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Thread: Bit by the Blues bug

  1. #1
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    I returned from Louisianna, bit by the Blues bug. (It helps that I have made a new, um... friend, who is a Dobro playing Bluesman.) Anyway, I have been trying to figure out the chords to some Jazz/Blues-type standards like Pennies from Heaven and I Get Along Without you Very Well, with little success. Are there any Beginning Blues Mando books out there? I have been trying to adapt Bluegrass meathod to Blues, but no, it's not the same. Help!
    You are only young once, but you can be immature forever.

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    Hi Debbie,
    I haven't found any instruction books for mando blues, just the Steve James video...which is pretty good. I think Rich Delgrosso is going to put one out, but no idea when.

    Try 7th chords, there are plenty of resourses here and on the web. Have fun!!!!
    live music is best

  3. #3
    String-Bending Heretic mandocrucian's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by
    How are your Blues skills on the Mandolin? Are deficiencies in this area hindering your progression?

    Do you just want to learn to play a new style / genre of music?
    Playing "convincing" blues mandolin is much more than just tossing in the occasional flat 7th and 3rd "blue notes" or using the blues scale to solo, just as learning a few old-time fiddle tunes doesn't turn a classical violinist into an old-time fiddler. This class will look at many of the components that will help to make your mandolin sound like it was born to play blues music.

    The class will look at examples of traditional blues mandolin (Yank Rachell, Johnny Young, Ry Cooder) but will also expand the horizons to include Piedmont-style fingerpicking (Mississippi John Hurt) as well as vocabulary and approaches derived from Chicago blues (Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf), modern electric guitarists (BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix) and even piano players (Fats Domino, Dr. John).....


    More details: Blues Mandolin Boot Camp, Oct 1-4, 2006, Appomattox, Virginia
    Niles Hokkanen

    <span style='font-size:8pt;line-height:100%'>Mandocrucian catalog</span>

    Mandocrucian tracks on SoundCloud

    CoMando Guest of the Week 2003 interview of Niles

    "I could be wrong now, but I don't think so!." - Randy Newman ("It's A Jungle Out There")

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    Debbie, try out this link:

    http://www.theguitarguy.com/songs.htm

    It has alot fo the old standards, though some of the changes shown may be questionable.
    mandollusional Mike

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    If you can read notation, you can probably adapt the blues lessons over at Acousticguitar.com
    Affordable lots in the Dutch Caribbean
    http://www.bellavistabonaire.com
    Bought a tricordia

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    I have this book:

    Anthology of Mandolin Music by Bud Orr

    and while the section on rock and blues is pretty short, it is highly illuminating. It has a few songs, but more valuable IMO is instruction on blues chord patterns and scales that help you figure out more songs or improvise. BTW, the book is one of my faves in general. It has all kinds of music with notation and tab. I tend to bounce around and I can generally find something in there I feel like playing.



    "First you master your instrument, then you master the music, then you forget about all that ... and just play"
    Charlie "Bird" Parker

  7. #7
    wannabe mandolin wizzard bluesmandolinman's Avatar
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    Debbie

    the few things available for Blues Mandolin I put together here :

    Blues Mando

    In my opinion nothing compares to privat instruction !!!
    So the mandocrucian´s workshop is the real thing...
    Carl Martin - Everyday I have the Blues

    My gear : 1927 A0/Ajr , JM-11 , Fender 346 white XH

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    Another resource I forgot to mention:

    Mike Perry's chord progression info

    Again, good general info and you will notice that one chapter is specifically blues.
    "First you master your instrument, then you master the music, then you forget about all that ... and just play"
    Charlie "Bird" Parker

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    Whats an Umfriend?

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    I don't think of "Pennies from Heaven" or "I Get Along Without You Very Well" as BLUES tunes. #They're more jazz / swing standards. #

    There's a lot of info floating around (both on the Cafe and at Jazzmando.com) on swing mando, which (IMHO) is more appropriate for such tunes than "blues" per se.

    I agree with the "you'll play a lot of 7ths" comment, but you'll also need to learn 6ths and diminished (and half-diminished) chords. #

    There are lots of good "Fake Books" that have chords and melody lines / lyrics for standards. #I particularly like "The Standards Real Book" by Sher Music. #(NFI.) #See http://www.shermusic.com/standard_real.htm

    Most of the players I know make up their own fake books (in binders, with pages protected by those clear plastic paper protectors so that you can take the pages out as needed) of the songs they know with the progressions written out in the keys they play in, with BIG chord notation so you can read it from a distance.
    EdSherry

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    Swingblues.com is another good online resource, again only useful if you can read notation.
    Affordable lots in the Dutch Caribbean
    http://www.bellavistabonaire.com
    Bought a tricordia

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    I am not a big proponent of tab, but I recently started learning this song:
    Johnny Young's Shuffle
    using TabView and it is a great practice tune and confidence builder. The first few bars are not that hard and sound pretty good even if you don't quite keep up at first. There are a few licks in there that you will find useful in other songs and since it is in G, it is really easy to figure out where to play the licks in other keys.
    "First you master your instrument, then you master the music, then you forget about all that ... and just play"
    Charlie "Bird" Parker

  13. #13
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    I just got another great resource! Take a look here:

    Niles Hokkanen's catalog

    Scroll down to the back issues of the Mandocrucian Digest. Look at the descriptions on issues 9-12. An interview with a blues legend, a Rich D blues article, 3 J McGann articles on blues (I probably should have ordered #13 to make it 4 articles), some of Nile's rhythm articles that are very applicable to blues (shuffles and walking chords), a couple of the bluegrass articles have a definite blues bent to them and the Cajun shuffle has some application as well. As an added bonus, you get pictures of John McGann with hair - lots of it! #

    In another thread, Niles recommended his book on Bluegrass Up the Neck as a good resource for blues technique also (that's available on the same page). The articles are perfect for my short attention span, though. It's not going off in yet another different direction; just short diversions that apply to what I am trying to learn in general. Good stuff - this moves to the top of my previous list of blues resources (none of which are a comprehensive standalone blues course; such a thing doesn't seem to exist)!






    "First you master your instrument, then you master the music, then you forget about all that ... and just play"
    Charlie "Bird" Parker

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