinions: my favorites from the (in my mind) more complex sessions are EP303 and EP305

    Nice greetings from the black forrest in Germany where the birds often escape from the cuckoo clock and fly around everywhere,
    your happy and totally satisfied pupil
    Roland

  71. Bob T says

    Hi Brian,

    I for one, do not like this new format with the micro lessons every other week because that’s not what I signed up for originally. If this continues, I believe I’ll be canceling my subscription. If so, thanks for everything and I wish you the best.

  72. Leonard C says

    Thanks Brian !! That was neat. That’s a keeper lesson, for sure.

    I’ll have go back and find what I missed in your lessons: in the past couple months, I’ve been trying Flamenco Lessons on a Nylon String.

  74. Robert R says

    There were lightbulb moments throughout this lesson. Cool thing is I noticed parts of ideas from your many artists in the style, including J.J.
    Cale and others. I can use this stuff in our Country group. Thanks Brian!

  75. James S says

    Just went back to this lesson, and this time it forced me to learn exactly where the roots, third, fifths, sixths and sevenths are in the first and second positions. I took it up the next and am working to cement where they are all the way up. Definitely a light bulb for me.

  77. Lynne R says

    Thank-you Brian. Major break through for me with this lesson. I learned all of the licks, learned your composition, understand and can finally feel the timing and am able to interchange the licks as well as add a few of my own. For the very first time I feel like I can finally improvise to the rhythm. What a wonderful feeling and a giant step forward in my guitar journey!

  82. Jonathan M says

    Love these micro lessons. They are great for us and for you too: we get a break from a full lesson ( which are amazing but often a lot for one week, for me at least), and focus on one particular idea. We get the full benefit and you get a bit of a break from a long lesson.

  84. Brian P says

    Great lesson. It became easy to play once I saw that just like A is the 6th of C, C is the flat 3rd of A. Find C anywhere and off you go.
    My question is what type of song would you try to work that in?

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