History of blues guitar book recommendations

Johnsons skillful solos influenced many aspiring guitarists. Many thanks mike for allowing the bibliography to be published here. Bitten by the blues book columbus metropolitan library. The examples well look at are there to spark your creativity in your rhythm guitar playing. Although i found this book called the art of shuffle that is really cheap to strengthen your rhythms chops. The negro experience in white america and the music that developed from it. The 68 best electric guitar books, such as play it loud, guitar genius, the birth of loud and etudes for electric guitar. Another really good list you can check out by our friends at midi lifestyle is 20 best of the blues. In particular, johnson was not what was considered the typical blues player.

The list starts with general books of the blues essential reading, followed by blues artists in alphabetical order. I wanna learn everything about the blues, i do not want to g. As both a blues guitarist, and history researcher and writer myself, i value that. History of acoustic blues guitar blues guitar unleashed blog. Ive played guitar for years no lessons, just muddled through bits of books and the odd dvd. Francis davis is a contributing editor of the atlantic monthly and writes regularly for the new york times and the new yorker. No offense, but i think this history of an ultimate legacy and legend must be more enticing and mean.

May 14, 2015 king was one of a precious few bluesmen to score hits consistently during the 1970s, and for good reason. Learn blues guitar book about the history of the styles of blues. Once i absorbed that fundemental knowledge by memorising all the positions. Paving the way for electric blues, she played her electric guitar with heavy distortion and was praised with titles such as the original soul sister and godmother of rock and roll. But the improvising blues guitar book is by far my most cherished and used book. In 1967, he formed a band called the electric flag, which added horns to the blues rocksouljazz mix and would attempt to transcend musical genres. So in the early 1990s, we added jazz and blues to our specialty list.

Though not suitable for absolute beginners, if you are a rock pop blues guitarist wishing to learn jazz guitar, then this book should be top of your list. Popular guitar books share book recommendations with. Whats more, it highlights a quick guide to musical notation and recommendations on guitars. That was because i looked through the book thoroughly and already had 9095% of the records they recommend and didnt need to know more about them. These have all been great books and highly recommended. Best guitar books for beginners to advanced players. What are some good books to learn and master the blues on guitar. Another hal leonard selection, this is a trim 48 pages for teaching you how to hold a guitar for the first. In 1973, he ventured to philadelphia to record a pair of huge sellers, to know you is to love you and i like to live the love, with the same silky rhythm section that powered the hits of the spinners and the ojays.

The origin of the blues is the work songs african slaves sang in the fields for several hundred years of slavery in america. Bitten by the blues the alligator records story book. His music did not have the rough edges that were predominant. Rollin and tumblin edited by jas obrecht covers a pretty good history of all the key postwar blues guitarists. My bands twentyyearold lead guitarist earned seven years in jail for a drugfuelled spree of violence. How you use the words will define how compelling your story is. These chords, riffs and scales can be expanded in a. It started with the searing sound of a slide careening up the neck of an electric guitar. Most writing on the blues has concentrated on the lyrics, or on the more colorful eccentricities of the perfromers. One of the most collectible of these is amiri barakas blues people 1963, written under the name leroi jones, the first modern blues book by an african american. The premier site for the history and analysis of the standards jazz musicians play the most. Dec 18, 2012 son house was one of the innovators of acoustic blues guitar. Blues guitar history in the 1920s and 1930s, blues guitar history begins with blind lemon jefferson, son house, robert johnson, and lonnie johnson were the influential performers of the day, and today, a new generation of musicians are making blues guitar history. Feb 24, 20 the first book on the blues that id recommend is the penguin guide to blues recordings by tony russell and chris smith.

What were good and evil, really, but stupid categories. An unprecedented history of the electric guitar, its explosive impact on music and. Mar 20, 2020 stefanie, you might want to check out david danns guitar king. In the 1920s and 1930s, blues guitar players like blind lemon jefferson, son house, robert johnson, and lonnie johnson were the influential performers of the day. Blues music 128 books share book recommendations with. It starts with a quick note about the various definitions of blues, then is divided into two sections. In short, you can learn about the history of the blues from this book, and i expect thats why you would buy it. Bb king tabs guitar solos, tab books, instruction dvds. Another popular category of blues book is the history or survey. The men who made the music from the pages of guitar player magazine. Here is a quote from the prologue of the blues book deep blues by robert palmer 1981 where he talks about the delta blues.

It explained the use of the pentatonic scales and chords and how to mix them up. Popular blues books share book recommendations with your. Another book edited by jas obrecht is blues guitar. Our personalized quarantine book recommendations literary hub. Mar 07, 2020 sister rosetta tharpe playing a guitar solo in front of a gospel choir. Allisons comeback into the mainstream was ushered in by a recording contract with an american record company, chicagobased alligator records. So many of you keep asking me, what jazz guitar, jazz amps and jazz strin. Playing and improvising acoustic blues doug young acoustic blues workshop notes q 96 our goal is to be able to play a simple, but effective solo blues guitar piece, hopefully with some improvisation. Its called the dallas blues and was a popular blues, sung by the africanamerican population. He is the author of the acclaimed books outcats and history of the blues and a biography of john coltrane knopf. It was a good book for a total novice because it really explained the basic struture of what blues is on guitar. Which is the best beginner blues guitar book to master your skill. A year later my first book was published, the devils soninlaw. Ive seen method books galore on a variety of instruments and not only is this specific book a good resource, the entire series is very high quality.

Lovatos own analysis of the situation, santa fe hispanic culture offers a good introduction to the. But delta blues, the purest and most deeply rooted of all blues strains, is also significant as music. Fiction and nonfiction books about blues music and blues musicians. There are a lot of reasons why i decided to create my course entitled, acoustic blues guitar unleashed, but one of the main reasons was to celebrate the history of acoustic blues guitar. Dann wrote a piece for us on bloomfields role in bringing a documentary about the chicago blues scene to life, and by all accounts he seemed like a.

The book covers the history of the guitar and of the blues, including a personal appreciation of the great musicians who have shaped the genre and created such an aweinspiring legacy. How to play blues rhythm guitar like the blues masters. Recently i decided to learn acoustic fingerstyle blues. If the complete technique book is good for quick starts, this would be the bullet train. Check now top 5 best beginner blues guitar books if youre going to delve into. As you can probably tell im guitar oriented which has heavily influenced which books i have read. Blues is very heartfelt and does not involve the rigidities of classical music or the showiness of the metal, rock and pop genres of music. Social history, cultural studies, and sources guitar. Oct 19, 2017 learn blues guitar book of history for insights to the blues. Blues history the origin of the blues blues guitar.

During prohibition, musicians played the urban blues in honky tonks, bars that illegally served alcohol. In 1920, mamie smith was the first african american to record blues music. As baraka is a poet and black militant, this book is pursued by collectors of several categories. In a nut shell, tell us as his dark side and sad stories, which i guess, some people including myself, had pretty very much learned. The big book of blues guitar is intended for anyone who loves the blues and the guitar and is. An americanborn guitarist, singer, and songwriter who lived in france since 1980, luther allison was the man to book at blues festivals in the mid90s. Stupid categories that restricted people and punished or rewarded them based on how they responded to their own natures, natures they really didnt have any way to control. Blues guitar history, research blues guitar history. Michael bloomfields life in the blues, which somehow manages to be a book about the blues and rock n roll in the 1960s. I have yet find any book that is really could teaching the blues. As more blacks were moving to urban areas like chicago, the urban blues genre was born. Beginning fingerstyle blues guitar by arnie berle and mark galbo this book does a good job introducing a few different styles of blues picking and covers how to use walking bass lines, brush strokes, and the.

Im assuming a little bit of basic knowledge and ability on the guitar. Blues is one of the most soulful forms of music and you should learn blues guitar book of history of which there are many. As the lead guitarist for the paul butterfield blues band, bloomfield brought extended, jazzlike improvisation to the form and performed with a flamboyance that charged his every gesture. The one book i bought to get me started was by blues guitar by richard daniels. What are the best books about the history of blues music. Feb 06, 2017 one suggestion would be to start with a book like leroi jones. Ferguson throws new light on the history of the guitar by drawing upon a class of literary sources still largely unexplored. Apr 04, 2020 if the complete technique book is good for quick starts, this would be the bullet train. Books can give you a guide as to what the properties of blues are, the theory, history, and some moves. Other famous guitar players such as eric clapton, carlos santana, keith richards, billy gibbons and michael bloomfield have all acknowledged their individual debt of gratitude to bb king. All you have to do is browse through the pages of some at your music store and see if they contain. Can you recommend a great blues fingerpicking songbook. By pointing out some of the personal imperfections, he actually leads us to a greater understanding of the people behind the music. His playing was much more refined than that of his fellow delta guitarists.

Jun 22, 2019 jazz guitar complete edition provides a complete jazz guitar course, starting from the basics and progressing to complex concepts. An awesome bibliography and a fantastic achievement by the compiler, mike bullock. List of books and articles about blues music online. He is probably the most historically important and undoubtedly the most renowned blues guitar player in history. As stated above the list below comprises my personal recommendations of blues books in various categories. I have been playing for about 4 years and i am ready to take my playing to the next step. I challenge you to find a cooler lady than sister rosetta tharpe. Blues guitar tabs solos, tab books, instruction dvds.

The list starts with general books of the blues essential reading, followed by blues artists in alphabetical order, interjected with blues books on particular themes. In 1970, twentythreeyearold bruce iglauer walked into florences lounge, in the heart of chicagos south side, and was overwhelmed by the joyous, raw chicago blues of hound dog taylor and the houserockers. There are many fine books on the blues, so i thought i would share with you my recommendations. Bb king learning blues guitar blues guitarist learn blues the blues. As youll learn in this ebook, there are countless ways to form blues riffs and be creative with them. And if youre someone who likes history, the blues has a rich history you can follow and the blues guitar along with it.