Tom feldmann teaches the basic function of the caged system and how to use it. There are, of course, others that are utilized, with many distinctive variations, depending on the musician and style of music. Complete country blues guitar book free ebook download as pdf file. Some slide blues licks in open g that son house and robert johnson and other delta guys used to great effect in open g tuning. Fingerpicking blues guitar arrangements in vestapol tuning. Fundamental changes is a fastgrowing music tuition publisher intent on providing musicians with the very best learning tools. Open tuned fiddles and mandolins can also be found. Oct 21, 2015 mississippi hill country blues guitar offers a look into the hill country technique byway of songs from legendary artists fred mcdowell, r. Burnside, jessie mae hemphill, junior kimbrough, rosa. In this lesson i focus on arranging five of my favorite blues melodies in vestapol plus an original instrumental. Country blues guitar in open tunings taught by stefan grossman taught by stefan grossman. A plectrum or pick can be used, for instance in the bluegrass flatpicking style.
Now that youre more familiar with what other alternate guitar tunings are out there, start experimenting with them either by jamming or by learning songs that use a particular alternate tuning. Mel bay open tunings have always been an integral part of the country blues guitar tradition. The rolling stones keith richards uses open g tuning often including in the songs start me up cant you hear me knockin brown sugar and more. The d major chord is formed from the three notes which make up the d major triad, these.
Getting these two strokes to sync up in a rhythm pattern will take some time, but start slow and build in speed and the intensity of your attack. Meet me in the city mississippi hill country blues guitar. Open g tuning is easy all you need to do is detune the sixth, fifth, and first strings by a whole step. Covering a wide range of styles, techniques, keys, and tunings, this lesson will expand your range as a player and take you on the musical journal that created one of. Unlocking the mysteries of slide guitar in open g tuning. The definitive list of alternate guitar tunings musician tuts. Here are some free pdfs used to supplement my free video lessons.
Do you want to be able to play guitar in open g tuning. Riff riders from the black stripes to the north mississippi allstars were spawned from this heavily rhythmic stock. This seems to help their balance for accenting notes and control. If you are tuned to open g you just need to put a capo on the second fret to play in open a. Grossmans guitar workshop archives sheet music download. Little red rooster and open g tuning blues guitar unleashed. My favorite of these here is open d minor not because ive ever used this tuning but because it spells dad fad. Country blues guitar in open tunings book3cd set grossmans guitar workshop. Country blues guitar in open tunings stefan grossman download.
Guitarists of virtually all types of music country, blues, folk, rock and slack key, etc. Improve your guitar playing with online video lessons from jamplay. You are in the right place if youre looking for quality resources to make you a better musician. I play bluegrass in the key of e by tuning to open e and putting a capo on the 3rd fret to produce open g. Open g lap steel lessons tuning for dobro or lap steel. This offers a great platform for the basic boom chick bluegrass rhythm.
Open position guitar chords sound twangy because they include unfretted strings that are permitted to ring open. This lesson comes along just as im reading keith richards autobiography where he talks about open g tuning and not even using the sixth string. Here you can find stefan grossman pdf shared files. To get into openc tuning, tune the low e string down two whole. The tuning enhances the gospel essence of that remarkable tune. Open g tuning songs open g blues guitar tuning the video above opens with an old clip of me playing crossroads by robert johnson on an old johnny joyce model aria, and at 1. Handy encountering an itinerant blues guitarist at a railroad station in mississippi just at er the turn of the twentieth century. Check out my free video lessons on my free lessons page. Download copy of delta blues guitar stefan grossman pdf from 52 mb, delta blues guitar stefan grossman. Country blues guitar in open tunings 2004 rotten tomatoes. There are many new possibilities here, especially in the harmonic sense. In particular, this list contains more examples of open and regular tunings, which are discussed in the article on guitar tunings.
Here is a little piece that is like alot of slide blues. Chords in open g tuning chart alternate tuning open g tuning. They can be played with finger picks or with a flat pick or no picks. Esteemed musician and teacher stefan grossman has created a. Finger style guitar is also played in many open tunings. They usually find the sound is greatly improved when some contact is kept with the guitar face. Most blues players began playing the guitar in an open tuning as it made playing much easier yet gave the guitar a much stronger and richer sound. In this lesson you will learn some typical john lee hooker riffs and licks in spanish tuning open a or open g that every blues guitarist needs to know. Click the song titles to access the lesson purchase page and the tab pdf link is in the. Blues guitarists have utilized open chord tunings for many years. A detailed tabmusic booklet is included as a pdf file on the dvd. Tunings are described by the particular pitches denoted by notes in western music. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. Uses the same chord shapes as open e but is easier on a guitar neck as the strings are detuned lessening the tension.
Fingerpicking blues guitar in vestapol tuning hesitation blues. In this lesson i focus on arranging five of my favorite blues melodies. How to play a lively open d slide rhtyhm tb116 blues. Open tunings intro open tunings intro and a brief look at i, iv, v progressions and how they work.
Guitar tunings assign pitches to the open strings of guitars, including acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and classical guitars. And in roots of robert johnson tom feldmann takes you versebyverse through those songs, and many others, that played such an integral role in robert johnsons own recordings. Add life to your acoustic blues rhythm simple picking technique for a big sound. All examples are taken from my new ebook an easy guide to open tunings for blues guitar, which contains many more examples and ideas available at my website. Open tunings are great for slide guitar and are also used a fair bit in folk music but of course there are no limits on what you can use them for. Because the guitar is tuned dbdgbd, simply playing all the strings. On this dvdvideo, he covers the basics of open tunings and the use of the bottleneck, teaching essential techniques in a way that will be. In my lesson fingerpicking blues guitar arrangements in vestapol tuning gw1011 i explored various blues ideas, arrangements and techniques in the open d tuning. So, if youre new to alternate tunings, here are five triedandtrue acoustic guitar tunings to get you started. Most blues players began playing the guitar in an open tuning as it made playing much easier yet gave the guitar a. I ask my students to perfect this position and then compare the sound to when their fingers were not placed on the face of the guitar. Country blues guitar in open tunings book3cd set grossman. In the following series of articles i answer these questions,and also show plenty of great sounding riffs and licks for the most important open tunings that you can incorporate into your own blues guitar playing immediately. Each tuning is briefly discussed and its strengths and limitations are examined.
Fingerstyle in open g taught by sandy shalk youtube. Oct 12, 2015 open tunings have been exploited for use with slide guitar since the earliest days of delta blues. By david hamburger excerpted from alternate tunings guitar essentials. Guitar scales in tab scales for open g tuning must have guitar scales is the ultimate guitar scales site. These are not lessons, but supplements to my lessons. A tabmusic booklet is included as a pdf file on the dvd featuring.
Roy book binder has given us another terrific look at his unique brand of fingerpicked blues guitar. The alternate tuning guide shows you how to slip your guitar into all the popular alternate tunings, shows you how to finger open and bar chords, how to play representative scales, and graphically displays the notes as they appear on the fretboard. Mel bay open tunings have been used by many country blues guitarists. This edition of in deep will focus on open g tuning and how it is used in blues slide guitar. Grossmans guitar workshopbottleneck slide guitar free sheet music download pdf grossmans guitar workshop october 10, 2017. Among alternative tunings for the guitar, an open g tuning is an open tuning that features the gmajor chord. Kenny opens up the world of open tunings and how they can be applied in the blues genre. By the way, this is the same tuning as is used on a five string banjo, so i see some finger picking in the future as well. In this approach the guitar is tuned to a full chord. Open tunings setup for guitar open tunings setup for fingerstyle and slide guitar needs to be specific. Open c tuning open c tuning is a greatsounding choice for folk, country blues, calypso, country and many other music genres.
David hamburger talks about the open c tuning as a favorable alternative to the more familiar open d and open g tunings in this excerpt from alternate tunings guitar essentials. Delta blues legend robert johnson played in open a tuning often, on songs like cross road blues, traveling riverside blues and come on in my kitchen, although, since some of his recordings were sped up in the mastering process intentionally or not, his guitar may have actually been tuned down a half step on some of these songs, to open a flat. Mississippi hill country blues guitar is actually codename for groove 101, tom feldmanns crash course on the highly potent strain of droneandmoan grown amongst the kudzu, up north of the delta. The slide guitar of muddy waters taught by tom feldmann. As guitar players we sometimes think of blues and country as being two completely different worlds, one thumpy and droney and shufflebased, t. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. One of the everly brothers was playing his guitar on open g to get the unique rhythm guitar style on wake up little susie. Country blues guitar in open tunings dvd grossmans guitar workshop. Remember that open d tuning or any tuning for that matter is not just limited to playing blues with a slide. By utilizing a combination of modal scales and perfect chords. In this months column, id like to focus on the basic elements of slide guitar playing in open e tuning.
Ill show you exactly how to get your guitar in open g tuning and what to start playing once. There are literally hundreds of ways to tune a guitar, but not all tunings sound as musical as others. Make must have guitar scales your place for guitar scales. The tuning is used across many different styles of guitar music but most commonly it is used in blues and folk music. This list of guitar tunings supplements the article guitar tunings. When you retune your guitar, it is important that you turn the tuning pegs in a direction that decrease the string tension and not the opposite. Alternate tunings for guitara brief look rochester guitar club. Unlike the electric guitar, the traditional acoustic guitar is not dependent on any external device for amplification. From the alternating bass styles of furry lewis and mississippi john hurt to the evocative and haunting sounds of skip james to the ragtime blues of blind blake. Open tunings fingerstyle guitar helps beginning guitar.
Looking for country blues guitar in open tunings by. To get into open c tuning, tune the low e string down two whole steps to c. How to play traveling riverside blueslearn beginning slide guitar and open. This information is also applicable to almost any open tuning. Country blues guitar in open tunings dvd grossmans guitar.
Learn blues guitar from kenny ray with an intermediate guitar lesson for open tunings. On this dvdvideo, he covers the basics of open tunings and the use of the bottleneck, teaching essential techniques in a way that will be easy even for newcomers to this style. The most commonly used open tunings for slide are e, d, g and a. Open g lap steel guitar gdgbdg open dobro g gbdgbd just another way of playing in open g on lap steel guitar for more lessons click. Ry cooder uses open tunings when he plays slide guitar. A detailed tabmusic pdf file is included on the dvd. Open tunings are so fun with slide guitar and open up a whole world of sonic possibilities. Here i will demonstrate a few licks in open d tuning. Open d is a common tuning for folk, blues, and slide guitar. In this lesson ill show you that absolute basics of outlaw country strumming. Guitaralternate tunings wikibooks, open books for an. All in all, a deep exploration of fingerstyle blues guitar in the key of a.
Most blues players began playing the guitar in an open tuning as it made playing much easier yet gave the guitar. Jul 29, 2016 and there are literally dozens of versions of that song, so in this video ill show you how to get your guitar into open g tuning and how you might play little red rooster but keep your big ears open for variations. Outlaw country strumming for beginners lets say you want to strum along with some willie, waylon and boys, but alas, you dont know what strumming pattern to use. This chart represents 24 of the most useful open chords you use to play guitar. Blues, rock and country are naturals for open tunings, slide guitar and hawaiian lap steel are also done in. Blues guitar archives fundamental changes music book.
Guitaralternate tunings wikibooks, open books for an open. Open tunings have been exploited for use with slide guitar since the earliest days of delta blues. What is an open tuning if a guitar is tuned to an open tuning playing the open strings results in a major chord or less common in a minor chord. I will use the open a tuning for all the spanish examples so everybody can play them and sound like my audio examples. Open tunings have always been an integral part of the country blues guitar tradition. Gregg allman used dgdgbd on his song come and go blues. Dec 01, 2018 uses the same chord shapes as open e but is easier on a guitar neck as the strings are detuned lessening the tension. John lee hooker was one of the true blues giants and a real groove monster. By convention, the notes are ordered from lowestpitched string i. In this video, ill walk you through strumbystrum in open d tuning. They really do open up a new world of creative possibilities and allow you to break outside the box.
Open d tuning is not to be confused with drop d tuning. Stuart will discuss many considerations including positioning and chord forms. Leave the g string where it is, raise the b string half a step. They are found in classical guitar, folk, blues, rock and roll, to some degree jazz, and in a host of steelstring acoustic. Blues, rock and country are naturals for open tunings, slide guitar and hawaiian lap steel are also done in open tunings. These days open tunings are common all across the spectrum of guitar playing.
Chord shapes, soloing, i iv v progressions, major chords, 7ths, minor chords, and how to memorize and move easily to the next chord shape in the sequence are all taught in depth. Open tunings intro and a brief look at i, iv, v progressions and how they work. Country blues guitar in open tunings dvd grossmans. Complete country blues guitar book entertainment general. All examples are taken from my new ebook an easy guide to open tunings for blues guitar, which contains many more. Open tunings are common in blues and folk music, and they are used in the playing of slide and bottleneck. Riff riders from the black stripes to the north mississippi allstars were. The open d tuning is especially popular among guitar players who uses a slide, but it is also related to the folk genre. These tunings are frequently used in the playing of slide and lapslide hawaiian guitars, and hawaiian slack key music. Country blues guitar players have often favored open tunings, as they are an easy way to achieve a rich, full sound with minimal effort. Bring the a string down a whole step to g and the d string down a whole step to c. Learn blues guitar from stuart ziff with an intermediate guitar lesson for open tunings. Open tunings or slack key guitar some of the most common alternate tunings used by musicians are socalled open tunings.