Country Blues > Country Blues Licks and Lessons
Blind Lemon Jefferson's Guitar Style--Queries and Tips
uncle bud:
--- Quote from: wildcotton on February 02, 2005, 09:57:14 AM ---Uncle Bud
That's a great tip--the one about hitting the G simultaneously with the word "me". So is the one about singing louder than the guitar. If I'm gonna take on BLJ, I might just get Ari's DVD. He may even have some singing tips, too.
--- End quote ---
Jeff - meant to comment on this but forgot. Ari's video on Lemon is really great, essential for anyone interested in Lemon. It is not yet available in DVD format though. Which is a shame really because I'm sure most of the stuff that Grossman hasn't converted to DVD is just sitting on the shelf at this point. Most people just don't want to buy VHS anymore. At least not for $30. I'm sure a lot of it never sold like hotcakes to begin with and hence the back-of-the-line status, but I wish SGW would just bite the bullet and do it all. Homespun seems to have converted pretty much all of their material.
Anyway, the video is great, worth every penny. I don't recall singing tips on it though.
Baird:
Ari's Blind Lemon Video is available on DVD : http://guitarvideos.com/video/dvd/808dvd.htm
Baird:
Hey Weenies,
Just curious if anyone has had any luck figuring out 'Dry Southern Blues' by Blind Lemon Jefferson.
It seems to me like he's playing out of C position (pitched at B...): the turnarounds feel like they are in the 'Bad Luck Blues' bag...
What I really can't get to sound right is the bouncy high stuff that he plays between the vocal lines. Played out of the E shaped C chord at the 8th fret, all of the notes are available, but it is hard to get the bounce. It makes me think that he's using a tuning or a right hand trick? Is there some right hand trick he's employing to get such a lively bounce?
Any insights would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Baird
Slack:
--- Quote ---It seems to me like he's playing out of C position (pitched at B...): the turnarounds feel like they are in the 'Bad Luck Blues' bag...
--- End quote ---
This is correct. Here is a nice BLJ resource:
http://www.donegone.net/?page_id=15
uncle bud:
Hi Baird,
Yes, out of C position, a bit low. It has some similarities in terms of chords, riffs and fingerings to some of Lemon's many songs in C like Chock House, Mosquito Moan, Bad Luck Blues etc., but is obviously played rather differently in terms of the rhythms, which damned if I can get right now. Tricky to say the least trying to figure them out with the vocals over top, which sit over the quasi-strummy pattern Lemon is playing rather oddly to my ear!
I think the main C chord under the first vocal line is playing back and forth on the 2nd fret of the G string, the open G, and the first fret of the B string. After his F chord, he does that bass run up to an Eb note on the 4th string that's so characteristic of his C material. Almost sounds like he plays a chord here as well. The V chord, G7, is played somewhat like the V chord in Bad Luck Blues, again with that back and forth riff on 2nd fret of the 3rd string and the open 3rd. The record is in truly bad shape, and it's one of my favourite Lemon tunes.
I'll be curious to see what others have to say.
Cheers,
andrew
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version