A Bit of Blues

[DawgBone]

I do blues too. At the jams here I feel like most guys just strum. It’s rare to hear a Jimmy Reed kinda shuffle. Well, excepting that really good guy I mentioned.

Soon you will be that good guy you mentioned and someone else will be mentioning you.

If you play more than about 3 blues songs without a shuffle in Texas you will also be without a gig. Jimmy Reed is loved but a bit too laid back for my taste. My personal feeling is everything in blues should be hammered, pulled off, bent, slid into or out of, have english/vibrato on the note, or some other forum of slurring to be done right. One of my favorite rhythm things is to take your standard barre chord, like a full six string A7 at the 5th fret, and drop the bottom two notes. Hit the chord and hammer your index finger on the 3rd string vigorously. Then you only need to strum it once, the hammer carries it. If that makes sense.

[AllanAllen]

Soon you will be that good guy you mentioned and someone else will be mentioning you.

If you play more than about 3 blues songs without a shuffle in Texas you will also be without a gig. Jimmy Reed is loved but a bit too laid back for my taste. My personal feeling is everything in blues should be hammered, pulled off, bent, slid into or out of, have english/vibrato on the note, or some other forum of slurring to be done right. One of my favorite rhythm things is to take your standard barre chord, like a full six string A7 at the 5th fret, and drop the bottom two notes. Hit the chord and hammer your index finger on the 3rd string vigorously. Then you only need to strum it once, the hammer carries it. If that makes sense.

I’ll try that, seems like a good move to do and look up and smile. Can’t look like I’m reading up there.

[Bop Head]

Sliding 9ths a la Allman Brothers Stormy Monday? Yeah it’s too much for me. I feel like it cuts over the vocals and/or soloist when I do it. I feel like I’m in a weird spot of trying not to be heard but also playing the guitar.

There’s another guy out here and I swear he can play anything and he’s never in the way.

Of course, I asked him about it and he said to listen better.

Listening should always be No. 1. Listening to what's going on, listening to yourself, listening to the others, listening to yourself in the context of the others. I always thought that was obvious but apparently it isn't.

Listen to those old blues (band) recordings, listen to how different elements are interwoven ("call and response"!) and how they relate volume-wise. Regarding volume you can comp with the right hand's thumb and switch to pick when you're soloing (You have to practice to hold the pick in the palm of your hand while using fingers and switch back quickly). Changing pickups (or pickup combination) can change volume as well.

In many blues recordings (as well as in old jazz styles like New Orleans, Chicago Jazz or Dixieland, the latter being based on the first two) there is lot of collective improvisation going on, people are playing at the same time all the time. But it functions because they are listening to each other. Mingus revived that in his post-bop, based on traditional blues and styles.

This one is from Muddy Waters' "Mud In Your Ear" album, no 9th chords here, but a lot of collective improvisation densely arranged around the vocal:

Or this one from the same album where the singer (Luther Johnson, not Muddy) tells his story in the style of a preacher from an African-American baptist church, listen to how the rest of the band is reacting to and commenting those vocals like a congregation:

An example for a collective improv Mingus arrangement:

[ragman1]

Thread's quiet so I thought I'd try another one of these. Looks simple. Not so simple :-)

[ragman1]

And another one. Long but fun :-)

[pauln]

Here is from maybe 15 years ago, the very first time I attempted to record playing through my computer. My intent was to capture the different tones of my pickups, but about 3/4 of the way through I realized I was running out of song and made a rather clumsy hasty move up into the high frets to get them included.

sleepy monday.mp3

[wolflen]

Here is from maybe 15 years ago, the very first time I attempted to record playing through my computer. My intent was to capture the different tones of my pickups, but about 3/4 of the way through I realized I was running out of song and made a rather clumsy hasty move up into the high frets to get them included.

sleepy monday.mp3

Nice chops and tone..Albert would smile!!

[ragman1]

Good one, paul. Point Of View is often interesting too :-)