For my first submission, I decided to present the music of Johnny Young, who to me, is the father of modern blues mandolin. Though like Yank, most of what he plays is out of G open position, it's twists and weaves through Big Walters harp or Otis Spann's piano with an agility that is not country blues. This is based on his intro to No 12 is at the Station which is on his early 70's Bluesway album I Can't Keep My Foot From Jumpin'. It's very much representative of Young's approach to intro's and you will hear this influence in Rich D's playing. This is not a faithful transcription of the intro. When I can make out the mandolin, it is correct. For when other instruments cloud what Young is doing, I've substituted in firm Johnny Young phrasing. Again, the point of this is not to be caught up the "exactitude" of the tune. Blues is about expression. The things you can't figure out lead you to avenues which define your style, cause you've got to put something in that space! I've done a few things. First the tab is available on my tab page: http://www.jimrichter.com/?page_id=5 Second, I've uploaded the original tune so you can hear it in context. http://www.jimrichter.com/lessons/No12StationYoung.mp3 Lastly, here's a short YouTube video demonstrating the lick: Give me feedback if this type of stuff is useful. What I figured is that I would give quick lessons regularly to demonstrate licks, style, technique etc. We have enough talented folks such as Perry's recent lesson demonstrates that there will be more than a wealth of info to draw on.
That is fabulous for starters. Thanks a lot Jim.
Believe you're definitely on the right track, Jim, with your philosophy, approach, and especially your vid lesson in the way you present your material, providin' a link to tab and a recording. Thanks for your contribution and future contributions as they'll definitely be appreciated and used by all, I'm sure.
this is a great start...exactly what i was hoping for in this forum...yes..thanks Jim..
Sweet!! This is great!
Wow! this is gonna be like a Cafe' enclopediabluetanica.
Excellent Jim. With that and Perry's scale I'm already depressed enough to be a real Bluesman...
Jim, That is fantastic and in a manner which I can absorb .Thanks for your patience and I hope you'll include some more.
Yes, this is brilliant. Thank you! A short video with the tab alongside is just perfect.
Great Jim! Even I can figure it out! As I mentioned on another thread, the tab is very helpful as my ear isn't the best. lol
GET YOUR NOSE OUTTA MY BIZNESS!: The Playing of Rich DelGrosso Rich has been on my mind since setting up the blues mandolin camp here in Bloomington in December (sign up!, dagnabit). I went back and pulled out his last solo album and thought the title cut, Get Your Nose Outta My Bizness (an old Johnny Young tune), would be a good one for review. Especially since the last tune was a Johnny Young one. Rich knows how to play through the chords of a shuffle. He's hitting on all cylinders in the first 12 bars of this album, which is what I've transcribed this week. Take what I've tabbed as guidelines to understand what he's doing; it's not the gospel as to how it was played. It's close, but the playing is very stylistic and it's hard to capture every nuance or get the timing just right without robbing it of it's emotion. Of course, if I were John McGann, I'd have no problem The tab's at my website: http://www.jimrichter.com/?page_id=5 Here's an audio sample of Rich playing the opening 12 bars By the way, buy the album at Rich's website. Here's the demo on YouTube: Enjoy!
That is absolutely wonderful. You are spoiling us all like mad. Is the scrape you show in the solo repeated in the second solo (the one after the two verses)? I've always wondered how he got that sound (in the second solo), I thought he must be kind of slapping with his wrist!
I'll have to study the second solo to know for sure. However, in relistening to the first solo, his "scrape" isn't as pronounced as the way I play it--which is very much a part of my style. His touch is a little lighter there, but it still sounds like an upstroke to me.
Great Jim! This is going to take a little work on my part but the length of your first two videos is just right for me as I'm pretty new at this and too much material at once becomes overwhelming. Which leads to discouraging. lol
Thanks Jim!!! You're a great teacher!
Yes, as well as offering interesting musical items, Jim, you manage to slip in lots of different pieces of highly relevant information to enhance the learning experience.
LESSON 9/14/09: ADAPTING A FINGERSTYLE GUITAR RIFF TO MANDOLIN Thanks to Rene for "motivating" me to post something. Been doing a lot of tomato canning, house painting, and some fun things like Monroe Camp and let this slip away from me. This is one of my favorite guitar backup riffs that I applied to mandolin sometime ago. Certified blues, brothers and sisters, and not heard too much on mandolin, though variations can be found. I won't regurgitate here what I've already put on my website. You can read my comments regarding playing it at http://www.jimrichter.com and download either PDF or TEF tab for it on the Transcribable page at the website. Here's the YouTube Demo.
that´s awesome Jim, thanks so much ! I think playing back up is especially difficult ( compared to soloing ) so I really dig this lesson , thanks again, René
Fabulous, Jim. Can you point to a few songs this might be suitable for?
thats really cool jim, i love the way you present these,that you slow these runs down so even i can follow it..very cool.thanks
I don't know what you others think but Jim doesn't really have to tab things out. For instance when he posted the Chuck Berry riff I was able to figure the tune out by slowing it down (and I don't really have a good ear). I just didn't get the pull-offs but Jim kindly said how it was done. So people who are slower at picking up tunes by ear could be helped by the faster ones. Just an idea.
Since Rene has continued focusing on shuffles, figured I would join suit for consistency. This is a shuffle pattern using double stops, kind of getting that Jimmy McGriff or Jimmy Smith organ sound. The example is in D, but again, as it is a pattern, can easily be transposed to any key. One of the things that might confuse is that none of the double stops uses the root of the chord. Tablature--not really of the video but demonstrating the pattern of double stops--is at my website. http://www.jimrichter.com
good one ! I especially like the various rhythm variations you play with the same notes thanks Jim
This is awesome.... What a great resource for a mug mando player like me! Sincere thanks to all who contribute!!!!
