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  #1  
Old 08-07-2019, 09:36 PM
pinkfloyd pinkfloyd is offline
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Default Some easy, fun fingerstyle blues tunes?

Long-time lurker, first-time poster!

I'm back to playing after 7 months of hiatus. I mostly played electric in the last 10 years and I think it's time to add some acoustic stuff to my arsenal.

I'm about finishing "The art of contemporary Travis picking" (superb book). I nailed "Freight train" and I'm looking for some easy, fun blues or R&B tunes to learn. Any advice is welcome!

Thanks!


Last edited by pinkfloyd; 08-07-2019 at 10:03 PM.
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  #2  
Old 08-07-2019, 10:51 PM
joeld joeld is offline
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If you don't mind investing $30, you might try one of Toby Walker's 'packs'. He's got an E, A, D, C, G pack each of which has five or six songs, each of which having a few variations. I have really enjoyed them! If you've worked through Mark Hanson's book, you will be able to play this material. I thought those last few songs were kind of hard! I also liked Kenny Sultan's books, "Acoustic Blues Guitar" was the easiest and still musical sounding. Have fun!
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Old 08-07-2019, 10:56 PM
pinkfloyd pinkfloyd is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by joeld View Post
If you don't mind investing $30, you might try one of Toby Walker's 'packs'. He's got an E, A, D, C, G pack each of which has five or six songs, each of which having a few variations. I have really enjoyed them!
Thanks. I looked at Toby's packs before. His lessons got rave reviews on AGF. I don't mind spending money for high quality stuff.
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Old 08-07-2019, 11:03 PM
El Duque El Duque is offline
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deep river blues?
https://youtu.be/YcbxsG3OWfA
https://youtu.be/EDa0T4QD4fo

king kong goes to Tallahassee?
https://youtu.be/CvmhQaLorWs

Mississippi Blues?
https://youtu.be/91u_0PccY4c
https://youtu.be/TjdnixeY8fo
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Old 08-07-2019, 11:05 PM
pinkfloyd pinkfloyd is offline
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Quote:
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Love these songs, especially "King kong goes to Tallahassee".
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Old 08-08-2019, 08:00 AM
reeve21 reeve21 is online now
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Here is one that I just worked through with my teacher, on his recommendation. Steve James is a great player and instructor. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/06...t_bibl_vppi_i0

We are now working through this book by Dave Rubin. These are not really songs (they don't even have names, just track numbers) but rather 12 bar exercises that get you playing in a lot of different positions, techniques and blues styles. Some of them are a little basic so my teacher will add some harmony, fills and turnarounds. The most recent review is mine.

https://www.amazon.com/12-Bar-Finger...ustomerReviews

I highly recommend both books, and they come with audio downloads.
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Old 08-08-2019, 08:04 AM
pinkfloyd pinkfloyd is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by reeve21 View Post
Here is one that I just worked through with my teacher, on his recommendation. Steve James is a great player and instructor. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/06...t_bibl_vppi_i0

We are now working through this book by Dave Rubin. These are not really songs (they don't even have names, just track numbers) but rather 12 bar exercises that get you playing in a lot of different positions, techniques and blues styles. Some of them are a little basic so my teacher will add some harmony, fills and turnarounds. The most recent review is mine.

https://www.amazon.com/12-Bar-Finger...ustomerReviews

I highly recommend both books, and they come with audio downloads.
Thanks. I will get Steve James' book.
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  #8  
Old 08-08-2019, 10:20 AM
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TBman TBman is offline
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Toby Walker has a Deep Water Blues lesson which is really nice. Also Stefan Grossman has a blues lesson that includes his Mississippi Blues arrangement.

Woody Mann has a book/mp3 package available that has 51 intermediate level tunes in it (all instrumental). Probably the best $20 I ever spent.
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Old 08-08-2019, 10:47 AM
JonPR JonPR is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by El Duque View Post
Nice choices! Not sure I'd class them as "easy", mind.

Mississippi Blues is nice, because it's fairly adaptable.
Original:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K6XEtSA6xI

Advanced version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cz7CTmm_Sw
(Like he says, he plays it differently every time - you can find others on youtube.)
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Old 08-08-2019, 12:47 PM
jseth jseth is offline
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Pick ANYTHING you like and go for it... and then move on from there, if you want! There are SO many wonderful old tunes that employ similar techniques... and once you've got the "Feel" down, you can translate it to any song you think will fit... Lots of fun, and, really, what music is all about... Mississippi John Hurt, Reverend Gary Davis, Leadbelly, Big Bill Broonzy... he list goes on and on!

I've never been one to think, "Oh! THAT is all I want to do with music!", be it jazz, blues, rock, country, folk, whatever. I just LOVE Music in all it's forms, and I want to bring every thing I know and play to every song I choose to do. After beating my head against the wall to get a handle on Travis picking in the 60's, at this point it is so much a part of my playing style that I would be hard pressed to do without it...

A lot of Bob Dylan's stuff translates really well to acoustic blues; easy to re-arrange, re-groove, do a different feel... depends on what you want to do with it. A few of those, to me, are "Down Along The Cove", "Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat"(!), "Don't Think Twice", "Highway 61 Revisited", "Takes A Lot To Laugh, A Train To Cry"...

You get the general idea... you can also, NEVER go wrong by working on the Reverend Gary Davis' songbook!

Have a blast with this VERY important area of guitar music...
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  #11  
Old 08-08-2019, 03:40 PM
Cedar51 Cedar51 is offline
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I've enjoyed playing some of the blues tunes on guitarnick.com. Most are quite easy. The "A minor blues" there was a hit with my students.
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  #12  
Old 08-08-2019, 05:01 PM
El Duque El Duque is offline
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Hey pinkfloyd......

let us know what you decide to learn first!

second, third........

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  #13  
Old 08-08-2019, 05:31 PM
Lakedaisy Lakedaisy is offline
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He has some great free and pay lessons.
https://www.daddystovepipe.com/

Here's another
https://www.youtube.com/user/BluesGuitarInstitute
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  #14  
Old 08-08-2019, 07:43 PM
spock spock is offline
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Here are a few of my favorites: the second one is Mark Hanson's companion to the book you've already done, and it is excellent as well.

https://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Fin...ct_top?ie=UTF8

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Solo-Fing...s=books&sr=1-3

https://www.amazon.com/ragtime-guita...gateway&sr=8-4

Last edited by spock; 08-08-2019 at 07:49 PM.
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  #15  
Old 08-10-2019, 11:14 AM
pinkfloyd pinkfloyd is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jseth View Post
Pick ANYTHING you like and go for it... and then move on from there, if you want! There are SO many wonderful old tunes that employ similar techniques... and once you've got the "Feel" down, you can translate it to any song you think will fit... Lots of fun, and, really, what music is all about... Mississippi John Hurt, Reverend Gary Davis, Leadbelly, Big Bill Broonzy... he list goes on and on!

I've never been one to think, "Oh! THAT is all I want to do with music!", be it jazz, blues, rock, country, folk, whatever. I just LOVE Music in all it's forms, and I want to bring every thing I know and play to every song I choose to do. After beating my head against the wall to get a handle on Travis picking in the 60's, at this point it is so much a part of my playing style that I would be hard pressed to do without it...

A lot of Bob Dylan's stuff translates really well to acoustic blues; easy to re-arrange, re-groove, do a different feel... depends on what you want to do with it. A few of those, to me, are "Down Along The Cove", "Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat"(!), "Don't Think Twice", "Highway 61 Revisited", "Takes A Lot To Laugh, A Train To Cry"...

You get the general idea... you can also, NEVER go wrong by working on the Reverend Gary Davis' songbook!

Have a blast with this VERY important area of guitar music...
I have to admit that I listen to mostly electric blues/blues rock and have just been digging acoustic blues for a few weeks. Thanks for your suggestions.
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