Grateful Dead Music Forum

cant get quite get the deadening of the strings right but Im getting there

I know Pain in the arch, some day I get back to SRV's Mary had a little lamb.
someday

learning pride and joy right now

I want to learn some SRV myself, I have been really wanting to play the blues lately. I think I am going to take some lessons for awhile to get some direction.

It took me a good month to get the deadening of the strings down. I put the song down for a while and after a little while couldnt pull it off again. I think you just need to spend a solid 20 minutes a day practicing that until you master it. Cool solo in the tune too.

Here's a website with a good lesson on the Texas shuffle thing which may help you out. Go to www.dolphinstreet.com - the guy is a Canuckistanian that posts video lessons, accessible for free. He has some really good stuff on there. Also a good lesson on Mary Had a Little Lamb, the SRV version of Superstitious, lots of other things.

He's a good teacher, as well - the videos are clearly presented, with slowed down versions, he takes the time to explain what he's doing and why, etc. Give it a look.

wisedyes,
thanks for that link, cool site.

paulinnc wrote:I have been really wanting to play the blues lately. I think I am going to take some lessons for awhile to get some direction.

Start playing a twelve bar man its super easy, easy to vary and fun.

If you play it in the key of A, for example it goes like this:
A D A E D A
If you want to play it in the key of D, it goes like this:
D G D A G D

Oh the the blues is the best

I had been looking at 12 bar blues. I have learned some blues chords which has opened things up to me. Slowly making progress, but it is fun. I must say picking up the Alvarez acoustic was the smartest decision for my playing. My dexterity and coordination are growing by leaps and bounds. When I pick up the strat, it is a little weird because it is so easy to play.

paulinnc wrote:When I pick up the strat, it is a little weird because it is so easy to play.

Yeah, i have a strat too, and it is always nice to go back to it from the old acoustic. I generally learn on the acoustic and then go to the strat.

Hey if you guys are into the Blues,ya gotta check out Ronnie Earl.
I'm all about live stuff and found his album 'Blues Guitar Virtuoso live in Europe'.
Wailing mix of Swing/blues/jazz.No vocals.W/organ.Burning.
He tends to write instrumentals dedicated to his favorite guitar gods.
His chords are to die for.
His solos are deep.
And no Tube Screamer,either.
Check it out!

Ronnie Earl, hell yeah! Him and Duke Robillard are probably my two favorite blues guys going right now. Ronnie also, since some of the posters in this thread are learning blues, has one of the absolute best top notch blues instructional dvd's you will ever find.

"Ronnie Earl - Blues Guitar With Soul" is the name of it, easily available through Amazon.com last I looked. WELL worth the small investment required. Also, I can't recommend the "Blues You Can Use" series of books highly enough for blues newbies and intermediate players. Covers pretty much all styles, and does a great job of showing you everything you need to know, how to make it work, and explains the theory in an easy to grok fashion.

I have seen ronnie earl dozens of times in the tiniest of clubs. He puts on a great show.

Jackr you are a lucky dog.
I love his live cd.
Got his new Cd.
Pretty good.
He just retired from music I think.

Tennessee Jedi wrote: He just retired from music I think.

WHAT!!! Where did you hear that? I checked his website but it hasnt been updated in years. He still has 2005 tour schedule up.

That sucks and it is hard to believe. I used to hang out with him when ever he was in town. I wonder why?

Maybe he was having a tough time staying sober. He used to hang with me at the shows because I am sober for a long time. I havent seen him in many years since I moved to Florida.