Being able to solo successfully is something most of us would love to do. Having a player like Nat Martin show you how to do it is a gift. Nat’s mastery of blues and its associated music has led him to become one of the most highly respected players in the country.
In this first series Nat will take you through his approach to creating effective blues licks and solos that sit beautifully over any chord progression.
Over the one hour lesson you will establish the chords for a 12 bar blues progression in the key of A. Nat will take you through the chord sequence using both barre chords and CAGED triads based at position V around box 1 of the minor pentatonic. It will be useful for you to know the barre chord shapes shown below ahead of time, but please don’t worry if you struggle. The idea of also showing the triad shapes is to not only give you a greater music vocabulary, but also to give those struggling with barre chords an easier approach. Everyone should be able to master something in the lesson, and for anything you struggle with, that’s what the lesson video is for. You can practice as much as you like afterwards.
Once Nat has covered the chords, you will then learn an initial solo, focusing on a few licks (notated in standard notation and TAB) that correspond to each of the specific chords in the blues progression. The licks will be numbered sequentially for reference. You will be shown the picking techniques and fingerings used for each lick to develop your technical approaches.
You will study and play through the triad and 7th arpeggios that correspond to each chord in the blues in A contained within position V / box 1 of the A minor pentatonic. We’ll look at how certain notes within these can be targeted in the case of each chord, owing to their inclusion within the A minor pentatonic scale. You will again study the picking patterns and fingerings that facilitate playing these.
You will pick up on the solo from session 1, recap and then consider an alternate version of each lick to build on your existing vocabulary. You will consider all the licks to date and determine where each one can be played within the 12 bar blues progression (the licks will be numbered for reference).
In the third and final week, the main focus will be Notated solo 3, where you’ll jump straight into learning additional licks to continue vocabulary building in box 1 of the A minor pentatonic. You will then weigh up the possibilities from all the licks you’ve learnt over the last three weeks in relation to where you can play them within the 12 bar blues sequence. You’ll also be introduced to two additional ideas for ways in which you can continue your study: you’ll examine the minor pentatonic box 3 known as the ‘The B.B. box’. You’ll discuss how B.B.King mixed minor and major pentatonics and be supplied with fretboard diagrams to provide an opportunity for you to explore this scale in your own time to form additional vocabulary for each chord in the 12 bar blues.
A Minor Pentatonic Scale Guitar Pattern 1
Below is pattern one of the minor pentatonic scale. The numbers inside the dots indicate the fingers to be used on the frets. The red dots in the pattern refer to the root of the scale.
A Minor Pentatonic Scale Guitar Pattern 3
Barre chord shapes
• You can purchase all three lessons as one course. This is the advised option as the lessons develop on each other to give you an in-depth practice regime. It’s also cheaper at £50 for all three lessons.
• Purchase lessons individually at £20 per lesson.
The level is ideal for players who want to:
As a guide you should be familiar with:
Things you won’t need to know (but you should definitely not ignore them):
Excellent course structure to build up from basics and adding steps each week. Just what someone who doesn’t know “where to start” wants! (That’s me).
Very well presented in a positive and relaxed manner. Paced well to allow questions. Very responsive to comments.
Good explanation of where specific notes in the solo come from to help develop understanding.
Love the point about how you pick it / play it can vary from person to person. All ways are valid if they work….
Series 2 will begin in Sept 2026. Full details can be found here