Looking for recommendations for Delta Blues method books

[henryrobinett]

This is the first time in many years I've been interested in getting a guitar book. Any recommendations for a delta blues finger picking book? I'm interested on two fronts: 1) for teaching beginning and intermediate students and 2) learning myself more advanced techniques, after I've mastered the basics.

Thanks.

[grahambop]

I've got one by Stefan Grossman called 'The Roots of Robert Johnson' which is interesting, as it has pieces by some of the guys who came before Johnson, so that's real authentic old delta stuff.

[henryrobinett]

Cool! I think I saw that one.

[Vladan]

Stefan Grossman is the man.

[MarkRhodes]

Grossman is the real deal. Knows his stuff.

Dave Rubin has some good books on various aspects of the blues but I haven't tried his book on Robert Johnson. Might be worth checking out.

[matt.guitarteacher]

I haven't looked at anything like that in years, but back in the day, I loved teaching out of Fingerpicking Styles for Guitar by Happy Traum. Starts pretty basic with fundamental, Travis-style patterns, but most of the book is just tunes - mostly delta blues. Starts easy and gets progressively more "interesting". Just great stuff for teaching beginning to intermediate fingerstyle blues.

That was back when I was teaching 50 or more lessons a week. Loved teaching, but it can be a grind when it's all day. This stuff, however... I loved lessons with the guy who was playing out of that book. This was before you could just listen to anything on your phone or online. He just couldn't believe I hadn't heard all of those tunes. Really great stuff.

[PMB]

One of the true masters of Delta styles is my good friend, Paul Rishell. He played with Son House and Howlin' Wolf in his early days and really knows the music inside out. His partner, Annie Raines is also an incredible harp player with the same encyclopaedic knowledge and talent. Paul doesn't have any books out but his True Fire video series looks great (and his albums are amazing).

Here's his take on Charley Patton's "Dirt Road Blues":

Dirt Road Blues (Performance):

Dirt Road Blues (Breakdown):

[keith]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by " Delta Blues ". This usually dredges up the image of open tunings and slide guitar techniques for me but for example Mississippi John Hurt was from the delta region but was not of that style.

In addition to the above might I suggest Woody Mann. woody mann | JAZZ, BLUES, and AMERICAN ROOTS

He's been teaching country blues fingerpicking internationally for decades and demonstrates the techniques of the individual artists ( i.e. how they got the sound that they were known for ) He was a student of Rev Gary Davis as a kid. He's well versed in most of the fingerstylists that you'll encounter.

As far as teaching might I suggest you start with Miss.John Hurt tunes for beginners. They're not super difficult but expose students to some of the techniques of the style ( alternating and walking bass lines with harmony and melodic lines above ) His playing is very clean as is his timing which is the beauty of his style. Good for beginners.

[Jonzo]

Mississippi John Hurt is the cool grandpa we all wish we had.

[henryrobinett]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by " Delta Blues ". This usually dredges up the image of open tunings and slide guitar techniques for me but for example Mississippi John Hurt was from the delta region but was not of that style.

In addition to the above might I suggest Woody Mann. woody mann | JAZZ, BLUES, and AMERICAN ROOTS

He's been teaching country blues fingerpicking internationally for decades and demonstrates the techniques of the individual artists ( i.e. how they got the sound that they were known for ) He was a student of Rev Gary Davis as a kid. He's well versed in most of the fingerstylists that you'll encounter.

As far as teaching might I suggest you start with Miss.John Hurt tunes for beginners. They're not super difficult but expose students to some of the techniques of the style ( alternating and walking bass lines with harmony and melodic lines above ) His playing is very clean as is his timing which is the beauty of his style. Good for beginners.

Good points about tunings and stuff. I want to avoid non-standard tunings.

[monk]

Henry,
One of the "problems" that you'll encounter with your search is that a lot of the Delta Blues repertoire was in open tunings. Charlie Patton, Son House and Skip James all used open tunings as did Robert Johnson in part. Probably the best material for your purposes would be the Robert Johnson DVDs that Tom Feldman has recorded for Grossman's Guitar Workshop. Second to that, I'd recommend Rory Block's Delta Blues Videos from Homespun Tapes.

If you're interested in avoiding open tunings, the Piedmont Blues players such as Rev. Gary Davis, Blind Boy Fuller or Blind Blake and Texas Blues players like Lightning Hopkins maybe more in line with what you need. Another player who played in a variety of styles was Big Bill Broonzy.
Regards,
Jerome

[Stevebol]

I've got one by Stefan Grossman called 'The Roots of Robert Johnson' which is interesting, as it has pieces by some of the guys who came before Johnson, so that's real authentic old delta stuff.

Johnson was a pop musician. He played whatever was on the radio at the time. In his case 'blues' was marketing hype. Same with Leadbelly. They were both versatile guitar players. I wouldn't get hung up on particular artists. In general delta blues, country blues and ragtime is called 'fingerstyle' these days.
I'm working my way through one of Grossman's country blues books but he seems to cover it all. This might be more of what Henry is looking for;

I grew up with more contemporary Chicago and Texas Blues. When I hear the word 'delta' this comes to mind;

Here's some Chicago. And bow wow to you too.......

Johnson+blues is a myth. Marketing hype. You can wind up at the crossroads selling your soul to you know who if you believe it.
Henry, I'd check out some Grossman vids to see what style you're after. I'm sure he'll have a book that covers it.

[matt.guitarteacher]

Johnson+blues is a myth. Marketing hype. You can wind up at the crossroads selling your soul to you know who if you believe it.

I think that's putting it a little too strong. The fact that he played EVERYTHING is widely known, but beside the point. I would imagine that it has more to do with his influence in the genre , which is without question . Most musicians of that caliber appreciate diversity and can play a little of everything. That doesn't make him "not a blues player". He greatly influenced the way everyone played the blues after him.

[matt.guitarteacher]

Good points about tunings and stuff. I want to avoid non-standard tunings.

One I linked is mostly standard tuning , with some drop tuning , and maybe a little open as well. Don't own a copy.

[Stevebol]

I think that's putting it a little too strong. The fact that he played EVERYTHING is widely known, but beside the point. I would imagine that it has more to do with his influence in the genre , which is without question . Most musicians of that caliber appreciate diversity and can play a little of everything. That doesn't make him "not a blues player". He greatly influenced the way everyone played the blues after him.

I was kidding about the crossroads but the blues part was hyping a word. A women who saw Johnson perform looked confused when asked about him. She said he played tunes that were on the radio. Leadbelly, who preferred folk music was released from prison on the condition he play 'blues'. Word hype.
More contemporary blues like Muddy Waters is easier to understand. labels can get confusing when you start going back to the generation before him. Country blues, Delta, ragtime. It's a fine line.
Rumor has it Johnson was a versatile guitar player but his few recordings were in fact 'race records'.

I'm not saying he didn't play blues or he wasn't good. He was excellent.

[henryrobinett]

I see a world of difference from Delta and ragtime. Maybe country blues and delta as the same? Muddy and Chicago blues is a universe away from what I'm talking about. Definitely a big generation away, even though Muddy came from that style.

[Stevebol]

I see a world of difference from Delta and ragtime. Maybe country blues and delta as the same? Muddy and Chicago blues is a universe away from what I'm talking about. Definitely a big generation away, even though Muddy came from that style.

I was just thinking country and delta are pretty close. I have this one;

Mel Bay Complete Country Blues Guitar Book/ CD set: Stefan Grossman: 9780786651269: Amazon.com: Books

[DanielleOM]

Have not looked at the materials my self, however there seems to be a lot on Roy Bookbinder's site.

Roy's DVDs