Bluegrass Guitar, Banjo and Mandolin

Mandolin scales

2008-09-06T03:08:00.001-07:00

Here's some videos on how to play the C major, G major and G blues scales on the mandolin.

All Apologies

2008-07-18T00:57:00.000-07:00

OK, OK, OK, I know it's not bluegrass and I know it has nothing to do with bluegrass music. I just think this song has a cool progression with the droning low dropped D.

I Shot the Sherrif

2008-07-18T00:51:00.000-07:00

How to play the Bob Marley classic "I shot the Sherrif". An easy song to play with some basic chord progression.

DVD review: Get Rolling! An ultra easy, no-fail introduction to bluegrass banjo!

2008-07-17T02:55:00.000-07:00

DVD review: Get Rolling! An ultra easy, no-fail introduction to bluegrass banjo!
Taught by Pete Wernick
ASIN: B000297NMM

Pete Wernick has become famous for his banjo work with his band Hot Rize. He is a regular at bluegrass and folk festivals hosting banjo and bluegrass workshops. It is truly amazing to watch Pete “Dr. Banjo” Wernick conduct a lessons for thousands of people in the audience, each holding their instrument and learning.

This DVD is the first step in learning to play the banjo. Pete starts off teaching the learner two chords; G and D7. He then presents ten popular bluegrass songs that are based on these two chords. He teaches these songs and has the learner just strum the rhythm.

Next Pete adds one more chord; C chord. By adding the C chord to the already learned G and D7 chords, the player can then learn thousands of bluegrass songs. Pete introduces the learner to approximately twenty songs that are very easy to play.

Next Pete introduces the learners to rolling patterns. This starts with the popular alternating banjo roll, then to the forward and backwards roll. Pete has the learner go back in the DVD to where he taught the strumming of the chords and has the learner perform the roll patterns over the strumming rhythm. This is extremely beneficial. This is the start of bluegrass jamming.

Lastly Pete is assisted by two of his learners to accompany him in a three banjo jam. This shows the learner how to use the rolling patterns over strum patterns and how to quickly change from background to rolling, to lead.

Songs learned on this DVD include:
Shady Grove
Tom Dooley
Rolling in my sweet baby’s arms
When the saints come marching in
Long journey home
And many more….

This DVD contains a booklet to aid in the learning.

This is a great DVD for the learner wanting to start banjo playing. It is distributed by HOMESPUN which produces many instrument lessons. Homespun is focused on teaching bluegrass, blues, folk and acoustic lesson.

D major scale

2008-06-25T03:42:00.000-07:00

Here is a short video I made on playing and using the D major scale on Guitar

Some Mandolin information

2008-06-03T00:59:00.001-07:00

Here is some basic information about the Mandolin, I only wish I had time to play better.

how to play "Babe I'm going to Leave you"

2008-06-01T02:44:00.000-07:00

How to play the Led Zeppelin classic "Babe I'm going to Leave You".

How to play the A harmonic minor scale

2008-06-01T02:40:00.000-07:00

A natural minor scale

2008-06-01T02:35:00.000-07:00

How to play the A Natural Minor Scale

Man of Constant Sorrow

2008-04-15T07:31:00.000-07:00

I play this in Dropped D Tuning with a Capo on the Third Fret.

Book review of Guitar Roots: Delta Blues. The roots of great guitar playing

2008-04-09T01:44:00.002-07:00

Guitar Roots: Delta Blues. The roots of great guitar playing
By Fruitland Jackson
National Guitar Workshop Method
Alfred Publishing
ISBN 0-7390-3006-x

This is a very good basic Delta Guitar book for the starting guitar player. The book contains a DVD that explains open and alternate tuning that is very popular in Delta Blues playing. The books and DVD also discusses the 12 bar blues and 8 bar blues.

The book contains chapters on how to play Delta Blues in various keys. One of the chapters is the key of A, another chapter in D, another in G, another in C and so on. I found this method to be monotonous. Once the learner has the basic I,IV,V blues progression down, it can be applied to various keys. Once the guitar player has alternate tunings down, he should know how to apply it to the different keys.

Fruitland Jackson provides some arrangements to his original material in this book to provide examples of Delta Blues techniques. While his playing and singing is very good, I am not familiar with his material and therefore I was not very interested in his material.

The book and DVD came sealed in plastic, therefore I was not able to view the book before purchase. This has become a very popular trend with music publishers and seems to be the only way they can keep up with internet material. If the publisher includes a CD or DVD with the book, it becomes more appealing to the buyer. However, the book becomes sealed so the purchaser can not view the material before purchase.

This is a good book for the beginning blues guitarist. The starting guitarist that is trying to learn 12 bar blues, finger picking techniques, and shuffles will benefit from this book, the experienced player may already have this knowledge.

Book Review: Delta Blues Guitar

2008-04-09T01:44:00.001-07:00

Book Review: Delta Blues Guitar
By Stefan Grossman
Alfred Publishing
ISBN- 0-7390-4280-7

The Delta Blues guitar is very close to my heart. I love to listen to the old Delta Blues players and no one has maintained such a historical musical library as Stefan Grossman. I have bought many of Mr. Grossman’s books throughout my guitar playing education and no of them have let me down.

This book and CD set contains Delta Blues classics from Willie Brown, Son House, Skip James, Hambone Willie Newbern, Charlie Patton, Arthur Pettis, and Robert Wilkens. Guitarists should be comfortable playing in open and alternate tunings when learning Delta Blues. Many of the players like to play in Open G tuning or Cross Note tuning as in the case of Skip James.

This book contains a CD of the original recordings of the songs that are transcribed. One of the most difficult aspects of listening to Delta Blues is the quality of the recordings. Some of the recordings on this CD are so difficult to listen to due to the poor recording techniques at the time that I could not listen to it.

Stefan Grossman always provides a background about the musician before presenting transcriptions. He provides a history and discography so the learner can research the artist and music further.

Grossman’s tabs are clearly written. He provides both Tabs and music notation. I sometimes have trouble following Grossman’s style of tab writing though. Grossman has a style of writing the guitar tab first, then on a following page writing the lyrics. This makes the learner learn the guitar lines, and then he has to figure out on his own where the vocal lines fit in. I find it much easier to have the vocal line inserted in with the guitar line.

This is a very good book for anyone wanting to learn Delta Blues. I am going to get some more books in Grossman’s series. When it comes to writing about Delta Blues playing, there is no one else has developed the reputation that Stephan Grossman has.

New posts.

2008-03-31T12:35:00.000-07:00

Well it seems that Obama's campaign manager has the same name I do. I was getting emails everyday, I actual got someones resume Saturday from Australia.

Because of this I started to write under a pen name; Deadheaddave. If you do a google on that name you can find many of my videos and articles at other sites. I am submitting more stuff to different sites now, not just associated content.

Here's how to play Robert Johnson's "Crossroad's blues"

http://www.kleep.com/Music/Guitar-How-to-Play-Crossroad-Blues-by-Robert-Johnson.101210

Some cool videos

2008-03-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

I posted some cool videos on AC that I am proud of. One is on some C major guitar transitions and the other is on E major chord theory.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/video/30289/guitarists_c_major_transitions.html

http://www.associatedcontent.com/video/30147/guitarists_e_major_chord_theory.html

New Posts

2008-02-29T07:08:00.000-08:00

Hope all is well with everyone. I haven't been picken as much as I would like too. I'm taking this advanced stats class that is kicking my butt. I have had time to post a few videos though.

The first one is a banjo video showing how to play to classic banjo ending patterns: http://www.associatedcontent.com/video/29857/two_banjo_ending_patterns.html

The other video is how to play Robert Johnson's "Sweet Home Chicago"
http://www.associatedcontent.com/video/29859/how_to_play_sweet_home_chicago.html

Banjo Chords

2008-02-24T03:32:00.000-08:00

I posted a short viedo on AC about some basic banjo chords. I did some picken at the beginning of the video. What was really cool is that this video was on the AC homepage, hopefully that will increase some traffic.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/video/29713/banjo_chords.html

Berklee College of Music on-line

2008-02-20T09:38:00.001-08:00

WOW-

Check this out. Berklee College of Music in Boston offers certificates in music ON-LINE! you can study guitar, bass, songwriting, production etc. All on-line.

I think I would rather attend classes just so you can experience some awsome jam sessions. But for an old man like me, this is not bad.

http://www.berkleemusic.com/

Kind Hearted Woman Blues

2008-02-20T09:38:00.000-08:00

I posted a video on Associated Content that shows me playing hte intro to Kind Hearted Woman Blues by Robert Johnson. It's a great sond in the key of A. Robert plays it in standard tuning with some interesting chord substitutions.

Check it out: http://www.associatedcontent.com/video/29575/classic_blues_run_in_a.html

The Hungarian Minor

2008-02-14T09:17:00.000-08:00

I love the Hungarian Minor Scale. Sometimes its its refered to as the gypsy scale or the harmonic minor raised 4th scale. Whatever it's called it is very Eastern European sounding and can add a very exotic sound to your playing.

Here is a video that I recorded explaining the scale on guitar:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/video/28801/the_hungarian_minor_scale.html

The Backwards Banjo Roll

2008-02-11T16:47:00.000-08:00

2008-02-11T14:44:00.000-08:00

I've been working on Japanese Scales recently . Many of these exotic scales are based on a harmonic minor scale and are pentatonic in nature. Other words they only play five tones in a Natural Minor Scale.

Attached is a video of me explaining the Hirajoshi scale http://www.associatedcontent.com/video/28803/the_hirajoshi_scale.html

E Minor Pentatonic

2008-02-07T07:40:00.000-08:00

The E Minor Pentatonic is a simple guitar scale that can easily be added to all music. It can be found from Mozart to ZZ Top. The notes of an E Minor Pentatonic are E,G,A,B,D,E.

An E Minor Pentatonic is the same as a G Major Pentatonic, just played at a different mode. therefore it fits easy when you are playing a G Major progression (G,C,D).

To make an E Minor Pentatonic an E Blues scale all one has to do is to add an A# to the scale. This creates a very good sound and makes for some good leads.

Here is an article I wrote about how to play this scale:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/543035/guitar_tips_practice_your_pentatonic.html
Here is a video of playing the E Minor Pentatonic:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/video/28877/adding_the_e_minor_pentatonic_to_bluegrass.html