Blues Guitar Lessons - How To Play the Blues With jim Bruce

Blues Guitar Lessons http://ift.tt/1mqEs9D This clip opens with a famous song by Big Bill Broonzy, the Chicago Swing Blues King - I thought it would be fun to jam along with Bill and so I 'videoed' myself playing in the same key in black and white. It sounds an easy thing to do, to play blues guitar like Broonzy, but I learned a lot from setting up this clip. First of all, the speed has to be just right. One of my own particular weakness in finger picking guitar is that my timing can wander, often speeding up as the song progresses. Broonzy's timing is of course rock solid - he was an expert guitarist and a blues master. Next, I recorded myself playing the song and compared it to the original - no, just didn't sound right but why? How do we learn to play acoustic blues guitar like Broonzy, He uses a monotonic bass pattern for his thumb work, which isn't unusual. What is unusual is the way in which his special brand of blues music just swings along. It's almost supernatural, as his finger picking was extremely accurate as well. It's obvious that something else is going on here as well as his solid thumb strokes. Many people finger pick Broonzy style wih a couple of fingers, or even three, but you'll notice that he uses just one. This is a feature of many of the master blues guitarists, such as Gary Davis, Doc Watson and Lightnin' Hopkins, to name just a few. The sound comes across as complex as his one finger moves around and fits in 'grace' notes between the main notes. When you listen very carefully, you can hear all the little added notes that make it swing -- my lessons show in detail how to do it right. Well, once we can play it, and we have the timing right, how does it compare now? Not bad, except that the old recording isn't such great quality, as the waveforms are a little 'clipped'. I edited the raw sound file a little, and came up with something that's pretty close -- it was a lot of fun anyway! Blues Guitar Lessons http://ift.tt/1mqEs9D http://ift.tt/1jQJ3oj

Jim Bruce Blues Guitar Master Class - The Blues In A

Blues Guitar lesson Online - http://tinyurl.com/jb-blues-in-a The key of A is possibly used even more than the key of E in acoustic blues. It offers plenty of versatility and lends itself to a variety of techniques. Each blues man approached this key in different ways, often depending upon their local region and the influences of their fellow blues men - the work of the most creative blues guitar players was copied without mercy! In the hands of someone like Lightnin' Hopkins, a blues in A becomes something with a power and depth that needs some work for us modern guitarists to make authentic. We have to start somewhere, and technique is where we begin. In this class I take a look at Lightnin's tricks in the key of A, and also compare the approach to Johnson and Scrapper Blackwell. Blues Guitar lesson Online - http://tinyurl.com/jb-blues-in-a http://ift.tt/Qc8rIh

Jim Bruce Acoustic Blues Guitar Classes Streamed Online

Online Blues Guitar Class ConcertWindow.com http://tinyurl.com/jim-bruce-online Online Blues Guitar Class Stageit.com (can use Paypal) http://tinyurl.com/jim-bruce-online-cc In this first of a series of live master classes, I pull apart a slow blues in the key of E and show how to make it come alive! The blues in E is simple in form but gives a guitarist some challenges - how do you make a three-chord song sound fresh and exciting? If you want to play blues guitar at a higher level than the 'rest of the crowd', this series of Master Classes online is designed to take you home to the roots. The class comes complete with pdf guitar tab and video download of Jim demonstrating the techniques in slow motion - it doesn't get any better than this folks! Whatever your level, there's something here for you. Keep a lookout for the next in the series - tune up ready to play the blues! Take it easy and cheers, Jim http://ift.tt/1kh7cRU