How to Play Blues Lead on the Guitar Using the Major Pentatonic Scale

With this lesson, we introduce how to play blues lead on the electric guitar by simply using the Major Pentatonic scale.

The G Major Pentatonic scale is used (G A B D E) in each of the examples.

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Learn Acoustic Blues Soloing

I liked this video for the method that he uses to show the simplicity of the basic acoustic E blues scale. The acoustic E blues scale is typically what a beginning guitarist is introduced to when learning the blues. By learning to play the basic open E blues scale, you will already have down the basics for a nice riff that you can then go in and add other "blues notes" and hammer-ons/pull-offs as he demonstrates.

Practice this simple scale and then move it up the neck by barring your index finger across any fret to discover other bluesy scales and riffs.

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Jimi Hendrix "Hey Joe" Guitar Solo Slowed Down

Listen to the classic solo for "Hey Joe" by Jimi Hendrix. It sounds like it's all over the place, right? Now watch the video demonstration below and pay close attention to where his hand moves around on the fretboard...it's actually staying in almost the same place between the 13th and 15th frets the entire time!

The solo for "Hey Joe" is no doubt musically brilliant, but it's also actually quite simple. This video slows it way down for you and shows you the exact fingering positions for the entire solo including hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, etc. This is a great way to learn the correct notes before you begin to speed it up. Take the time to hit all of the notes and then continue to add in more of the vibrato and slides.

I'm sharing this video not only because it can teach you how to play "Hey Joe" with complete accuracy but also because it can teach you the fundamentals of soloing on the electric guitar. Although you can make it sound like there's a lot going on, you don't always have to be all over the neck. Keep it simple at first, learn to really work a solo between just a few frets and soon enough you'll be shredding like one of the greats!

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How to Play Lead Electric Blues Guitar

How to the lead blues guitarists do it, they make it look so easy!? -- Here's how.

This is an excellent video tutorial on soloing the blues in the style of BB King on the electric guitar. Blues soloing is comprised of various blues chords (which he demonstrates) and rhythms along with fills and solo licks made over those chords.

What I mean by "solo licks made over those chords" is positioning your hand as if you were to play a chord and then hitting notes which are a part of the pentatonic scale which makes up the chord. Put more simply, you just hit notes which sound appropriate to the chord (typically one or two frets up from the fret you are basing the bar of the chord on). This will take some practice to learn which notes sound right for the chord and which do not if you are unfamiliar with music theory.

Practice the different chord shapes and blues licks that he employs and then begin adding in some vibrato, hammer-ons, pull-offs and exaggerated bending. After you begin to feel more comfortable, start creating your own licks over chord patterns and see what you can come up with. This will help you to develop a more "improvisational" ear which is key to blues soloing.

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Learn Blues Improvisation on the Piano

This short video tutorial gets into a bit of blues improvisation on the piano. By playing off a typical blues scale (such as C blues scale in this example), you can easily add in fills and improvise to create a nice blues solo improvisation.

This close-up look into blues soloing will teach you how to effectively take the concepts of blues improvisation to any type of blues music, just pick out the scale being used and have fun with it!

Keep practicing and enjoy and don't forget to leave a comment by clicking on the comment link or entering them in the form below!