One Riff, Played Five Ways (Key of E, Blues Groove)
Lesson #381 • Jul 31, 2021
Video lesson
Instructional PDF 1 page
Editor’s notes
Hello my friends! Lesson today where I’ll teach you a relatively simple bluesy riff in the open E position –– and then show how you can play that same riff in 4 other places on the fretboard. This comes out of practice and noodling I’ve been doing this past week, using my FretMonster tool as an aid to help me see these possibilities. If you, like me, are interested in taking some early steps into extending your lead guitar skillset – I trust you’ll find this lesson valuable!
To explore the fretboard as I am during this lesson, visit FretMonster and select “Key of E” along with “Major + ♭7”. This will show you the map I’m using during my lesson. And of course, in my 1-page PDF I have the different regions that each riff uses circled – in addition to showing you the tabs for each of the 5 positions. Let’s get into it!
Song that inspired this lesson
Here’s the Midland song “Mr. Lonely” whose bassline inspired this lesson. Give it a listen! Here’s the lyric video:
And here’s the director’s cut version of the music video (starring Dennis Quaid), which has a bit of non-song footage to start with:
Enjoy my lessons? Buy me a beer!
If this and my other lessons have proven helpful to you, please consider making a one-time donation to my tip jar. Contributions of any amount help make this project possible (including the many, many hours I put into it).
Fun & Helpful Tools I've Made
Subscribe to my YouTube channel
Be sure to never miss a lesson by subscribing on YouTube. I put out 2-3 new videos every week. These include full song lessons, as well as covers, practice tips, behind-the-scenes updates. Thanks!
Recent Lessons
-
September 25, 2023
Major Key Cheat Sheets: Must-Know Chords, Scales, and Fretboard Diagrams
-
September 15, 2023
"Stuff That Works" by Guy Clark
-
September 11, 2023
Monday Morning Triad Practice! (Key of A Major)
-
September 8, 2023
"Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison
-
September 1, 2023
Practicing Major Arpeggios in Each CAGED Shape
-
August 31, 2023
Travel Guitar... Worth It, or a Waste? (Taylor GS Mini review, 3 years later)
-
August 29, 2023
Creating a Fingstyle Arrangement from Scratch (feat. Graceland by Paul Simon)
-
August 18, 2023
"Bouncing Around the Room" by Phish
-
August 17, 2023
Simple Way to Travis Pick Any Song (Key of C)
-
August 12, 2023
"Summertime Blues" by Zach Bryan