Music Lessons Newmarket / Play Blues With A Big Thumb
Some of my old records are from the first blues guitar players. I found these players to have a very distinct blues sound. That sound came from the way they used their thumb when playing the low bass strings on the guitar
The early blues guitar players used their thumb to play the low 6th bass string. It is called a pedal tone, drown tone, or monotonic. Lots of the old blues songs I listen to sound simple in the bass string parts. The thud of that low string pushed the songs rhythm, moving it right along.
The E major key was popular for early blues guitar players. They used this key because the bottom 6th string is an open E note. The guitars open 6th string does not need to be fretted.
When the guitar player played the low E string the other fingers played the chords and plucked simple little melody lead lines in between the singing. I love this old attractive style of early blues.
The singing voice was really the up front feature of these early blues songs.
The guitar was the underdog but it really made the songs cook. The guitar playing style was played this way by many guitar players in those days, and some of the early blues players developed fame.
The guitar accompanied the voice. This old style of playing blues was the mixture of guitar and the voices heart felt words and melody. It is the beginning of the evolution of the blues. This early development of blues history influenced all guitar players.
In the early days of the blues people called it ‘delta blues’. If someone mentioned Blues ‘Robert Johnson’ was what people said.
Early blues was a very raw style and the phrasing of the vocals fit in between the guitar bass or chord strum. This early stage of the blues players were expressing and learning how to phrase both the guitar parts and the vocal parts. This is the beginning of a long road that these early blues players paved for us.
Try it out for your self. When I listen to this style of playing I feel like I am being ‘rocked’ in a cradle. The question and answer attitude of playing and singing was obvious when I hear those old blues recordings.
They make me feel I am being “rocked” in a cradle.
By: Rick Washbrook
June 30th, 2011
http://www.washbrookmusic.com
Music Lessons Newmarket / Play Blues With A Big Thumb