I still consider myself a learner… perhaps I always will, and the primary way I continue my guitar education is by learning new tunes. Sometimes I’ll learn a tune that I like just for the fun of it, but more frequently I select a tune that I initially think will stretch me to gain more control over the mechanics of playing the instrument. More often than not I am successful in learning the piece, but sometimes I find myself totally stymied, and not willing to bog myself down, I will leave it behind. Most recently, I was defeated by a Robert Johnson piece, but that’s ok because he played at a very high level… higher than me for now.
I focus my playing efforts almost exclusively on finger-style “Country Blues,” and at this point I am playing strictly instrumental versions of the tunes. I am not interested in singing… I’m a guitar player… There are a variety of reasons why I stick with this blues genre:
- I love the sound of the music when played on a solo guitar. You don’t need a band to sound interesting, and frankly I am totally uninterested in playing with a band.
- The music itself is so American rootsy and foundational… There’s not an ounce of pretension built into the music… it’s just plain honest sounding and you can hear it echoing throughout early rock n roll, so there’s a recognizable pop culture element to it, but seasoned with a purity that appeals to me…
- I’ve been able to find plenty of this type music that is well within my “skill grasp…” I am not saying it’s either simple or complicated, but I can get a handle on it and people seem, like me, to enjoy the sounds of these tunes.
- There is a large extant body of music in this genre that can be found in book collections, as well on training DVD’s…
- With such a large body of work available to study I feel absolutely NO reason to write a song… the other day, a good friend of mine at the local Guitar Store suggested it was time for me to write a tune as if it were some important ritualized rite of passage. I think there’s enough good songs already available or being written by talented musicians without me adding some pedestrian, self-indulgent POS to the mix.
I’ve developed a modest collection of old blues music so I can recognize the tune or players who’s music I might wish to learn. If you’re interested in old blues, a good place to begin would be the collection of original blues tunes, Confessin’ the Blues, curated by the Rolling Stones. In fact, several of these tunes were covered by the Stones themselves.
What works for me, after I’ve identified an old blues musician or a tune, is to shop around for a training DVD that offers a tablature version of the music as well as basic instruction how to play it.
To the left you can see a great example of the educational materials I use. It’s a DVD containing numerous tabbed tunes by the great old bluesman Rev. Robert Wilkins, taught by John Miller, who I never heard of, but is a decent teacher of the basics. I was attracted to this DVD because I wanted to learn to play “Prodigal Son” a Wilkins tune covered by the Rolling Stones on their classic LP, Beggars Banquet. Two of the best online locations for training DVD’s are Happy Traum’s Homespun and Stefan Grossman’s Guitar Workshop, which is where I got the Wilkins collection.
First, I listen to the song and become familiar with it… I usually choose a tune that will stand up on its own as an instrumental without the lyrics, as I do not feel comfortable singing. Then I will tackle the music which is normally presented in standard notation and tablature. I work with both; however, I would be helpless without the tab. Tablature indicates which strings and frets to press with the left hand and which strings to pluck with the right. The standard notation is important to understand the time/rhythm signature of the tune. The music is typically included in pdf printable format on the DVD, though sometimes it comes as an included booklet. I am totally unapologetic for using tablature… in fact, tablature was the first way of communicating music for stringed instruments like the lute and later guitar. Standard notation followed some time afterwards. Working with tablature is a slow and steady process, during which time the most important steps are to become familiar with the tune and to develop the muscle memory for your hands and fingers, measure by measure. Some pieces come quicker than others but most require lots of repetition for me to succeed.
Before, during and after working with the tablature I will refer to the instructional video that is on the DVD. There are best approaches for how to use your hands during play and the instructor usually goes through those key moves measure by measure. A caution here is that sometimes the tablature and what the instructor does do not always match up, but that is rare. Also, as in the case with “I Do Blues,” Mr. Miller teaches a particularly challenging measure one way, but actually plays it a different way, which is a little frustrating because the way he plays it is easier than the way he teaches it! Some DVD teachers are better than others. I particularly enjoy Stefan Grossman.
More important than learning the measures in the tune is the phrasing of the music. It’s easy to fall into the trap of playing a measure at a time; however, the music flows across measures and getting that proper flow is the key to mastering the tune, and that can be easy or really very challenging with these old blues pieces.
It is usually at this point that I will bring the piece to my guitar teacher, Tom Garman, who is great at working with adult learners like myself. He’s located at Bob’s Guitars in Cedar Falls, where I live. Tom is great at pushing me on technique and helping me interpret the tune beyond what the DVD instructor can do.
After working with Tom to master the piece (such as I can do), I have two final steps: First I choose a “go to” guitar for the tune. Though I will often play the tune on multiple instruments, there is one that I usually find particularly suited for the tune. In the case of “I Do Blues,” which I initially worked with on acoustic guitar, I found some of the string bends just too daunting with stiff acoustic strings. So I moved to the much easier to play Taylor T5, which is an electric/acoustic hybrid that is much easier to string-bend and the tune sounds great on it! The original country blues tunes were played almost exclusively on acoustic guitars so they sound “more authentic” when played thus so; however, I am not embarrassed to move to a different musical platform to get on top of the tune and also to put my own music “twist” onto the piece also. It is 2019!
Finally, if I am playing an electrified instrument, either electric or acoustic guitar, I will run it through an amplifier and set it up thus so in the event I play the piece publicly at, for example, open mic night in the local coffee shop. Beyond using the amp, this also involves choosing from among my pedal inventory to truly put my mark on the tune. How and what pedals to use is a story for another time.
Here’s a version of I Do Blues by Rev. Robert Wilkins on my newly repaired Taylor SBC:
Keep on picking…