Blues, as a mode, is essentially the most influential music style that America has ever recognized. It’s origins date again over 130 years, but paved the best way for standard kinds like rock, rap, R&B, jazz and plenty of others all through American historical past.
In his course, Blues Traditions, Reverend Robert Jones presents a fingers-on syllabus exploring the origins of African American blues guitar fingerpicking. And thus, he uncovers the important traditions and methods that had been born with blues, and handed all the way down to the opposite genres everyone knows and love.
Listed below are 9 video blues fingerstyle guitar classes from the course. For the total course, try Rev Robert Jones’ Blues Traditions on TrueFire!
Blues Guitar Lesson – The Piedmont Roll
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The Piedmont Roll is a selecting sample derived primarily from East Coast gamers like Rev. Gary Davis, Elizabeth Cotton and Blind Blake. I realized it from “Bowling Inexperienced” John Cephas.
The concept revolves round taking part in a 4 string sample between your thumb and finger or fingers. For instance, whereas holding a primary place “E” chord, you’d play string 2 together with your finger, string four together with your thumb, string 1 together with your finger, then string 6 together with your thumb. So, watch the video and begin gradual. The Piedmont Roll is a superb finger selecting device!
Blues Guitar Lesson – Good Lady – Overview
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It is a 12 bar blues in A, but it surely’s based mostly on the taking part in of Robert Johnson. Johnson was a Mississippi blues guitarist whose affect remains to be felt in American music. Most of the ideas that we study from Johnson’s music will reinforce the concept of blues as a modular music, a mode that enables us to reorder the elements to create new items.
Blues Guitar Lesson – Good Lady – Efficiency
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That is the music that helps songs like “Type Hearted Lady”, “Little Queen of Spades”, “Me And The Satan”, “Phonograph Blues” and others. These songs are all constructed on the identical musical chassis.
Blues Guitar Lesson – Good Lady – Breakdown
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There are a few issues to concentrate to on this track: First, discover how triplets tackle the rhythmic function that the Piedmont Roll and pentatonic runs stuffed in our earlier tunes. We’re doing the identical issues (12-bar blues, shifting chord shapes, utilizing the pentatonic scale, and so on.), however we’re doing them in numerous methods.
Blues Guitar Lesson – Slide, Resonator, and Open Tunings
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Mississippi is the house of many influential blues kinds. Simply as at present, early blues gamers listened to one another and shared concepts about gear and methods. So, whereas the resonator guitar by no means actually gained a lot traction in jazz music (aside from with artists like the good Oscar Aleman), it was a extremely favored device within the fingers of Mississippi Delta model gamers. Simply as these gamers noticed the advantage of a loud, sturdy and sustaining resonator devices, in addition they usually used open tunings for causes which might be addressed within the video.
Blues Guitar Lesson – Biscuit Curler – Overview
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“Biscuit Curler” is a tune that’s the foundation for numerous Delta classics like “Rolling and Tumbling”, “Gravel Street Blues”, “Travelling Riverside Blues”, “Assembly Me within the Backside” and extra. The authentic tune was credited to Hambone Willie Newbern, an older singer and guitarist within the Delta custom.
Blues Guitar Lesson – Biscuit Curler – Efficiency
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That is the best way that I (often) play this tune. However, it’s not the one solution to play it. You may also discover that this isn’t essentially a 12-bar blues. How lengthy you play the rhythm is as much as you. Additionally, this is applicable to how usually you play the melody. Hearken to a recording Mississippi Fred McDowell’s “Gravel Street Blues” to know what I imply.
Blues Guitar Lesson – Biscuit Curler – Breakdown
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On this lesson, play shut consideration to the rhythm. One of many issues that assist to outline the rhythm is the damping with the proper hand. “Opening and shutting” (going up and down) with the heel of the proper hand provides the sound of a snare drum that accentuates a backbeat to the tune.
Blues Guitar Lesson – Shared Delta Blues Licks
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This part once more focuses on the concept the blues are modular. As musicians like Son Home, Willie Brown, Charley Patton, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf borrowed and stole music from each other they created patterns that had been highly effective of their expressiveness and ease.
They tended to create distinctive music licks on the I chord, for the primary four bars of their songs, however then they go to pretty set patterns on the IV and V chords. Although these patterns are easy, they aren’t essentially simple. To drag off this model off, you’ll want be capable to play a with a rock strong rhythm.
Digging these free video blues fingerstyle guitar classes? Take a look at Rev. Robert Jones’ full course, Blues Traditions.