The Four Levels of Blues: A System You Can Practice Every Day

If you wish you were more confident when you go to take a blues solo, today's lesson is for you. Or if you just wish you could stop noodling, stop repeating yourself, and feel like new ideas were flowing when you sit down with a backing track, same thing. This one's for you.

If this is the first time we're meeting, my name is Alec Lehrman. I've played on Grammy nominated recordings and I've taught thousands of people just like you how to play the blues. And here's the hint up front: we are getting away from the minor pentatonic box.

We're going to start at the bottom of the mountain and climb it using four levels. This is the exact system you can practice every day to play the blues accurately.

Level one: chords, not the pentatonic

Level one is not the pentatonic. That's where most folks start their journey and, honestly, where most folks end it. If you've been camped there for a few weeks, a few months, or a few decades, the way out is to start with your chords rather than the scale.

For an E blues there are only three chords. E, A, and B. The 1, the 4, and the 5.

Learn the same three shapes for each of those chords so you can play E, A, and B anywhere on the neck. That's level one. It doesn't sound like music yet. Level two does.

Level two: flirting with the third

Level two is a thing I call flirting with the third, and the moment you do it, it automatically sounds like music.

The reason is that you're mixing major and minor. This shuffle dominant blues, that Chicago blues sound, is both major and minor at the same time. So many players have only ever been playing minor, and they're missing the whole picture. If nobody ever told you this, it's not your fault. But you need to mix major and minor, and flirting with the third is the simplest way in.

Take the shape, flirt with the third inside it, and move it through E, A, and B. You can play an entire slow blues with just this one concept and it sounds incredible.

Level three: the BB box

As we keep climbing, we have to tip our hat to BB King. You've got to know the BB box.

Put your first finger on the root on the B string. We're in E blues today, so that's E at the fifth fret. From there you're working the fifth and seventh frets on the high E string, and grabbing that C sharp over on the G string.

Here's the thing. You can play an amazing solo with nothing but the BB box and flirting with the third. Two little concepts put together and the thing is swinging.

Level four: mixing major and minor

The top of the mountain. Over a shuffle blues you can play both major and minor, and this is where the system pays off.

And here's the part you've probably never done: follow the chords. Over the E, mix E major and E minor. When the A comes, mix A major and A minor. When the B comes, mix B major and B minor. That's tipping our hat to jazz and country, where players follow the changes instead of camping in one box.

Now you can actually hear the chord changes going by in your solo, instead of one stationary pentatonic idea that ignores the band behind you. And because the shapes repeat, you're freed from positions. You just slide into each one.

Practice this every day

These are the levels I wish I knew about 20 years ago. Like so many people, I figured out the pentatonic and stayed there way too long. Climb the four levels instead. Chords, flirting with the third, the BB box, and mixing major and minor over every chord.

Keep listening to your favorite blues players and educating your ear. But if you wanted a system that sounds good every time over a dominant blues, this is it.

Want the deeper story on why mixing major and minor works? Read about the secret third key.

Watch the original video: Practice Blues EVERY DAY Like THIS to SKYROCKET Your Playing

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.

And if you're ready to go all the way up the mountain, check out The Blues Guitar System, my full course.