Real Blues…. What a treat…. I have found a true lesson that conforms to standard blues guitar turnarounds… I will build from here... I am blessed to have found such knowledge… THANK YOU...
I have to commend you on your way of teaching. Some teachers assume the student has certain knowledge or speak in jargon but you explain in a concise yet thorough way. Impressive, well done and thank you.
I've watched the video 4 times...and it's a REALLY GOOD LESSON. I wrote stuff down...practiced...and came back the next day...and watched the video again...and it's GREAT ADVICE. Thanks.
And when you watch it again something else will register that didn't register before. Everyone that's any good at playing guitar or anything else has gone through the very same thing. Perfection takes a lot of time but once you're there it feels so freak'n rewarding!
It's coming through ...once I used in the key of A over my own accompaniment...I realized it sounded more like the blues then just the minor Pentatonic.
Thanks mate. Pick away! Your feedback helps these lessons evolve. Major/minor pentatonics is definitely in the pipeline. And sure I can make the notes light up. I started doing this in the latest lesson and it didn't take very long.
Brilliant. Hardly ever you find this on the books. I wondered why I couldn't connect the minor pentatonic to the (major) chord changes and now I know why.
Hi, This is a fantastic tutorial. Thanks for putting this together. I've been playing a longggg time and I've yet to see anyone put together the theory and practice of playing the changes to blues together so well. Keep up the great work.
Amazing tutorial. I've been playing for several years, and in the past year I've been trying to comprehensively understand music theory. So many videos make explanations too lengthy and complicated. This is a short and sweet way to make sure your solos sound how you want them. Not gonna lie, probably watched this thing 20 times, but I've gained a lot of ground in my lead and improv. Thanks!
I've played for nearly 30 years, and I'm normally the guy people ask when they have questions on music theory, but there is more valuable information from 8:20 - 11:30 than all the instructional videos on the blues that I've seen, probably ever. When he says that most guitarists aren't aware of the different function of the pre-tonic V chord, as opposed to the V chord in the 9th bar, and that this applied to me, I realised how much I still have to learn.
Thank you for taking the time to recognise that! I've always heard 9th bar as "soft V" and pre-tonic as "hard V". The tension is greater in the second and that can be reflected/complemented in note choices. I'll be sure to expand on this at some point, given how important the V is. Cheers!
This is a more jazz like approach to the blues which I understand. Phrasing on the 3rd and 7th and avoiding certain tones, etc. Definitely the best "neck lessons" I've seen. Love all your stuff man, great for a theory and visual geek like me!
It's amazing how much you can get from Utube it has been an eye opener for me because I have a great sense of timing for cord progression and as a player I always got stuck with playing rythem.
Wow... First, for those of you bitching about how hard this is? Might I suggest that this lesson simply isn't for you yet?! Go learn some fundamentals - or just jam the Minor Pentatonic over the Blues Progression first. Decide with your ears what works, and get used to improvising in that framework. When you are stuck in a rut, and I expect this to take a LONG time, learn what a Major Scale is, what a Triad is, and what an Arpeggio is... and how to find them in ALL keys! When you understand the three main Chord types, Major, Minor and Dominant - and can find/define the Chord Tones and Arpeggios of them, THEN come visit this tutorial, and you'll get a LOT more out of it. Before you know these fundamentals? You may not understand so much... Thanks so much, Fretjam - brilliant lesson...
Well said. I always hate seeing that in other lesson videos too. These people are cool enough to make videos and share their knowledge. I see it all the time in Rick Beato comments. I guess it’s up to these content creators to know exactly which video they should watching too.
GREAT LESSON!!! The best I've seen around! Beautifully laid out and a must have for any guitarist. The technique of landing on guide tones (3rd and 7th) or the tonic root (less interesting but still sonically pleasing) over chord changes can be applied to other forms of music as well (think jazz!). This is why most jazz/blues players sound different than most rock/blues players. THEY DO THIS! Once you understand this concept, it's just a matter of changing a note here and there for different chords and progressions like a ll-V-l jazz progression.
This lesson finally brought some clear insight! I knew there was some structure like this to blues but couldn't find anyone that could explain it! Thanks!
This is an extremely informative and interesting lesson. In fact, I don't think I have ever seen anyone else on UA-cam explain this as clearly. It took me a while to lock it in mentally, and get it in my ears and fingers, but I agree with you that it is a far more effective way of thinking through the changes. Relying on visual images of minor pentatonic patterns is missing out on a whole range of musical options. Thanks for this!
I have sympathy for you man. You made this rich video as clear and slow as you possibly could and it's still confusing for some people (understandable for beginners) and outright incomprehensible for others! I found it informative.
So strange for an American from the South who's been playing blues for over 50 years without thinking about it to see technical explanations of the blues. Whatever it takes I say. Thanks and keep on with the expert teaching style.
You know, this is always in the back of my mind when I do lessons on the blues. Honestly, sometimes I think I take this theory stuff too far! But then I'm reminded that there are people out there who simply haven't got the natural ear or feel to work this stuff out through trial and error (or if they do it takes them twice as long). I hope my lessons can help them explore the blues more meaningfully.
fretjam.com Traditionally, key center approach is used to write blues style melodies, whereas chord scale theory is often used in jazz together with key center approach. For example, the tonic and fifth tones in a scale are focused on over an entire chord progression in key center approach.
Once again, you lay it down with great knowledge, awesome lingo, that calm non-condescending authoritative directive voice spelling it all out clearly. Amazing my friend absolutely amazing!! I hope you do this for a living, I can only imagine that your one on one students excel extremely well and playing guitar.
Great explanation of the note choices... And I had never thought about the differences between the V7 when played in the 9th bar and when played in the 12th bar... What you say here really makes a lot of sense.
This is literally the best guitar lesson video I have ever watched. I get it, I finally get it and I know what I have to learn and do to play over a 12 bar blues. I will be re-watching this countless times. Thank you. ps. Just joined your Patreon.
Thanks for this mate its sooo useful and well taught . By far the superior explanation iv come across ever. Very effective improved results thanks to this .
Great lesson.. I've been playing for many years and I understand what you are getting at here but I have never seen it spelled out so nice a neat. Thank you for posting! :)
"Instead of playing a single pentatonic/blues scale pattern through the 1 4 5 chord changes, you can turn an ordinary sounding blues solo into an extraordinary solo by having a greater melodic respect for each chord." Ah, this quote is all I needed to blast out of the box I was stuck in. Every day I played the same scale again and again. I knew that my playing missed something. I knew exactly that this was what I've been searching for a while now. I just needed to get myself together and watch this video.
These lessons are extremely well thought out and put together, if you don't get what he's saying maybe you need to review the material further. Makes solid clear sense to me. It's not rocket science people.
Such a good lesson! I always relied on my ears for 12BB soloing and generally sounded 'decent'. This video might finally give me the knowledge to sound play PROPER-sounding blues!
Violinist here, been trying to unlock improv for a while now. This is the first I've heard of super-imposing scales on top of each other, I think it's the missing piece (well for now that is) excited to try some things out!
Wow Michael. That was awesomely enlightening! Sorry for being extremely picky but the one thing you could do to make this even more clear would be to make each note light up as you play it (I know that involves a lot of work). Lastly, to tie this all together, could you do a video on the concept of combining minor and major pentatonic scales while soloing. Thanks again. You're doing a great service to guitardom!
learning theory can be frustrating initially but hang in, it is so worth it. I bought many theory book in the beginning. My break through came with "Fretboard Logic Vol 1 & 2. make sure it has the DVD. The instructor starts out slow. Hang in your dont want to sell him short. Great teacher & player.. PS this guy is excellent as well
I like the choices,and target notes,and choice of Major pentatonic for the 5.what you didn't discuss was those chords are the Dominant in 3 different Major scales.which you could use as well.
+Kevin Oviatt What your talking about is gong to far to fast. This lesson puts quite a lot on the plate already. Including the Major scale as a possibility over all chords would take away from the Dominant 7 feel that is the focus of this lesson. After all, this is a blues soloing lesson.
Start with intervals. These are the building blocks of music (inc. both chords and scales). I have an in depth series to guide you through this in the fretboard section of my site. Once you know how intervals appear on the fretboard, learning chord and scale construction and, more importantly, connecting scales and chords will be much easier.
You can also treat these as 3 separate keys, because in fact they are, A7 = key of D. D7= key of G, and E7 = key of A. 3 notes per string runs / lagato etc can be achieved through the major scale patterns when approaching like this.
I started doing this some months ago. Before jamming, sort out the chords, and the notes they consist of. Then build your tonal map... so you know what you're doing.
Been using this vedio for reference finely shaped or clicked in my brain the color codes helped me see what I was barely seeing transfer to my hearing .
this lesson is massive and provides LOTS of information. i think there are 2 caveats here: 1.) a real person w/a real guitar would go a long way to helping transmit this material 2.) that said: this material is not meant to be digested in one sitting. there is A LOT of info here. its best to take 1 chord at a time (ie experiment with the one chord for a day or 2. then experiment what he has to say about the 4 chord, etc) theres TONS of info here. take ur time with it. try it out. its actually a very advanced way to approach playing the blues. its just a sh*t ton of info in one shot. just mess with one section at a time over several weeks. it can make huge improvements in ur playing. also watch it several times to digest what he's saying. a lot can be missed if u get frustrated and dismiss this video as "too much".
Hey Jitendra. Yes, take your time with the lessons. There's no deadline for learning this stuff! I'd loosely categorise what you described under "chord phrasing" - the combination of lead lines and regular chord playing and putting more emphasis on melody through chord changes. I have had this on my "to do" list for some time. There is some theory behind it so I'll need to think of the best way to break it down. Thanks for the reminder.
I've been playing for years and this is the best most comprehensive explanation for soloing on the 12 bar blues I've seen.
Thank god. I've been telling guitarists this for years. It's nice to hear someone else say it.
+yuppodo
You've been telling guitarists to thank God for years?
lol
Real Blues…. What a treat….
I have found a true lesson that conforms to standard blues guitar turnarounds…
I will build from here...
I am blessed to have found such knowledge…
THANK YOU...
This is the best lesson I've ever encountered on blues in the internet without a doubt! Kudos to this guy
I have to commend you on your way of teaching. Some teachers assume the student has certain knowledge or speak in jargon but you explain in a concise yet thorough way. Impressive, well done and thank you.
I've watched the video 4 times...and it's a REALLY GOOD LESSON. I wrote stuff down...practiced...and came back the next day...and watched the video again...and it's GREAT ADVICE. Thanks.
And when you watch it again something else will register that didn't register before.
Everyone that's any good at playing guitar or anything else has gone through the very same thing. Perfection takes a lot of time but once you're there it feels so freak'n rewarding!
It's coming through ...once I used in the key of A over my own accompaniment...I realized it sounded more like the blues then just the minor Pentatonic.
Bell Bottom Blues is a pretty good example of blues in major and minor too. FYI...
Thanks mate. Pick away! Your feedback helps these lessons evolve. Major/minor pentatonics is definitely in the pipeline. And sure I can make the notes light up. I started doing this in the latest lesson and it didn't take very long.
Brilliant. Hardly ever you find this on the books.
I wondered why I couldn't connect the minor pentatonic to the (major) chord changes and now I know why.
Hi, This is a fantastic tutorial. Thanks for putting this together. I've been playing a longggg time and I've yet to see anyone put together the theory and practice of playing the changes to blues together so well. Keep up the great work.
+Geotubest What Geotubest said!
I've watched so many videos and these are the only ones that make sense
Great lesson. For some who learnt scales first, now making connection of applying over chords with more tonal appreciation, it's spot on
Amazing tutorial. I've been playing for several years, and in the past year I've been trying to comprehensively understand music theory. So many videos make explanations too lengthy and complicated. This is a short and sweet way to make sure your solos sound how you want them. Not gonna lie, probably watched this thing 20 times, but I've gained a lot of ground in my lead and improv. Thanks!
I've played for nearly 30 years, and I'm normally the guy people ask when they have questions on music theory, but there is more valuable information from 8:20 - 11:30 than all the instructional videos on the blues that I've seen, probably ever. When he says that most guitarists aren't aware of the different function of the pre-tonic V chord, as opposed to the V chord in the 9th bar, and that this applied to me, I realised how much I still have to learn.
Thank you for taking the time to recognise that! I've always heard 9th bar as "soft V" and pre-tonic as "hard V". The tension is greater in the second and that can be reflected/complemented in note choices. I'll be sure to expand on this at some point, given how important the V is. Cheers!
This is a more jazz like approach to the blues which I understand. Phrasing on the 3rd and 7th and avoiding certain tones, etc. Definitely the best "neck lessons" I've seen. Love all your stuff man, great for a theory and visual geek like me!
Thank you! This is an ancient lesson but I remember wanting to incorporate more "jazz think" to the approach, mainly because it has a broader utility.
THE best guitar lessons on youtube ...
It's amazing how much you can get from Utube it has been an eye opener for me because I have a great sense of timing for cord progression and as a player I always got stuck with playing rythem.
Wow... First, for those of you bitching about how hard this is? Might I suggest that this lesson simply isn't for you yet?!
Go learn some fundamentals - or just jam the Minor Pentatonic over the Blues Progression first. Decide with your ears what works, and get used to improvising in that framework. When you are stuck in a rut, and I expect this to take a LONG time, learn what a Major Scale is, what a Triad is, and what an Arpeggio is... and how to find them in ALL keys!
When you understand the three main Chord types, Major, Minor and Dominant - and can find/define the Chord Tones and Arpeggios of them, THEN come visit this tutorial, and you'll get a LOT more out of it. Before you know these fundamentals? You may not understand so much...
Thanks so much, Fretjam - brilliant lesson...
Well said. I always hate seeing that in other lesson videos too. These people are cool enough to make videos and share their knowledge. I see it all the time in Rick Beato comments. I guess it’s up to these content creators to know exactly which video they should watching too.
Thanks for the lesson. Very clear and well explained. Thank you for taking the time to teach over the Internet
GREAT LESSON!!! The best I've seen around! Beautifully laid out and a must have for any guitarist. The technique of landing on guide tones (3rd and 7th) or the tonic root (less interesting but still sonically pleasing) over chord changes can be applied to other forms of music as well (think jazz!). This is why most jazz/blues players sound different than most rock/blues players. THEY DO THIS! Once you understand this concept, it's just a matter of changing a note here and there for different chords and progressions like a ll-V-l jazz progression.
This lesson finally brought some clear insight! I knew there was some structure like this to blues but couldn't find anyone that could explain it! Thanks!
This is an extremely informative and interesting lesson. In fact, I don't think I have ever seen anyone else on UA-cam explain this as clearly. It took me a while to lock it in mentally, and get it in my ears and fingers, but I agree with you that it is a far more effective way of thinking through the changes. Relying on visual images of minor pentatonic patterns is missing out on a whole range of musical options. Thanks for this!
Thanks for taking the time to make these videos. They’re much appreciated!
One of the best guitar teaching videos on the internet.
Best music theory and examples I had come across. It help me to be more dynamic and creative player. Thanks.
How nice and relaxed can you be ??
Absolutely well done...you`ve got a new pupil ...
I have sympathy for you man. You made this rich video as clear and slow as you possibly could and it's still confusing for some people (understandable for beginners) and outright incomprehensible for others! I found it informative.
+BlikeNave I'm taking notes from the feedback and eventually I'll probably use it to redo this lesson. It's all good man.
This video is perfect. It was exactly what i was serching for. Thank you very much. I appreciate your efforts making your videos!
from new jersey, usa
So strange for an American from the South who's been playing blues for over 50 years without thinking about it to see technical explanations of the blues. Whatever it takes I say. Thanks and keep on with the expert teaching style.
You know, this is always in the back of my mind when I do lessons on the blues. Honestly, sometimes I think I take this theory stuff too far! But then I'm reminded that there are people out there who simply haven't got the natural ear or feel to work this stuff out through trial and error (or if they do it takes them twice as long). I hope my lessons can help them explore the blues more meaningfully.
fretjam.com Traditionally, key center approach is used to write blues style melodies, whereas chord scale theory is often used in jazz together with key center approach. For example, the tonic and fifth tones in a scale are focused on over an entire chord progression in key center approach.
This is probably the best blues guitar lesson on youtube
Making the world a better place. Thank you so much brother for all your help.
The best teacher of blues! Well explained.
Once again, you lay it down with great knowledge, awesome lingo, that calm non-condescending authoritative directive voice spelling it all out clearly. Amazing my friend absolutely amazing!! I hope you do this for a living, I can only imagine that your one on one students excel extremely well and playing guitar.
I love your videos. By far the best material out there. Thank you.
Great explanation of the note choices... And I had never thought about the differences between the V7 when played in the 9th bar and when played in the 12th bar... What you say here really makes a lot of sense.
Great video! Notes visualization on fretboard for each chord is really helpful to understand how to play the Blues scale.
The best Blues guitar lesson on UA-cam
Man, this video was amazing! Everything is so clear and well explained!
This is literally the best guitar lesson video I have ever watched. I get it, I finally get it and I know what I have to learn and do to play over a 12 bar blues. I will be re-watching this countless times. Thank you. ps. Just joined your Patreon.
Very indept lesson. I really enjoyed it. It does present me with a great challenge to improve my playing. I am looking forward to figuring it out.
Thanks for this mate its sooo useful and well taught . By far the superior explanation iv come across ever. Very effective improved results thanks to this .
Awesome stuff! The best lesson ever.
Fretjam best guitar channel ever
Great lesson.. I've been playing for many years and I understand what you are getting at here but I have never seen it spelled out so nice a neat. Thank you for posting! :)
what a revelation!Thank you so much for this lesson,now I'm beginning to actually structure my solos and fills.
"Instead of playing a single pentatonic/blues scale pattern through the 1 4 5 chord changes, you can turn an ordinary sounding blues solo into an extraordinary solo by having a greater melodic respect for each chord."
Ah, this quote is all I needed to blast out of the box I was stuck in. Every day I played the same scale again and again. I knew that my playing missed something. I knew exactly that this was what I've been searching for a while now. I just needed to get myself together and watch this video.
Great lesson, big thumbs up!
Fantastic lesson! Thanks for this!
Your videos are gold.
This lesson was great. I've kinda left blues behind as far as my playing is concerned. This explanation makes me want to get into it again. Thanks!
These lessons are extremely well thought out and put together, if you don't get what he's saying maybe you need to review the material further. Makes solid clear sense to me. It's not rocket science people.
Such a good lesson! I always relied on my ears for 12BB soloing and generally sounded 'decent'. This video might finally give me the knowledge to sound play PROPER-sounding blues!
This is absolutely an amazing lesson, great job mate!!
Great lesson. This is really useful information that every guitarplayer should know. Thanks a lot.
You are the best ! Thank you so much ! Brilliant lesson!
THANKS THANKS THANKS!! Finally understood!!! I've looking for this explanation for years, now everything make sense :-)
I get it, oh thank you so much, I've been allready using those notes but sometimes they felt right and sometime they didn't, now I know why:)
Violinist here, been trying to unlock improv for a while now. This is the first I've heard of super-imposing scales on top of each other, I think it's the missing piece (well for now that is) excited to try some things out!
Oh my god. I love these videos.
Great Video!
Wow Michael. That was awesomely enlightening! Sorry for being extremely picky but the one thing you could do to make this even more clear would be to make each note light up as you play it (I know that involves a lot of work). Lastly, to tie this all together, could you do a video on the concept of combining minor and major pentatonic scales while soloing. Thanks again. You're doing a great service to guitardom!
The best lesson 4 all, that u will find anywhere..... thanks boys...
learning theory can be frustrating initially but hang in, it is so worth it. I bought many theory book in the beginning. My break through came with "Fretboard Logic Vol 1 & 2. make sure it has the DVD. The instructor starts out slow. Hang in your dont want to sell him short. Great teacher & player.. PS this guy is excellent as well
well done mate impeccable work.
This is a really good lesson. It's given me some food for thought! Knowledge = a better guitar player!
I like the choices,and target notes,and choice of Major pentatonic for the 5.what you didn't discuss was those chords are the Dominant in 3 different Major scales.which you could use as well.
+Kevin Oviatt I can barely follow what is happening right now :(
+Kevin Oviatt What your talking about is gong to far to fast. This lesson puts quite a lot on the plate already. Including the Major scale as a possibility over all chords would take away from the Dominant 7 feel that is the focus of this lesson. After all, this is a blues soloing lesson.
thanks for highlighting the chords. Very clear instruction.
Start with intervals. These are the building blocks of music (inc. both chords and scales). I have an in depth series to guide you through this in the fretboard section of my site.
Once you know how intervals appear on the fretboard, learning chord and scale construction and, more importantly, connecting scales and chords will be much easier.
I agree, this really is fantastic.
Best lesson on YT!
Thanks for this lesson. Much appreciated. Learned a lot. Now to apply them.
just what I've been looking for...great stuff!
Awesome lesson thank you fretjam 😍😍😍
wonderful lesson! now it's up to me to get it under my hat and fingers.
one of the best lessons i ever got: put the guitar down and just listen, listen, listen.
This lesson is superb
amazing lesson!! i love this channel !!
Outstanding guitar tutorial!!!
Thanks a lot !!!
You can also treat these as 3 separate keys, because in fact they are, A7 = key of D. D7= key of G, and E7 = key of A. 3 notes per string runs / lagato etc can be achieved through the major scale patterns when approaching like this.
just had one of those aha moment... thank you brother your work is awesome
best lessons on youtube. go ahead !
Greate lesson 👏👏👏👏👏... It clarifies a lot!!!
I started doing this some months ago. Before jamming, sort out the chords, and the notes they consist of. Then build your tonal map... so you know what you're doing.
Wonderfully done I need all of this l hungry and what savor all this...good work my friend.
Been using this vedio for reference finely shaped or clicked in my brain the color codes helped me see what I was barely seeing transfer to my hearing .
Working on my tone..this video provided great tone tips.
Just a fantastic lesson. Thanks very much!
Always interesting and challenging lessons here. Thanks for sharing!
Mind blowing. Well done.
Time to learn these arpeggios :) Thanks for the lesson
Such a great channel!!
This guy and Peter Joseph are the only two people I want to listen to for now,
this lesson is massive and provides LOTS of information. i think there are 2 caveats here:
1.) a real person w/a real guitar would go a long way to helping transmit this material
2.) that said: this material is not meant to be digested in one sitting. there is A LOT of info here. its best to take 1 chord at a time (ie experiment with the one chord for a day or 2. then experiment what he has to say about the 4 chord, etc)
theres TONS of info here. take ur time with it. try it out. its actually a very advanced way to approach playing the blues. its just a sh*t ton of info in one shot. just mess with one section at a time over several weeks. it can make huge improvements in ur playing.
also watch it several times to digest what he's saying. a lot can be missed if u get frustrated and dismiss this video as "too much".
Wonderful lesson. Thank you!
very clear and helpful !
This is brilliant. Thank you very much.
These are always very beneficial videos
Thank You, my grandmother can now play the blues.
Hey Jitendra. Yes, take your time with the lessons. There's no deadline for learning this stuff!
I'd loosely categorise what you described under "chord phrasing" - the combination of lead lines and regular chord playing and putting more emphasis on melody through chord changes. I have had this on my "to do" list for some time. There is some theory behind it so I'll need to think of the best way to break it down. Thanks for the reminder.
awesome lesson!!!!
a very nice lesson, thank you !