How to Make 3 Random Notes Sound Totally Awesome

What if I told you that you could take any three notes - seriously, just three - and make them sound absolutely killer? Hi there, I'm Chris, and today I’m going to show you exactly how that works. It’s one of those things that blew my mind when I figured it out, and it’s something I wish I knew way earlier in my guitar journey.

Back when I was starting out, I’d see other guitarists play simple little licks that sounded massive. I'd ask them what scale they were using or what technique it was, and they’d just say, “Oh, it's just this.” Then I’d try it, and it sounded nothing like what they were doing. Sound familiar?

So here's what’s really going on behind the scenes - and no, it's not just about the scale. In this lesson, we're going to take a basic three-note lick and break it down into the core components that actually make it sound awesome.

The Truth About Scales

One of the most common questions I get is, “What's your favorite scale?” And yeah, scales matter - we need a note selection. But the cool tones, the feel, the groove - that stuff comes from technique. That’s where the magic hides.

3 Simple Notes, Big Sound

We’re using three super familiar notes from the E minor blues scale - just the B and G strings in this case. The specific frets don’t even matter that much. What matters is what we do with them.

Let’s say we start on the 15th fret of the G string (that’s the flat five, a killer note). Then we hit the 12th fret on the B string, and follow it with the 15th fret on the same string. Easy, right? Now here’s the twist - we pull off from the 15th to the 12th, and then we jump back to the G string and repeat the cycle. Four notes in total, looped.

Picking Pattern & Movement

Here’s where it gets spicy. I start with an upstroke on the G string, then a downstroke on the 12th fret B, then another upstroke on the 15th fret B, followed by a pull-off to the 12th. That’s where the economy happens. After the pull-off, I drop straight back to the G string with another upstroke, keeping everything tight and efficient.

Now you might be thinking, “That sounds like alternate picking with some legato, what’s the big deal?” The big deal is how I’m doing it. I’m using a very specific kind of movement - a small, focused motion from the thumb joint. Not the wrist, not the elbow, not the whole arm - just the thumb. Tiny movements, super efficient, and absolutely necessary if you want this kind of lick to work at high speed.

Training the Thumb Joint

To get this right, you need to lock the rest of your hand. I literally rest my picking-hand fingers on the guitar body to make sure I’m not sneaking in any wrist movement. Then I practice just hitting one note using only the thumb joint. It's not glamorous, but it’s effective.

This extreme anchoring is just for training the motion. Once you've got the movement down, you can loosen up and start applying it naturally. But without isolating that thumb joint, you’re likely to default back to big wrist movements - and that just won't cut it at higher tempos.

Why This Works

So we've got three simple notes - nothing special on paper. But what makes them come alive is the controlled technique, the economy of motion, and the phrasing. These behind-the-scenes mechanics are what turn "just some notes" into something that sounds pro.

You can take this exact approach and apply it to any three notes from any scale. Move it around, try different intervals, and keep that picking motion tight. The lick I showed is just an example - what really matters is what you're doing between the notes.

Thanks for reading!