Not much
sweeter to the ear or more pleasing to play than fingerstyle blues
guitar. Pick up your box, play a few bars of a Muddy Waters
tune and watch faces light up immediately. As popular music is rooted to
the blues, blues is rooted to the original fingerstyle techniques of
pioneers Robert Johnson, Big Bill, Leadbelly, Lightning Hopkins, Blind
Lemon and many others. Contemporaries Ry Cooder, John Hammond, Leo Kotke,
Chet Atkins and and a truckload of others keep this rare art form alive
and very well.
Less
is certainly more when it comes to fingerstyle blues. No brain-twisting
theory and techniques to master. Just a few basic chords, couple of open
tunings and a handful of simple picks to learn. So why such a mystery for
so many players? Because effective fingerstyle blues instruction is real
scarce -- our inspiration to produce the 60-Day Fingerstyle Blues
Camp 10-CD Video Course. But first we had to find the best fingerstyle
blues instruction on the planet ...
Sourcing top fingerstyle blues instruction was slam-dunk easy. Acoustic
Guitar Workshop! We've been working with them for quite a few years
now and their individual lessons are always in TrueFire's top rankings.
Rick Payne and Steve Elliot formed a magical symbiosis known the world
over as The Acoustic
Guitar Workshop, a world-class acoustic guitar web site based in England.
Rick's waters run deep -- brilliant
composer/performer, world renown master of the fingerstyle blues form,
with an uncanny ability to breakdown and communicate the essential
elements of the style. Steve Elliot, founder of the Acoustic Guitar
Workshop and recently hailed as a "British Master of The Blues", is also a
successful songwriter and instructor. Together they've authored three highly praised fingerstyle blues
courses and five CDs worth of classic and original fingerstyle blues
tunes.
This 10-CD course features all
three interactive Video CD courses on 5 CDs plus all five audio
CDs.
This study program is straightforward and very
effective. Work through each of the three
courses sequentially: Fingerstyle Blues Guitar I, Fingerstyle Blues Guitar
II and then Acoustic Slide Guitar. Take on one chapter at a time for at
least an hour a day. You'll quickly learn to master the tunings,
fingerpicking styles and techniques of fingerstyle blues and acoustic
slide guitar. Along the way, you'll add a set's worth of solo fingerstyle
tunes to perk up your repertoire.
But here's the trick - give your
regular play list a break and keep the five audio CDs cranked and playing
in your car, walkman, PC and home stereo until you hear the material in
your sleep. This will bring the style to life on your fingertips as you
apply what you hear to how you play.
The
course is presented in an interactive PDF manual with 185 video lessons
(Windows Media and Quicktime), 200 audio elements (MP3), text, tab, charts
and Power Tab, which allows you to "see" and "hear" tab played out at any
tempo in perfect pitch.
If you've got desire, intermediate
skills and are willing to devote 60 days learning and listening to
this course -- you'll be well on your way to becoming a monster
fingerstyle blues player.
Rick Payne shares a few words
...
"As an eager student of the acoustic
guitar, I have always been interested in discovering the mechanics of
playing different styles. I had been through loads of normal books on
fingerstyle but couldn't find the essence of simplicity that the playing
of Muddy Waters or Big Bill Broonzy conjured up. It was frustrating. I
found I could play all kinds of bluesy instrumentals but lacked what I
felt was real blues.
As all good things come to pass, I
finally had my eureka a few years down the line. I was listening to an
album by Lightening Hopkins and was amazed that all I was hearing was a
four beat boom on the bass strings and an occasional ting on the top. Of
course, there were other things happening - a pick here and a pick there -
but the essence was there in that rhythmic, 'boom, boom, boom, boom'. From
then on, I could hear the same in all the great players - Broonzy,
Johnson, etc. etc. I started from that four beat pattern and took it from
there. It's all a simple thing really. The hardest part is to train
yourself to be simple and clear about the bottom line. All the other
elements in the playing will fit together easily.
So, these sessions that I share with
you, are part of my own journey of discovery in the blues. Hopefully
they'll become part of yours too."
This 10-session course covers all of the techniques you'll need to
dive into the deep waters of fingerstyle blues and give your playing that
essential authentic feel.
What makes this course so distinctive,
and effective, is its play-as-you-go approach. You'll learn a key
technique and then immediately learn a tune (8 of them in all) that
employs that particular technique.
Building your repertoire at the same
time you're learning the style is why Fingerstyle Blues 1 is your first
stop on the crossroads.
Here's a sampling of the techniques and tunes you'll learn in
Fingerstyle Blues 1:
Now
that you've got a handle on the techniques covered previously and are
getting big kicks watching faces light up with your new repertoire of
fingerstyle blues tunes -- let's get serious!
Time to pump up your thumb and finger
chops with another ten sessions worth of fingerstyle studies covering more
styles, techniques, ragtime, chords and turnarounds.
You'll also add another couple of
blues tunes to your set list.
Here's
a sampling of the techniques and tunes you'll learn in Fingerstyle Blues
2:
This Acoustic Blues Slide and Bottleneck Guitar course is icing
on the cake. Here's 10 more sessions focused solely on the art of
acoustic slide playing. Again, you'll study a technique and then learn a
tune to put your new chops to work. Six more tunes on the set list!
The course takes you in logical steps,
assuming no prior knowledge of the style, to playing like Son House, John
Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters all wrapped up into one.
Every technique covered translates
directly to electric
slide
as well, so feel free to plug in, turn up and rock out.
Here's a sampling of the techniques
and tunes you'll learn in Acoustic Slide Guitar:
Listen and learn, guitar friends! If you're trying to learn a
style, you have to listen to as much of the music as possible. Sure as
eggs is eggs, it'll seep into your subconscious and come out in your
playing.
The licks, tricks and techniques
taught on the tuition CD's are featured in real performance situations on
"Broke Down Blues" and the four other audio CD's in this collection.
Delta, ragtime, piedmont and awesome acoustic slide playing, you'll get
blues to the bone here, with critically
acclaimed versions of standards like "St Louis Blues", "Police Dog
Blues", and Big Bill Broonzy's classic "The Glory Of Love".
More of a Nu Blues kind of a scene here. All these tunes, bar
"Help Me" are Payne/Elliott originals. It's
blues for sure, but the CD demonstrates that this great genre is not
caught in some kind of a time warp, and that there are still new things to
say using the blues framework and idiom.
The haunting "Blue River Blues"
showcases the phenomenal slide guitar talents of Rick Payne and has a
structure that flows like the river it celebrates - the Yuba that
winds through northern
California's gold country. If you need an example of tone
and technique to aspire to, this is it.
Er, apart
from being a smart alec title, what's eclectic mean? Gathering from
different sources is what. This CD features the fingerstyle talents of
Steve Elliott. The cuts here are moving away somewhat from the blues into
an area you might call contemporary fingerstyle.
All Steve's influences (blues,
ragtime, celtic, folk, classical and rock) are in the melting pot here.
The point of all this for the guitar student is not to get too hung up on
styles. Fact is, the techniques you learn with the Acoustic Guitar
Workshop, while firmly blues
based, can be
employed in a wide variety of genres.
Many of the
cuts here demonstrate how two acoustic guitars can make magic
together. Check out the version of Blind
Blake's "Ditty Wa Ditty". The lead breaks will drop your jaw for sure!
This is ragtime guitar playing at its scintillating best, fast and furious
but always in control.
Slow down with another acoustic guitar
duo situation: the achingly beautiful jazz/blues ballad, "Cafe Blue". The
way the lead acoustic weaves in and out of the solid fingerpicked rhythm
of the first guitar can teach you
heaps about
phrasing and arrangement. "Devil Inside" is a devilishly good
album.
This is the one you'll want to keep with you at all times -
in your portable player... in your car... wherever you go, these 17
kicking acoustic blues and fingerstyle tracks are essential listening if
you're serious about becoming the best acoustic blues player you
can be.
This collection brings together all
the best cuts from the CD's mentioned above and features AGW's twice
Number 1 mp3.com Blues hit, "Deep Blue". In the words of the great Big
Bill Broonzy, "Anybody who don't like this is crazy". It's the perfect CD
to listen to and learn from.
Pick up the complete 10-CD Fingerstyle Blues Video Course for $125
to save $35 and rack up free bonus material. You get all 10 CDs with interactive
manuals, 185 video lessons, 200 audio files, text, tab, charts and Power
Tab files for all sessions and lessons. A free full version of Power
Tab Editor for Windows is also included. We'll even add $15
to your TrueFire Cash account.
Order the complete 10-CD
Fingerstyle Blues Video Course within the next 5 Days and get all of the
following three FREE bonuses!
Free Subscription to the
Acoustic Guitar Workshop ($20 value)
2 Free NetCDs of Rick Payne's
"Instrumentally Yours" & "Lost Tracks" - 8 kicking acoustic blues numbers including "Smack Dab",
"Hard Ridin' Papa" plus Mp3 EP featuring Blind Blake, Leadbelly, Johnny
Shines and Rory Block (worth the price of admission alone!)
Order by Phone: Call 1-800-222-3366 during business hours
If you're not
completely blown away with this course, we'll refund every penny of your
investment and let you keep the bonus material just for checking the
course out. Square deal? Pick it up!
Delivery: Add $4.00 shipping and handling for
single CDs, $1.50 for each additional CD. Add $7.50 for the complete 10-CD
course.
Payment
Methods: We accept Visa, MasterCard & American Express.
Checks and Money Orders also accepted.
System
Requirements: CDs are formatted in Windows Media and Quicktime
(video) MP3 (audio), PDF (tab notation) and Power Tab. Audio CDs are
formatted for play on normal stereos and computers. Any computer
with sound and a printer will work just fine. No big system demands - this
is very friendly stuff. Power Tab is only available for Windows but we
also include midi tab files for Mac users. All other components work great
on Mac.
Interactive Video
Less
is certainly more when it comes to fingerstyle blues. No brain-twisting
theory and techniques to master. Just a few basic chords, couple of open
tunings and a handful of simple picks to learn. So why such a mystery for
so many players? Because effective fingerstyle blues instruction is real
scarce -- our inspiration to produce the 60-Day Fingerstyle Blues
Camp 10-CD Video Course. But first we had to find the best fingerstyle
blues instruction on the planet ...
