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I think Son House, with his hard playing style, is the only guy who could've come close to wearing out a National guitar! Well done as always, Martyn! 👍🏻😀✌🏻🎶🎶👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻☘️☘️☘️
He had many and was ’lent’ them in the 60s. Some of those videos of him are incredible when you see the physicality. If he’d kept one he could have snapped it in two eventually. So much love for him!
Excellent lesson! I have been a lifelong player but have only recently started to learn about resonators and the use of alternate tunings. I currently own a National Reso Rocket and am in the process of acquiring a National Scheerhorn. Thanks for giving me some things to aspire to!
Good morning, I am in Picardy in France and I discovered your videos with great pleasure because I started playing resonator guitar and open G for a few months. Many thanks for your very clear explanations on Delta blues guitar playing. I subscribe. Musical friendships. Pierre. Singer, guitarist, amateur and self-taught.
I’m in the north. Also, I’d have no problem with anyone from Mississippi teaching me the Hurdy Gurdy or informing me about Elgar. Music should have no boundaries put on it. Freedom of speech and freedom of expression. 🎼🎯🎼
I lived in the States back in the 90s no one knew what Rockabilly,Roots music was .Trouble is America forgets its greatest contribution to music.And us Brits could not get enough of it.
Hello, I want to tell you that your resonator classes are helping me a lot, because your way of explaining, calmly, and repeatedly, is very useful for me to learn to play the resonator (dobro), which I love its sound and aesthetics. So thank you very much, and I hope you can make many videos like this one, for all your students, who appreciate it very much. Thank you. Frederic (Barcelona, Spain)
Love it! So want to learn to play this “olde Skool” Son House style. Love the slide, love the picking and love use of the guitar for an improvisational tool to draw out one’s style 🥰🫶🏼
My wife & best friend have done a pincer movement to get me playing again. After 20 years and I wasn't THAT good back then! Got the old Gretsch resonator out of it's case and with your help, maybe I can put some shapes together. Thanks for this channel!
Take it steady. You’re better doing 10 mins a day than 3 hours once a week but an hour or two everyday is plenty. Break each part down and play it perfectly as slow as you need to do. You’ll find your brain rewires as you sleep and after a few days things you had to take slow you can now do fast. Always be learning new stuff. An easy way is to pick songs you like and learn the parts properly. Finish one, start another. Get harder ones down. You’ll be winning in no time!
Commented a bit bk,,,been playing regular guitar for near on 30 years,got a 3 string fretless cigar box last year now ,looking at getting a basic reso,,,fooooookin ❤️your playing,ever get round South Yorkshire,,,got to see you guys live 💪😎
Fantastic. I don’t have a resonator but I do have my Little Gretsch JimDandy. My problem is I like too many music styles. I always gravitate back to the roots 🤘🤘😝🤓
I should have said that any guitar works for this style. Even electric! It’s always good to learn bits of different styles as then you develop your own voice that’s unique. 🎼🎯🎼
I have had several resos over the years and I also have a Jim Dandy, and I can assure you that this kind of roots blues sounds great on both. In fact in my opinion, pre-war blues is what the Jim Dandy does best.
Thanks for this vid Martyn...some great tips here👍. I built my 1st resonator last year so I could learn more about the blues...now building my 4th and 5th with many more to come...thanks for the inspiration.
I bought myself a resonator a while ago, it was a long lost dream to own one. Possible now when really priceworthy instrument are available on the market I didn't have spend 5000 dollars to get one, but merely 500...! A Harely Benton Custom Line CLR-ResoElectric... and it plays quite well, no doubt wort the money. Anyways... Deaht Letter was the first song I learned how to play.
...so no video of him as a young alcoholic? Excellent video of you. I must now retune a guitar. Perhaps my wife would not complain about me buying a resonator. It's possibly the best missing piece. Thank you! Great stuff and happy holidays.
Happy holidays! He drank but was especially torn as a young man between blues and preaching. I bet he tried to be teetotal when there was money in being a man of god. Everyone needs a resonator. Only a bad and selfish wife would deny a husband the happiness one would bring. 🎯🎼🎯
@@TheWashboardResonators I am sitting in my music room looking at 7 six strings, one 12 string,3 cigar box guitars, 2 ukuleles, 3 electric guitars. I had 4 when we got married, and have others elsewhere in the house. Two were bought this year, including a Martin CEO 7 I bought on vacation a few months ago. We drove from Hilton Head, SC to NC, about 4 hours each way. Actually, she drove because I have poor vision. If I could see to drive I would love one, but she is a very good wife. Give me time. Have a great new year!
Superb mate, as always. I’ve been trying to get into this style for a while now. This is a great breakdown. Hopefully I can start doing my fender res some justice now. 😅 thanks again 🙏🏻
Excellent stuff. It’s all straight forward stuff. It’s just the feel that is hard to nail. I’d listen to RL Burnside & Son House constantly for a week or two and the ‘drive’ will creep in. There’s an intent in their playing and singing. It comes from countless hour’s trying to keep people dancing AND get them to listen. 🎼🎯🎼
A very good instructive video . I've been watching your presentations for some time now and enjoy your playing and subject matter. You do however always play really nice resonators which helps greatly in producing that crucial tone . I wish I had your worst guitar . Great content.
Hopefully it helps! I love my guitars. They’re a bit of a pension that I cherish. I’ve got some funky old cheap guitars that I love so don’t be afraid to get some old Silvertone or Danelectro to get a cool blues sound. You don’t need to spend much to get a nice used resonator. Or save a small amount for a couple of years and then get a vintage one at a good deal. There are good deals to be had! I’ve found vintage Nationals for 2k even recently.
@@TheWashboardResonators did you have to get a lot of work done on the 2k resonators to get them in playable condition. I've been looking for a long time now for something quirky ( electric guitar wise ) . The kind of thing R L Burnside used to play , but haven't found anything that really grips me . Money is now more of an issue these days but the sound of a steel duolian just takes me to another place. Great videos thank you .
First thing I always do when showing people Blues is have them find a key they can sing over using just the low e string, and then hammer on and off the minor third of that note (three frets up) and it’s a wonderful foundation to build off of
Got a question for you. Do you think most Delta Blues sounded like Hill Country Blues before it intermixed with the 12 Bar and Boogie Woogie / Barrelhouse styles? I understand most early Blues to be low moans over a droning guitar or drum, set in the style of the Baptist church. Then you play this “secular spiritual” with a little more rhythm like the hammer on I mentioned earlier over one to three chords. My understanding is that Delta Blues got its complexity from being informed by “Barrelhouse Blues” coming out of East Texas and Louisiana. Evidence of this being found in Leadbelly and Blind Lemon Jefferson’s “piano Roll” style of playing. Even the typical “Blues shuffle” we think of originated in a St Louis barrelhouse piano style I believe. And nearly all barrelhouse / boogie Woogie rhythms are based off of the train rhythms. I don’t find this as much in more “isolated” styles like Hill Country and especially Fred McDowell, his seems to be more reminiscent of the almost gothic nature of late 1800s spirituals. If we were to remove the labels of Delta and Hill Country, what do you think would fundamentally make Mississippi styled Blues in the late 1800s before recording technology? It’s a loaded question sorry 😂
It’s complex. I think it’s player dependent too. Their musical education informs so much. I think influences come in to the delta and players tried to play or replicate the ‘new sounds’ as you mention. Especially from 1922 when Lemon Jefferson recordings started to sell well. Robert Johnson definitely had access to a strong record collection and mined it. Northern / Urban players like Leroy Carr and Lonnie Johnson being easily traceable influences.
This music, especially combined with vocals, has a very primal quality. It seems to have connections to the field songs and spiritual chants. I hope this music doesn't become a commercialised genre because it seems, somehow, too important to be on, for example, a Taylor Swift tune. It should stay with people that have an understanding or a feel for it's meaning.
It’s difficult as music is also a ‘product’ when chosen to be despite its fantastic sense of art - delta blues is and was no different! It was a commercial undertaking when Charley Patton & Son House went to Paramount Records in 1929 and Robert Johnson recorded for ARC in 1936. They were paid to be there and the company was hoping for a return on investment. The companies saw an opportunity to sell records to people that wanted to hear the local ‘star’ or for people now in the cities to hear the rural or ‘down home’ style they knew. It is primal for sure and it’s nice to love something so niche. Makes you feel special. Part of an exclusive club! But you can see why it influenced and was copied (commercially BTW) by many rock groups in the 1960s onwards. Creams ‘Crossroads’ and Led Zeppelin’s ‘When The Levee Breaks’ being obvious examples. I actually like both Son House and Taylor Swift! Both are great at producing music that connects with their audience and transports them out of themselves. If anybody is a songwriter they’ve got to listen to TS as she’s at the top. You can learn something from her about catchiness and simplicity. You can also learn what not to do if you want to be more interesting and alternative. 🎼❤️🎼
@@TheWashboardResonators Thanks for the insight. When I say 'Taylor Swift', it's used in this context as a synonym for a commercialised music industry that generally uses and discards styles once enough money has been extracted. Her talent is not in question. Although, we are not talking Holland Dozier Holland, Lieber and Stoller, and not even vaguely Lennon and McCartney. As regards the original performers, I consider they had a right to use their musical heritage to create music to sell to an audience. But in this context, we're talking about, let's be honest, white performers 'borrowing' something that belongs to another culture. I think that can be done, but I think it should be done in a way that doesn't devalue the provenance of the original form. That's why I'd draw a distinction between her (TS) and what I sense you're trying to do. You have researched this music, respect it and are not just using it as an overlay on something else to be 'different'. In fact, by presenting this musical form you are, it seems to me, opening a path for people to go back to the original sources, which has to be a good thing. I've heard people criticise Elvis for his Sun recordings of blues tunes. These critics miss two things, his dirt poor upbringing in the South where he was exposed to Blues, Gospel and Country and naturally assimilated and 'felt' the music, and the fact that every single musician whose songs he covered a, gained exposure and b, received very healthy songwriting royalties. And I don't think a single one resented in any way Elvis covering their material.
@Evan Hodge Thanks for your comment. I was listening to this stuff when you were still in nappies. And it might just be time you took them off and got some big boy pants like the rest of us grown ups.
I love these tutorials. Some of the best I’ve seen and I’ve learned so much. Thank you. It would be good to see you live. Do you ever play in Merseyside?
Greetings from Maine Martin. I too love the music from the 20's and 30's, blues ragtime, early jazz ie: Eddie lang, Lonnie Johnson etc. I have been playing fingerstyle blues and ragtime for a few years and also playing lap steel guitar with a slide. However, Its a different type of slide as you know a bar and i'm learning about using a glass slide for blues. I am going to use my pinky first like you do I also have smaller hands and this way I can continue to play the finger picking parts. I have a Dobro on its way to my house in a couple of days. Its one from the mid 90's, omi I think and is brass and nickel plated. I'm so excited. My question to you is, do you recommend medium or light gage strings? I realize its a steel guitar but want to get some Martin Monel retros just wondering what size you prefer. Thanks so much! tom
Did a video on strings wayyyy back. I’d usually say start 13/56 Phosphor Bronze (Daddario, John Pearse or Newtone) go to a 15 on the top if getting fret noise or even go to a set of 16/59 as I have on my gigging slide guitar for great control of the top string. Have fun. Sounds like nice stuff!
I was told that when Sun House came out of retirement it had been many years since he had even picked up a guitar and he had forgotten a lot of what he used to do back in the twenties. Alan Wilson of Canned Heat was set on to mentor him back to form. Do you know if that’s true?
hi Martyn, thanks for the video, a very understandable lesson... as you know, those of us who own resonator guitars are like petrol heads and we like info about the guitars as well as all the other good stuff ...hint hint..!!! any plans for playing in Ireland??
Love this type music. I’ve been desperate for some lessons in this style. Thanks. More please 🙏 Do you do any catfish Keith pieces? I just saw him live in Lemington spa, awesome player.
He’s incredible! We’re going to be doing a podcast interview with him. For various of our personal reasons it would have happened sooner but had to be put off so watch out for that! We could do that. I like the song ‘Jitterbug Swing’ that was a Bukka White tune. He does a mean version of that! I’ll put it in the list!
Hey Martyn. Great videos. I've been practicing them a little. If I wanted to begin learning Bling Willie McTell, and the tuning was: C#, G#, C#, F#, A#, D# Would it need some thicker guage strings for the top string? I've been asking about and most people say it would need 12 guage or 13. But I'd rather not change strings if I can help it. I'm thinking about a cheap 12 string exclusively for blues practicing, so I can alter the tuning. But more strings is more confusing, if the octave strings need changing too. Can't seem to find info on 12 string sets according to the guage. So thought I'd ask an expert Thanks. Cousin Danny 😺
Yo!! You should try the tuning and see how it sounds. I like 12/13 on lower tuned standard stuff. I have 16s on my open C slide guitar. Get a 12 for McTell. I have a beautiful Stella replica just like McTells tuned to C. Essentially I have a 12 set with heavy bass. They’re custom. The great Ralph Bown who made the guitar recommended the gauges. I’d need to pull the case out with the string gauges written in there but that’s at my mums house in meltham! Can’t remember exactly. Get a ‘heavy’ or ‘medium’ 12 string set. Or go to Newtone strings website and they’ll recommend a set. They’re based in Derbyshire and make the best strings.
@@TheWashboardResonators thanks mate. "Heavy" and "medium" comes up in searches. There's a lot to learn with guitar, setup as well as playing. But I'm enjoying it 😁
Hi Martyn! Thanks for unravelling for us (for me, anyway...) the mysteries of these sounds. I'm teaching myself the resonator guitar, and I watched your vids about picks and bottlenecks, hence my question: in this vid, you're playing the first tune bare-fingered, and on the second you've only got a thumb-pick... whereas you advise playing with both thumb- and finger-picks. I can easily understand why the thumb pick is so important for the bass-snaps in the Son House piece, but then why no finger-picks? Thank you again for your very plain lessons.
Hey. It was getting late and I have neighbours is the simple answer! Beyond that, the hill country stuff is nearly always done with bare fingers. I wanted that authentic sound! In terms of Son House, he always played bare fingered. I find it easier to do the snaps with a thumbpick. The fingerpicks give me volume and speed. It’s a relatively easy song to play with out the need for much speed and I certainly didn’t need the volume at 10pm filming this! Players should find what works for them and use that or vary even for certain songs! Hope the lessons help! It’s a wonderful world of music!! 🎯🎼🎯
@@TheWashboardResonators Thanks for your answer, Martyn. I've noticed that on any footage I've watched of him, Son House plays barefingered indeed. I agree that one must find one's own feel and method, and for the snap, I've just tried both barethumbed and with a pick: it's not even just a differen sound, but a completely new sound world. Thanks for your lessons in general, and especially for this one.
All i can say is this is truly unbelievable, take that anyway you want, but if you understand the blues, then you'll know exactly where im coming from, but then what do i know, im a mentally ill guitar player, just climbed out a whiskey bottle after 20 years since my woman broke my heart and im trying to quit drugs now too, hopefully if this guy has the sense he'll have the balls to pin this comment to the top, that way his students might actually learn something valuable, son house, Robert johnson and all the other greats must be turning in they're graves, god forgive you
I agree Schizo Delta Man, I reckon if lead belly saw this he'd probably have gone back in jail for attempted murder coz he'd of been furious, people like him suffered and bared their souls to the world through music and then a guy like this thinks it's cool to make a living off the back of it playing to an audience that probably would know true blues music if it slapped then in the face which is what this guy needs
It’s just a lesson teaching people a little guitar so they can learn some blues vocab and then interpret it how they wish. Listen to Son Houses song then cop that I’m teaching a simplified version with the same notes in the same tuning. Go to some RUclips lessons that suit you if this doesn’t. We make these to share knowledge, build a community and ultimately as a professional blues musician of 12 years they help sell a few extra tickets to gigs. So don’t stink up my comments with your narcissism. The world doesn’t revolve around you and your tastes. You’re spending your life moaning on guitar lesson videos. What could be more of a looser thing to do. 🎼❤️🎼
You got all the prerequisites for playing the blues. Me too, after 15 years of morphine and alcohol addiction, I'm 3 years clean. Focus on playing, not your past failures. My prayers are with you, mate.
@@TheWashboardResonators thank for the quick response. Than I have to check my tuner because my open G is different 😀 By the way. I love your videos and their is a lot to learn from them. Could you recommend me some „unknown“ Upside down players because i‘m one of them myself. Big thank you 🙏🏽!
@@TheWashboardResonators Awesome, thank for replying man! I tend to gravitate towards open D, but i think its because I don't what to play in open G! Your channel has been giving me lots of inspiration though
@@TheWashboardResonators Yes! I can play a little in Open C. Sunflower Blues by John Fahey, and I think Cripple Creek by Leo Kottke is too. Beautiful tuning!
@ hell yeah! I’ll keep practicing. Been a long time metal/rock guy but love the sound of slide so I’ve been digesting your videos and learning all week. Love your sound ☺️
I think R.L. Burnside’s music is too different to call it Delta blues. R.L Burnside and Junior Kimbrough are Mississippi Hill Country Blues which is a different style than Delta Blues
Agreed but terms in blues are quite liquid. Robert Johnson for instance has a one chord ‘hill country’ style song and more sophisticated Lonnie Johnson style songs but we’d call him delta blues. In this instance the video is to help get people started in playing blues out of a tuning. Real deep enthusiasts wouldn’t use this and would be isolating particular songs knowing the exact sub-genre they’re playing. Weirdly wgen out gigging and meeting people who use this Chanel to learn, this video is one of the most complimented ones. 🎼🎯🎼
Support us by clicking the description above and...
🎯Put something in the tip jar.
🎯Subscribe to the mailing list.
🎯Find us on other social media.
Thanks all!
❤️❤️❤️
Great tutorial. 9:53 reminds me of Come Together by the Fabz., "Here come old flat-top, he come groovin' up slowly", etc.
🎼🎯🎼
Open G, the tuning that just keeps giving. I have a guitar permanently tuned to open G and I probably play it more than any other.
It’s so musical and useful. Gets you into other vibes!
Pretty cool stuff 👍👍
I'm very glad to see people are not forgetting
this great old music ☺️
It’s great stuff!
I think Son House, with his hard playing style, is the only guy who could've come close to wearing out a National guitar! Well done as always, Martyn! 👍🏻😀✌🏻🎶🎶👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻☘️☘️☘️
He had many and was ’lent’ them in the 60s.
Some of those videos of him are incredible when you see the physicality.
If he’d kept one he could have snapped it in two eventually.
So much love for him!
Excellent lesson! I have been a lifelong player but have only recently started to learn about resonators and the use of alternate tunings. I currently own a National Reso Rocket and am in the process of acquiring a National Scheerhorn. Thanks for giving me some things to aspire to!
Excellent stuff! It’s always good to learn different styles!!
Good morning,
I am in Picardy in France and I discovered your videos with great pleasure because I started playing resonator guitar and open G for a few months.
Many thanks for your very clear explanations on Delta blues guitar playing.
I subscribe.
Musical friendships.
Pierre.
Singer, guitarist, amateur and self-taught.
Glad to help friend. Have fun with it!! 🎯
Delta blues homebrewed in the swampy south of.... england. First they take rock in the '60's and now they're coming for the roots.
I’m in the north.
Also, I’d have no problem with anyone from Mississippi teaching me the Hurdy Gurdy or informing me about Elgar.
Music should have no boundaries put on it.
Freedom of speech and freedom of expression.
🎼🎯🎼
I lived in the States back in the 90s no one knew what Rockabilly,Roots music was .Trouble is America forgets its greatest contribution to music.And us Brits could not get enough of it.
Hello, I want to tell you that your resonator classes are helping me a lot, because your way of explaining, calmly, and repeatedly, is very useful for me to learn to play the resonator (dobro), which I love its sound and aesthetics. So thank you very much, and I hope you can make many videos like this one, for all your students, who appreciate it very much. Thank you. Frederic (Barcelona, Spain)
That’s awesome! Glad to hear it! Keep on picking!! 🎼🙌🏻🎼
Love it! So want to learn to play this “olde Skool” Son House style.
Love the slide, love the picking and love use of the guitar for an improvisational tool to draw out one’s style 🥰🫶🏼
It’s a great style! Lots to do with it and much crossover with Robert Johnson! 🎼🎯🎼
Thanks Martyn, Bukka White and Son House aren't recognized enough!
Exactly. They’ve influenced so many too! Both distinct, both brilliant!!
My wife & best friend have done a pincer movement to get me playing again. After 20 years and I wasn't THAT good back then! Got the old Gretsch resonator out of it's case and with your help, maybe I can put some shapes together. Thanks for this channel!
Take it steady.
You’re better doing 10 mins a day than 3 hours once a week but an hour or two everyday is plenty.
Break each part down and play it perfectly as slow as you need to do.
You’ll find your brain rewires as you sleep and after a few days things you had to take slow you can now do fast.
Always be learning new stuff. An easy way is to pick songs you like and learn the parts properly. Finish one, start another. Get harder ones down.
You’ll be winning in no time!
Thanks for the encouragement! @@TheWashboardResonators
Martyn
What do you think of MM resonators?
Commented a bit bk,,,been playing regular guitar for near on 30 years,got a 3 string fretless cigar box last year now ,looking at getting a basic reso,,,fooooookin ❤️your playing,ever get round South Yorkshire,,,got to see you guys live 💪😎
Sheffield, Chesterfield, Huddersfield etc. keep an eye out. Trying to book us in Sheffield in February at Netheredge.
Another great bunch of open tuning playing tips.
🎼🎯🎼
Another great video Martyn. The possibilities of open G seem to be endless!
It’s got a voice! So much to harness!!
I’ve been working on this Hill Country style a bit. This video is a great starting point and sounds genuine from the first bar.
Great! Hopefully it opens a few doors.
Grazie.
Thanks!!
RL is the man!!
Love his stuff.
Watch the Fat Possum made documentary ‘See Me Laughing’ if you haven’t already!
Loads of RL in there.
Incredible!!
Astounding sounds. Glad I found the channel.
Thanks! Keep on picking!! 🎼🎯🎼
Thank you. I learned a lot.
Excellent!
Fantastic. I don’t have a resonator but I do have my Little Gretsch JimDandy. My problem is I like too many music styles. I always gravitate back to the roots 🤘🤘😝🤓
I should have said that any guitar works for this style. Even electric!
It’s always good to learn bits of different styles as then you develop your own voice that’s unique.
🎼🎯🎼
I have had several resos over the years and I also have a Jim Dandy, and I can assure you that this kind of roots blues sounds great on both. In fact in my opinion, pre-war blues is what the Jim Dandy does best.
this stuff is deep
🎯🎯🎯
Brilliant thank you
Hope it helps!
Loved it , great little gateway drug, lol
Thanks
It’s a little taster to get you hooked on the bigger stuff!
💉
Brilliant , just subbed
Sweet. I saw you did on IG too! Thanks!
This is great and might be just what I need to renew my enthusiasm to get back to learning.
Fab! The more you learn the easier it gets.
@@TheWashboardResonators When I started learning I heard this..".If you practice you can only get better,,you can't get worse". Keep it up Bro!
Thank you. Great channel.
Thanks so much. Hope it all helps!!
Good job.
🎼🎯🎼
Cool lesson
Great thanks!
Thank you!!!! cool
🎼🎯🎼
Thanks for this vid Martyn...some great tips here👍. I built my 1st resonator last year so I could learn more about the blues...now building my 4th and 5th with many more to come...thanks for the inspiration.
Glad to help!
Must be interesting building a resonator.
So much to figure!!
All the best!
🎼🎯🎼
Yeah...it's not the easiest thing to do, especially as I use recycled materials.
You can check out my build for this years GGBO on my channel.👍
Excellent tutorial. Nice done.👏
Thanks! Hopefully it opens a few doors.
I bought myself a resonator a while ago, it was a long lost dream to own one. Possible now when really priceworthy instrument are available on the market I didn't have spend 5000 dollars to get one, but merely 500...! A Harely Benton Custom Line CLR-ResoElectric... and it plays quite well, no doubt wort the money. Anyways... Deaht Letter was the first song I learned how to play.
Fingers crossed it opens all the doors needed.
fine stuff, thanx!
Hopefully it helps!
Hi Martyn. I found your channel by chance while searching for info about resonators. Great content and a valuable resource. 👍🏼
Glad it helps!
That’s what we want!!
🎯🎯🎯
...so no video of him as a young alcoholic?
Excellent video of you. I must now retune a guitar. Perhaps my wife would not complain about me buying a resonator. It's possibly the best missing piece. Thank you! Great stuff and happy holidays.
Happy holidays!
He drank but was especially torn as a young man between blues and preaching. I bet he tried to be teetotal when there was money in being a man of god.
Everyone needs a resonator. Only a bad and selfish wife would deny a husband the happiness one would bring.
🎯🎼🎯
@@TheWashboardResonators I am sitting in my music room looking at 7 six strings, one 12 string,3 cigar box guitars, 2 ukuleles, 3 electric guitars. I had 4 when we got married, and have others elsewhere in the house. Two were bought this year, including a Martin CEO 7 I bought on vacation a few months ago. We drove from Hilton Head, SC to NC, about 4 hours each way. Actually, she drove because I have poor vision. If I could see to drive I would love one, but she is a very good wife. Give me time.
Have a great new year!
Superb mate, as always.
I’ve been trying to get into this style for a while now. This is a great breakdown. Hopefully I can start doing my fender res some justice now. 😅
thanks again 🙏🏻
Excellent stuff.
It’s all straight forward stuff.
It’s just the feel that is hard to nail.
I’d listen to RL Burnside & Son House constantly for a week or two and the ‘drive’ will creep in.
There’s an intent in their playing and singing. It comes from countless hour’s trying to keep people dancing AND get them to listen.
🎼🎯🎼
@@TheWashboardResonators cheers 🍻 will do 🙏🏻😎🍻
A very good instructive video . I've been watching your presentations for some time now and enjoy your playing and subject matter. You do however always play really nice resonators which helps greatly in producing that crucial tone . I wish I had your worst guitar . Great content.
Hopefully it helps! I love my guitars. They’re a bit of a pension that I cherish.
I’ve got some funky old cheap guitars that I love so don’t be afraid to get some old Silvertone or Danelectro to get a cool blues sound.
You don’t need to spend much to get a nice used resonator.
Or save a small amount for a couple of years and then get a vintage one at a good deal.
There are good deals to be had!
I’ve found vintage Nationals for 2k even recently.
@@TheWashboardResonators did you have to get a lot of work done on the 2k resonators to get them in playable condition. I've been looking for a long time now for something quirky ( electric guitar wise ) . The kind of thing R L Burnside used to play , but haven't found anything that really grips me . Money is now more of an issue these days but the sound of a steel duolian just takes me to another place. Great videos thank you .
The vintage one my mate rich got for 2k needed nothing. It’s perfect. Those Stella’s from the 1960s are cheap and have a great sound for this stuff!
First thing I always do when showing people Blues is have them find a key they can sing over using just the low e string, and then hammer on and off the minor third of that note (three frets up) and it’s a wonderful foundation to build off of
Great idea. Probably how many of the original musicians found their way!
Got a question for you. Do you think most Delta Blues sounded like Hill Country Blues before it intermixed with the 12 Bar and Boogie Woogie / Barrelhouse styles?
I understand most early Blues to be low moans over a droning guitar or drum, set in the style of the Baptist church.
Then you play this “secular spiritual” with a little more rhythm like the hammer on I mentioned earlier over one to three chords. My understanding is that Delta Blues got its complexity from being informed by “Barrelhouse Blues” coming out of East Texas and Louisiana. Evidence of this being found in Leadbelly and Blind Lemon Jefferson’s “piano Roll” style of playing. Even the typical “Blues shuffle” we think of originated in a St Louis barrelhouse piano style I believe. And nearly all barrelhouse / boogie Woogie rhythms are based off of the train rhythms. I don’t find this as much in more “isolated” styles like Hill Country and especially Fred McDowell, his seems to be more reminiscent of the almost gothic nature of late 1800s spirituals.
If we were to remove the labels of Delta and Hill Country, what do you think would fundamentally make Mississippi styled Blues in the late 1800s before recording technology?
It’s a loaded question sorry 😂
It’s complex. I think it’s player dependent too. Their musical education informs so much. I think influences come in to the delta and players tried to play or replicate the ‘new sounds’ as you mention. Especially from 1922 when Lemon Jefferson recordings started to sell well. Robert Johnson definitely had access to a strong record collection and mined it. Northern / Urban players like Leroy Carr and Lonnie Johnson being easily traceable influences.
Cheers, Martin. Great stuff. In fact, if you could ever throw in Garfield Akers' Doughroller Blues, life will be truly great again🙏🎵😉
Cool tune! On the list it goes!!
@@TheWashboardResonators Good man!
Cheers for 📫
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Well I was sitting here my my banjo, now I want to grab my Triolian. Well done as usual. Thanks for taking the time to put these out.
I did some banjo videos early on too!!
So much joy in picking up new licks!!
Guitar or Banjo, it’s all good!
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This music, especially combined with vocals, has a very primal quality. It seems to have connections to the field songs and spiritual chants.
I hope this music doesn't become a commercialised genre because it seems, somehow, too important to be on, for example, a Taylor Swift tune. It should stay with people that have an understanding or a feel for it's meaning.
It’s difficult as music is also a ‘product’ when chosen to be despite its fantastic sense of art - delta blues is and was no different!
It was a commercial undertaking when Charley Patton & Son House went to Paramount Records in 1929 and Robert Johnson recorded for ARC in 1936.
They were paid to be there and the company was hoping for a return on investment.
The companies saw an opportunity to sell records to people that wanted to hear the local ‘star’ or for people now in the cities to hear the rural or ‘down home’ style they knew.
It is primal for sure and it’s nice to love something so niche. Makes you feel special. Part of an exclusive club!
But you can see why it influenced and was copied (commercially BTW) by many rock groups in the 1960s onwards.
Creams ‘Crossroads’ and Led Zeppelin’s ‘When The Levee Breaks’ being obvious examples.
I actually like both Son House and Taylor Swift!
Both are great at producing music that connects with their audience and transports them out of themselves.
If anybody is a songwriter they’ve got to listen to TS as she’s at the top.
You can learn something from her about catchiness and simplicity.
You can also learn what not to do if you want to be more interesting and alternative.
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@@TheWashboardResonators
Thanks for the insight.
When I say 'Taylor Swift', it's used in this context as a synonym for a commercialised music industry that generally uses and discards styles once enough money has been extracted. Her talent is not in question.
Although, we are not talking Holland Dozier Holland, Lieber and Stoller, and not even vaguely Lennon and McCartney.
As regards the original performers, I consider they had a right to use their musical heritage to create music to sell to an audience. But in this context, we're talking about, let's be honest, white performers 'borrowing' something that belongs to another culture. I think that can be done, but I think it should be done in a way that doesn't devalue the provenance of the original form.
That's why I'd draw a distinction between her (TS) and what I sense you're trying to do. You have researched this music, respect it and are not just using it as an overlay on something else to be 'different'.
In fact, by presenting this musical form you are, it seems to me, opening a path for people to go back to the original sources, which has to be a good thing.
I've heard people criticise Elvis for his Sun recordings of blues tunes. These critics miss two things, his dirt poor upbringing in the South where he was exposed to Blues, Gospel and Country and naturally assimilated and 'felt' the music, and the fact that every single musician whose songs he covered a, gained exposure and b, received very healthy songwriting royalties. And I don't think a single one resented in any way Elvis covering their material.
@Evan Hodge
Thanks for your comment.
I was listening to this stuff when you were still in nappies. And it might just be time you took them off and got some big boy pants like the rest of us grown ups.
I love these tutorials. Some of the best I’ve seen and I’ve learned so much. Thank you. It would be good to see you live. Do you ever play in Merseyside?
Not for a while. We used to do the back room at Maguires Pizza. We often play in Warrington at Manna House.
Greetings from Maine Martin. I too love the music from the 20's and 30's, blues ragtime, early jazz ie: Eddie lang, Lonnie Johnson etc. I have been playing fingerstyle blues and ragtime for a few years and also playing lap steel guitar with a slide. However, Its a different type of slide as you know a bar and i'm learning about using a glass slide for blues. I am going to use my pinky first like you do I also have smaller hands and this way I can continue to play the finger picking parts. I have a Dobro on its way to my house in a couple of days. Its one from the mid 90's, omi I think and is brass and nickel plated. I'm so excited. My question to you is, do you recommend medium or light gage strings? I realize its a steel guitar but want to get some Martin Monel retros just wondering what size you prefer. Thanks so much! tom
Did a video on strings wayyyy back. I’d usually say start 13/56 Phosphor Bronze (Daddario, John Pearse or Newtone) go to a 15 on the top if getting fret noise or even go to a set of 16/59 as I have on my gigging slide guitar for great control of the top string.
Have fun. Sounds like nice stuff!
I was told that when Sun House came out of retirement it had been many years since he had even picked up a guitar and he had forgotten a lot of what he used to do back in the twenties. Alan Wilson of Canned Heat was set on to mentor him back to form. Do you know if that’s true?
It is true! Such a funny situation!
hi Martyn, thanks for the video, a very understandable lesson... as you know, those of us who own resonator guitars are like petrol heads and we like info about the guitars as well as all the other good stuff ...hint hint..!!! any plans for playing in Ireland??
Lots of info on this channel! We’d love to come to Ireland! It’s just a case of hooking up good small ticket venues!
Love this type music. I’ve been desperate for some lessons in this style. Thanks. More please 🙏 Do you do any catfish Keith pieces? I just saw him live in Lemington spa, awesome player.
He’s incredible!
We’re going to be doing a podcast interview with him.
For various of our personal reasons it would have happened sooner but had to be put off so watch out for that!
We could do that. I like the song ‘Jitterbug Swing’ that was a Bukka White tune. He does a mean version of that!
I’ll put it in the list!
@@TheWashboardResonators awesome thanks! I just looked up Jitterbug swing and realised it’s one of my favourite ones so that’s fantastic. Thank you.
Hey Martyn. Great videos. I've been practicing them a little.
If I wanted to begin learning Bling Willie McTell, and the tuning was:
C#, G#, C#, F#, A#, D#
Would it need some thicker guage strings for the top string? I've been asking about and most people say it would need 12 guage or 13. But I'd rather not change strings if I can help it.
I'm thinking about a cheap 12 string exclusively for blues practicing, so I can alter the tuning. But more strings is more confusing, if the octave strings need changing too. Can't seem to find info on 12 string sets according to the guage. So thought I'd ask an expert
Thanks. Cousin Danny 😺
Update: I found some c# tuning strings
Yo!!
You should try the tuning and see how it sounds.
I like 12/13 on lower tuned standard stuff. I have 16s on my open C slide guitar.
Get a 12 for McTell.
I have a beautiful Stella replica just like McTells tuned to C.
Essentially I have a 12 set with heavy bass. They’re custom. The great Ralph Bown who made the guitar recommended the gauges.
I’d need to pull the case out with the string gauges written in there but that’s at my mums house in meltham! Can’t remember exactly.
Get a ‘heavy’ or ‘medium’ 12 string set.
Or go to Newtone strings website and they’ll recommend a set.
They’re based in Derbyshire and make the best strings.
@@TheWashboardResonators thanks mate. "Heavy" and "medium" comes up in searches. There's a lot to learn with guitar, setup as well as playing. But I'm enjoying it 😁
There is an "m" missing at the end of your website URL. Just in case the visit numbers drop ...😇
Thanks!!
Hi Martyn! Thanks for unravelling for us (for me, anyway...) the mysteries of these sounds. I'm teaching myself the resonator guitar, and I watched your vids about picks and bottlenecks, hence my question: in this vid, you're playing the first tune bare-fingered, and on the second you've only got a thumb-pick... whereas you advise playing with both thumb- and finger-picks. I can easily understand why the thumb pick is so important for the bass-snaps in the Son House piece, but then why no finger-picks?
Thank you again for your very plain lessons.
Hey.
It was getting late and I have neighbours is the simple answer!
Beyond that, the hill country stuff is nearly always done with bare fingers.
I wanted that authentic sound!
In terms of Son House, he always played bare fingered. I find it easier to do the snaps with a thumbpick.
The fingerpicks give me volume and speed. It’s a relatively easy song to play with out the need for much speed and I certainly didn’t need the volume at 10pm filming this!
Players should find what works for them and use that or vary even for certain songs!
Hope the lessons help! It’s a wonderful world of music!!
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@@TheWashboardResonators Thanks for your answer, Martyn. I've noticed that on any footage I've watched of him, Son House plays barefingered indeed. I agree that one must find one's own feel and method, and for the snap, I've just tried both barethumbed and with a pick: it's not even just a differen sound, but a completely new sound world.
Thanks for your lessons in general, and especially for this one.
What reso are ya playing there? sounds great
1935 National Duolian. Stripped paint. It’s killer.
All i can say is this is truly unbelievable, take that anyway you want, but if you understand the blues, then you'll know exactly where im coming from, but then what do i know, im a mentally ill guitar player, just climbed out a whiskey bottle after 20 years since my woman broke my heart and im trying to quit drugs now too, hopefully if this guy has the sense he'll have the balls to pin this comment to the top, that way his students might actually learn something valuable, son house, Robert johnson and all the other greats must be turning in they're graves, god forgive you
I agree Schizo Delta Man, I reckon if lead belly saw this he'd probably have gone back in jail for attempted murder coz he'd of been furious, people like him suffered and bared their souls to the world through music and then a guy like this thinks it's cool to make a living off the back of it playing to an audience that probably would know true blues music if it slapped then in the face which is what this guy needs
It’s just a lesson teaching people a little guitar so they can learn some blues vocab and then interpret it how they wish.
Listen to Son Houses song then cop that I’m teaching a simplified version with the same notes in the same tuning.
Go to some RUclips lessons that suit you if this doesn’t.
We make these to share knowledge, build a community and ultimately as a professional blues musician of 12 years they help sell a few extra tickets to gigs.
So don’t stink up my comments with your narcissism.
The world doesn’t revolve around you and your tastes.
You’re spending your life moaning on guitar lesson videos.
What could be more of a looser thing to do.
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Get some sunlight and go for a walk.
Lots of imagined violence here over a guitar lesson.
Chill the fuck out.
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Call your sponsor, work some steps and keep coming back
You got all the prerequisites for playing the blues. Me too, after 15 years of morphine and alcohol addiction, I'm 3 years clean. Focus on playing, not your past failures. My prayers are with you, mate.
Pensei que fosse uma aula...
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Ginger Blues
Grey Funk.
Is this really open G?
Yes.
@@TheWashboardResonators thank for the quick response. Than I have to check my tuner because my open G is different 😀
By the way. I love your videos and their is a lot to learn from them. Could you recommend me some „unknown“ Upside down players because i‘m one of them myself. Big thank you 🙏🏽!
No doubt it's open G, google it, and you will see :)
Do you prefer open D, or G?
Both for different reasons.
G for Delta and D for Hokum / Boogie!
@@TheWashboardResonators Awesome, thank for replying man! I tend to gravitate towards open D, but i think its because I don't what to play in open G! Your channel has been giving me lots of inspiration though
@@KenneyCmusicD is fun!! Open C is even better!
@@TheWashboardResonators Yes! I can play a little in Open C. Sunflower Blues by John Fahey, and I think Cripple Creek by Leo Kottke is too. Beautiful tuning!
Learning the finger picking is hard when you’re a basic pick player 😂
Took a long time for me at first. It comes though. Then you can go hybrid.
@ hell yeah! I’ll keep practicing. Been a long time metal/rock guy but love the sound of slide so I’ve been digesting your videos and learning all week. Love your sound ☺️
I think R.L. Burnside’s music is too different to call it Delta blues. R.L Burnside and Junior Kimbrough are Mississippi Hill Country Blues which is a different style than Delta Blues
Agreed but terms in blues are quite liquid.
Robert Johnson for instance has a one chord ‘hill country’ style song and more sophisticated Lonnie Johnson style songs but we’d call him delta blues.
In this instance the video is to help get people started in playing blues out of a tuning.
Real deep enthusiasts wouldn’t use this and would be isolating particular songs knowing the exact sub-genre they’re playing.
Weirdly wgen out gigging and meeting people who use this Chanel to learn, this video is one of the most complimented ones.
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That isn't a Mississippi accent is it
Not close but I love to hear Americans cover The Cure so we’re fine.
@@TheWashboardResonators what's the cure? Penicillin?
you need better lighting on NECK of guitar please
Was experimenting. Others are better. Hence the little insert shots.
Whats wrong with this video...
What’s right with this comment?