My biggest breakthrough? Discovering Active Melody. 👍🏻

I had a recording engineer once tell me “Remember that silence is music too.” Man was he right! It is often that the spaces between the notes that are what make solos great. Watch (and listen to) BB and Eric Clapton and you’ll see and hear what I mean. Guitar players are often guilty of playing “too many notes”. Relax and let it all simmer!

CAGED was my biggest breakthrough, by far! I felt like a blind man suddenly able to see. I believe “The CAGED System” to be the manual that should be included with every guitar.

This lesson COMBINED with this comment section is pure gold! Thanks!

When I started playing the guitar I was overwhelmed by the idea that I “had” to learn all five shapes of the pentatonic scale at the same time. It took me a while to understand that you can get a lot of mileage out of smaller concepts (1st pentatonic position and extension/slide into the “house shape” of the 2nd position or just the “BB box” itself). Now I love these little concepts that I can use as a starting point, in learning and playing, and venture out into bigger things. I had uncountable lightbulb moments from your lessons in the last year alone and your teaching style inspires me. Keep up the fantastic work!

Ive been playing 22 years. I feel i wasted the first 20 years. KZfaq wasnt around when i was starting. I literally no excuses for not progressing. Great channel.

The biggest "lightbulb" moment for me was when I discovered triads-small 3 note chord shapes. Before then I always thought you had to play the entire barre chord and that was difficult at best for me. Another was a trick to learning the notes on the fretboard...you know the one about going two strings down and two frets over to find the octave...that opened up the door to making it easier to learn the notes on the fretboard.

I've had many "breakthroughs" but the biggest was realizing tablature was holding me back, by only teaching me how to copy. I avoid it, and wish most teachers would too. I learned to learn by ear and knowing the notes by name, which means knowing the notes and intervals of chords, which means "playing the changes." This makes it far easier to find chords all over the neck without having to memorize them, opening up my creativity. Ditch the tablature, listen to the players you admire, especially horn and sax players, and learn by imitating, just like we learn how to talk.

Where were you 40 years ago when I started? My first teacher wanted me to learn " Realing in the years," and he wanted me to figure it out by ear, or by slowing down the turntable. And NONE of it was explained...all by ear and if it sounded good. And now you...the clearest and TASTIEST player EVER to reveal all these secrets...which you make into simple ideas that we can all understand. THANK YOU!!

It was ten years in that I discovered the major, minor, and modes exist as one pattern on the fretboard, just starting on different notes.

Hi Brian, an aha moment for me was when I learned that you can play a major pentatonic in the same shape of minor three frets down! I’m an Active Melody member and love your lessons!

Fantastic video, as always, Brian! I would love it if you continue this series -- call it Breakthroughs or Lightbulb Moments, something else; whatever you like -- and share a couple insights like these each time. As you see from the Comments here, a lot of your fans have great lightbulb moments of their own to share, so maybe you could try to incorporate at least one fan insight per installment of this series. One of the most important lightbulb moments that I had in my learning journey is about harmonized major scales. By that I mean once I learned how to find the chords in each major scale -- start with a major chord in the root note, then go minor, minor, major, major, minor, diminished, and back to the root note's major chord -- it really opened up and connected the neck for me. Now whenever I practice scales, I almost always take a moment to play the full stack of chords associated with it. Makes it fun for improv and noodling, too. Sometime I'll just do something real simple like go from the ii to the I back and forth, nothing else, and embellish with little licks and riffs...even something with just a few ingredients can be a whole lot of fun!

Was lost in the Forrest for many years. Using you for a guide, I am now recognizing many of the trees ✌️🎸

Active Melody is a gem 💎

"You're drinking out of a Fire Hose"... ROFL !.. Cleverest Metaphor I've heard in Ages !.. !!.. Love it.. :) :)

Brian is a Magician as I am not an English-speaking guy, but I can understand him very well and his teachings are awesome. Thanks a lot ;)

This demand at least a monthly "Light bulbs" videos series! You're the best teacher on the tube. Period

I played for 20 years inbetween having teachers. I thought I didn't need one anymore. Having someone come to your home to teach you really helps because they can see stuff about your playing that you cannot. Learn the notes of the fretboard is a huge thing. Learn where the 3rd and the 5th and the 7th note are in relation to the root note on different parts of the fretboard.... Learn how to move your picking hand fast. Troy Grady videos are inspiration.... Thanks for your great videos. They are general too basic for me but I appreciate your enthusiasm and I do learn stuff...

Another breakthrough. When I started learning scales and soloing, I would noodle through scales and wonder why it didn't sound as good as many of the tutorials on line. Then one instructor told me something that most other videos don't mention. If you start and finish your licks on the Root note, you solos will sound soo much better. Also focus on the 5th as well. This may seem like common sense to seasoned players, but I think it gets lost in the shuffle to less advanced players.

I’m a slow learner and don’t really have breakthroughs. However, I recently came across some video I had made of me playing about a year ago, and I was amazed at how far I had come. I’m still not very good, but at least I’m better than I was.

You are such a natural teacher. Honestly, probably the best I've encountered on either KZfaq or in person. Thank you.

One of my breakthroughs involved learning notes on the fretboard. By learning where the B and C notes are and the E and F, which both pairs are the only natural notes a half step apart, I had a nice set of landmarks to make learning the other note locations much easier.

Probably my biggest breakthrough was discovering that learning a technique then practicing on three different guitars (electric, nylon string, and acoustic) has helped me make chord adjustments on the fly. This has allowed me the freedom to explore a wide variety of new sounds on the guitar. And I'll have to say that your "bite-size" - try this concept - and explore has made a huge difference in my positive progress on the guitar. Thanks so much for your great lessons!

Hi Brian. Having played a lifetime of rhythm before tackling the unending lead journey, the three you mention were/are, also key for me. I initially started lead by noodling out of the E chord shape (often A major and the A triad) and very early on found locating Box 2 of the major pentatonic there, as well as good old box one from out of that shape/area, helpful. Also, learning the notes on the neck but specifically, getting string 5 down (knew 6 string from rhythm) so that all the shapes I had been playing for years, started making more sense and I could see the pieces of the chord. Then the other strings were easier to learn because of corresponding octaves. Third, I learned the basics of theory. Not how to read music (still play by ear) but relative to then understanding degrees of scales, creation of scales, why they are important and what they are useful for, which also naturally led to modes. Lastly, I am avid about rhythm in all my playing and over the years finger picking arpeggios out of the chord shape helped me translate that to lead as well. So, knowing the basics of theory and how and why scales are created, the caged system, and arpeggios...are a lot of what keeps me noodling. I know it's nothing new, just taking the opportunity to share because I know how much it meant to me when the internet gave me access to people willing to share the 'secrets' of their journey. I see a lot of your journey in my journey and your lessons are always useful. I'm always grateful to renew my subscription and keep learning and head nodding with you. Stay safe and keep creating, Brian. You get better in every way, with age. How bout that weather?! Musically, Sue

I've never seen anyone simplify these ideas so well and so understandably. Great job!

I had a “breakthrough” yesterday while watching your video where you explain the “box” idea! I’ve been playing for 20 years and have NEVER been able to get past the point of only playing chords…..not that that’s bad, I just want to grow. After watching that video I have begun writing LEAD guitar parts to all the songs I’ve written over those 20 years. I’m so excited and great full for that video. Other people have tried explaining what you said in the video and I have tried so hard to figure it out, but, you put it in a way that just opened my eyes and it was like suddenly seeing the light!

Thanks, Brian for another enlightening video. Your lessons on slow blues were my major breakthroughs. The way you teach the CAGED system is unparalleled!

Here's a recent breakthrough. When I'm playing BB King style blues, I realized that what he is playing ,say against an A chord, is the scale for the major fourth chord (D in this case). Harmonica players play "cross harp" when they play blues, so in the key of A they are using a D harp to create the right melodies. Boom! So when someone calls up a blues shuffle in any key, I know instantly that I can play some cool stuff if I play in the major 4th chord scale in the E shape (for instance) above the root chord and it will work in a BB kind of way. Kinda simple but it works for harmonica players so why not guitar players. And open tunings! Don't forget open tunings for pure inspiration. Great channel Brian.Thank you.

the pentatonic light bulb was awesome when it came on but the best is when i finally understood the concept of keys and chord progressions, 1 4 5 etc. it was then i started writing my own melodies with out having to guess what chords would sound good together.

Lots of breakthroughs throughout my experience but when I figured out the triad pattern groupings (root, 1st, 2nd inversions) it was a game changer. Opened up the entire fretboard and tied everything together.

For me after many years it was realizing (because you have taught it to me many times..thanks you Brian) that it all comes down to chord shapes...I now look at lead and fills in that context and it has made the fretboard less of a mystery.

Ya have to love these little nuggets of gold. Being able to jump between modes and actually knowing what they are can really help with the improvising and it can obviously be used in any key. Thanks for this.

You have the perfect even keeled personality to be a great teacher; thanks for all you share with us armchair guitarists. Truly love you Brian

Honestly..... in my opinion you're one of the best music(guitar) teachers I've come across!

Triads, 3rds and 6ths have never been explained so easily.

What!? That first concept was amazing! Now I can easily start soloing after some rhythm 😲 Thanks so much for that Brian

Great lightbulb moment for me ~ discovering the “reverse” drop D, or “fake G,” tuning. Drop your 1st string down to D, which gives you the top four strings of an open G tuning. Slide is mainly played on strings 1-2-3-4 so when you drop the 1st (instead of 6th) a whole step to D you have that to work with. In the meantime, chords, power chords and other formations are still easy to play. Figuring out how to incorporate that 1st string with the others is not difficult. Upside? If you don’t want to bring two guitars, you can flip into that fake G real easy and get some nice, bluesy/country sounds. It’s also called the Memphis Minnie Tuning, so I guess she played it a lot. Cool and easy trick.

Perfect video for someone like myself, who has been playing for a while without a solid grasp of theory, and completely self-taught. I know some of these things intuitively, and have the playing ability, but each "breakthrough moment" leads me further down the path. Thank you

My biggest breakthrough ever was listening to Jerry Garcia for the first time. Totally changed the way I thought about lead guitar.

Finally memorizing every note on the fretboard was a breakthrough, for sure. Seeing how you can play the same licks in different positions helps to show how the patterns are really all the same, just starting on different strings and accounting for the shift on the B string.

My breakthrough- combining CAGED chords and pentatonic scales

Oh....my....god! duuuuuuuuuude I so had a breakthrough from this video! I liked and subscribed. Hoping to see more of this. Fantastic.

seems that I'm first. Wonna tell you here from Europe: for me you are one of the best on YT! 😘 Learned so much!

My biggest break through was learning how major scales can blend with the pentatonic scale patterns, Active Melody has done more to help me since joining in December 2020 than anything I've tried. Brian speaks our language........

Nice hat! That was my stomping ground for twenty years and I bought my first guitar in Cookeville. I enjoy your teaching methods. They inspire me. Keep on truckin.

I have been playing 59 years. I still play. I quit trying to learn new stuff. Quit trying to "get better." I just play ... sometimes the same stuff over and over ... I just play whatever I like, over and over. Anything to keep the lights on ... and it's a lot of fun. THAT is what counts for those of us who are no longer making money with a chopper, but need to keep from pulling the plug ...

Light bulb moments- actually by realizing there are some must know concepts as they apply to music theory has opened my mind to playing the guitar better and creating: 1. Know the order of sharps- FCGDAEB- come up with a sentence to memorize this. And know that F is sharp in G, F&C in D, FCG in A, FCGD in E and so on- look at the pattern 2. Know the order of Modes- IDPLMAL- come up with a sentence to memorize this. 3. know that the I,V, IV chords are major and the rest minor with the exception of the 7th chord. The Minor scale- same thing- the i, iv, v are minor all else major but the 2 chord is Diminished. You can embelish all chords with 1, 3,5, 7,9,11 13's.

For me, it was when the 5 pentatonics shapes fit and finally made sense

I want to tell you I'm learning so much from you I only watch your videos now Please keep up the great work!

Something I lacked when I put the guitar down as a kid about 40 years ago before picking it back up when I quit drinking about a year ago now: patience. Thank you for these lessons. Great channel.

And... yet another face melting lesson. How unsurprising. Brian is next level. This particular lesson is a big one I think. Many thanks.

my biggest breakthrough was discovering you. You sir are the best guitar teacher on the interwebs.

This particular lesson was bit beyond me, but thanks for all your output! Gorgeous guitar, a real beaut, enjoy, you deserve it!

i) Planning what I needed to practice (which can be different to what I want to practice!) in 15 minute chucks and Implementing a timer 5, 10 or 15 minutes for focused practise on that one item you want to nail, repeat for the next item in your practice session. Helped me not get bogged down and made my practice routine much more constructive. ii) very basic knowledge of circle of fifths, just print out and keep a copy nearby iii) realising that the end of one pentatonic shape is actually the start of the next, like adjoining jigsaw pieces.

This is great! What a nice little way to unlock the fret board.

I have been using triads on the 3,2, and 1 string for years, but I had no idea they were triads. That is until a few years ago, I joined a military veterans organization that offered free guitar lessons. Learning the why's to the sounds you can make on a guitar and the language of guitar music has been like having one light bulb moment after another. Regardless of age, playing on a guitar or any musical instrument will keep your mind sharper than it would be otherwise.

My latest breakthrough moment was when I choked on my coffee while laughing when you said "It's like drinking out of a fire hose"! Just visualizing drinking out of a fully pressurized fire hose cracks me up big time!

I am 70 I still play every night, my breakthrough was a combination of You shapes and am now hitting on Ennio Morricone and his spaghetti westerns.. we are connected brother.. your happy birthday episode did a lot for me so putting these all together I am over and back on the frets..

your triads have open up a lot of country licks...thanks...great videos....

Very creative thinking.. eliminates the planning process to a degree...if you’re in the zone , you’ve got the notes right in front of you

After years of playing without understanding, CAGED is showing me everything about the fretboard, notes and intervals.

Very cool thing I realized recently. If you take a 6th string root E shape A7, there are three areas of the tritone, ie. major 3rd, flat7, around that chord. They align in a diagonal from the 4th and 3rd strings down to the high E. Like wise if you take the A shape D7 and E7, there are three areas of the tritone around that shape. You can use the idea to comp a blues rhythm or use the tritone diads as very relevant chord tones in your solo. Charjo

Rest notes, i figured out after 30 years, are the best notes!

Good presentation and well broken down.Thank you

A good breakthrough for me was memorizing the respective 1st, third, and fifth notes in every CAGED triad shape so by extension then you can easily find the 4th, the flat third and the flat 7 in all of those shapes. This really then adds color to your soloing rather than just hitting triad notes all the time.

Bought a new acoustic amplifier. Discovery ? My playing is not ready to be any louder than it is for now.

I always learn something from you! Thx..

Man, I JUST discovered this same thing this month and here you are breaking it down for me. Was even playing Allmans and other examples you noted. So glad to have discovered YOU! 🙏

Thanks Brian... another great mini lesson from you which is. Lightbulb 💡 truly......thanks for all your knowledge

The biggest breakthrough was when you said regarding lead playing Is, “if it sounds right, it probably is right.” I’m paraphrasing of course, but this was a true liberating breakthrough and took a lot of pressure off.

Reminds me of Robby Krieger. Great video, very useful stuff. Thanks

Nuggets 1 and 2 a real lightbuld moment for me, 3 I need to watch a few times to understand better. Great stuff. Thank you.

going straight to the triad lesson! thanks for the great video

My breakthrough was when I started visually and physically finding the natural note E F & G pattern and the B C & D pattern everywhere on the neck; finding those two half step whole step patterns helped me memorize all the notes on the fretboard.

Cool. Thanks for the nice little nuggets.

Thank you man,,found somebody around my fashion of learning,,✌️

The third one on your list is where I lack the knowledge, I need to get a hold of my triads and their inversions. Thank you Sir

I like your presentation of a very relevant "light bulb" concept. And of course people who just blindly memorize shapes and copy tabs are really taking a very long dimly lit road (albeit important). So many ways to see this though. Very cool. And I like the way you throw in a few licks and runs so the student can see/hear how it sounds against what is happening in the underlying chord. Even if they copy and reproduce you lick, they will "feel/her" it under their fingers. (also nice CAGED reference nuances as well). Alternatively - Another very related way to see/think how (what you have demonstrated) it works, is how the double stop fits into the chords' triads of the key: EX: We have: --- > M m m M M m dim. When doing a double stop run ( up or down) sure, you could just memorize the shape pattern -OR- think about where you ( you fingers) are and the next chord to follow from the M m m M M m dim outline. Any 2 tones form the triad will work. Yet another way to see and develop a maturity of the fretboard, seeing shapes as chord elements, triads, voicings, inversions, "flavor". What I am saying is this... suppose your are in C. The diatonic chords will be C d e F G a Bdim. (uppercase = MAJOR, lowercase = minor) If you start your double stop run up with a C, the next shape must be from the d, then e, the F, G, etc. the Maj will be the diagonal, the minor will be the horizontal ( from the highest 3 strings o f the bar chord). See what you are paying that way - as if you were just grabbing 2 notes from the chord triad as you run up or down your double stop run. This is really better than just blindly memorizing the shapes without seeing the shape as a part of the underlying chord. Listen to Fooled Around And Fell in Love solo, also I can Help is super cool for seeing and hearing this come to life.

my break through was discovering fingerstyles n travis pickin ..exploring it will give a grt breakthrough

Yes please keep this series coming... my lightbulb just went off

My breakthrough came when I stopped treating playing guitar as a task and chore and started to just playing and learning and having fun ..at ..my own pace...

Nice lesson. I think a breakthrough for me, in addition to those mentioned below, was learning chord inversions or voicings. To use your example of the D Chord using the A shape, moving the 3rd (F#) to the bass note on the 5th string, was an eye opener. Also, learning arpeggios, particularly dominant 7th, and how to incorporate them into a solo.

What a great lesson!! Thanks!!

Great session Brian. Breakthroughs: Three come to mind. - I don't have to play all six strings when playing backing or rhythm. This covers dampening - like moving the C7 chord (first position), and just playing 2, 3 or 4 strings, such as for triads, jazz chords and I suppose power chords (boogie strumming but not barring all six strings). - understanding, and playing a 9th chords as IV in a twelve bar blues. A revelation! Why hadn't I always known this. It was so simple and effective, and every one does it. - sliding into and down to notes and chords. There have been other things like pentatonics which I seem to come to late but they have been part of progressive and long term learning. Particularly trying to learn pentatonic shapes out of the basic chord positions, but especially the A chord using the F shape. Brian London

Excellent lesson ... Thank you.

such a great lesson!!! a light has gone off. thank-you!!!!

Loved that first one, where the major penta. scale sits in the A-shape. I've had so many as an intermediate player, that it's more like a chandelier of lightbulbs. I only recently connected the double stops sitting in the minor penta. scale. Another breakthrough for me was realizing that practicing almost daily for close to 4 years, that a song that was too difficult last year is now coming to me, and it's suddenly easier. Thanks for sharing this. GT

My breakthrough was finding this channel. I quit JamPlay and joined your website. Love the way you teach!

Hello Brian, my breakthrough was playing Solos with the major, minor pentatonic scale. I learnt that from you, thank you for that. Now I have loads of blues backing tracks in all keys and I can play solos to them all. You my friend are awesome.

I had a huge breakthrough literally yesterday; I watched your video on the circle of 5ths and completely understood it. I'm in my 50's, I've been playing my entire life . The way you described it made perfect sense . I've always understood relative major/minor chords and the 1-4-5 number system but your video put it all together. I always thought the circle of 5ths was some advanced jazz master system hehehe but no, just a concise way to put structure to keys and chord progressions.

Definitely the caged system and Triads and finding cool people like you,and others on KZfaq,A Big Thanks keep IT Up 🤩🤩

Thanks Brian 👌 I am improving since I started checking out your lessons, cheers 🍻 from Ireland 🇮🇪

Mixing the major and minor scales Cross tbe neck as well as the circle of 5ths. Learning those two things really help it click

Unreal..the first one I picked up on like in the last two weeks and has me playing rythem and impro lead ( came after another vid of yours got me doing a shuffle and lead)..but I hurt my left hand a week ago and can't play and I have never wanted to play so much...this video was excellent..thank you...I know so much but only lately with your help have I been putting it together and taking it from practicing scales to making music...

CAGED system is great.. knowing my roots 1,3 5, b7.. all over the neck is great ..mapping out core tones arrpegios as much as u can and have fun in process.. great video

Great lesson! Can't wait till Friday! Thank you

I have watched green with envy as your guitar collection has grown over the years. My biggest envy is the old acoustic Martin you acquired couple weeks back, it sounds heavenly even on my cheap little phone. My aha moments have for the most part come from your good self. Even learning the diatonic chords in any key ie 3 maj 3min 1 dim was a biggy for me. Thanks for all your brilliant content.

Ah ha moment, great lesson. Love the Tele' w/P90.

Hi Brian, these lightbulb ideas are very helpful. What has been helpful for me was focusing on the high E, the B and G strings for solo phrasing. Texas blues alley has a 5 part phrasing lesson that was great. He started with first position pentatonic Then Albert King Box Bb box Clapton box Major box. It was great! Looking at the b and g string as roots was eye opening. I recommend it for mid level players like me. Brian, your videos Have helped me a lot! Thank you. Would you be open to doing your version of these lessons too? You are appreciated Sir!

The video we have all been searching for. Thanks! Helped me alot with the grateful dead vibes.