Topic: Miller's Breakdown

[Rivers]

well, someone gotta be right...! 

[Old Man Ned]

You would hope so, wouldn't you!  :-)

[Johnm]

Hi all,
The Willie Trice puzzler on "Shine On" has been up for a good while now and has generated several responses, so I'll post the answers.

For Willie Trice's "Shine On":
   * His playing position was E position in standard tuning, as every response had it.  Well done!
   * His form for "Shine On" was nine bars long, for a lyric and melody that would normally be phrased in eight bars.  Blueshome had the long place in Willie Trice's form accurately spotted--it is the fifth bar, where he resolves to a musically extraneous bar of the I chord.  In such songs, the vocal phrase for the last four bars normally starts in the tail end of the fourth bar, the second bar of the IV chord.  Willie Trice finishes up his IV chord, adds the extra bar of I, and starts singing the final phrase in the tail end of that measure.  His phrasing is not "wrong", but it is specific to him.
   * The two chords that Willie Trice played in the seventh bar of the form are an F#7 (II7) and a B7 (V7).  Doing it this way, he gets a II-V- I resolution, going from the seventh bar to the eighth bar, a sound that Carl Martin and Little Hat Jones also employed in E.  Joe paul had the F#7 properly identified.  One of the neat things about doing the F#7 in this context is that the seventh of the chord ends up being the open first string, so you can do a thumb-wrapped F leaving the first string open and move it up one fret and you have the chord (though Willie Trice never sounds the second fret of the sixth string).

Thanks to all who participated, and I hope folks enjoyed "Shine On".  I'll look for another song to post soon.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I have a new puzzler for those of you who are interested.  The cut is "Sweetest Apple On The Tree", featuring singer Brooks Berry, accompanied by Scrapper Blackwell on guitar, from their duo album that was released on Prestige-Bluesville.  Here is the track:



INTRO

Used to be, sweetest apple on the tree
Used to be, sweetest apple on the tree
Hey, hey, baby, you ain't what you used to be

You had a nail, and you drove it in the board
You had a nail, and you drove it in the board
Lord, my daddy ain't here, but he's somewheres on the road

I woke up this morning with the same thing on my mind
I woke up this morning with the same thing on my mind
I had blues and trouble and was worried all the time

Lord, my heart struck sorrow, and my tears come rolling down
Lord, then my heart struck sorrows, and my tears come rolling down
I'm gonna buy me a ticket and beat it for another town

I went to the bus station, and I looked up on the board
I went to the bus station, I looked up on the board
Lord, and your bus ain't here, but it's further on down the road

I sat by my window, looked through the window pane
I sat by my window, and looked through the window pane
Lord, the tears from my eyes, just like drops of rain

OUTRO

The questions on "Sweetest Apple On The Tree" are:
   * What playing position/tuning did Scrapper Blackwell use to play the song?
   * Where did Scrapper fret what he plays in the treble from :27--:30, and what chord does it make, relative to his tuning?
   * Where is Scrapper fretting and playing the triplet figure he plays from 1:35--1:46?
   * Where did Scrapper fret and play the descending harmonized lines from 4:04-4:06

Please use only your ears and your guitar to arrive at your answers, and please don't post any answers before 8:00 AM your time on Thursday, July 18.  Thanks for your participation, and I hope you enjoy the song and figuring out your answers, whether or not you choose to post them.
All best,
Johnm 

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Any takers for the Brooks Berry/Scrapper Blackwell puzzler, "Sweetest Apple On The Tree"?  Come one, come all!
All best,
Johnm

[Prof Scratchy]

The questions on "Sweetest Apple On The Tree" are:
   * What playing position/tuning did Scrapper Blackwell use to play the song? - E standard tuned low
   * Where did Scrapper fret what he plays in the treble from :27--:30, and what chord does it make, relative to his tuning? - 02x132 (don’t know the name of the chord - he seems to hammer onto the first fret of the third string, followed by open sixth, then second fret first string followed by seventh note on third fret of second string)
   * Where is Scrapper fretting and playing the triplet figure he plays from 1:35--1:46?  - this sounds like a Lightnin Hopkins E inversion on the seventh fret of the third and first strings and the fifth fret of the second string.
   * Where did Scrapper fret and play the descending harmonized lines from 4:04 - 4.06 - sounds like he pinches fourth fret of strings 6 and3, descending chromatically via fret 3 to fret2. After each pinch he brushes upwards on open strings 1 and 2. At the of this series he goes back to first position E.




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Old Man Ned]

For "Sweetest Apple On The Tree" I'm hearing playing position/tuning as E standard about a step low

Fretting what Scrapper plays in the treble from :27--:30 as
2
3
1
2?
2?
0
not sure if he's holding the E and/or B on the 4th and 5th strings, but I would call this an E9


Scrapper fretting and playing the triplet figure he plays from 1:35--1:46 at
7
5
7
x
x
0
   
and the the descending harmonized lines from 4:04-4:06
4th fret for 6th and 3rd string walking down through 3rd to 2nd fret, hitting open first\second strings, resolving to a standard E chord with a wee hammer on to the 3rd string 1st fret.

[blueshome]

I got as far as deciding for E standard tuned low and the E9 chord  but no further, but on relistening, agree with the others.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Any other takers for the Brooks Berry/Scrapper Blackwell puzzler on "Sweetest Apple On The Tree"?  Come one, come all!
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
It looks like everyone who intended to respond to the Brooks Berry/Scrapper Blackwell puzzler has done so, so I'll post the answers.

For Brooks Berry and Scrapper Blackwell's "Sweetest Apple On The Tree":
   * Scrapper's playing position was E in standard tuning (tuned low), as everyone who responded had it--well done!
   * From :27--:30, Scrapper fretted 1-3-2 on his first three strings, going from the third string to the first, playing an E9.  Prof Scratchy identified the position correctly, as did Old Man Ned, and Ned and blueshome had the chord named correctly.  It is a ninth chord by virtue of having a major third on the third string, the seventh on the second string, and a II note on the first string, which because the seventh is present in the chord, is designated a ninth.
   * Scrapper fretted the triplet figure he played from 1:35--1:46 on the first three strings, at 7-0-7, going from third string to first string, and played the triplets striking those three strings in the following order:  first string--third string--second string.  Doing it this way, he gets an interesting sound, because he is playing a higher-pitched note on the third string, seventh fret, than he is on the open second string, and that sound of playing a higher-pitched note on a lower string gives a distinctive timbre to the triplet.
   * Scrapper fretted and played the harmonized descending lines from 4:04--4:06 on the fifth and third strings, starting with the fifth string at the fourth fret and the third string at the third fret, probably fretting the fifth string with his second finger and the third string with his index finger, moving that shape down one fret intact, to 3-2, then moving down one more fret intact to 2-1, ending up in an E chord.  Little Hat Jones employed a similar move in some of his E blues, as did Carl Martin.

Scrapper continued to play so well on this album and on the solo album he recorded for Art Rosenbaum that came out on Prestige-Bluesville.  His time on this track is so lovely and settled at a very slow, medium tempo which can be hard to keep where you put it.  I love Brooks Berry's singing, too--she sounds like a blues singer rather than a gospel singer singing blues.

Thanks to Prof Scratchy, Old Man Ned and blueshome for participating and I hope folks enjoyed the song and the puzzler.
All best,
Johnm 

[Johnm]

Hi all,
It has been a while since we've had a puzzler, and I've chosen a new one, Smith Casey's "Santa Fe Blues".  Smith Casey was an inmate at a Texas prison who was recorded by John Lomax and Ruby Terrill Lomax.  Here is "Santa Fe Blues":



The questions on "Santa Fe Blues" are:
   * What playing position/tuning did Smith Casey use to play the song?
   * Where did Smith Casey fret the bent note and and the two higher-pitched answering notes in the treble from :04--:08?
   * Where did Smith Casey fret the opening of his solo, from :22--:25?
   * Where did Smith Casey play the notes he is playing in the treble from :30--:35?

Please use only your ears and your guitars to arrive at your answers, and don't post any responses before 8:00 AM your time on Wednesday, August 21.  Thanks for your participation and I hope you enjoy Smith Casey's "Santa Fe Blues".
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Any takers for the Smith Casey puzzler, "Santa Fe Blues"?  Come one, come all!
All best,
Johnm

[Prof Scratchy]

I have to say I've tried all kinds of tunings and capo positions to work this out, but I'm ready to admit defeat on this one! What a colossal performance though. Looking forward to the answers.

[Old Man Ned]

I'm struggling with this one too. I've yet to even figure out if it's in standard or open tuning. I find myself wanting to ask him to slow down a bit. Normally this would drive me nuts, but I'm finding something strangely hypnotic about this tune. I'll keep plugging away till the answers posted and hopefully follow this post up with a reply that's a bit more constructive :-)

All the best, Ned

[daddystovepipe]

I looked at this one a long long time ago.
To me he's playing in drop D position but tuned way down to Bb. 
The usual drop D forms work well then. 
First string 5th fret, second string 6th fret bend, adding the first string 7th fret.
You get a nice dissonant when going to the IV chord G, with the third string 3rd fret against the open second string.
The solo up high is a the long A chord half bar at the 7th fret with rocking between frets 8 and 10 for the first string.