5 Blues Guitar Licks from Minor Pentatonic Scales

[@FlyingsCool]

0:15 Overview 0:43 Lick #1 2:53 Lick #2 4:39 Lick #3 7:41 Lick #4 10:32 Lick #5 13:20 Closing Comments (Hope you don't mind Justin. I really need to keep going back to get it just right.)

[@macrumrunner]

what size of strings are you using 9's or 10's

[@Sportingalagrieska]

Thanks mate

[@millionairesplendor2751]

@@macrumrunner 16 gauges sorry bro

[@logarithm0]

@@macrumrunner 9

[@michaelroff9950]

I’m a slow learner and Justin slow feeds me, seriously, the examples are illustrated so clearly even I can get it, love his teaching style, it’s really the best!

[@albashum1]

Justin, I started playing only three months ago and with your help (and lots of practice) I have seen incredible progress in a relatively short time. I really got the bug now! I just wanted to say thanks for all the hard work you've put into your lessons, keep rock'n.

[@allkinds1069]

Same man, he helped me so much I don't know where I'd be without him

[@brownpunk1794]

Ive been playing and learning for over 15 years and i can confirm Justin is one of OGs of youtube guitar vids..he and a few others paved the way

[@baldbearded9601]

I'm just starting out with blues and WOW this lesson really helped me to get into those ""bluesy tones" and I absolutely love how simple the lesson was. Amazing job !!

[@jacksonv672]

i would have like to see you put those 5 licks together in that pentatonic scale for an example on what it could look like. love the vid

[@deetz3950]

Yep, he does. And a lot more. Check out his Website!

[@XAVYMARTIN]

Kevin L. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eH3WiHeDjbSMa9E. Here 3 advanced licks

[@joshcarter113]

I totally concur with all the sentiments expressed here, I’ve definitely learned a great deal. One thing I’d love to learn though is tone settings. There’s definitely value in taking the time experimenting but once I start adding everything together, gain, distortion, compression, delay, reverb, eq, etc etc…the variables increase exponentially.

[@nickgreen4731]

I follow lots of KZbin guitar tutors. They all have their own special qualities, but Justin I rate as the one whose lessons are easiest to follow.

[@bumperbilly]

Well, I went over the lesson several times, then practicing it. Not feeling it. Not remembering the fingering patterns. A little frustrated and clangy with the play. Followed Justin's suggestion and pulled up a backing track in Am... Holy cow, I was playing some BLUES baby! My fingers were going to the patterns - mostly. It was really fun because they sounded so good to the music in the track. Thank You.

[@miked7295]

I see alot of these licks in the solo of Money by Pink Floyd, pretty cool!

[@halfmettal]

Mike D yup especially the 2nd lick

[@adalen-krens6595]

David is a blues player..so yeah..thats why..ha ha..and dont forget..its not the note..its the feel

[@GregRittger-mg1wc]

Hence, classic licks! Awesome!

[@FishboyHolli]

Justin yoube taught me so much over the years. I have just got an electric and am following these top lessons. The scale practice is paying off for this lesson. Thanks for all you do and for your music. Smiling chords, Ric😊🎶

[@jaymueller2418]

Why are you so good to us, Justin? Why? As ever, thanks so much.

[@XAVYMARTIN]

Jay Mueller kzbin.info/www/bejne/eH3WiHeDjbSMa9E

[@robertgodhard3248]

Slow and clear lesson on some foundation licks which are building blocks for o so many more. Excellent!!!

[@mackenziebowles2443]

these are great. thank you so much, justin. if you don't think you have the strings to bend with just do slides instead. start where he says to start and instead of bending slide up a whole step or half depending. use your ear. i'm playing on acoustic and can't bend all the way so i just started sliding. works great. Thanks again, Justin!

[@רוניפינקל]

It's an amazing lesson,I tried and combined some of the licks together.

[@peterricoy]

Justin - this is great and very helpful! Any chance you (or anyone who understands it) can please indicate the proper counting for the 5th lick? I’m having trouble playing it in time with the background track or a metronome. I suspect it’s the following, but I’m not sure: “one two trip let and three four”, but there doesn’t seem like enough time to play “and” before the third beat “three”. Thanks again!

[@sonoffergus2023]

Thanks for such approachable licks! Very encouraging!

[@רוניפינקל]

Your explanations are great. I took the 3 licks and 2 notes of the pentatonic scale as a connection. I got a phrase.it's cool.I have never tried bending before only strumming. Because of Johnny B good by Chuck Berry intro that i like.

[@stephaniefama4255]

Justin is a great teacher. Very close ups and slow. Great.

[@thatguy-nk1nt]

Snapped my high e string on the very first lick. FML

[@_yungfrankz]

that guy your strings were probably old

[@eatdikz]

they were already broken you just didn't know it yet

[@shreyashshrestha6085]

Rusty ass strings brother

[@Neil-qf6df]

[@daviddr2d2]

This is one of the best videos I've seen on licks! Nice and clearly explained. I'm going to learn them. Many thanks!

[@justinguitar]

Glad it was helpful! Have you checked out the entire course? www.justinguitar.com/modules/blues-lead-1-essential Cheers 😊 | close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide [ www.justinguitar.com/ ] & Moderator on JustinGuitar Forum

[@jinghaowang1143]

Hi Justin, just wanna say thank you for providing such valuable guitar study materials. It has been extremely helpful for me.

[@justinguitar]

You're welcome. Hundreds of free lessons / courses here: [ www.justinguitar.com/ ] Cheers 😊 | close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide & Moderator on JustinGuitar Forum

[@northof50now]

Justin, in the Stevie Ray Vaughan BL-515 lesson, you walked up the A string and ended the lick with an e7 shaped strum. Will you be teaching this technique in the series? I have often heard guitarist play 9 or 10 lead notes, then end the lick with a chord. The question has come up during the live streams, but don't think it was conveyed correctly.Hope you are having fun, or looking forward to your holiday! Thanks

[@stuarcari]

Yeah I'd be interested in that. Sometimes you see people play a chords, do a couple licks, then another chord, a couple of licks and so on. I know the question you are talking about in the live stream. I took it to mean the same thing as you did, but I think Justin took it to mean something else. It was something like how do you play in between chords, or something to do with getting from one chord to another. I can't remember how it was worded, but I know what you mean.

[@MomoKiid]

+northof50now +1 really would love to see that lesson

[@KnowledgeIsKey215]

northof50now Just play the chord instead of the root note to resolve.

[@ReganKeely]

This is exactly what I was looking for, thank you beautiful sir!

[@morelia21701]

That guitar sounds so good.

[@JOE007111]

Nice licks and very well explained. Thank you Justin!!!!!!

[@opreacg]

Thank you for this Justin! You really help me a lot with all the explanations and techniques and everything. I can play the blues now! Looking forward to your next lessons. Have a nice day! :)

[@Gt3rsxx]

I've been wanting to learn the blues for so long.. came across your videos.. simply amazing! the best by far on youtube!

[@christineriley1295]

Great video Justin!

[@wired_0402]

“Why you working so hard” BB King reportedly said to Billy Gibbons when playing one of Billy’s guitars… I love your mojo teach’ but please don’t get the people stuck on .010s and Stevie Ray Vaughan gauge strings. I picked up the guitar to stop my arthritic fingers from seizure. I struggled with 10s until it was pointed out to me that most of my ‘heroes’ go light - Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Billy Gibbons (.007), Peter Frampton, Tony Iommi, BB King, Chuck Berry all use/d .008s and let’s face it, they’ve done ok. There’s no harm at all using lighter strings, and wow, how much easier it’s made learning!

[@banjiman9869]

For beginners learning blues you should describe the root note and the turn around for each lick. Because most licks to all have turn arounds. Helped me a whole lot with my General playing with improvising when my fathers band members taught me about it simplicity of it. Pretty much helps with creativity if some need practice with creating new sounds and songs etc

[@erlendbo]

this is a really good one

[@DrCatalinIlie]

Thank you ! You are the one who learn me to play ...Mary had a little lamb, SRV ! Thank you!

[@luisjorge4922]

Hi Justin. I've been watching you for so long. It's such a great lesson. Thanks for sharing. God bless you. Greetings from México.

[@petertassie5889]

Thank you so much for your videos ... I find your lessons easy to fallow, you strick me a as a humble and skilled player

[@rothan100]

Thanks

[@justinguitar]

Cheers 😊 | Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide & Approved Teacher www.justinguitar.com

[@lavidici]

Excellent, thank you !

[@mixc8]

Great lession!

[@alexm2889]

massive blister by #3...be back tomorrow! Awesome lesson as always

[@davecarsley8773]

Calloused yet? Or quit yet? It's been 11 months. I know one or the other happened.

[@PeopleinDreams]

Just broke my string on the first bend

[@kozzi_17]

I was just about to comment the same thing! Glad I'm not the only one...

[@f7029]

Austin Anderson lol same

[@gregwheat2356]

Why are you all breaking your strings on the same note? LOL I guess half a million views it's bound to happen.

[@amoghskulkarni]

Same thing. Justin makes it look so easy :(

[@rolfgruller573]

Rolf Gruller

[@MrVision14]

This what i was looking for right there! Thank you Jesus

[@almark7781]

Hi Justin, are these licks moveable? I'm so very tempted to do that with the first lick in this lesson... Starting in position 6 (A) then 11 (D) for the last 4 bars 13, 11 and 6 again. It sounds OK imho but is it better to play more in position?

[@justinguitar]

If you don't play open strings in your lick, you can move it up and down the neck but you change the key doing that because your root note is moving up too. Experimenting with blues? check these out! www.justinguitar.com/modules/blues-lead-1-essential | LievenDV | JustinGuitar Official Guide

[@jimwalsh2001]

Very useful, thanks.

[@SixStringStudies]

Nice lesson Justin, gotta love blues licks!

[@Sfinxaa]

finally something simple! thank you

[@sixstringstarter]

Justin, Thank you for the content. In a 1-4-5 blues progression do I pick a lick that start on the root as the chords changes? Doing so will require least 2 patterns. Is this what I am meant to do?

[@justinguitar]

You do not need to start your licks with the root note. If you only do that it will become predictable and boring very quickly. See if this topic helps: community.justinguitar.com/t/first-steps-in-blues-improvisation-using-minor-pentatonic-scale-pattern-1/78164 Cheers 😊 | Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide & Approved Teacher www.justinguitar.com

[@AlexisChang]

thank you so much justin!!! this is going to help with my blues improvising so much!!

[@kennethcarvalho3684]

Can we combine these licks to make a melody?? Any combinations please.

[@user-zm6bv5jw6y]

Thanks!

[@justinguitar]

Many thanks for the super thanks and supporting the channel. It means a lot to Justin and the entire JustinGuitar team. Cheers 😊 | Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide & Approved Teacher www.justinguitar.com

[@vaibhavverma5268]

Any tips on what strings to use? I changed my strings to .009. Now I can bend on acoustic.

[@goranlevi]

0.10 are the standard and are good to start. If you're really struggling with bends you should work more at technique before going down from 0.10 Once I got used to 0.10 I upgraded to 0.11 and then 0.12 which is the gauge I'm currently playing (on electric and acoustic). Thicker strings give you a fuller sound (I personally prefer their sound) but are harder to bend. Which strings you're gonna use is up to you. Best thing is to change gauges and brands to know what you like. If bending or any other technique hurts you, you should stop inmediately. Playing should not hurt. I hope I have helped you

[@Wren6991]

I've heard that the different sound of thicker strings comes from the different-feeling pick attack throwing players off, and not from the strings themselves, have you also heard this? What do you think? There are certainly plenty of people (Yngwie, BB King, Billy Gibbons) who play(ed) with very thin strings and got a very "full" tone.

[@veteranaffiliate]

Lick 3 rocks! Licks 4 and 5 too! I will be Hendrix one day!

[@SaxJockey]

Great lesson, lick #3 (and it's variants) is a classic.

[@adriansaldana160]

Great teacher. Awesome my fingers hurt now hahaha

[@fixedgeardad]

I will be blues man yet! great lesson as always

[@XAVYMARTIN]

mike latta kzbin.info/www/bejne/eH3WiHeDjbSMa9E

[@jayp631]

Hi great vids and you're helping me advance..... Can i ask how high is the action on your strings? Thanks.

[@sdsbm]

Great great lesson! Thanks on more time!

[@zofiagawel9367]

You are the BEST!!!!

[@almark7781]

Hi Justin thanks for all the great lessons ! Could you tell me please how you get this specific guitar tone you are using for the blues lessons? Regards Mark

[@JamesKingsilentlife]

Any good reason why not to use the pinkie on lick 4?

[@anniehentzqueen]

Excited to practice these! Loving this new series Justin!

[@RandyH524]

I love you justin.

[@Thecouchpatatoshow]

I have that guitar at home so cool I can do this lol.

[@dannymckown3337]

I encourage anyone to pause at 43 and before he shows you exactly how he did it, to go back and try to replicate each to the best of your ability. That's where real growth happens, not from step by step instructions and certainly not from tabs. Don't practice anything half way. Get out what your putting in. Trust me and millions of other guitar players when I say that learning and practicing by ear now, will reap unimaginable rewards for your music creatiing ability further down the road. You don't want to become that "musician" who can only play other people's songs that he got from tabs or from carbon copying step by step "lessons” that "teach" you to replicate rather than create. Don't be like I was at the beginning. A trained ear and just a very basic fundamental idea of how one would create similar licks will pay off in the future more than you know. I hope this saves someone from falling into the same trap I did. Learning to be a musician or a guitarist requires one to have an ear trained enough to be of value at least some use. I have discovered that a well tuned ear and just a basic understanding or at least idea of what's played is what divides the musicians, and guitar players from the guys who just claim to be because they play copies of songs they like. at the very least attempt to emulate what you're hearing. You don't want to learn to only copy it. Trust me please when I say You will never be satisfied with your "music" until you explore it and learn. No amount of "here, copy this now, exactly the way I'm showing you" ever beat " you should try to re create what you want to learn with your available senses first, just see how close you can come" you will gradually become more and more familiar with...really? No way? Ok Get this dude. ... Using your ears as a tool to serve you as a musician. I know. Stupid right? How could ears and a trained sense of hearing possibly have any benefit for any aspring musician ever? Why would you ever take the time to learn that........ 😱

[@davecarsley8773]

I encourage you to use paragraphs.

[@williamb4652]

In his online courses Justin puts a lot of emphasis on ear training. For many of us unfamiliar with the structure and anatomy of licks like these I think you need to be shown in detail how they are put together to show you what is possible and how to play the licks and sounds that you want to create.

[@Yekadadtahi]

I'm not a slow learner unless it comes to guitar and he's not making me feel bad and neglecting guitar he makes me want to play it right now It's 1 30

[@rlews1531]

Humphrey is right. I just gave $50. That's one lesson guys. C'mon. If we don't support people like Justin, we only deal with people like the utility company. Don't just like it. Give something. He's got to eat. Just buy him dinner for 2 nights - if you don't have it, then borrow it... Seriously. 1000 people like this lesson - if each gave $20 - 20 lousy bucks - 3 drinks.

[@kurtcobain6075]

Fuck off. If he wants $$$ he can do lessons in real life AND tips and tricks on youtube.

[@TYSuggested]

@@kurtcobain6075 Geez Kurt, why so salty?

[@tiagobjesus]

Tys De R since he left Nirvana he became a bit jumpy :/

[@psyadj]

if you dont have it, borrow it. Proper stupid advice.

[@davecarsley8773]

@@TYSuggested Probably because the OP was being an asshole without knowing people's individual situation. Literally telling them that if they're in a bad enough spot to not have money to give to a guy on KZbin for showing them 5 easy blues licks, *they should go borrow it* , and insinuating that if they don't, they're a bad person. The guy was acting like an absolute douche bag. He clearly hasn't lived paycheck to paycheck in a very long time, yet is telling other people who might be to go borrow money for a youtube lesson.. It's just a douche move. I'm guessing that's why he was salty.

[@WillieWunderbar]

Are these the same licks as lesson BL-013 ? I liked the tele, (the strat is thin to my taste). As always: great lesson.

[@aadeshanand9014]

loads of love from India Justin

[@rlews1531]

Very good. It's too easy to get caught up with a long list of licks. I find it much more helpful to build from fundamental licks, such as these. Okay, so this is not as good a lesson as the disappearing metronome. But that's because the disappearing metronome is one of the greatest lessons ever! If you guys haven't heard that one - please check it out. But other than those other worldly insights, this is top on. The Blue note licks and pattern 2 are as good. And yea, send him some darn money!!!

[@awesometechs]

Great lesson ! Keep it up man

[@iliaskhizanishvili2844]

Can I use the pinkie for the 4# lick?

[@funniestusernameever]

Justin lick #3 sounds choppy when I play it, basically the muting before going down to the other note. am I doing something wrong or will it get more fluid with practice?

[@medievalpepper1832]

Start slow, make sure it sounds clean, and then increase the speed. Use metronome for exact timings

[@drbrooky]

Cool.. thank you. James blunt

[@wyldfyrebats7502]

Thank you very much !

[@takineti]

Some of the notes he reaches on the bends here I'm not getting on my new Epiphone Les Paul copy. Do you think I need to change my strings?

[@miked7295]

Depends on what gauge you have. Regularly you'd have 0.010s, some people prefer 0.009s 'cause they are easier to bend. But the thinner the strings, the less "fullness" of tone. I think I use 0.011s now 'cause it gives a fuller tone.

[@ashutoshvyas5331]

Fender Stratocaster ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@millerviz]

I have problems with noise from the lower strings when I bend. Any suggestions?

[@Neil-qf6df]

What key are these licks in so i can download a backing track to play along to?

[@justinguitar]

Blues in A. DOwnload these and support Justin's work. justinguitarjams.com/collections/jam-blues-series 😊 | Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide & Approved Teacher

[@ramilerner8403]

great lesson

[@BiancaZombie]

What kind of music sounds good on guitars with very heavy strings?

[@chiparooo]

Where can I find the blues backing tracks you were talking about at the end?

[@billmccaffrey1977]

Great lesson (and teacher).

[@halfmettal]

1 0:44 3 4:40 4 7:41 5 10:34

[@AndyHorrigan]

Would be amazing to see this sort of thing for the major scale too. In my opinion the major scale is way more difficult to use convincingly.

[@Manu-xk1ub]

i get what your saying i mostly go to the minor relative key

[@JoseFerreira-xy8rf]

Show yes

[@DaveDeLerch]

why always chopping off the pinky ? use it instead. much more relaxed - especially for blues, eh ? you also should suggest 009 string gauge for bends like that...thex won't break trying. I know thers whole lot of moaning in the web but I was really thinkin about it. Anyway cool that you're spreading knowledge - very appriciated. keep on groovin!

[@GregRittger-mg1wc]

I listen to these riffs, I hear Jimi Hendrix playing "Bleeding Heart" live, and all is well with the universe!

[@mikemasi2552]

Justin, on lick 3, my bend on the 8fret sounds off. Not sure why.

[@alfieb8427]

Justin. What gauge strings are you using?

[@nessi5413]

Is there a recording of the example solo from your website?

[@victorfernandez915]

Hi what gauge strings are you using please?

[@kungfustereo]

Are these all Am pentatonic?

[@HAIRYBIKER777]

Yes.

[@kervinrodriguez1833]

For the first lick, my strings don't bend so high. The strings seem very hard to bend. Is there a way to fix that?

[@timotiustheodore5576]

maybe try a thinner string next time

[@MaximilienDanton]

I'm also finding the whole note bend on the bottom string difficult. My plan is to just keep going at it. I don't want to put thinner strings on my guitar.

[@goranlevi]

Practice. I used to struggle with 1st strings bends too. Once you get used to it, it will become easier

[@MaximilienDanton]

Thanks Goran Dimitrov Avramov :)

[@t8r507]

I been playing a long time, trust me it ain't your strings, one thing people overlook is...practice and finger strength, no fancy tricks can replace dexterity and strength exercises, it takes time and patience to develop all that, thing is find a couple licks and pound them over and over and over, your best lesson for beginners is REPETITION!! OVER AND OVER! if you accept that and dont count how long or how many days you've done it, just forget that and just do it till doing it is just habit,

[@mrtambourineman6107]

I'm playin my blues on an American special Tele (which I love!) vintage blonde - what about you guys?

[@NotBleu]

Squier Strat. Can't wait to get my Daphne Blue 50s Reissue MIM Strat.

[@MattW05]

Marc Piechowicz 85 SG

[@hellstrength218]

Squier J5 Tele! Frost Gold and sounds great!

[@brockbrauer765]

Hellstrength same! Love it a lot!!

[@SSBMollusk]

Bought a 2007 Standard MIM Strat a few days ago, it's my first proper electric guitar.

[@dmike03]

Another great lesson, Thanks Justin! A quick question. Is it common to stop playing a lick when you make a mistake? I hear guitarist make mistakes all the time and just keep right on going like it never happened. But when I make a mistake, my first instinct is to stop playing, did you ever have that issue and if so how did you overcome it?

[@EclecticHillbilly]

+dmike03 That's pretty much normal to stop when you make a mistake but it's something you have to overcome (and will as you get more experienced). As Justin says, it's more important to hold the rhythm and just play on through it. I don't know how long you have been playing but this is something everybody goes through. Just keep playing and it'll get better.

[@dmike03]

EclecticHillbilly It's nice to know it's not only me! Thanks for the reply, I will keep practicing and work through it.

[@northof50now]

+dmike03 - Though everyone does it, it is one of the toughest to overcome if it becomes habit. To break myself from it, I set a fixed number of repetitions of a lick. For example, I will try lick "A" 10 times. Then play the lick continually until the 10th time. Three things have happened, 1- I've gotten better by the 10th time. Started slow until I developed some muscle memory. Added some speed. 2- Gotten worse by the 10th time. Started too fast, and established bad muscle memory. 3- broke the habit of stopping. I, generally try to get the lick 100 times before I move to another. You can do the same thing by combining licks. Lick 1 + 2 +3, then do that series 10 times. It gives you direction and helps the stopping because you have a goal. Give it a go.

[@dmike03]

northof50now I'll try that. Thanks for the help!

[@GenX-Rising]

+dmike03 I still have that habit. It sucks because it that's the biggest thing that makes you look like a rookie amateur at parties. start.. stop... start... stop.. lol

[@clintgibson4875]

Nice B.B. lick!

[@thefullsuns]

Ooo that was fun, thanks!

[@jordonsowders3473]

thanks

[@GTvideoHD]

How can I mute while i'm bending, is dificult?

[@ggsrgcdhfiog5833]

in the 4th lick what do you mean by flicking off of the finger?

[@theworldhadteeth]

AKA "Pull-off".

[@lexbeats13]

which string gauge do you use?