Mandolin Scales

Here are some Videos on how to play the G major scale, the G Blues Scale and the C major scale on the mandolin.

All Apologies

Not a difficult song to play. But the low dropped D that drones throughout the song is pretty cool.

I shot the Sherrif

How to play the Bob Marley classic "I shot the Sherrif"

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

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, "come as you are"

Two videos I recently did discussing the D major scale on guitar and another on how to play "come as you are" by Nirvana.

Guitarists: How to Play "Running with the Devil"

How to play "Running with the Devil" by Van Halen

Guitarists: How to play black sunshine

Guitarists: How to play the opening solo to Layla

Crash

How to play Dave Matthew's Crash

Man of Constant Sorrow

I play this in Dropped D tuning with a capo on the Third Fret.

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

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

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.

Crossroads

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

I have started to post some mandlin videos on Associated content. Nothing major; some basic chord structures and tunings.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/video/30303/mandolin_g_chord_formations.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/video/30291/mandolin_how_to_tune_in_standard_tuning.html

New video posting

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

A great blog

I found this great music blog www.seanray.com

Here's a video I downloaded. Check out his blog!

Some basic Banjo Chords

Here's a video of me explaining some basic banjo chords on AC:

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

Some mighty fine picken at the biggining.

Berklee College of Music on-line

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/

Open A Guitar Tuning

Open A guitar Tuning is very usefully in slide playing. What you do is actually tune the guitar to an A chord. Now when you bar all the strings, you are playing the major bar chord for the position you are playing in.

Robert Johnson uses this tuning for Crossroads Blues and Come on in my Kitchen.

Here is a little video of how to tune and play in Open A:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/video/28799/open_a_guitar_tuning_and_crossroad.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/489069/open_a_guitar_tuning_tips.html

The Hungarian Minor

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

DADGAD

DADGAD

I love playing in DADGAD. It has such a great Irish airy sound.

Attached is a Video of me explaining and playing a couple of songs in DADGAD tuning and an article that explains it.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/488553/dadgad_guitar_tuning.html

http://www.associatedcontent.com/video/28879/how_to_play_in_dadgad_tuning.html

Open E Guitar Tuning

One of my favorite guitar tunings is Open E. It sounds great for slide playing. It is very prevelent in Delta Blues playing nad perhaps on of the most famous peices I know in Open E is Robert Johnson's "Ramblin on my Mind".

Open E is basically taking standard tuning and tuning to an E chord. From Low to high the guitar will be tuned E,B,E,G#,B,E. Notice the octives, you can use these to your advanatage.

Here is a link to a video of me decribing how to tune in open E and play Rambin on my Mind:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/video/28847/open_e_guitar_tuning.html

Here is an aritcle I wrote about Open E guitar tuning:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/488829/open_e_guitar_tuning.html

Get Pickin!