You're welcome for the reply!

Originally Posted by: ericstampThis is the lesson I was referring to:

https://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=14091&view=wide

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Okay, thanks. That helps a lot.

[quote=ericstamp]To clarify, I am struggling with the timing more than anything. Particularly when it comes to mixing in eighth notes and now triplets and keeping track of the quarter note beats (and the bars) while improvising as you are asked to do in the last part of the lesson.

Is this just a matter of working with a metronome? Are there good practice routines for this?

That's a pretty tricky leap from just straight blues scales to playing in that style. There are really two parts to learning any kind of lead licks.

1. The physical motions & fretboard patterns.

2. The phrasing, or timing.

So, it can help to break the task into 2 parts to isolate & focus on each element, then put them together.

In order to do that in this case, it might help if you just do these exercises that focus on playing the pentatonic scale in 3s.

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=185

In particular look at lesson 3. I go back & forth between 1/4 notes & 1/8th note triplets using only the 1st box shape over & again. In lesson 4 I bump up the speed. You need to play those types of lines until you can do it & count along & know where where the beat is while you in the process of playing it.

Also, look at this tutorial on a fundamental blues lick.

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=1614

In particular look at lesson 2. Just repeat that lick over & again. I also change it from 1/8th triplets to straight 1/8th later in the tutorial

The point here is that you need to isolate each element & repeat it over & again until you can make it completely second nature. Again, you want to get it to the point that you can tell when each down beat happens. Isolating it like that helps because the lick is designed to land on the downbeat of 1 each time you get to the first bend. Then once you can play it automatically you'll be ready to mix & match all those elements in a more complex manner like Anders is suggesting in that lesson.

Make sense? Hope that helps!