Down Home Blues Guitar: Acoustic Fingerpicking HQ

Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Life by the Drop Tab and Lesson

Life by the Drop is a mean sounding blues, especially on the 12-string. Try this one using the chord shapes instead of just the two-note chords in the video. This is a pretty easy one, but sounds really good.

Down load the tab here.

Simply the Best Fingerpicking Manual for Country Blues Guitar

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Exclusive Interview With Jim Bruce

Very few people have mastered fingerstyle blues guitar like Jim Bruce. His timing and phrasing are impeccable. Born in Sheffield, England. Jim Bruce has traveled the world, living and working in Paris, the USA, Germany, and Denmark. Jim is one of the few master guitarists who is also a talented teacher.

Jim was kind enough to grant DHBG an exclusive interview.

What made you start playing guitar?

When I was 14 I heard Dylan singing Times they are a-changin’ on the radio. I bought the LP and heard Don’t Think Twice fingerpicked. I was hooked – that was what I wanted to do. Don’t Think Twice was the first song I ever learned. I never strummed at all, and I’m not very good at it!

Fingerstyle blues is not everyone’s cup of tea. What attracted you to

the style?

After playing folk until about 1973, I heard a guy in a club in the North of England play Kat’s Rag. It was simple compared to some of the stuff I was playing, but there was this superb syncopation about it. Shortly after moving down to London, I found some old Biograph Blake albums and locked myself away for 5 hours a day, for about a year, until I could play it! I suppose it’s always been the challenge that attracts me.

What’s the worst gig you ever played?

That’s a tough one – there’s so many! I can remember playing on the London Underground for hours making nothing. I still play on the street, because I like the feel of it, but back then I wanted to be noticed, not ignored. It was also nice to eat, now and again!

Bad gigs were normally in noisy bars, when no-one listens at all. Thankfully, I don’t have to do this anymore – I can choose where I play.

Funnily, when I was a kid, the worst gig was also the best. I played one song and the club owner didn’t like it – he wanted Country. It was the tradition in UK at that time to pay artists if your rejected them, so I got paid and had a nice night somewhere else!

Your style is straight ahead with a Blind Lemon feel. Who else influenced you?

I played only complicated ragtime for several years – Blake stuff and Scott Joplin rags. I never bothered with blues in E or A, as I thought they were too simple.

Of course, later on I realised my error. I saw a film with Lightnin’ Hopkins who didn’t play anything very complicated, but the technique and the power was completely awesome. Maybe we need time to mature. As a youngster, I just wanted to show how good I was.

No matter how well we play, none of us will ever match up to the old guys. However, we can incorporate their techniques into our music and pay homage. Thanks to Blake, Blind Boy Fuller, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Mance Liscomb, Floyd Council, Scrapper Blackwell, Reverend Gary Davis and many, many more …

DHBG: What made you start playing guitar?

Jim Bruce: When I was 14 I heard Dylan singing TimesThey Are a-Changin‘ on the radio. I bought the LP and heard Don’t Think Twice fingerpicked. I was hooked – that was what I wanted to do. Don’t Think Twice was the first song I ever learned. I never strummed at all, and I’m not very good at it!

DHBG: Fingerstyle blues is not everyone’s cup of tea. What attracted you to the style?

Jim Bruce: After playing folk until about 1973, I heard a guy in a club in the North of England play Kat’s Rag. It was simple compared to some of the stuff I was playing, but there was this superb syncopation about it. Shortly after moving down to London, I found some old Biograph Blake albums and locked myself away for 5 hours a day, for about a year, until I could play it! I suppose it’s always been the challenge that attracts me.

DHGB: What’s the worst gig you ever played?

Jim Bruce: That’s a tough one – there’s so many! I can remember playing on the London Underground for hours making nothing. I still play on the street, because I like the feel of it, but back then I wanted to be noticed, not ignored. It was also nice to eat, now and again!

Bad gigs were normally in noisy bars, when no-one listens at all. Thankfully, I don’t have to do this anymore – I can choose where I play.

Funnily, when I was a kid, the worst gig was also the best. I played one song and the club owner didn’t like it – he wanted Country. It was the tradition in UK at that time to pay artists if your rejected them, so I got paid and had a nice night somewhere else!

DHGB: Your style is straight ahead with a Blind Lemon feel. Who else influenced you?

Jim Bruce: I played only complicated ragtime for several years – Blake stuff and Scott Joplin rags. I never bothered with blues in E or A, as I thought they were too simple.

Of course, later on I realised my error. I saw a film with Lightnin’ Hopkins who didn’t play anything very complicated, but the technique and the power was completely awesome. Maybe we need time to mature. As a youngster, I just wanted to show how good I was.

No matter how well we play, none of us will ever match up to the old guys. However, we can incorporate their techniques into our music and pay homage. Thanks to Blake, Blind Boy Fuller, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Mance Liscomb, Floyd Council, Scrapper Blackwell, Reverend Gary Davis and many, many more .

DHBG: How many guitars do you own? What are they?

Jim Bruce: They come and go. I play hard, and don’t really think that an incredibly expensive guitar will make you play better. Often, when I play somewhere, people say ‘Great sound – what’s that guitar?’ It doesn’t really matter – a good guitar just makes it a little easier for you, that’s all. At the moment I have a Vintage VE300, with Shadow electronics and tuner (for the street), an Aria, which I’ve had for 35 years, and a Martin 000×1

DHBG: Do you have any tips for beginning players?

Jim Bruce: Obviously, take it slow. Look at the basics, such as the alternating thumb patterns and practice them until you can play them in your sleep! Build on the strong basics and gradually increase the complexity of the songs you tackle.

Guitar players progress in levels, sometimes sticking at a level of expertise for some time before breaking through to the next. Practice an hour in the morning, no matter what, and then in the evening. Don’t fit it in, but fit everything else around it. If you have to get up earlier, or go to bed later, then do it.

DHBG: Thank you, Jim

Jim Bruce: A pleasure.

Check out some lessons in Jim’s style here.

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Robert Johnson Beats the Devil?

Here’s some brief footage of someone who looks just like Robert Johnson. The footage was filmed in 1942. Johnson died in 1938.

The film was brought to light by a gentleman known as Tater Red, who had a kickin’ radio show in Memphis for a while. He owns a shop where he sells voodoo stuff to tourists on Beale Street.

I’d say it was jut silliness except for one thing — look at those hands when he plays that guitar.

Nah, that can’t be Robert Johnson.

Just couldn’t be.

Could it?

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Review: Taylor Big Baby Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar

bigbaby

This one’s a keeper. The Taylor Big Baby is all Taylor. They didn’t cut any corners when they made this quality guitar. OK, so it’s not all solid wood, but the top is, and it sounds superb. Not bad for 450 bucks.

It’s a cut down 15/16 model, so it’s great for players with smaller hands. It sports an ebony fretboard and some pretty cool rosette etching. The bass notes ring and the treble notes have plenty of punch. The neck is slim and feels just right.

It’s surprisingly loud for a cut down guitar and weighs almost nothing.

If I had to point out a negative on this guitar, it has no pick-up of any kind, but that’s not really a drawback on an acoustic guitar, is it? The neck is screwed on, which is kind of weird, but it works. The sound of the guitar is not negatively affected by it.

If you’re looking for a quality guitar on a budget, you won’t go far wrong with this one.

Buy it.

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Guitar Lesson: David Bromberg Teaches Cocaine Blues

Highly Recommended

Here’s Mr. David Bromberg performing Cocaine Blues. Then he takes the time to break it down and teach it. This is fabulous stuff. The rolls he uses are incredible. Notice that his fingers never leave his hands. Take your time on this one. It’s slicker than snot on a doorknob.