This is one of my favorite patterns for blues soloing. It’s basically the blues scale… but with some extra goodness.
A lot of people call it the BB King box or something similar because BB does use it a lot, but so does Albert King, Freddie King, and darn near everyone else.
This video is just about learning the pattern… I didn’t put any licks in it because I didn’t want to make it too long. Just just play around with it and try it out.
I use this pattern a lot in Killer Blues Solos Made Easy if you’re interested in more uses for this.
171 replies to "The House Pattern"
I’ve always called it the ALBERT KING box…BB probably did too. 😂
They say the only dumb question is the one you don’t ask, so here goes: In “The House Major” pattern you show a root note but you do explain that this house pattern is not part of any scale pattern. That being the case, how exactly is this a root note?
The notes of the “major house” played in order aren’t 5 consecutive notes of a scale pattern. In A major (as played in the example), those notes would be the VI (below the root), Root, II, IV and V. Or F#, A, B, D, E. They are notes FROM the A major scale, but not consecutive, and are not notes from the A major pentatonic. Hence “not matching any scale “pattern”
The “minor house” is consecutive notes of the A minor pentatonic scale.: V and bVII (below the root), Root, bIII, IV. Or E, G, A, C, D.
I hope I explained that fairly well?
Best to you
The ‘house box’ is a great little aid-memoir…but I’m grateful my parents ‘forced’ me to take piano lessons as a kid….so whatever I learn something new I ‘translate’ in my head to ‘real’ notes….Griff has touched on the subject of understanding sheet music…..if you can visualise your guitar notes on the keyboard you have a big advantage…
Nice lesson, Griff. You comment that when you play the notes of the “House Major” box, you are not playing a scale. Actually, without the bends, one is playing notes that are part of the B minor box 2. But what makes things very interesting is that with the appropriate bends, one can use this “modified” B minor box to play riffs and solos over A blues.
You could extend this concept further having the root either on e string (high) or B string , so 6 major boxes in total (2 boxes per chord I IV V) . It is just the way you think about the root and relative intervals.
Very Important Players live in that little house. I’m just a squatter.
He didn’t mention, The Church House, Red House, Dog House, Hen House, Brick House, Stick House patterns either LOL 😂👍🎸👏😎✌️
Love ur posts Griff. I belong to BGU and have a couple of ur courses. Ur the best. Merry Christmas to u and ur family
Thanks again, Griff!
The most useful soloing commentary yet.
Good stuff, hope for more like this.
Griff this is a great lesson and it gives direction to anyone who wants to start jamming with others . You are the only teacher that I know of that provides this type of opportunity for learning the blues without joining. I have purchased some of your teaching materials and I am enjoying tremendously.
Thanks and keep you the good work.
Think I have seen this before and forgot it . I have been working on going major minor and it is the whole key to solo made easy. thanks for a re fresher .
Griff your great for all us who never thought they would be able to play anything. John should prepare a video lesson and let all of us less fortunate see what he’s got!! Put your guitar where your mouth is.
Another great video griff!! I’ve seen you explain this before and I have been putting it to good use. I look forward to your videos they are the first thing I look in the morning!…thanks again griff! You have uped my game tremendously 😎😎
Absolutely OUTstanding! Thanks again, Griff; you really make this FUN! 🙂
Oops, i meant “this Trojan guy”
Most enlightning lesson yet for me. Thanks for this, it had some lightbulbs come on. As you said, dont need to play a “scale” to sound good. Now the minor/major options are a lot clearer.
Question, are there any other patterns in any of the other 4 ” pent. scales/ boxes ” that can be used in this manner?
Thanks again. Oh and dont pay any attention to this Trohan guy’s comments.
I think he is from a different planet.
Cheers,
Charles
Love it thanks.
Griff,
I don’t think I’m exaggerating (too much) in saying that this lesson opened up a whole new world for me in soloing. Thanks so much for your insight and ability to make these concepts accessible to your viewers. Quick question: does the second in the minor scale work as a kind of passing note if you’re playing over the five chord? Thanks so much.
Griff –
You bend strings so easily, while I find it so hard. Is it me, or could it be my vintage (7 1/2inch radius) fretboard.
Hey Griff , I love this little gem !! Being a huge BB fan , with just a little knowledge from you i can tap in to those beautiful licks of BB.s and make my own .. Cheers .. Deb Australia
hey deb, im from brisbane, where you from ?
You chart shows the fingering to be between the strings and I am finding it impossible to get any sound out of my guitar.
you’re looking at it wrong. it’s a horizontal fretboard not a tab.
Glad its not just me! – Its very hard to follow, even knowing its a horizontal fret board as the brain keeps flicking its orientation without any references like a fret number, dots) or thickened low E string.
Guess I’m use to seeing my fret diagrams being vertical rather than horizontal!
To fix – Try taking a screen shot of the fret board diagram and rotating it so that the low E (thick string) is on the left,(original image its at the bottom.) Then focus on A and D as being one side of the ‘house’ shape, depending if its Major or Minor house shape.
Hope I got it right and not caused more confusion……!
Great little pattern and easy to remember!
Try being LH. 2 Changes I’ve always done:
Upside is- From early on, you don’t skim and miss info.
1. I put the nut on my right side…
2. And – TAB…I’ve never liked the way high notes / thin strings are at the top of a diagram! I write it out as my neck and fingers appear if I were in front of a mirror (“mirror image”). Thick strings / low notes on top of diagram and Thin / high on bottom.
That’s how your eye and hands engage the instrument whether you’re LH or RH, looking down at your neck…and it’s the same way you see it across, in a mirror.
That was GREAT…LOVE TO SLOW IT TO .25 SPEED TO STUDY IT….I used it alot as I already was using it but with a wall to stare at as I play I combine a lot of TREASURES IN THE ZONE….
As always, I love these short lessons. A thought for the production of these videos that make them more helpful for my skill level. Whenever you demonstrate these licks over a jam track, I would find it useful to super impose what cord you playing over. I’m ok over the I cord but, I have trouble with what specific notes I should be targeting for the IV and V. I know the scales but i have trouble getting it from my head to my fingers. I need a video that show specific notes for each cord…I really need to be “hand fed”. As always, great stuff
Really great stuff, Griff. Very helpful
HEY GRIFF!! BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE I GOT AN EMAIL GOODIE FROM YOU. YOU LOOK GREAT MAN. I MOVED AND THAT’S BEEN OVER 18 MONTHS. THE MOVE, ME BEING DISABLED, TOOK ME MONTHS TO RECUPERATE. SO I WAS WAS NOT PAYING GUITAR JUST WRITING LYRICS. NOW YOUR BACK! I MISSED YOUR LESSONS, THAT WAS A COOL PATTERN . I HAVE BEEN PLAYING UN PLUGED. JUST TRYING TO BUILD UP MY FINGER STRENGTH. BEEN PLAYING A LOT OF ROY OBERSON AND ERIC CLAPTON . I PICKED UP A TUNE FROM HIS CD,ON THE ROAD WITH BB KING. ERIC IS REALLY SICK. I HAVE KNOWN HIM SINCE THE 70’S. I HAVE BEEN PRAYING FOR HIM. I HOPE WE DON’T LOOSE ANOTHER GREAT ARTIST.NO WORD FROM HIS WIFE. SO THAT’S GOOD. I HOPE. TAKE CARE AND CAN’T WAIT FOR ANOTHER LICK, OR SOLO. :-)PAUL.
Thanks, Griff. A few minutes noodling with those two “house” boxes tells me I will be spending much more time there–so many different patterns to play in easily played boxes. Also, the best lesson so far on major/minor sound within a tune.
Hi Griff,
The little house….WOW! its got a lot in it….Amazing as always.
Thank you very much,
Llewellyn
Bangalore – INDIA
Nice I love it thanks
Excellent little lesson that is HUGE in practice. Thank you, Griff!
Thank you Griff. I’ve seen you demonstrate this concept but never got the
difference in the bends. That’s the icing on the cake.
Hey Griff ,do you have a downloadable PDF ,so that I can save it on my adobe reader to use so that I can learn to play it on my guitar
Looks to me that the minor pattern is box 2 and the major pattern is box 3, am I correct?
Yes.
Take another look at box 3 string 1. Griff made a point to say this is not a scale. Take it for what it is, and don’t confuse yourself .
No, because F# is not a note in the A minor pentatonic scale
Griff, thanks a million. I’m getting better and better every day because YOU are my teacher!
Griff, Another great lesson, Love em all .Thanks for all you do for us.
To all the negative responses tell them to get a life and play drums,anything just leave the pickers alone !
Ray
Thanks Griff – Love this, one of your best!
OH! I love it.
Thanks Griff
I have seen several versions of this “house pattern” idea. Most of the others point out that, from the “minor house”, you should drop the pattern DOWN THREE FRETS, to shift into the “major house”. But in this approach, Griff shifts UP TWO FRETS to change to major. Are these both correct??
Griff. “”GRIFF – – -!!!” Youtube instructors are INFORMATIONAL i.e.; – -they pass to their audience “”INFORMATION””. Sad but true, THEY {{AL}}–[-“ALL”-} [[FORGET}} THIS QUINTESSENTIAL POINT. YouTube instructors are [[-GUITAR-]] PLAYERS!-at least they all [demonstrate]. Chords. SCALES, Riffs & Licks ON THE [[-GUITAR-]]. As great as you are-or try to be- not (-NOT-) everyone IS A GUITAR PLAYER (NOT !!). How does is a Keys Player or a Woodwind Player – -{ME} – -know the finger positions indicative of Each Note on the guitar FRET BOARD ??? Only guitar players recognize the individual note(s) an index finger placed on the 3rd fret on the 2nd string ACTUALLY {{-“IS-“]]. YouTube instructors are [[-in & of- ]] the Elitist Mind Set that the guitar {“IS”} the End All and BE ALL of {“ALL”} INSTRUMENTS. This is instrumental CHAUVINISM in its Rawist, Purest–CRAPPYIST– form and it JUST ISN”T TRUE !**. All right; A minor Pentatonic Blues Scale: what ARE the notes to this Scale? “V-E-R-B-A-L-I-Z-E” Them Griff. “SAY” them-[[ALL]] of them (***).HELP US ALONG, “Please”; where WE, as [“budding Musicians”]- – – WANT to be. PLEASE !!**. Thank You, Griff. John T. PS. ((-“Keep ‘Em Coming*-).
er….Trojan – fella – you’re in the wrong place. Griff is a blues guitarist teaching blues guitar to people who want to learn blues guitar. You wanna learn keys find a keys teacher. Wanna blow your horn find a horn teacher – don’t dis’ someone for not doing what they NEVER made the slightest claim to do.
I’m super upset Griff doesn’t deliver coffee to me while I watch these video lessons. I mean seriously, I really love coffee while watching these video. I paid a lot of money for a membership and I think he should include coffee and maybe a biscuit, too. Good grief, John, anything else you’d like Griff to provide? Please re-read Andy’s response above. It pretty much sums it all up. And thanks Griff for all the great daily info.
Waaayyy too much coffee.
Tony, I may disagree on what beverage he’s using.
what a ridiculous post. I guess we should go view a piano tutorial and beat up on the teacher for not showing us how to bend a note!
Get a life man!
Sad day John, WTF? I stonily recommend you see a professional about your troubled mind, or at least talk to the one you should be seeing, No disrespect, but really fella give us a break in the future from any rantings.
Why are you a member of “BLUES GUITAR” Unleashed if you wanna learn horns?
That’s not quite right. This is way cooler. The 3 frets down trick gives you the major pentatonic scale whatever scale shape/box you’re playing. This house pattern isn’t the major pentatonic scale – it can sound major or minor when you bend the 2 note – just like Griff explained.
And Griff recently went to some length to discourage use of the 3 frets down trick too.
Roger that.
Griff – makes sense to me Wouldn’t we all love to have Griff as our personal blues guitar teacher ? Count me in… !
pls break it down begginer so we can understand
Griff,
being a BB fan the “house” patterns are nothing new to me, I have incorporated them in my blues playing for a long time, but rarely do I go from house to house, so to speak, as you do in this lesson! Thanks for giving me a different perspective, you’ve got me looking at it a little differently with this lesson, the sign of a good teacher, and the reason that I started started with PTTB many years ago and continue on!
really would like this Tabbed out,and a longer Jam track but thanks really good stuff
what does this have to do with anything, I thing griff is a little bored today
I’ve been doing this for a long time without really knowing what I was doing. Thanks for another great blend of technique and theory.
Nice. Why are the dots in between the strings, on your fretboard diagrams?
They’re on the string, between the frets. The diagram is horizontal not verticle.
Ahh. Got it. Thanks.
Cheers Griff
For the lesson love the BB box pattern
Thanks Griff awesome stuff
You have let out arabbit out of your magic bag. Its very nice. Thank you .
Hi Griff
First let me say that I love our videos — however I do have difficulty in following your finger movements and relating it to the view of My fretboard that I see when I look down to it.
My tip — for people that have a IPad like me — if you tilt the iPad backwards the picture flips upside down and become the view of the fretboard that you see when you are playing — now it’s so much easier to follow your finger movements – and copy them.
It’s an important point to consider – and maybe an opportunity to consider when you do your videos to “show” your finger movements in this way — (upside down) I’ve I’ve “the view that you see of the fretboard when you look down and play”
Hope that you’ve got my drift?
Blessings
David
Norfolk England
Super cool….. Super thanks to you.
have no idea on this, someone is bored and have nothing to post
@Mark – what are you having trouble with? This lesson sounds more complicated than it is. Griff is referring to interval names but if you dont understand the jargon, as hes says… dont worry about it, just follow the box pattern…its only 5 notes and transposable to any key. Its a very basic but a very important and easy lesson to get you started with soloing.
Not posted out of boredom as you put it, by any means.
Hi Griff, this has to be the most useful tip! such an easy switch from major to minor without too much effort to think about it, Your course and all of these neat tips have really helped my playing in general not just with the blues! Thanks
Thanks Griff good stuff.i will be working onthat ttonite. Keep us rockin. Charlton
hey Griff,
Just as cool as it gets, great.
Michael-Sydney Australia
Thanks again Griff, I have a peavey classsic vt series tube amp and this shape sounds so good on it that i thought that maybe you could post the jam track that you are using. Once again wonderful and fulfilling video.
Griff, your diagram show the pattern in middle of fretboard , but yet you play the example on higher strings ? Also again a bit to fast ,and knuckles in way on which string sometimes. However it does sound good so l will just try on my own ,and see how it sounds . Usually my ear can soon match ,or find which notes sound off. lt does sound cool though, thanks for sharing.
Bruce: it’s not in the middle, you are looking at it the wrong way. The high e string is at the top of the diagram.
Thanks Griff, simple and effective. You are a great teacher. (BGU Member).
Sorry Griff the D (10th fret high E string does Not work) over any of the 1/4/5 chords!!!!!! The other 4 notes work in the major.
In the video you don’t play it all.
What on earth are you talking about? Have another look.
D IS the IV chord by the way.
D is the root of the IV chord, D7…and d is the 7th in the 5 chord, the E7. D is also the in the A minor Pentatonic scale. It works over all three chords. Playing a D over an A chord may sound a bit dissonant to your ear as it is an interval of a fourth. The other two chords the D is a chord tone and fits right in.
Interesting that you name the set of notes for its shape (it looks like a house). The pentatonic scales remind me of the shapes of letters a K S H N
Thanks Griff. I will learn this tonight
Awesome!!!
The epiphanies I have after watching your videos…..
I’ve watched hundreds of hours of YouTube video and I’m taking lessons….yet no one ever showed me (or articulately explained) how the BB King box really works with the bends
HI GRIFF,
GREAT LESSON AS USUAL. I AM QUITE UP WITH THIS PATTERN BUT THIS LESSON HAS OPENED MY EYES TO OTHER THINGS, SO THANKS.
I HAVE A MARSHALL VALVESTATE 2000 AVT AMP AND WOULD APPRECIATE A LESSON ON HOW TO SET IT UP FOR THE GREAT BLUESY CRUNCH SOUND YOU GET. I PLAY IT WITH A GREEN MILE TUBE SCREAMER BUT STILL DO NOT GET THE SOUND TO THE LEVEL I WOULD LIKE. COULD THIS BE ANOTHER BLOG YOU COULD DO??? I WONDER HOW MANY OTHER GUYS OUT THERE ARE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM.
KEEP THE BLOGS COMING, I LOOK FORWARD TO EVERY NEW DAY!!!
REGARDS,
ROGER.
Hi Roger
It has been my experience that each amp is different so to ask for a specific setting isn’t always as easy as you think, I have found backing off on the volume knob of the guitar (once again hard to say what number to put it on cause a lot has to do with what style of pickup you are using also the guitar try getting it close as u can on the amp then turn the guitar volume to 0 and slowly play and increase the the lvl of volume that is applied while on clean channels the volume make a big difference in how loud a lot of the time when u got to the dirty channel is creates more saturation the higher you have the volume so if it feels a little to crunchy maybe back off if it sounds scratchy maybe back off on the tone some, bottom line it is a personal preference so play with it and see what sounds good to you
hope this helps I spent many years trying to do it all with just the amp not knowing it is really a combination of the amp and the guitar
Simple but vast . Thanks Griff.
So simple….but so VERY effective. Another sweetie for the gig box! Many thanks.
Awesome as always. Thanks for rewiring my brain, Dr. Guitarenstein!
Griif – just to say thanks for this video, a real piece of icing on the cake.. I’m working my way through the Blues Guitar Unleashed course I just bought from you and I have to say the way you teach really WORKS, and your generosity in sending out this free stuff will surely keep coming back to you in the form of good blues karma :-), as well as hopefully many course sales…many thanks. H
Greeeat! As always. Thanks.
Unless my ears deceive me, you don’t really use the four (tenth fret on the E string in this example) much when the one of the progression is playing, do you?
That is not correct. He plays it in the second phrase/lick in the intro, bending it up and then back and pulling off to the C
Hey Griff As always GREAT STUFF!!!!!!! What amp were you playing the Gibby 335 out of? Not that I will be able to recreate the sound you get with my talent but one of these days……..!
Griff, I hope you get this because it can be confusing to alot of newer players. When you move around the neck and say you are onthe 3rd,6th,4th etc. Where did you start counting at ? What are the shapes that you use to count with? In alot of videos people refer to the number that they land on but not many explain how they got there.From what I understand it all depends upon what key you are in and what and where the root you start on. Thanks,Ray
Ray,
1st is A (the root note for this exersize)
2nd is the B
b3rd is the C
3rd is the C#
4th is the D
5th is the E
6th is the F#
There is more that (b5th/blue note) but that is the context.
For me, the boxes and movable shapes are better used when I know whete the notes live in each box (root, 4th…etc)
COOL BEANS BRO. I am a lot like the way you were . looking for that tasty lic or sound . I have found some in my own way. seems that in the back of my mind i have all this info but not really putting it all together. One piece of importance i think you left out . always return to the root . all may find if you search for that root else where and play the same pattern yes you can solo all day long . just return to the root note hell play a cord too possiablities are endless yes.i can see that a lot of others are getting it too.:<) .
NICE MARCHALL HEAD MAN THATS NICE THE 100 WATT ONE YOU JUST GOT EAHHH
Thanks yet again Griff for letting all us students learn how to achieve a great electric blues guitar sound.
Hi Griff. I play this sequence all the time, but doesn’t quite sound as good as when you play it. Probably down to your accuracy when bending. So, I’ll just keep on bending til I snap.
Regards, Ray (UK)
You made this so simple. That is Griff’s house. If I understand, the minor is from the 4 notes solo, which I learned even before I subscribed to the course . I have always enjoyed it. My biggest problem is the bending .I need to get familiar with it. As I watch you play, I hope I can get eventually have better control . until I can come up with my own piece ….
Griff – great stuff. In your demo you create a number of licks in each box. Could you make a follow up video showing how you created 2 or 3 of those licks in each box. ……thanks
ditto 🙂
Nice, Thanks Griff. I watched the lesson twice and it began to be clear. You have a way of getting it simple and yet leave some for advanced theory to reveal. The jamming is out of site.
Very useful info Griff. I am still waiting for contact from cust. Service or anyone….now 9 phone calls and yet another email being ignored…and yes I have sent emails in other areas of course info. Please help.
Lessdrop
Thanks for this explanation of the BB box. This same (house) shape sits right in the minor box one scale as well. You taught a couple bb licks there in the past. Maybe you could ad those licks to this lesson as well. I would like to see those as well.
Thanks
Tom
Right after the minor pentatonic, I think your “Houses” are next in importance of good, basic blues playing.
Very handy! Thanks!
Still the minor pentatonic (box 2) (or the major depending which root you use)
I think I’m finally ‘getting’ it, thanks to these brilliant little snippets you keep sending me. Three years now and I haven’t really looked at my ‘Playing on the Porch’ course yet. Thanks for the insights Griff.
Thank you Griff. This lesson has opened a huge door for me. Such a simple concept, yet what a difference it makes.
Very cool. I’m 57 and just started playing a couple of years ago. Found myself in a rut and trying to understand lead playing more. This video put some pieces of that puzzle together for me, thanks!
Very cool griff, many thanks boss.
that was very cool thanks.
Hi Griff, it’s all so utterly confusing but you do help thanks !
Thanks for this one, Griff. Excellent. And thank you B B King! I’ve played this ‘House Box” for quite a while but the timing and phrasing has clarified a lot for me. Cheers!
Quite possibly the best 8 minutes of blues instruction I have ever seen. Brilliant!
Thanks
Mark
Best clip ever – Thanks Griff!
This short video was one of the most informative clips I
have seen from you or anyone else a definte plus in explaining
these two boxes , also I have many of your courses but haven’t got around to the 5 more solos YET but the 8BAR demo
was a beautiful piece and is what I feel the blues is all about thanks
maybe I am just stupid, but I have watched this twice and get no understanding. What are these diagrams? The notes seem to be placed between the strings? And watching the video it does not seem that you are playing the patterns in the diagrams. But, I am probably just stupid.
Tim,
The horizontal lines are the strings. And the vertical lines are the frets. Hope that helps. Play on buddy.
I must be stupid too. I tried to do this on an acoustic guitar and all I got was lots of pain in my fingers and very confused.
Glenn:
I use nothing but an acoustic to practice. It builds your finger callouses and strengthens your fingers for bending notes. Stick with it!
Hi Tim,
In the diagrams, the horizontal lines represent the strings and the vertical lines are the frets. So, in each ‘box’ there are two notes on the top E string, two notes on the B string and one note on the G string.
Hope this helps.
Karl
Hang in there Tim.
Start by lwarnibg the notes of A major ….then make a fretboard diagram and fill in each note for those notes…then learn the shapes of the A major and A minor pentatonic.
It takes time.
Griff:
Isn’t either of the patterns simply the “upper extension” of Box 1 for any key? Either also is the upper half of Box 2 for any key, right?
Yes, that’s correct. You got it.
Know what? The little light over my head just came on. Understanding has begun to sink in, like Ah Ha! and Voila!
Thanks, Griff. This is fun!
Great lesson Griff…HA!!…Good BB’s Box and Evil BB’s box…always knew he had to have an evil twin playin like only he can…
What I like about it is that you can play it with almost any blues key.
Thanks Griff. your the man.
Very helpful! And now I can’t wait to get home and try this! Thanks!
This lick is in the slow blues in A on 5 easy solos. Thanks.
Thanks for pointing the lick to the 5 Easy solos, I’ve got those, right where’s that guitar.
More great stuff, Griff. I’ve seen other people (even instructors) find the root and go one side for the major and the other side for the minor sounds. They didn’t give the musical explanation like received here from Griff. Great job.
Hi Griff,
This stuff is awesome, I could sit and listen to you all night except I need to have a go myself, wish me luck here I go…….
sweet…later.
cowboy
If I wasn’t a customer, I’d feel guilty. Dude, you are just givin’ it away!
Love this! I know this stuff is all obvious to you – you’ve been in this place for years (decades?). For me, it’s not the notes it’s how you show how to use them so fluidly / effortlessly to tell a musical story. Thanks!
Thanks again Griff, love this stuff. It not only helps me so much with my guitar playing but also my understanding of how the guitar works.
Cheers.
Chas
This lesson is AWESOME! Thank you so much.
Excellent info Griff….Thanks!
griff you explain things so easy if only i had known about you earlier in my guitar playing years i would not have spent so long sitting behind a drum kit
Thanks Griff I think this dives into my question about the short tasty speaking type solo gonna work on it the next couple days thanks again for what you do for us players !!!
Griff
Dynamic creativity at its finest level. You’re a great teaching and gave expanded my ability to deliver great solos! How about a quick refresher on ending a killer soloo? Keep it up my friend!
Vic
As always – great stuff – thanks for all your efforts
Griff,
This stuff is finally starting to sink in. I really appreciate these little lessons. Thx
Griff,
Bear with me and I will relate the following to the “House Patterns”.
I was in Denver over the weekend and got to go to a Blues Jam session at a place called Ziggies. I went with several friends who encouraged me to sign up to play. I’ve been studying your materials for about a year and have recorded BGU solos 1, 2, 3, and 6 and will record 4 and 5 shortly. Well, after I listened for a while, I would not even admit to owning a guitar, let alone sign up to play! The guys playing lead could pick more notes than ants on a Tennessee anthill! But after a while it got a little tiring because it almost turned into a “I can play more notes than you can” competition. And although the jam groups were all very good, sometimes less is more.
B.B. King usually does not play lightning fast licks with lots of notes, but he always plays the right ones! The house patterns really give you access to all the right notes and a framework to let you really sound bluesy! I will keep plugging away and try to learn everything you make available to us (your students). I’ve made lots of progress but still have a long, long way to go but I am loving every minute of it.
Thanks for all you do.
Bill, I’m in Denver, too. I’ve been going to Ziggie’s for over 30 years and I’m just now trying to get up the cojones to join a jam.
At my age I’ll never develop the speed of these nickel-a-note players, but I’ll still get up there with whatever I have.
Remember, these lessons, and others on line, too, are great, but they’re the path not the destinations.
Ultimately, from practicing these lessons, your own style will emerge and you’ll be able to fit it into a jam.
Remember, BB King said he couldn’t play fast, so instead of playing the lots of notes, he strove to play the right notes.
The late Joe Beck (jazz guitarist) once said the first thing was to identify the most important note in a phrase. If you only played those notes, you’d still have something worth listening to.
Bill:
In my view, it’s what’s left unsaid that says more that what’s said…particularly when what’s said is in time and in the pocket, and vice versa.
This little video was a great help to me to clearly be able to sort out the locations of the major notes in the A blues scale and how to go back and forth between major and minor. Also now understand there’s actually a second House Box above the BB King box that offers another string of sweet blues notes.
There are many guitar instructors on the net, but you’re probably the best at creating an easy path to get from novice to being able to play guitar at a competent level. Nice Work, Griff!
I keep hearing about mixing minor and major scales, using major over chord I and minor over IV and V but never quite seeing it. Just seeing the two “house” shapes with their root notes (and seeing them being played in the example solo) suddenly made everything so much clearer!
Griff – thank you for yet another great lesson. I’m convinced that you have forgotten more than I’ll ever learn about the Blues style of playing but I keep at it thanks to your lessons and the sense of accomplishment they offer. As always, I’m looking forward to the next one!
Back when I first bit on the bait you refer to as the four note solo, I thought that it was lacking!
I kept adding another note to it to make it sound right to me.
So 7 months have gone by and now you tell me that it all works better with the addition of the FIFTH note.
I would like to say, “I knew that” but being ignorant and lacking confidence, I was not sure.
Thanks for confirming my gut feel.
H Spruit
It’s just like waiting for the mailman with your nose pressed up against the window! Your daily “deliveries”
are such a joy. Keeping up to speed with your BGU course, running up (and down) scales and getting the new riffs
down are taking me to another level.
Very much appreciated, Griff.
if what you play “speaks to you” or someone else, who cares! I went to a King Crimson concert back in 1972 in SFO. I was so excited. I had just previously seen YES play there also and was blown away by the concert as well as the soloing of Steve Howe. Howe is self taught and doesn’t read music per se. Now back to King Crimson, after about 20 minutes, I started to feel agitated instead of in the groove, another 10 minutes and I got a headache. The whole 90 minutes seemed like and endless repetition of lightning fast riffs and scales at super volume. I was bored to near death. I never listened to them again. It was painful and without soul and great vibes. Sorry for the diatribe, I had to add my 2 cents, it’s that kinda day. Griff is and continues to be a wonderful addition to my collection of cool vibes. He is one of many of my musical gurus and I play other instruments as well. For those folks who aren’t interested in learning to read music or theory, blow the nay sayers off and ‘Just play”. Life is to short for non-sense.
Great info, as always.
Thanks
That was really helpful and very cool Griff.
Hey Griff, for some reason the video is not synched with the audio. Is it me or you? Loved the “disjointed” lesson anyway.
Thanks
That was real helpful and really cool Griff.
That my fellow students is THE Blues! Nice one Griff
As always Griff, Thank you. You are an amazing teacher and I have learned so much from your tutorials. At 60 yrs old I have been playing classic rock for most of my guitar days, however just started learning the blues. Your lessons provide your base with so much detail and in depth look at how to play It makes it easier to understand. Thanks, Jimi
Great video Griff.
Hi Griff,
I always enjoy your lessons. Keep them coming. I am working on your “5 easy blues ssolos” (still on the 1st disc,ha) oh well I am 82 years old.
If I could make a suggestion…in this lesson where you show the fingering charts, it would be easier for us if the chart was turned 90 degrees to the left and that you identify the fret number. Hope You’re not insulted.
Regards,
Art
I ment to say ‘to the right’
very helpful lesson -what else is there to say but thank you
I love it, it’s simple and it sounds good.
Thanks, Griff.
Hey Griff, I’d like to see how the BB king box notes would be used in another scale position on the neck.
Hey Griff, I’d like to see how the BB king box notes would be used in another scale position on the neck.
nice explanation of a mysterious concept to me….thx