Posted Sat, 03/26/2016 - 19:01 by David Barrett Admin
You might already be familiar with Akarsha (Aki) Kumar from the recent CD "It Takes Three" with Aki, Gary Smith and myself (David Barrett), or the Contributor Videos Aki submitted in the early days of BluesHarmonica.com (2009). Aki was one of my students, and I'm proud to say one of my most dedicated and now accomplished students. He's been a professional player in the California Bay Area now for ten years, currently runs two of the most successful jam sessions in the area and has been featured on numerous CD's for the prestigious Greaseland Studios label. continue reading...
Posted Mon, 02/22/2016 - 09:53 by David Barrett Admin
Here's what I like to play. Reminder, Bar 9 is four beats on the V7 and then two beats for the bVI7 and then two beats back down to the V7.
#1 - 3" 3' 3"
#2 - 4+ 4' 4+
#3 - You can also play an arpeggio (notes of the chord played one after another). The V7 Chord being 1 2' 3" and then 4' for the bVI7 and back down to the 4+ for the V7.
As always, the key practice point is to loop that part of the song and play it hundreds of times until you come up with two to three combinations that you like and then memorize them so that they'll be waiting for you when you play this song.
Posted Thu, 02/18/2016 - 10:05 by David Barrett Admin
In the Bobby Bland version the V7 is followed by a bVI7, which is simply the same as the V7 with all of the notes up a half step. The V7 is D F# A C, so this up a half step is Eb G Bb Db. If you think in sharps better, then you get D# F## A# C#. The F## is the same note as G, so it may be easier for you to think D# G A# C#.
The V7 Chord is D F# A C and is found here: 1+ 1 2' 3" 4+ 4 6
The bVI7 chord is Eb G Bb Db and is found here: 1' 2 3' 4' 6+ continue reading...
Posted Wed, 02/10/2016 - 09:51 by David Barrett Admin
The three most common versions of this song (T-Bone Walker, Bobby "Blue" Band and The Allman Brothers) all have different chord progressions. The T-Bone Walker version is pretty straight forward and most players can play this by ear without study. The Bobby "Blue" Band and Allman Brothers versions have more defined alterations to the 12 Bar Blues progression and study is needed to play them well.
Bars 7 and 8 are the same in both the Bobby "Blue" Band and Allman Brothers versions, so let's focus on those bars first.
Here's the chord progression, each chord lasting two beats... continue reading...
Posted Tue, 01/19/2016 - 08:55 by David Barrett Admin
"Rock This House" was chosen as the swing to be on the list. It has the typical ii-V-I found at Bar 9 (replacing the V-IV-I) and guitar fills by Hollywood Fats that's so integral to the West Coast Blues sound. You can find this cut on the classic "Hollywood Fats Band" CD and has some great vocals and harp by Big Al Blake (there's an interview with Big Al on BluesHarmonica.com if you want to learn more about him and Hollywood Fats).
Posted Tue, 09/29/2015 - 08:57 by David Barrett Admin
School of the Blues students rehearsed for their Fall student concert Sunday and one of the areas they could have benefited from doing beforehand was to listen carefully to what the band was doing in their song. They did work out what the groove was, the key, the opening, ending and if there were breaks, but what they missed was what the instruments were doing within the groove of their song. In many cases this level of detail was not needed, but in some it was essential. continue reading...
Posted Fri, 08/07/2015 - 08:55 by David Barrett Admin
Though Steve includes standard blues grooves in his jam tracks, where his series really excels is in their inclusion of songs that are bluesy in nature, but have elements of other musical styles. This also includes challenging keys, grooves and chord progressions. If you would like to add more diversity to your playing, or would like to start the process of learning how to deal with non-standard blues songs, this is a great series. More can be learned about the series here http://www.stevebaker.de/books_en_46.html
Posted Wed, 08/05/2015 - 07:32 by David Barrett Admin
One of my favorite jam tracks with common blues grooves (designed to be generic so that they can be used with a wide range of songs) is Jimi Lee's "Every Groove a Bluesman Needs To Know." 31 tracks are included with PDF description of each groove. Download or physical CDs can be ordered here http://www.jimileeband.com/jam_tracks/
Posted Wed, 04/01/2015 - 09:45 by David Barrett Admin
When preparing to perform a song make sure to practice your intro speech, count-in and signaling for breaks and ending (especially for breaks and ending). If you neglect this in your practice you'll be more likely to miss the timing of your signals in performance.
Posted Wed, 01/14/2015 - 09:15 by David Barrett Admin
Fellow student Mike Z (thanks Mike!) is also a guitarist and said that this video is really informative on how to back harp players in the traditional 1950's style. If you play in a band or with a guitarist buddy that's not hip to this way of playing, it would be wise to purchase this DVD for them as a gift.
Little Walter - 50's Guitar Styles, Instructional Guitar DVD continue reading...