gregory123
Verified buyer
04/21/25
Excellent!
Lone Wolf Blues
Techniques, insight, and repertoire for American roots guitar
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About this course
David Blacker's Lone Wolf Blues examines the techniques and guitar stylings of early acoustic and country blues and explores their influence on the contemporary American Roots scene.
Blacker has invested thousands of hours studying and documenting American Roots guitar music. "Blues is the heart and soul of all great American music. Early blues music sparked an unprecedented individual spirit and distinctly American archetype. One lone voice singing a song and telling a uniquely personal story that connects to the collective heart and mind."
American Roots music is a broad category spanning folk, bluegrass, gospel, jug band, country and of course -- the blues. Lone Wolf Blues drills down on the early stylings of pioneers like Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson and Son House but also examines more contemporary lone wolf artists like Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Johnny Cash. "There's no one particular sound to the Lone Wolf Blues. It's more of a vibe, feeling or an attitude. It has lots of history and deep roots but remains present and fresh."
In Lone Wolf Blues, Blacker demonstrates the key techniques that have been passed down from early blues players to modern day Americana songwriters. You'll learn right-hand picking techniques to keep a bass line going on the low strings while playing an independent melody line on the higher strings. You'll learn Travis Picking where you alternate a bass line between two of the low strings while playing through some complex higher string melody lines.
Blacker will show you the key chord shapes to perform a wide range of early and contemporary stylized pieces, and to fuel your own musical ideas. You'll also work with essential open tunings, from the perspective of a songwriter, to give you a whole new palette of options to work with as a solo guitarist and/or singer-songwriter.
You'll play your way through Lone Wolf Blues -- all of the techniques and fundamentals are taught in context through a series of 20 repertoire-building pieces that introduce you to the wide variety of sounds and styles of American Roots guitar. From down home country and delta blues to folk, bluegrass and even some of the more jazzy tonalities, you'll walk away with a solid bag of American Roots chops.
Blacker has invested thousands of hours studying and documenting American Roots guitar music. "Blues is the heart and soul of all great American music. Early blues music sparked an unprecedented individual spirit and distinctly American archetype. One lone voice singing a song and telling a uniquely personal story that connects to the collective heart and mind."
American Roots music is a broad category spanning folk, bluegrass, gospel, jug band, country and of course -- the blues. Lone Wolf Blues drills down on the early stylings of pioneers like Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson and Son House but also examines more contemporary lone wolf artists like Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Johnny Cash. "There's no one particular sound to the Lone Wolf Blues. It's more of a vibe, feeling or an attitude. It has lots of history and deep roots but remains present and fresh."
In Lone Wolf Blues, Blacker demonstrates the key techniques that have been passed down from early blues players to modern day Americana songwriters. You'll learn right-hand picking techniques to keep a bass line going on the low strings while playing an independent melody line on the higher strings. You'll learn Travis Picking where you alternate a bass line between two of the low strings while playing through some complex higher string melody lines.
Blacker will show you the key chord shapes to perform a wide range of early and contemporary stylized pieces, and to fuel your own musical ideas. You'll also work with essential open tunings, from the perspective of a songwriter, to give you a whole new palette of options to work with as a solo guitarist and/or singer-songwriter.
You'll play your way through Lone Wolf Blues -- all of the techniques and fundamentals are taught in context through a series of 20 repertoire-building pieces that introduce you to the wide variety of sounds and styles of American Roots guitar. From down home country and delta blues to folk, bluegrass and even some of the more jazzy tonalities, you'll walk away with a solid bag of American Roots chops.
What you'll learn
- Apply steady bass technique to minor key progressions
- Use minor key steady bass for songwriting
- Expand fingerstyle repertoire beyond major keys
- Follow along with a click track while maintaining musicality
- Develop timing and rhythm consistency
Release date: 06/06/2012 • 2h 50m runtime
Sample lessons
Steady Bass Technique
Lone Wolf Basics: 2
Big Bad Bill
Performance
Breakdown
Big Bad Bill
Play-along
Big Bad Bill
What's included
68 lessons • 24 charts
Lone Wolf Blues
Lone Wolf Blues explores the common ground between early acoustic blues styles and techniques and their influence on the American Roots songwriter. Blues can be said to be the heart and soul of all great American music. One might go a step further and say that early blues music was the birthplace of a new kind of individual spirit or a distinctly American archetype. To me that's the spirit of the Lone Wolf. One lone voice singing a song and telling a uniquely personal story that connects to the collective heart and mind. That spirit began with players like Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson and Son House and continues on through the years with artists like Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Johnny Cash. There's no one particular sound to the Lone Wolf Blues. It's more of a vibe, feeling or an attitude. It has history and roots but is present and fresh.
In this course we're going to look at the key techniques that have been passed down from early blues players to modern day Americana songwriters. We're going to explore steady bass picking whereby you keep a bass line going on the low strings while playing an independent melody line on the higher strings. You can hear this style in the playing of greats like Lightnin Hopkins or Big Bill Broonzy to name a few. We're going to look at the fingerpicking technique of Travis Picking whereby you alternate a bass line between two of the low strings while playing through some complex higher string melody lines. We'll also explore key chord shapes and fragments that will open you up to creating lots of new musical ideas. In addition we'll explore some of the more essential open tunings from the perspective of the songwriter. The idea with all these techniques is to give you a whole new palette of options to work with as a solo guitarist and/or singer-songwriter.
This course features 20 repertoire building pieces that will introduce you to the sounds and styles of American Roots guitar. Learning these pieces will open up a number of directions you may choose to follow. From down home country blues to bluegrass and jazzy tonalities you'll have a lot of directions to choose from. They'll also introduce you to some great blues and roots cover songs and the artists behind them. I've always found that learning by doing worked best for me, so it's my hope that by learning these 20 pieces you will have a great starting point for developing your own sound and style.
In this course we're going to look at the key techniques that have been passed down from early blues players to modern day Americana songwriters. We're going to explore steady bass picking whereby you keep a bass line going on the low strings while playing an independent melody line on the higher strings. You can hear this style in the playing of greats like Lightnin Hopkins or Big Bill Broonzy to name a few. We're going to look at the fingerpicking technique of Travis Picking whereby you alternate a bass line between two of the low strings while playing through some complex higher string melody lines. We'll also explore key chord shapes and fragments that will open you up to creating lots of new musical ideas. In addition we'll explore some of the more essential open tunings from the perspective of the songwriter. The idea with all these techniques is to give you a whole new palette of options to work with as a solo guitarist and/or singer-songwriter.
This course features 20 repertoire building pieces that will introduce you to the sounds and styles of American Roots guitar. Learning these pieces will open up a number of directions you may choose to follow. From down home country blues to bluegrass and jazzy tonalities you'll have a lot of directions to choose from. They'll also introduce you to some great blues and roots cover songs and the artists behind them. I've always found that learning by doing worked best for me, so it's my hope that by learning these 20 pieces you will have a great starting point for developing your own sound and style.
Lone Wolf Basics
If you're new to acoustic blues or fingerstyle guitar then definitely take some time to get these fundamentals together before moving on to the repertoire building pieces.
Take it slow and easy and have patience. It usually takes a lot of messing up before it all clicks in, so have some fun with it and know it's just a matter of practice and time.
Take it slow and easy and have patience. It usually takes a lot of messing up before it all clicks in, so have some fun with it and know it's just a matter of practice and time.
The Travis Picking Technique
The Travis picking technique has its roots in early blues music (probably way before) and was made famous by Merle Travis. You can also hear it in players like Chet Atkins, Brian Setzer, Scotty Moore, and many more.
The idea here is that you alternate a bass line between two of the low strings played with the thumb of your right hand. While you're keeping the bass line going you embellish it with melody notes on the top strings.
Here in this video we look at a really simple example of Travis picking over G and C chords. If you are new to this then practice it one beat at a time until it becomes natural. When you think you have it pretty solid then try to work with the play-along.
The idea here is that you alternate a bass line between two of the low strings played with the thumb of your right hand. While you're keeping the bass line going you embellish it with melody notes on the top strings.
Here in this video we look at a really simple example of Travis picking over G and C chords. If you are new to this then practice it one beat at a time until it becomes natural. When you think you have it pretty solid then try to work with the play-along.
Steady Bass Technique
The steady bass technique is a cornerstone of acoustic blues playing made popular by players like Big Bill Broonzy and Lightnin Hopkins. When you are playing in the steady bass style, you mute the strings with your right hand laying on the bridge which is commonly referred to as palm muting.
In the steady bass style your thumb keeps the bass line and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd fingers of your right hand handle the high melody notes. You can also incorporate a steady quarter note foot stomp to add more percussion to the sound. Work with the play-along, take it slow and then move on to the repertoire building pieces.
In the steady bass style your thumb keeps the bass line and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd fingers of your right hand handle the high melody notes. You can also incorporate a steady quarter note foot stomp to add more percussion to the sound. Work with the play-along, take it slow and then move on to the repertoire building pieces.
Hammer-ons & Pull-offs
In this video we look at hammer-ons and pull-offs in a blues context. Try to get that little phrase together and then if it becomes really easy you can incorporate a steady bass line.
The Triplet Feel
The triplet feel is a rhythmic pattern you are going to run into a lot in this course particularly when playing through the steady bass numbers. I just wanted to call your attention to it as something you can use with a chord fragment and a steady bass line to accompany yourself.
Lone Wolf Repertoire
The Lone Wolf Repertoire covers 20 progressions that involve key right hand techniques such as steady bass picking and Travis picking as well as classic blues and americana melody lines and phrases. We'll also move through open tunings.
These pieces will introduce you to some of the key artists and songs that you should be aware of in the blues and american roots style. The goal of this repertoire is to open up a number of possible directions for you to follow.
So have some fun with this!
These pieces will introduce you to some of the key artists and songs that you should be aware of in the blues and american roots style. The goal of this repertoire is to open up a number of possible directions for you to follow.
So have some fun with this!
+ 61 more lessons
Reviews
24 results
pvickers
Verified buyer
03/09/25
Enjoyed This One!
Great course! David Blacker does a wonderful job of demonstrating and teaching the material. Also the backing tracks and tablature are very helpful. I purchased this course primarily for the "Think Again" lesson. Definitely worthwhile.
Dave K.
01/21/25
Great Intro to Travis Picking
I've played guitar for many many years, but have struggled getting Travis Picking down. I really appreciate the small bites that these songs provide and they are really fun to play. I've gone through this entire course a couple of times now and keep getting cool little nuggets I can use. Keep them coming David.
woolley13
Verified buyer
07/19/24
Great
Personally, I like it. It's explained clearly and presented very well 👍
Mariska
10/31/23
Nice fingerstyle blues course
One of my all time favorite courses on TrueFire so far. David is a great teacher and learns you a variety of nice fingerstyle blues tunes. I wish there would be a sequel of this course.
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