Quote:
Originally Posted by NachoA
Hi all, well I'm building my first blues repertoire, just me, guitar and voice. I thought it would be easy, we all know tons of tunes, but now I don't know how.
Are there some rules, minimun of songs or any advice? These are some of the chosen ones:
Kindhearted woman E
Nobody knows you when you... C
Walkin blues open G
From 4 til late C
Me and the devil G
It hurts me too D
Im tore down C
Im worried about working in a boring repertoire, guitar and voice could be, because of the dificulty of singing and playing to get a decent interpretation of both. A borrowed list could be apreciatted. Thanks in advance
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I notice you've already got a fair mix there: an 8-bar blues (It Hurts Me Too) as well as a tune some would say is not a blues (Nobody Knows You) - but only because it's not a 12-bar! (It's perfectly comfortable in a blues repertoire, and has the advantage of being well-known even among non-blues fans.)
You have a lot of Robert Johnson already, so maybe don't need any more.
No one seems to have mentioned Big Bill Broonzy yet, and he has a huge repertoire to choose from. Key to the Highway and Trouble in Mind are two more 8-bars, but IMO you need some more variety of tempo. Something like All By Myself (even if you have to strum it):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzbL8tpGIZ4
or something equally jolly from Blind Blake:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8aR4wwJs-0
- and another different chord sequence of course.
or a nice one-chord groove like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx29hxvjPfk
Here's a couple which both feature a very unusual minor IV chord:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_MzmRRVB2w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAKfy2W70Qg
Cannonball Blues is another nice one with an unusual form:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqgNSDlVRHE
Tom Rush called his version Solid Gone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD0fROXfDIY
Then there's old ones like this, with jazzier sequences (belongs with Nobody Knows You...)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ6w5IlqhSk
It's also important sometimes to have a blues about feeling good!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN2ViFwbC0Q
Here's Alexis Korner's version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=judlNuoG454
Or this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAPqGZNtXTE
- if you can manage that whistling, you've got the gig cracked.