Blues Guitar Lessons - Ragtime Blues Guitar

Blues Guitar lessons in the ragtime blues (Piedmont) style is perhaps the most exciting guitar technique to learn.

What you'll learn

You will learn how to perform a solid alternating bass thumb pattern and learn to play ragtime guitar songs in the keys of G, C and dropped D.

You will learn to play Satisfied and Ticked Too by Mississippi John Hurt

You will learn to play Pallet On the Floor by Mississippi John Hurt

You will learn to play CC&O Blues by Pink Anderson

You will learn to play Dupree Blues by Willie Walker

You will learn to play South Carolina Rag by Willie Walker

You will learn to play Truckin' Little Baby by Blind Boy Fuller

You will learn to play Statesboro' Blues by Blind Willie McTell

Requirements

Acoustic guitar, love of the blues. Should be quite a good finger picker to begin with!

Description

Alternating Bass And Ragtime Blues Guitar Ragtime piano became popular in the early 1900s and some blues guitar players realized that the characteristic bass signature could be played in a simplified way on the guitar. To accomplish this, it was necessary to strike two or three bass strings with the picking thumb, alternating between the strings, producing a bum-chick sound. When this technique was combined with the picking sounds of the fingers, a very complex sound is produced which sounds like two guitars! Many guitarists, such as Mississippi John Hurt, used this technique exclusively and recorded some fine work - he is one of the artists we take a look at in this course.The dexterity needed to play this style is far above that required to play monotonic, delta style blues. Blind Blake was probably the foremost ragtime blues guitar player between 1920 and 1930. He achieved this by taking the thumb control to a new, extraordinary level. In many of his songs, Blake doubled up on the alternating thumb beats, making two notes instead of one. Blake's work is covered in another of my courses. I've presented 6 video lessons demonstrating the techniques of some great guitar players who were experts at playing ragtime style syncopated guitar songs - John Hurt, Pink Anderson, Willie Walker, Blind Boy Fuller and Blind Willie McTell. These guys laid the foundations of the style and provided the foundation for later master guitar pickers such as Merle Travis, Doc Watson, Chet Atkins and Tommy Emmanuel. Modern players took hold of this early ragtime sound and quickly extended the chords and techniques, exploring new areas. Many of the original Scott Joplin rags have been faithfully transcribed, and other ways of playing appeared constantly. In the U.S., many notable musicians extended these picking styles and gave the music a country flavor. Jim Bruce was voted N°2 Internet Guitar Instructor by Truefire.com in 2013.

Overview

Section 1: Mississippi John Hurt

Lecture 1 Satisfied and Tickled Too/Pallet On The Floor

Section 2: Blind Willie McTell

Lecture 2 Statesboro' Blues

Section 3: Blind Boy Fuller

Lecture 3 Truckin' Little Baby

Section 4: Willie Walker

Lecture 4 South Carolina Rag

Lecture 5 Dupree Blues

Section 5: Pink Anderson

Lecture 6 CC&O Blues

Proficiency in any finger style guitar work is necessary, and a firm understanding of chord progressions in the keys of C, G and D.