A little while ago I did a lesson for the beginner’s on the chords for Last Dance With Mary Jane, by Tom Petty.

I got some good feedback from the lesson, with most of you asking for the riffs as well.

So, today I bring you the riffs for Last Dance with Mary Jane. Or is it Mary Jane’s Last Dance? I never could remember.

Anyways, you’re basically using A minor diatonic and pentatonic, with a little bit of the C major (diatonic) scale in there as well on the top few strings.

I know how much you guys love learning riffs, so here’s another lesson for you to scratch the itch

I love this riff, and although in the lesson I teach it in the Open E position, the fact is, I use these thirds time and time again, regardless of what key I’m in. That’s why its so important to see this riff as coming out of the scale -- that way you learn how to apply it in any key.
Don’t look at this as something you can only do in open E… yeah, it sounds terrific in E, but these thirds work anywhere. The thirds interval is a great one to familiarize yourself with, there’s just so much you can do with it. I’ll probably do a whole lesson on that soon.

The riff I’m showing you here is suspiciously similar to the one in Mary Had a Little Lamb (Buddy Guy or SRV style) and one of the variations was used in Pride and Joy… so you can see that this riff is definitely a good one for your blues arsenal!

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.