Topic: Willie Brown's M & O Blues (thumb/index)

[pkeane]

Hi All -

I've been trying to work out some of my repertoire with just thumb and index finger, trying to see if it "works." (I'm guessing that just thumb and index is a lot more common than I'd previously thought).  This seems to work out pretty well.  Interestingly, it requires lots of thumb/index pinches. I'd be interested in thoughts or comments.  I've started looking at Future Blues and I am pretty sure it can be done thumb/index as we'll.

[Johnm]

Hi Peter,
Your rendition sounds really good to me, and I especially like the the thumb and index finger pinches on the first two strings; that's a very bright, strongly sounded articulation, and I think I prefer it in those places to either a thumb brush of the first two strings, an index brush of the first two strings, or most especially, two fingers picking the first two strings.  I think, in general, the more you give the thumb of the picking hand to do in Country Blues guitar, the more you gain in rhythmic oomph and strong phrasing.  What you're doing sounds good!
All best,
Johnm

[sustaireblues]

Beautiful work Peter!
I always enjoy seeing your vids and try to pick up a thing or two.
Thanks!

[Pan]

Excellent work again! Thanks for posting!

I've been thinking of looking more into the index - thumb technique too. Your example certainly encourages one to do so.

Cheers

Pan

[ArthurBlake]

Hi All -

I've been trying to work out some of my repertoire with just thumb and index finger, trying to see if it "works." (I'm guessing that just thumb and index is a lot more common than I'd previously thought).  This seems to work out pretty well.  Interestingly, it requires lots of thumb/index pinches. I'd be interested in thoughts or comments.  I've started looking at Future Blues and I am pretty sure it can be done thumb/index as we'll.

Yeah, I always loved that song, I learned that about ten years ago straight off Stefan Grossman's TAB but I always need to refer to the TAB if I wanna play it just as written if not I take liberties and usually keep a steady bass on it. The thumb and one finger versus the thumb and two finger thing is always interesting. i suppose if I limited myself to juts the easier old blues tunes I would be comfortable using just index and thumb but I don't and as such I really find it hard to play that way. I almost always use two fingers and thumb and I find I use the bigger middle finger a lot more than the index, especially when using picks. I feel I can get more power into it that way but i can see that the other approach has value in it. From what I have seen of the legends that were filmed the majority use the index thumb method and the three fingers are the exceptions.
                            I refuse to even consider that Blind Blake used any less than the two fingers and thumb and maybe even three (now that I really can't get used to and personally i don't like it, way too classical for me and besides that other finger is way too tender and  if you used three finger picks and a thumbpick you'd have to be some kind of genius to not lose a pick during a song). If I had my way (and a time machine) I would have made sure Willie Brown was recorded many many times, his appearances on record are near as rare as hens teeth, a real crime considering his greatness.

[ArthurBlake]

Hi Peter,
Your rendition sounds really good to me, and I especially like the the thumb and index finger pinches on the first two strings; that's a very bright, strongly sounded articulation, and I think I prefer it in those places to either a thumb brush of the first two strings, an index brush of the first two strings, or most especially, two fingers picking the first two strings.  I think, in general, the more you give the thumb of the picking hand to do in Country Blues guitar, the more you gain in rhythmic oomph and strong phrasing.  What you're doing sounds good!
All best,
Johnm

John, what you don't know about country blues guitar seems to be the world's smallest book (if that ever gets written). Cheers John.