How To Play Authentic Ragtime Blues Guitar
Do You Want To Learn ‘Real Deal Blues Guitar – What Does That Mean ?
Son House once remarked that some guitarists ” … play some kinda shuffle in E and say it’s the blues – well it’s not !” When asked by someone “What is the blues?”, Big Bill Broonzy tolm them “If you need to ask you’ll never find out ” How did the classic blues men make this wonderful musical style ? How can we play old sounding acoustic blues guitar – ‘the real deal’ ? In this article I’m going to examine a few old blues mens ways of playing and how you can approach these picking techniques.
Ragtime and Blues Guitar – From The Roots – Blind Arthur Blake
I always thought it a little strange that there is just one photograph of Blind Blake, the King of Ragtime Blues . He made upwards of one hundred records for Paramount throughout his playing life and seemed to be extremely popular. Surely other photographs must exist ? Even legendary Robert Johnson had two pictures taken and , at that time, he seemed less well known and famous than Blake.
When it comes down to it, I’m a bit peeved about the fact . It would be wonderful if some old photographs were discovered that showed Johnson or Blake singing in a bar or some other place . Then we might see how they produced these incredible sounds.
Ry cooder said that he thought Blake picked guitar with a light touch, but on the other hand, others related told that he had a hole in his picking thumb, which indicated that he had a heavy touch . On recordings he exclaims ‘boot that thang ‘ – which also indicated that he could have had a heavy touch. I’ve tried performing Blake lots of ways , using a gentle and heavy approach on various sized strings, adjusting the height of the guitar bridge each tim . It’s very difficult to match the bouncy feel of many of his pieces in G, like That’ll Never Happen No More and Too Tight Blues.
You Can’t Have Too Much Big Bill !
Take a listen to Big Bill Broonzy’s guitar style, as an example – it’s fairly easy to say where our fretting and picking fingers should go , but that amazing swinging feel is another thing entirely! It’s almost supernatural. This is a a quotation from Broonzy referring to timing – ” you can either ride the front of the horse, or on back of it and this is what I do when I play guitar “. The right hand thumb rhythm stays slightly behind the beat and makes the swing. Easy to describe , but have a go at it! Incredibly, he’s utilizing only one finger for the high strings to lay down more syncopation.
How Do We Learn To Play The Blues ?
The answer is always ‘from guitar player who can finger pick in the old style’. There is a huge number of guitar courses for sale on the internet, all in many styles and prices. Some can be found for free! ( A word of warning here – generally in life, nothing of value is given free.) Very more often than not, the tuition packages on offer don’t match up to their advertising. Sometimes the picking doesn’t quite match the musical notation given ! Some packages teach licks or tips to give your playing that ‘bluesy feel’, but is it the blues?
Find guitar player who can really play this stuff. Search in your local area, or on the internet. After you’ve found this guitarist , ask him if he would teach you. If he doesn’t give lessons then listen to him and go to his gigs , if there’s nothing else for it . Like most things in this life, if you want it badly enough, you’ll have to go for it. Most real blues men are not interested in taking a lot of money for their lessons.
Don’t listen to lots of modern blues men . The styles can become weakened and adapted too much, particularly that great timing and accents on the beat. Listen to as many old blues guitar tracks as you can, specially if there is video of the man performing . For example, you can get a lot by just seeing Big Bill Broonzy perform Hey Hey again and again and again.
Practice, practice, practice – particularly the basics. Control that right hand thumb! Try one hour in the morning and then again at night is the very minimum . You don’t really think Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil do you? No, but like Eric Clapton, he took himself away for a year or two until he could play with the intensity we can evidently hear on his old recordings .
As far as I’m concerned this is crucial – when you are playing guitar , BE that song or that person who sang the original . Their lives were difficult and not at all like ours. Saying that, everyone gets the blues now and again and this is how we can relate with those men. The blues is any of these things – a woman, losing your job, bad kids, rainy weather, mortality and many other events. Express it through your guitar.
Learn the techniques first of all, don’t take shortcuts with the basics and last but not least , put everything you’ve got into it.
Author is an expert writer on blues guitar lessons and blues guitar course.
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