If I Only Had 10 Minutes With a Blues Guitarist, I'd Change This

If you struggle because you feel stuck in this pentatonic box, today's blues lesson is for you. Or if you've been playing for years and you still don't like how you sound when you solo, this is for you.

My name is Alec Lehrman. I've played on Grammy-nominated recordings and I've taught thousands of students this exact framework. Today we're in the key of A, going through four levels of blues mastery. And hint: we never start with pentatonics.

Level 1: Chords First

Everyone normally starts with the pentatonic scale. That's completely incorrect. You need to start with chords.

In an A blues, you have three chords: A, D, and E. You need to know all three positions of each up the neck. The most useful A shapes are the open A, the A bar chord, and the A in the C-shape position higher up.

Until you can see those chords laid out across the neck, soloing will always feel like guessing.

Level 2: Flirt With the Third

Don't worry if "the third" feels like theory talk. Here's all you need to know: when you're playing an A bar chord, the note where your middle finger sits is the third.

Flirting with the third means you approach that note from one fret below, then one fret above, and resolve back to it. You're getting cute with that one note.

Do this in every A shape up the neck. Do it for D. Do it for E. You can make an entire blues solo just by flirting with the third — and you'll already sound more bluesy than most players hammering away at the minor pentatonic box.

Level 3: The BB Box

If you're talking blues and you don't mention BB King, something is wrong.

The BB box is just a handful of notes around the high A on the B string. You find your root, and you stay close to it. The whole point is to play three or four notes and squeeze every drop of soul out of them.

Most intermediate players struggle because they play too much. They try to cram too much information into every bar. What BB King would do is play a phrase, take his hand off, and leave silence. You can build a whole solo out of two-, three-, and four-note motifs in the BB box and the high E string area, as long as you don't oversaturate the space.

Level 4: Blues Is Neither Major Nor Minor

This is the level where the most people get stuck forever. They were taught that a song is either major or minor. In blues, that's wrong.

Blues lives in the gray zone. It's both major and minor at the same time. Flirting with the third already starts to show you that — you're playing both flavors of the third.

The cleanest way to make that real in your soloing:

Up A major pentatonic → down A minor pentatonic → land on the A major chord.

When the D chord comes, do the same thing for D. Up D major pentatonic, down D minor pentatonic, land on the D chord. Same for E. Same up and down the neck.

This is where so many people stall out for years. They think they have to commit to either major or minor. They don't.

Putting It All Together

Now you piece it together. Flirt with the third. Up major, down minor, flirt with the third. Drop into the BB box. Flirt with the third. Up major, down minor, land. There will be a couple flubs — that's blues. That's real. Just keep the music going.

You don't need a million scales. You need to use the right tools in the right places. That's the actual difference between intermediate and pro.

Watch the original video: If I Only Had 10 Minutes with a Blues Guitarist, I'd Change This

Want to go deeper?

Grab the free Blues Bootcamp. It walks through these concepts with tabs, downloadable PDFs, backing tracks, and a jam-with-me section so you can actually put this into your hands.

And if you're ready to become the blues guitarist you hear in your head, check out the Blues Guitar System — my full course. Use this link for $50 off.