The blues has always been spiced with suggestive metaphors. This collection of bawdy blues songs celebrates the off-colour blues repertoire: Bessie Smith is wild about her kitchen man's turnip tops but Bo Carter's pencil won't write no more! There's lots of variety with songs from the 1930s 40s and 50s; some are simple three-chord blues tunes and others have beautiful ragtimey chord changes. Fred shows you how to play accompaniment and solos for all the songs. Theevocative titles include Ain't Got Nobody to Grind My Coffee (Clara Smith) She's Your Cook But She Burns My Bread Sometimes and My Pencil Won't Write No More (Bo Carter) Kitchen Man (Bessie Smith) Big Ten Inch (Bull Moose Jackson) You Can't Tell the Difference After Dark (Alberta Hunter) and the holiday perennial Let's Make Christmas Merry Baby (Amos Milburn). Fred shows you how to accompany yourself singing the songs and how to fingerpick an instrumental version of each one. His easy-going instructional style his tips on playing the arrangements and his slowed-down split-screen performances of each tune make learning easy. All the arrangements are written out in tab and music as well... both the backup and solos 91 minutes • Level 2 • Detailed tab/music PDF file on the DVD

Four original instrumentals all in standard tuning and in different keys are taught in this lesson. These are multipart compositions that should challenge the intermediate to advanced fingerstyle guitarists. Stefan has brought together blues country and jazz ideas and themes to these solos. Bermuda Triangle Exit has three parts. It begins with a counterpoint section that then leads in to an alternating bass theme and resolves with an R&B fashioned third part. Beyond The Pleasure Dome (also known as Matesa ) comes next. This is played in the key of C and brings together several country blues styles to a lyrical instrumental. The Way She Walks isvery much influenced by Stefan's many years living in England. He learnt the first section from Martin Carthy and then added two additional parts to round off the composition. Why A Duck is played in the key of F and was originally recorded as a duet with John Renbourn. Stefan's part stands well as a Guitar solo and opens up the fingerboard to a variety of interesting chord fingerings. A detailed tab/music booklet is included as a PDF file on the DVD. Each tune is taught phrase by phrase and played slowly on a split-screen. Four original instrumentals all in standard tuning and in different keys are taught in this lesson. These are multipart compositions that should challenge the intermediate to advanced fingerstyle guitarists. Stefan has brought together blues country and jazz ideas and themes to these solos. Bermuda Triangle Exit has three parts. It begins with a counterpoint section that then leads in to an alternating bass theme and resolves with an R&B fashioned third part. Beyond The Pleasure Dome (also known as Matesa ) comes next. This is played in the key of C and brings together several country blues styles to a lyrical instrumental. The Way She Walks isvery much influenced by Stefan's many years living in England. He learnt the first section from Martin Carthy and then added two additional parts to round off the composition. Why A Duck is played in the key of F and was originally recorded as a duet with John Renbourn. Stefan's part stands well as a Guitar solo and opens up the fingerboard to a variety of interesting chord fingerings. A detailed tab/music booklet is included as a PDF file on the DVD. Each tune is taught phrase by phrase and played slowly on a split-screen.

This was Ton Van Bergeyk's first solo Guitar album recorded in 1973. The focus is on the classic Rags of the early 1900s. Ton's arrangements have recieved worldwide praise and for the last thirty years he has been as underground Guitar hero to aspiring fingerstyle Guitarists. A PDF file of tab for all the arrangements is included on the enhanced CD.

To Chord Theory and Chord Voicing For The Guitarist-In this 2-DVD set master guitarist and instructor John Miller walks you through the fundamentals of chord theory providing you with the conceptual tools needed to understand chord structure and then shows you how to apply thatknowledge to the neck of guitar making practical sense of the information so that you will be equipped to voice chords up and down the neck in any key. In Volume One of the set John goes over the major scale and itsstructure and then moves on to intervals familiarizing you with the different interval types and the language used to define and describe them. He moves then into triads and shows how the diatonic triads are derived from scalestructure following up triads with seventh chords the diatonic seventh chords and the various seventh chord types. As you move through these topics you will find a variety of exercises on the PDF that is included on your DVD exercises that will test and build your knowledge of these topics. Having laid the initial theoretical groundwork John then shows you how to voice triads and seventh chords out of the E A C D and F positions. In VolumeTwo John starts out by defining sixth chords and showing how to voice them then discusses tonic function and seventh chord function. The remainder of Volume Two is devoted to working on songs seeing how to play the same song ina variety of keys and positions and how to use the way the guitar is tuned to transpose from one key to another in the easiest possible fashion. After working through this 2-DVD set you will have a sound fundamental understandingof triad sixth and seventh chord structures in a variety of positions and won't be deterred from learning songs in flat keys or playing up the neck without a capo. If you are really interested in understanding chords and readyto work on developing your understanding Introduction to Chord Theory and Chord Voicing for the Guitarist will get you well on your way towards that goal. On the PDF accompanying the DVD you'll have the opportunity to

This CD brings together the first two solo albums Stefan Grossman recorded Aunt Molly's Murray Farm (1969) and The Gramercy Park Sheik (1970). This CD release combines both albums and includes tab/music transcriptions for 15 of the arrangements. AUNT MOLLY'S MURRAY FARM 1. Aunt Molly's Murray Farm 2. Foregone Conclusion 3. Religious Trainfare Blues * 4. See See Rider * 5. Delia * 6. Sideways Nowhere Bound 7. Special Rider * 8. Wall Hollow Blues 9. Cow Cow's 4/4 Waltz 10. Dallas Rag * 11. All My Friends Are Gone* 12. Number One 13. Boys My Money's All Gone * 14. Big Road Blues 15. Roberta * THE GRAMERCY PARK SHEIK 16. Little Rock Blues No. 2 * 17. Lena Anne * 18. Hans Fried 19. Crow Black Squall 20. Gentle Joys Gentle Sorrows * 21. Requiem For Patrick Kilroy * 22. Yola Blues 23. Not You Or I My Dear * 24. Mississippi Blues No. 2 * 25. Cross Eyed Blues * 26. Irene's Sleepy Lullaby Those tunes marked with a star ( * ) are included in the tab/music PDF booklet on this CD. You will need Adobe Acrobat (a free download) to open and print this file from your computer.

Discover some unique and exceptional fingerstyle arrangements that reflect the heritage of America's folk traditions. John Renbourn takes a collection of ballads and Country Blues songs and gives them a fingerstyle twist creatingrich and authentic accompaniments of these much-loved originals. Split-screen close-ups give you the chance to study Renbourn's technique in detail giving you a wide range of skills that will add new flavours to your own songs.

Open tunings are as old as the guitar itself and they’ve been used to play blues folk country rock and old-timey music. Who’s known for using open tunings? Artists as diverse as Robert Johnson Bob Dylan MaybelleCarter Bo Diddley Blind Willie McTell Keith Richards Doc Watson Muddy Waters Joni Mitchell Ry Cooder Neil Young Fred McDowell Jimmy Page Son House John Renbourn Leo Kottke Ani DiFranco Alex de Grassi and PierreBensusan! In this 92 minute lesson Fred shows you how contrary to what many beginners might think open tunings make it easier to play guitar. You’ll learn songs from all the above musical genres in open D open G andDADGAD tuning. In addition to learning songs you get some tips on how to improvise and play chords in G and D tuning. It’s a great way to expand your range on the guitar and get a whole different sound! Tunes include:Buckets of Rain Statesboro Blues Mean Old World Little Sadie K.C.Jones Stackerlee The Way I Am and I Didn’t See It Coming. Also included are bonus audio tracks featuring recordings from the 1920s to 1940s of some ofthese tunes so that you can hear how these songs can be played and sung.

Featuring Davey Graham Duck Baker Sam Mitchell Tom Paley and Mike Cooper.

A guide to the traditional blues playing style of the Mississippi bluesman who lived in Memphis and had a gift for storytelling and showmanship. Walter 'Furry' Lewis recorded 25 songs between 1927 and 1929 as well as severalalbums in the 1960s for Folkways Prestige and other labels after being rediscovered as part of the great blues rebirth. As a guitarist Furry Lewis was a two-finger picker with a huge vocabulary of sounds at hisfingertips. He worked effortlessly with both broad strokes and intricate detail possessing a fluidity that recalls the talents of the great Robert Johnson. Guitar authority John Miller presents a close-up analysis of the playingof this intriguing character who epitomised the showmanship and craft of the blues in a unique and highly personal way.

Get yourself a peek at the legendary guitar style of this unique and remarkable performer. Taylor has forged an unparalleled reputation for his self-accompanying guitar style creating the illusion of several simultaneousmusicians at once. Furthermore his technique is so well integrated that the musicality his melodies and improvisations simply transcend the performance. In this special DVD Taylor shows you the secrets of five of his bestcompositions and performances including The Dolphin Georgia On My Mind and the dazzling I Got Rhythm . Discover how to combine melody comping and basslines with only two hands without sacrificing the swingof the music. The disc includes a 64-page PDF booklet in standard notation and Tab.

The Early Blues Of Lightnin' Hopkins-In this second DVD lesson devoted to the guitar playing of Lightnin’ Hopkins Ernie Hawkins dives into Lightnin's early catalogue from the Aladdin and Gold Star record labels. There was an amazing variety to Lightnin's early work. Listening to his early recordings we hear an artist at his prime. He effortlessly employing widely different rhythms keys and tunings. The deeper we listen to these songs the deeper our insight into what a master of Texas blues Lightnin' Hopkins really was. Lightnin's style itself came along at the perfect time: the advent of the electric guitar. His style strong rhythms punctuated by his flowing but compact lead linescreated a stinging and heart-tearing evocative sound. Lightnin's guitar style and technique worked great for both the acoustic or electrical guitars. The blues of Freddy King Albert Collins the Vaughn brothers Billy Gibbons testify to the power of this style. Lightnin' connects the generations of players starting with Blind Lemon Jefferson for whom he was lead-boy in the early 1920s. Standing tall at the center of the Texas Blues story is Lightnin’ Hopkins. In this double DVD set Ernie Hawkins covers songs in unusual keys such as: drop D(Sugar Mama) in drop D but played in the key of A (Santa Fe Blues) in G (Bad Luck and Trouble) as well as in the usual blues in A Come Back Baby and the country gospel Needed Time in the key of E. As a bonus Ernie teaches his version of Lightnin's Hideway the Freddy King tune coming back home to Lightnin'. Ernie teaches phrase by phrase and then uses the split-screen so you can carefully study what each hand is doing. Detailed tab/music booklets are included as PDF files on both DVDs. 186 minutes • Level 2/3 • Detailed tab/music PDF files on the DVDs In this second DVD lesson devoted to the guitar playing of Lightnin’ Hopkins Ernie Hawkins dives into Lightnin's early catalogue from the Aladdin and Gold Star record labels. There was an amazing variety to Lightnin's early work. Listening to his early recordings we hear an artist at his prime. He effortlessly employing widely different rhythms keys and tunings. The deeper we listen to these songs the deeper our insight into what a master of Texas blues Lightnin' Hopkins really was. Lightnin's style itself came along at the perfect time: the advent of the electric guitar. His style strong rhythms punctuated by his flowing but compact lead linescreated a stinging and heart-tearing evocative sound. Lightnin's guitar style and technique worked great for both the acoustic or electrical guitars. The blues of Freddy King Albert Collins the Vaughn brothers Billy Gibbons testify to the power of this style. Lightnin' connects the generations of players starting with Blind Lemon Jefferson for whom he was lead-boy in the early 1920s. Standing tall at the center of the Texas Blues story is Lightnin

The Ukulele has never been more popular and Fred Sokolow 's relaxed user-friendly teaching style makes it easy to learn. In this Advanced Lesson you'll learn more moveable and first-position chords diminished chords and many more jazz chord shapes. There are more chord/melody solos that'll get you playing up and down the neck more blues licks and a bluegrassy fingerpicking solo. Tunes include Crazy Matchbox Rosetta Fly Me To the Moon Mister Sandman Anytime Wreck of Old 97 and When You Wish Upon a Star. Fred slows all the tunes down and breaks them down so they're easy to learn. You'll also enjoy his “uke lore ” stories about the the songs and the players. All the songs are written out in tab and music with chord grids as well. Whether you're a novice or a uke player wanting more repertoire and technique there's plenty here for you. It's a great way to expand your horizons on this wonderful instrument.

The state of Texas has had a major presence in the Blues from the earliest days of the recording era right on up to the present day. So many tremendous Blues musicians have hailed from Texas i.e. Blind Lemon Jefferson Lightnin’Hopkins T-Bone Walker Freddy King. This DVD focuses on the Country Blues guitarists who first defined the Texas Blues sound and who put Texas on the map as a prime location in Blues Country. In this DVD lesson you'll havean opportunity to learn from the music of the greatest of the early Country Blues singer/guitarists Blind Lemon Jefferson Texas sharecropper and songster Mance Lipscomb the almost forgotten Otis Harris ace lyricist Funny PapaSmith the spectacular and under recorded Willie Reed and the Post-War master Lil' Son Jackson. This is powerful and challenging guitar music and the technique building that will result from learning to play these songs willtake your blues playing to a new level. A detailed tab/music booklet is included as a PDF file on the DVD. This includes all the lyrics to the songs as well as transcriptions of the guitar playing. The original old recordingsof all the tunes is also included. Titles include: Willie Reed/ Dreaming Blues ; Mance Lipscomb/ Tell Me Where You Stay Last Night and Rocks and Gravel Makes a Solid Road ; Otis Harris/ You'll Like MyLoving ; Funny Papa Smith/ Fool's Blues ; Blind Lemon Jefferson/ That Crawlin' Baby Blues ; Lil' Son Jackson/ Groundhog Blues

Homemade American Music In visits with their friends and mentors Mike Seeger and Alice Gerrard trace the origins of rural American music from traditional folk cultures in the southern United States and then demonstrate how traditional music is learned played adapted and performed by younger musicians from urban backgrounds. In addition to Mike and Alice musicians include Tommy Jarrell Roscoe Holcomb Lily May Ledford Elizabeth Cotten Dewey Balfa Marc Savoy Tracy Schwarz Hank Bradley Jody Stecher Irene Herrmann Stefan Senders Will Spires Eric Thompson and Susie Rothfield. (1980 42 minutes) Sonny Terry Shoutin' the Blues In a motel room in Oakland California blind blues harmonica great Sonny Terry tells a story about his start in show business and then plays an original solo in his own amazing style created in over 50 years of playing. (1969 6 minutes) Les Blues de Balfa Through their festival appearances concerts and recordings the Balfa Brothers became the most renowned Cajun musicians and the first group to take their traditional music outside of southwest Louisiana. Tragically just after this film was undertaken in 1979 brothers Rodney and Will were killed in a car crash. The surviving member of the group Dewey Balfa tells the history of his musical family and demonstrates the role of their musical tradition in his life as he continues to spread Cajun music and culture in schools music festivals and by playing with other musicians in local dance halls and clubs. In addition to the Balfa Brothers musicians include Allie Young Nathan Abshire Tony Balfa Rockin' Dopsie Raymond François and the Cajun Playboys and Tracy Schwarz. (1983 27 minutes) Cajun Visits Filmed at homes in rural southwest Louisiana this film presents six masters of traditional Cajun music: Denis McGee Wallace 'Cheese' Read Canray Fontenot Leopold François Robert Jardell and Dewey Balfa singing and playing traditional songs and tunes and talking about their music their lives their work and their environment. Representing a diversity of ethnic origins ages and social classes they all continue to speak in the French language as well as English. (1983 29 minutes) Homemade American Music In visits with their friends and mentors Mike Seeger and Alice Gerrard trace the origins of rural American music from traditional folk cultures in the southern United States and then demonstrate how traditional music is learned played adapted and performed by younger musicians from urban backgrounds. In addition to Mike and Alice musicians include Tommy Jarrell Roscoe Holcomb Lily May Ledford Elizabeth Cotten Dewey Balfa Marc Savoy Tracy Schwarz Hank Bradley Jody Stecher Irene Herrmann Stefan Senders Will Spires Eric Thompson and Susie Rothfield. (1980 42 minutes) Sonny Terry Shoutin' the Blues In a motel room inOakland California blind blues harmonica great Sonny Terry tells a story about his sta

The genius country bluesman/songwriter Mance Lipscomb was the most accomplished of the 'dead-thumb' guitarists whose solid driving bass propelled his dance-like spontaneous melodies through song after song. In this second DVD lesson Ernie Hawkins continues his study of Mance Lipscomb’s guitar style and techniques. He shows you how to develop your own technique further and uses another selection of Mance’s tunes highlighting the ever popular Spoonful two ragtime instrumentals in the Key of G and A and an extended blues in the Key of G. The DVD also incorporates a 40 page PDF booklet with music and tablature.The genius country bluesman/songwriter Mance Lipscomb was the most accomplished of the 'dead-thumb' guitarists whose solid driving bass propelled his dance-like spontaneous melodies through song after song. In this second DVDlesson Ernie Hawkins continues his study of Mance Lipscomb’s guitar style and techniques. He shows you how to develop your own technique further and uses another selection of Mance’s tunes highlighting the ever popular Spoonful two ragtime instrumentals in the Key of G and A and an extended blues in the Key of G. The DVD also incorporates a 40 page PDF booklet with music and tablature.

This DVD is packed with arrangements of a variety of pieces from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. John Renbourn has carefully selected 5 pieces which he has discovered through his interest in both Western folk music and earlymusic.

Featuring Sam Mitchell Duck Baker and Jo Ann Kelly. ' I spent 20 years living in Europe traveling between homes in London and Rome. I made many friends and did countless concerts. These recordings were done between 1977 and 1978. They present my playing with Sam Mitchell Duck Baker and Jo Ann Kelly. The Country Blues were popular in Britain as well as throughout Europe Australia and the USA. It was a very special time .' - Stefan Grossman . Featuring Sam Mitchell Duck Baker and Jo Ann Kelly. ' I spent 20 years living in Europe traveling between homes in London and Rome. I made many friends and did countless concerts. These recordings were done between 1977 and 1978. They present my playing with Sam Mitchell Duck Baker and Jo Ann Kelly. The Country Blues were popular in Britain as well as throughout Europe Australia and the USA. It was a very special time .' - Stefan Grossman .

Atlanta in the period 1920-1940 rivaled Memphis St. Louis Jackson and Chicago in the strength and vitality of its blues scene. It was home to a unique school of 12-string guitarists that included Blind Willie McTell BarbecueBob Charlie Lincoln Willie Baker and George Carter. Also on hand were the slick slide guitarist Fred McMullen the accompaniment king Curley Weaver and the spectacular up-and-comer Buddy Moss. The scene was rounded outby an earlier generation of players Peg Leg Howell foremost among them who kept alive musical traditions that were in the eclipse. Included on this DVD are transcriptions and teaching of recorded performances from theyouthful Buddy Moss a player who influenced generations of East Coast players that followed him George Carter a mysterious 12-string guitarist who recorded only four titles Curley Weaver a player's player widely acknowledgedto be among the finest accompanists in the blues Julius Daniels who came down from North Carolina to Atlanta to record early on and Peg Leg Howell a bootlegger-turned musician who busked in the streets of Atlanta both as asoloist and in a trio with the fiddler Eddie Anthony and guitarist Henry Williams.The songs presented in the lesson will expand both your right hand techniques and your knowledge of the neck with one song employing the almostnever encountered Open B flat tuning. A detailed tab/music booklet is included as a PDF file on the DVD and contains all of the songs' lyrics as well as transcriptions of the Guitar parts. Also included are the originalsource recordings from which the transcriptions taught in the lesson were taken. Titles include Curley Weaver: Ticket Agent George Carter: Rising River Blues Buddy Moss: New Lovin’ Blues and Oh Lordy Mama Julius Daniels: 99 Year Blues Peg Leg Howell: Turtle Dove Blues and Low-Down Rounder Blues

Arrangements In Vestapol Tuning-'The Open D Tuning (D A D F# A D) also referred to as the Vestapol tuning is a powerful and evocative tuning that was widely used by guitarists in the 1920s to play country blues ballads rags and folk tunes. In this lesson I focus on arranging five of my favorite blues melodies in Vestapol plus an original instrumental. The religious tune When I Lay My Burden Down was in the repertoire of both Black and White traditional guitarists. I have arranged it in an Elizabeth Cotten/Mississippi John Hurt style. The beautiful blues Goin' To Germany was recorded by the Cannon's Jug Stompers in the 1920s. I have always wanted to find the right setting for this melodic countryblues and the Vestapol tuning gave me the feel and textures that I was looking for. Sam McGee played guitar behind Uncle Dave Macon when he recorded I've Got The Morning Blues in Vestapol. This is a fun tune to play and leads nicely in to Hesitation Blues a song recorded by many artists. My arrangement tries to combine a sliding jug sound with some funky blues licks. Peg Leg Howell's Skin Game Blues is a rare example of an early blues song with three distinct sections. Peg Leg played this with a bottleneck but for our arrangement we will rely on our fingers to make the notes sing out. We finish the lesson with Innocence Abroard. An original instrumental that ties together the right and left hand techniques we have studied. A detailed tab/music booklet is included as a PDF file on the DVD. Each tune is taught phrase by phrase and played slowly on a split-screen. Bonus audio tracks of the original 1920s recordings are included. These are the records I first heard that influenced me to rearrange the melodies to the Vestapol tuning.' Stefan Grossman

There is nothing like the feel of a bottleneck sliding across your strings nor the sound that comes forth as it screams growls and moans. What other tool can create the sweat or raw emotion of the human voice? But some believe that there is a sort of mystery behind the use of a bottleneck slide but the reality is anyone can learn to do it. In this lesson Tom Feldmann teaches you the very basics of how to play with a bottleneck slide. Starting with the most important step producing a single note Tom then takes you through many simple exercises getting you comfortable sliding on single double and multiple strings. Starting in Open D (Vestapol) tuning Tom usesBukka White's Jitterbug Swing for the single string slide exercise Robert Wilkins' I Wished I Was In Heaven for double string exercise an Elmore James style shuffle for a multiple string exercise and closes with Guitar Rag by Sylvester Weaver which brings together all of the elements in one wonderful instrumental. Since the basics were covered in Open D the lesson closes with two songs in Open G (Spanish) tuning; Charley Patton's I'm Going Home and Bobby Grant's Nappy Headed Blues. These two songs will give you a solid foundation for single double and multiple string slide in Open G tuning. Vibrato left and right hand dampening as well as alternating and monotonic bass are discussed in detail and used throughout the lesson. A detailed tab/music booklet is included as a PDF file on the DVD. In addition the original recordings of all the tunes are included.