we're off until 11/30 for the holiday    //    see current lead times     //    free shipping on orders $20+ details. Players like Robert Johnson, Skip James and Son House helped shape what we commonly call Delta Blues. Your email address will not be published. When you think of acoustic blues, chances are pretty good that sounds of Delta Blues come to mind. Favorite. ga('send', 'event', 'popup', 'Popup', 'Popup free weekly lesson'); This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Typically though, open guitar tunings are utilized, because they make slide guitar playing easier to execute. Let’s dive into each of these a bit…. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Mississippi Delta Blues chords by Jimmie Rodgers. The interesting thing is that these three legendary Mississippi bluesmen don’t really sound very much alike at all, both their guitar and vocal styles were considerably different. Pro Play This Tab. The first thing to do if you want to play Delta blues guitar is to get rid of your guitar pick and get familiar with using your thumb. The acoustic-based Delta blues guitar of Mississippi formed the foundation for the electric guitar of Chicago blues—what most people think of when they think of blues guitar today. Active Melody LLC. (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){ Without exception, the most common keys in Delta blues guitar are E major and A major, which are both easily accessible in standard guitar tuning. Add other pivotal Mississippi blues players into the mix such as Tommy Johnson and Skip James, and it is easy to see that what’s come to be known as “Delta blues guitar” incorporates a wide spectrum of styles that are a bit hard to pin down into one solid definition. m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m) Ver 2. Playing with a bottleneck gives the guitar a vocal-like quality that nicely serves the call and response structure of these songs. Delta Blues. Greatest blues from the Mississippi Delta. One of the best examples of this is Johnson’s “Terraplane Blues,” in which you can hear Johnson’s powerful right hand propelling the song rhythmically in his off-the-cuff style that’s a challenge to pin down in proper musical notation. Some players let the thumb do the majority of the work—their thumb plays both the treble strings and the bass strings. Enter your email address below to have the weekly guitar lesson delivered to your email address. Tabs Articles Forums Wiki + Publish tab Pro. Because of its expressive quality, in the hands of different players, the tone of the bottleneck slide can range from a primitive growl to a sophisticated sweet sound, as is the case with Blind Willie Johnson’s guitar tone. While the chord structure of Delta blues guitar might not be very challenging for most players, the syncopated rhythms employed can be a bit more difficult, particularly for a beginner. They would play the same guitar riff while simply changing the lyrical content. Search. Older players like Charlie Patton, Son House, Skip James and others often played songs with two chords rather than the three-chord style that became popular later. Whether you consider yourself a “blues” musician or not, it’s hard to deny that many (even most) forms of popular music, from Rock to Jazz, Funk to Soul, and even Pop, have their roots firmly in early American blues. While this is not really accurate—the blues also developed in the Southeastern United States, Louisiana and Texas—it does point to an interesting fact: Mississippi produced a unique style and sound that had an enormous impact on modern music. Learn songs with the online tablature playerMississippi John HurtRobert JohnsonSkip JamesJohn Lee HookerReverend Gary DavisElmore JamesLeadbellyT-Bone WalkerMuddy WatersSam McGeeBig Bill BroonzyBlind BlakeMance LipscombChris Thomas KingBlind Lemon JeffersonLightnin' HopkinsCharley PattonBlind Boy FullerBlind Willie JohnsonLittle WalterTop Tags. At the time of his death in 1938, however, Johnson was only one of numerous excellent blues guitar players making a name for themselves down in the Mississippi Delta. Sign up Log in. Players like Charlie Patton and Bukka White had signature guitar riffs that would appear in several songs. Enjoy the songs, More Versions. While electric blues, and the rock music it inspired, can certainly become just a vehicle for endless guitar solos, the relationship between guitar and voice in Delta blues is far more intimate. })(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga'); ... in Pro version. Search. Simple chords version of an old classic. Johnson followed in the gargantuan footsteps of older musicians such as Charlie Patton and Son House—and if you were to make an early Mississippi blues Mt Rushmore, these would be three pretty good fellows to start with. © 2014-2020 Stringjoy, LLC. Other Delta blues guitar players use the thumb only on the bass strings—the thumb usually plays a steady root note with the open string while the fingers play melody notes or guitar riffs on the treble strings. The difficulty of the songs increase from top to bottom. Using a slide to play a resonator guitar, a popular instrument used in Delta Blues. So if you want to get to the roots of the guitar’s lineage, you’ve got to start down in the Mississipi swamps. By the time Robert Johnson came along, 12 bar blues was more in vogue, and it features heavily in his music. Pro Access 80% OFF ... guitar com. The hot, humid Mississippi Delta is often credited as the birthplace of the blues. The guitar didn’t play a big role in the urban blues of singers such as Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith, but when it comes to Mississippi blues, the style that has come to be known as Delta blues guitar is the focal point. (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o), There are a few exceptions to this riff-centric rule, but the most notable is probably Blind Willie Johnson, whose songs feature more prominent, and even catchy vocal melodies. Your email address will not be published. Tabs Articles Forums Wiki + Publish tab Pro. Mississippi blues songs are usually built more around guitar riffs rather than recognizable melodies. Fingerstyle Delta Blues Guitar Lesson – LEG006 – Description. Continue. Unquestionably, the acoustic blues guitar of the Mississippi Delta played a huge role in the development of modern popular music—in fact, there just might not be any rock and roll to speak of without it. Last, but certainly not least, one of the most distinguishing—and probably most well-known—features of the Delta blues guitar style is the “bottleneck” or slide guitar (which takes its name from the fact that the slide would typically be made from the neck of a wine bottle). 3,217 views, added to favorites 103 times. Nevertheless, it is possible to point to some general characteristics you’ll want to keep in mind if you’re playing or trying to learn authentic Delta blues guitar. Learn how your comment data is processed. Top artists with “delta blues” tabs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc-J_Ew8Jw0, Jingle Bells – Acoustic blues version – Solo Composition – Guitar Lesson EP389, Pedal Steel licks for electric guitar – solo composition – EP388, Slow & Dirty Blues Lead Guitar Lesson – Electric Blues Lead – EP387. The guitar itself has a vocal quality that complements the singer in a call and response structure similar to gospel music, and traditional African music before it. Popularized by artists like Son House and Skip James, Delta blues is not only one of the oldest forms of blues music, it is among the most stylistically distinct and technically rewarding to play. While the first blues recordings featured female singers and sophisticated musical arrangements, the blues that came out of the Mississippi Delta were more primitive in nature, rougher around the edges. (Typically it would the IV chord that would be left off from the traditional I-IV-V pattern we’ve all come to know and love). | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use. All Rights Reserved. Songs in the key of G major are usually played in an open G tuning with the root note on the 5th string (which Keith Richards would later make famous across the pond). In this lesson from Blues Guitar Institute, we’ll get deep into a 12 bar Delta Blues tune. 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