Fundamental Fingerstyle Blues Songs to Free the Thumb

[DCM3045]

Hi all,

New to the forum here. Would love to get some thoughts on a few classic blues tunes that are great for working on thumb independence. Not too technical or tricky, but more like a groove meditation that doubles as a song to play for friends.

Apologies if I am retreading well-traveled ground here, but greatly appreciate suggestions anyone can offer. Thank you!

[reeve21]

Most anything by John Hurt will get your thumb going in an alternating bass with some syncopation on the top. I would start with My Creole Belle.

[Shortfinger]

My favorite. Thumbed bass with palm damping, thumbed bass no damping, and an independent melody line.

Learning the bends so you can play it like Daddy S is time well spent. And the song's a real classic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE9wHPtG44A&loop=0

[cliff_the_stiff]

not necessarily blues, but zeppelins Going to California is helping me.

[Bluenose]

I suggest you experiment with the Dropped D tuning (DADGBE). Many classic blues songs are in this tuning. One of my favorites is Willie McTells' Statesboro Blues. A 12 bar blues in D is comprised of 3 chords : D maj, G maj, and A maj.

[TBman]

Stefan Grossman's Mississippi Blues.

[pszy22]

Check out a guy named David Hamburger. He is a great blues performer and an excellent teacher, he has alot of great lessons out on the web.

[DCM3045]

Thanks everyone for the very helpful responses -- exactly the direction I needed to get going. Much appreciated. -Dan

[Silurian]

Originally Posted by pszy22

Check out a guy named David Hamburger. He is a great blues performer and an excellent teacher, he has alot of great lessons out on the web.

What he said.

[Bjbny]

You should check out David Hamburger’s Fingerstyle Five membership. The whole focus is on learning on Fingerstyle blues arrangement a month and he is very focused on the thumb.

https://www.fretboardconfidential.com/

[RLetson]

I suppose it depends on what's meant by "thumb independence." Most blues/fingerpicking styles are based on a regular thumb pattern in the bass against which the fingers play the treble part, which is where the syncopation happens.

My recollection is that the first skill to acquire is what Pat Donohue calls making your thumb go back and forth--which might progress from monotonic (four beats on the 6th string) to alternating between the 6th and 4th or 6th and 5th. Once those patterns are established and automatic, it's possible to start to run variations that go beyond basic alternating 4/4--walking, simple runs, waltzes, bossa nova/samba ("Girl from Ipanema," "Blue Bossa," "Manha de Carnaval").

What I recall is how the thumb-fingers work to produce whatever the groove is--and that one piece of fingerstyle advice I got long ago was "either you pinch or you don't." Somewhere in there, my fingers figured out how to produce syncopation mainly by where the fingers put their notes, while the thumb remains on the beat--though I also find myself delaying that a bit on turnarounds. I don't know quite how I do it--my hands and ears sometimes operate without direct supervision of my conscious mind.

[Krab]

Others have talked about David. Here is a good place to start with him https://youtu.be/0l3JnMLUObk

[blindboyjimi]

Google Tom Feldman CountryBluesguitar.com

[Bluenose]

Originally Posted by RLetson

I suppose it depends on what's meant by "thumb independence." Most blues/fingerpicking styles are based on a regular thumb pattern in the bass against which the fingers play the treble part, which is where the syncopation happens.

My recollection is that the first skill to acquire is what Pat Donohue calls making your thumb go back and forth--which might progress from monotonic (four beats on the 6th string) to alternating between the 6th and 4th or 6th and 5th. Once those patterns are established and automatic, it's possible to start to run variations that go beyond basic alternating 4/4--walking, simple runs, waltzes, bossa nova/samba ("Girl from Ipanema," "Blue Bossa," "Manha de Carnaval").

What I recall is how the thumb-fingers work to produce whatever the groove is--and that one piece of fingerstyle advice I got long ago was "either you pinch or you don't." Somewhere in there, my fingers figured out how to produce syncopation mainly by where the fingers put their notes, while the thumb remains on the beat--though I also find myself delaying that a bit on turnarounds. I don't know quite how I do it--my hands and ears sometimes operate without direct supervision of my conscious mind.

I whole heartedly agree. The first challenge is to establish a steady 4/4 bass with your thumb. The second is to fit in some melody notes over the bass using your other fingers. The third and final is to play syncopated bass lines ie. play bass notes on the on and the off beat while playing 'lead' with your other fingers. Arthur 'Blind' Blake was a master at syncopated bass lines. Check out Mason Williams' Classical Gas for a more modern example. Warning: for most people (myself included ), it takes mucho practice.

[BluesKing777]

Yes, it can take a long time..

Meanwhile, to keep you interested, sites like Stefan Grossman Guitar Workshop have enough material to keep you going for about 450 years!

Like most things, it is best to start at the beginning! Here is Stefan's "The Learning Process" to read through:

See you in 200 years! Glad I have done a lot of that stuff.......and Mississippi Blues by Stefan in the video earlier may take a week or two......

https://www.guitarvideos.com/the-learning-process


BluesKing777.