![[Live] BB King/House Pattern Shapes](https://bluesguitarunleashed.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/BB-king-box-house-pattern-live.png)
The “BB Box” (I call it the House Pattern) tends to cause a lot of confusion, and today I thought we could look into it and why you want to use it…
It’s such a great, classic, blues sound, but you have to be very aware of your surroundings when you use it.
Because you control how “major” or “minor” it sounds based on your use of a bend. So bend control and awareness are the keys.
41 replies to "[Live] BB King/House Pattern Shapes"
Ok i hope i didnt miss someone else asking this and im repeating a question years later……i paused this lesson right after you said this isnt from any scale …..just realized you might explain that further into lesson lol….i may come back and delete this after finishing the video. So as i type i am now assuming youre going to qualify that statement because though it may not be a part of any scale in the “key”youre playing over(?) , to me i see the top of box 2 minor pentatonic …..?
Oops lol youre speaking about it now ..so never mind 🤦🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️
Hey guy…I liked the lesson. I think I learned something lol. You can tell if a person is a good blues guitarist, when he uses those major and minor links in his solos. By the way I bought one of your videos that has some SRV licks on it. Keep doing what your doing, and I’ll be looking for more tasty bites of the Blues….joe in Tx..
Alway’s enjoy your stuff Griff, I bought a course 15yrs ago or more @ 68yrs old I’m not good But way better with your help.
ITS THE LICK AT. .40 SECONDS TO .45 THAT IS THE KILLER ONE IN YOUR INTRO
Thank you Griff once again for your help, why can’t anyone else explain it as easy as you do.
GREAT LESSON WELL PRESENTED GRIFF THANKS
As ever – really helpful, thank you.
The following may be a completely stupid question (I’m a sort of ‘ok’ guitarist, but I am capable of immense stupidity – I’m from the UK, that may explain it).
What impact does it have if the rhythm guitar is playing Am, Dm, Em (possibly 7ths), rather than major chords … or maybe the question should be the other way around?
The impact would be this would sound pretty nasty. It’s predominantly “major”. The box is made up of the sixth of the scale (the top of the house roof) the root (the next note in the “scale”) the second, which you bend half a step to get the flat third (for minor) or a whole step to the major third (for a major sound) , the fourth and the fifth of the scale. You can bend the fifth (the last note in the pattern) up a whole step to another sixth interval.
But the sixth is a “major happy” sound, which sounds great over a major chord but might clash where you’d normally play a minor scale over a minor (7th?) chord – because the minor scale includes a flat-seventh (i.e. one half step away from the major sixth).
So, just as major third over a minor chord sounds janky because of that third note only one step away, the major six over a minor seventh chord (or when played in place of a minor pentatonic scale that includes the flat-seven) can also sound out of place.
Same goes for the major second in the scale – it’s only a half-step away from the flat-third that makes up the minor chord sound, so can sound out of place of a minor (root) chord too.
At least, that’s how I see (hear?) it 😉
Great explanation!
I wish I had your knowledge.
Mo’ Righter Blues. ;->
Well, OK, but the “house pattern” notes you are playing from 10-12 sure look like box 2 of Bm pentatonic.
You don’t catch on very fast, do you.
Looks like it, yes – as Griff stated – but that would mean the 12th fret on the 2nd string would be the root, so how’d you get the bend to change from major to minor? He’s playing in the key of A so the 10th fret 2nd string is root; 12th fret is second of the scale and then can be bent either a half step or whole step to change between major and minor. That’s the idea behind this.
Griff, this was one of my FAVORITE and most eye-opening lessons you have ever done. Thank you! Question: is The reason you play the major sound (full bend to C#) because the 1 chord you want to hit the 3rd of the A7 chord and then flatten the 3rd for the 4th and 5th chords of the progression? So just like making a chord minor, you flatten the 3rd note of the chord and vice versa. Right?
Great lesson Griff. Thanks.
What a useful lesson. I can’t wait to get home and start trying out what I just learned. Thanks Griff.
great lesson Griff , that totally clears the BB box for me , thanks so much and I want one of those “more righter ” T-shirts when there ready . Love it
Great explanation of that!!
Really helpful! Many thanks, Griff.
I agree, there’s a righter way to play! As they used to rhetorically ask “Do you want good grammar or good music?”
And thanks for clearing up exactly what the BB box is. I’ve seen at least one guy on youtube refer to the “house pattern” (the five notes on the EB&G strings in position 2 of the minor pentatonic) as the BB box, which you clearly show isn’t, and is instead the 3 notes on the E&B strings in position 3 of the minor pentatonic plus the extra notes from the 2nd (the 2nd, the flatted third achieved by bending the 2nd up a half step for the minor sound, and the third achieved by bending the 2nd up a whole step).
Thanks for the great example and setting this straight for me.
Nice info. BB King is my favorite Blues Guitarist, and I have collected a good deal of instructions from many sources as to how to use his techniques. Consider basic techniques – vibrato, bends, slides, and where are the notes of the guitar? If you like, you can use the concept all over the neck of the guitar. Change which strings and fret positions you use, to add a bit of variety to the sound. The second string is most often used, but why not use a few of the others when you feel like it? 🙂
Thanks Griff, I needed that!
Enjoyed the theory of the lesson. That’s looks like to me you could use box three and move around a bit more between minor and major your thoughts on that.
Another way to think of it,; isn’t it really box 2 of the b minor scale?
You could, but then A, the key, wouldn’t be forefront of your mind. It’s an extra mental step that usually stops soloing dead in its tracks.
The box you refer to doesn’t require a bend to remain in the key, the one Griff demonstrates, requires a bend to get to the 3rd (whole bend) and flatted 3rd (half bend) required for the Key.
Thanks so much for making it simple !
Lots of times students will say , when do you change or when do you use this !
Again Groove n Taste only comes with age
Thanks , you’ve got a great course
Thanks Griff for explaining the BB BOX and the the 4note solo pattern. I often wondered about the difference between the two Patterns also, because of their similarities. Thx.
When you explained the use of the 1 step bend (major) versus the 1/2 bend (minor) and then gave us the chance to use both bends over a I-IV-V chord sequence (sounded like A7-D7-E7), it drove the concept home. Thanks.
Thanks griff, really appreciate what you do to help us. Enjoy your day.
Hey Griff, thanks for everything you’ve taught all of us Blues fundamentalists. I do agree with Richard as far as this being a modified 3rd position in the key of A. My former instructor referred to it as a blues block.
I worked on this with my brother for an hour yesterday. Also on mixing major and minor sounds. I used the key of g mainly because if I go to the 15th fret it’s easier to see (for me) where you are. If you use g at the 3rd fret you are dealing with open strings.( aka srv) he does it alot. I never understood this till griff explained it. I’m not talking about the 3 frets down idea but changing your fingering to key on the root notes. Thanks griff! Keep these jems coming. How about a refresher on major and minor mixing let’s say in key of a. I use the dots as navigation markers and mixing major minor I get visually confused🤪 ( maybe even talk about using the dots as navigation points) thanks again your the best instructor out there😎!
This is the magic of learning blues guitar. The BB Box was the first thing I learned and it seemed so simple, except for that bending thing, which I can only do to C right now. But that wasn’t too important, right? Wrong! Every note counts and Griff explains why, the importance of Major 1, Minor 4, Minor 5. A year ago I would not have understood what Griff was talking about. Tonight, I am going to use this in my 12 bar solos. Many thanks.
Thanks much Griff! Never heard that before! Righter or gooder, it was sure helpfuller to me! Thanks again!
Mystery solved. Many thanks
Anthony
I May be wrong but I would recognized it as as a modified 3rd box.
Lovely clear explanation many thanks.
a scale with no name . so its got a name . You did Your bestest . Happy You posted this one and made it totally understandable .
Thanks Griff, that was a mucho Gooder video I’ve seen using the BB Box the Righter way.