Topic: Mance Lipscomb's Guitar Style--Queries and Tips

[waxwing]

No problem, just a little housekeeping to move it over here.

Just remember, you can't sing like you can't play guitar, YET! With practice you can do both.

All for now.
John C.

[uncle bud]

Welcome to WeenieCampbell, Keith! I think Mance says Sugar Babe was the first song he learned how to play. It's still a bit tricky though. Keep at it.

cheers,
UB

[greasybiscuit]

Hey Keith,

               As a guitar teacher myself, I like to record the songs my students are working on to cassette tape (for those who still have cassette players!!) I usually record the entire song, and then the trickier bits slowed down a few times in a loop of sorts. The recording quality is horrible but it has been immensely helpful. Sounds like you should inquire if your teacher can set up something similar for you. Lessons are expensive and this is one of the best ways to get your moneys worth. Best of luck.

[waxwing]

Heck, it's a good idea to record all of your lessons whole. Most teachers do not have a problem with that. If you can learn the songs just by replaying the recording and not using the tab you will be developing your ear and not becoming tab dependent.

Good point, greasybiscuit.

Check out some of John Miller's downloadable lessons at the top of the Licks and Lessons board. John doesn't provide any tab, but the student can slow down or loop any section of John's detailed explanations and learn the song just by playing along. Once you get a little more comfortable with picking, Keith, you might be interested in some of these lessons as they are of varying degrees of difficulty and some may soon be within your reach.

All for now.
John C.

[uncle bud]

I agree with greasybiscuit (Welcome to WeenieCampbell, greasy). My former teacher would record to cassette. He'd show me the parts of the tune, make sure I understood it (though not necessarily able to play it), then record each part to cassette on the spot, explaining any tricks as he went along, playing it slowly, then up to speed. After I got a minidisc recorder, I just recorded the whole lesson and he spend a moment at the end playing the tune for the disc.

[onewent]

Keith, you may use this mp3 as a template to get the patterns down, just three variations of the same chords .. I really tried to play it slower but kept messing up, so, hope this helps..don't know how to explain this musically, but others here will do a stellar job, but the hammer-on comes just before the second thumb, or bass note ..

sug             er                       er                         babe
thumb low  pluck w/ index    hammer same      thumb high

..or something like that...

..it's all in the un-plucked hammer  ... keep plugging away, it's a fun tune and one of the first I learned when taking 'formal' lessons .. I was taught the first part, then my 'homework' was to figure out by ear the other two parts .. regards, Tom w.

[uncle bud]

Nice job, Tom.

[kblake]

Thanks Tom thats a big help...

Cheers

Keith

[Blue in VT]

Hi Weenie's

I'm deep in the throws of a Mance Lipscomb addiction and am looking to track down as much instructional material as possible.  At this point I have Ernie Hawkins DVDs...(I'm almost done with all the Standard tuning tunes)...and have downloaded John M's lesson for Rocks and Gravel...I'll be starting this tonight...I also have a lead on two articles from Acoustic Guitar that have tabs for Spoonful (just curious to see if its different than the EH version) and Big Boss Man.  So...are you guys and gals aware of any other printed material out there that covers Mance?  Once I've tracked down as much as possible I plan on getting the Vesatpol Video of Mance and trying to figure out some of that material on my own...then it will be delving into trying to transcribe by ear!!!  something I haven't tried before but am begining to feel like I might try to tackle....anyway sorry for rambling!

Thanks all,

Blue

[Pan]

I take it, you are aware of all the Mance Lipscomb videos on YouTube? They could be a big help if you're trying to do your own transcriptions:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mance+lipscomb&search=Search

Also check the DailyMotion site:

http://www.dailymotion.com/visited/search/Mance+Lipscomb/1

Pan

[Slack]

There is a book: Mance Lipscomb: Texas Blues Guitar Solos - Mel Bay I think, not sure if it is still in print though, you might check ebay.

[Pan]

There is a book: Mance Lipscomb: Texas Blues Guitar Solos - Mel Bay I think, not sure if it is still in print though, you might check ebay.

Yes, I just thought of it too. I have the Arhoolie CD : http://www.arhoolie.com/titles/1.shtml . The songs should be transcribed on the Mel Bay publication, which might be hard to find.

Some of the songs are also on S. Grossmans' Texas Blues (Oak Anthology of Blues Guitar), which I believe is also out of print.

Checking my bookshelf I found the latter, and it has 'Bout a Spoonfull, Shake, Shake Mama (Cherry Ball), and Sugar Babe transcribed. Maybe you can find a used copy somewhere.

Cheers

Pan

Edited to add: The Oak Anthology also has Long Tall Girl Got Stuck on Me, Mr. Tom, Goin' To Louisiana (See See Rider), Charley James and Ain't You Sorry, transcribed, these songs are not from the Texas Blues Guitar CD, but appear on different Arhoolie LPs originally.

[Blue in VT]

Thanks guys...my search did turn up the oaks anthalogy book...but its running about 60 bucks on amazon right now... ...The videoa on youtube will certainly be helpful...as will the live performances on the EH DVD...this seems like a good middle step for transcribing...before trying it completely by ear!

thanks again...I will try to post some of the results of my addiction in the backporch soon!

Blue

[Michael Kuehn]

Blue,
I've been working on that transcription for Mance's "Trouble In Mind." If you'd like to see what I've done so far and offer suggestions/criticisms, contact me privately. I've got most of the first guitar break worked out -- I think!

Perhaps we could even collaborate and complete a nice transcription of that song.

Bluesmike

[Blue in VT]

  sounds good...you have a PM!

Blue