I know how much you all like riffs, so I’m hoping you’re gonna like these two as much as I do.

The first riff is basically working off the fourths you find in the pentatonic minor scale. You’re essentially doing mini bars with your fingers… just grabbing two strings at a time though.

Feel free to have fun with this… mix up the order, experiment with hammer-ons and pull offs, and even with the open notes I mentioned. If you look at your Am Pentatonic, you’ll see that E, A, D, G are all in that scale -- so that means that you can use those as open notes as well, even when you’re playing from the fifth fret.

I talk about the fourths and fifths and other intervals a lot more over at Guitar Scale Patterns.

The second riff also uses fourths… this time on the top two strings. Adding a string bend makes it sound really cool.

Enjoy….

If you need a refresher, click here for the pentatonic scale lesson.

Many days when I pick up my guitar I end up just noodling away… improvising is probably my favorite part of playing the guitar.

Improvising over open chords is probably the easiest way to get started, and the key of G is the best key for that.

When you’re playing in G major, then you solo in Em. Em is the relative 6th of G, therefore is the minor scale that you use to solo in. (See my lesson on I IV V for a better explanation).

Playing in the key of G means that we can use Em Diatonic OR Em Pentatonic. Both of these scales become super easy in the open position…

I really relate to the fretboard in patterns. I find them much easier to get my brain wrapped around than note names. One day soon I am going to do a full-length lesson on that. However, for the time being, have a look at the scale pattern on the page here -- that is the Em diatonic minor scale.

Now go through each of the chords in the key of G (G, C, D, Em, Am, Bm) and find where the notes from each chord fit into the scale. You’ll see that every chord is built out of notes within that scale.

Next, get that scale pattern embedded in your head and pickup your guitar. That pattern now becomes your structure for improvising. With the pentatonic scale you can truly play any of the notes you want, wherever you want. With the diatonic scale, you have to be a little bit more careful, but you can usually get away with pretty much anything there as well.

Now that you’ve got that pattern stuck in your brain, watch this video, and do your best to follow my fingers and see how everything is coming out of that diatonic pattern. When you’re able to see that, it will really open up a door in your mind in relation to the guitar.

Please note I’ve indicated the extra E and A on the 5th fret. These notes are still in the scale, but those specific spots on the fretboard aren’t in the minor diatonic pattern -- they are out of the G major diatonic pattern. It is important to know they are there though, and can of course be played. You’ll see one of the riffs in the video uses these two notes quite a bit.

One other thing -- PLEASE don’t get hung up on playing the riffs exactly like I do. This lesson is to help you improvise -- not copy. Take my ideas and make them your own, with your own rhythms or sequences.

Just have fun with it and let it all hang out!

As I already mentioned, I absolutely love improvising and playing this type of stuff. Consequently, I have no problem bringing a lot more in this vein, and yes, going into more detail about specifically what I’m playing. However, I need to know if you guys are interested in improvising, or if you prefer to learn common riffs to copy.

Leave a comment below and tell me if you love it or hate it.

Here’s a good old classic rock tune for today’s lesson: Fortunate Son. It’s got a great intro riff that will be instantly recognizable by anyone you play this for. Did I mention its also easy-peasy? Most of the riff is built on inverted third intervals (whew that’s a mouthful!). What I mean by that is the root note is on the B string, and they’re adding a third up from that root note (4 semitones), but dropping it an octave, thus inverting it (normally the lower note is the root, but in this case the lower is).

Take a look at the Em7 chord (barred, root on the 5th string -- 7th fret) and ignore the bar part. That is the first formation in the riff, right? The notes that are being played are B (4th string, 9th fret) and G (2nd string, 8th fret). The root note is the G, and we’re in the key of G. If you count up from G 4 semitones (G#, A, A#, B) you hit B. B is therefore a major third of G.

If you can figure out the theory behind this, you can start to see broader applications for the patterns that are being used in this riff (different keys, songs, etc). Let me know if you’d like to know more and maybe I’ll do a whole lesson on this topic.

You can also check out Blues Guitar Secrets as I know that course gets into the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of blues guitar, as opposed to just the ‘what’ which is pretty cool.

One other quick note. If you want to see the video larger, don’t forget you can click the button in the bottom right corner of the video player for full screen. You can also click on the HD for high definition (much better quality picture and sound).

Thus, without further ado, I’d like to present Fortunate Son (drum roll please….)

Leave a comment below and let me know what you think of this lesson. Do you like learning songs & riffs? Prefer something else? Have a favorite song you want to learn? Remember, GuitarTipsWeekly is very much a work in progress and I’m experimenting with different things to see what works best, but in order to do that I need to hear back from you as well.

Unlock Your Guitar -- Blues Guitar Secrets Revealed

Here’s a fun yet easy progression you can jam with in A pentatonic minor. The chords are simply Am7, Dm7 and Em7.

Try experimenting with your own riffs in between chord changes, or replace one of the changes entirely with a 1 bar solo.

Don’t be afraid to go nuts with it!