Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out: Rough Guide

[LBachmanUH]

Thanks for sharing... always nice to meet a giver along the road.

[toneroable]

Hello amigo..... I am a romantic latin and always wanted a few blues song in my menu, like this one. I go to bars once in a while and they let me play a song. Next time I'll have this ( I HOPE ) ready...'cause of you. Gracias................ Andres from NY

[CLeboncheval]

merci beaucoup mister hendfieldwill

[kimmygaa]

I have been learning how to play the guitar for one year. I have never posted a response before to anyone. But you are really helping me learn. and for that I thank you. I have a long ways to go but with your help maybe I can learn this song. You gave me all the tools I needed. the rest is up to me.. jaminpapa

[HenfieldWill]

@kimmygaa Glad to be of some use - thanks for the kind words - keep up the practise... :-)

[florymarj91176]

this is song is a FARMVILLE background music... =)

[bigwilliesmokyeyes]

a good video for a good song ! ! ! thanks and greetings from France . . .

[mcbuzzed]

Best lesson ever!!!!

[TTexas2]

Just heard this song on a friday night JAM for the first time.

Had to find out the chords.

Your teaching method is excellent for me as I play only by ear.

The slides & arpeggios really add class.

I 've bookmarked your web-site for future songs.

I will play this tune on tuesday night at an all acoustic JAM in Texas.

Thanks for posting.☆☆☆☆☆

[silvermediastudio]

Nice video. But let's give some credit to Jimmie Cox, who actually wrote the tune.

[BeerGogglesReviews]

Thank you my friend. Great tutorial.

[dtoohey]

So glad I discovered this well done lesson and your website as well. Besides adding a great song to my repertoire, I've found a fantastic teacher. Thanks so much.

[FenderBndr1]

This probably the best video on how to learn this song...I like how you did this video! VERY COOL Thank you

[haulsafeentltd]

What an absolutely thorough and clear way of teaching. I'll say amongst the best I've ever seen. So well played too! Well done, I will be checking out your website.

[seattenber]

Cool! I went looking for a Bessie Smith arrangement of this and, wow! This is way better than I expected to find! I think I might be able to play this at open mike night in a couple of weeks. Thank you!!!

[HenfieldWill]

@seattenber Best of luck for the open mic. :-)

[Epeyolo]

I busked my way to Holland with this one, many years ago. The old ones are the best!

[miloapollo]

John From Australia.

Just discovered your video- really-really good- many thanks. Wonderful- thanks again.

[Flienlow]

Looks like it took a Brit to do something proper! Thank you so much for posting. I had this down in about 20 mintues. Most of my paying has been simple bar chords in the past. Its time I learn to play some music. This is truly a beautiful piece.

[Rkocakiran]

Thank you so much for your hard work

[daddyblue123456]

Thanks from Tn.

[rickplaysguitar]

wow thanks a lot for this video! this is really great. thanks again

[2KEKER2]

cool!

[rossstanford1]

I am going to buy an acoustic guitar just to learn how to play this song! Thanks so much for helping!

[MrsMiddenfaceMcNulty]

This is just great. Thanks for all the hard work you do in putting on your sensational videos. Really appreciate it.........you keep me going. Cheers Will.

[HenfieldWill]

@MrsMiddenfaceMcNulty Glad you liked it! :-)

[MrsMiddenfaceMcNulty]

Hi Will. Another great lesson from you. Thanks very much. You really keep my guitar playing going strong. Cheers again.

[supertavshan]

Pretty fly for a white guy! Excellent vid! 

[istahota1]

The best instructional vid i've ever seen. Wonderful job--i couldn't do this at all but seems like it would be pretty time consuming even if you do? Love the tune, love the way you play it and really really enjoyed learning it in this fashion. The sequencing is just right in terms of playing it, reviewing it with diagrams, both together and so forth. Brilliant job, mate!

[dirosaga]

Ps i found its nice jamming to this in Minor Pentatonic in A

[dirosaga]

Man I gotta say, every time i watch this and try to learn, it gets better and better. like, i know this may be a bit flattering, but you realllyyy knoowwwww the guitarr. I mean, it really brings out the beuty of the intrument, this song, and the way you play it. Learning this song, and trying to play the style you play it, with arpeggio like like style and slides, i feel like i'm playing a harp sometimes. How you play the chords to get those higher root notes for the chords. Just awsome! =D

[HenfieldWill]

@dirosaga Oh, a spot of flattery is always welcome... :-) There's a slight arpeggio applied to some of the chords - playing the strings quickly from lowest to highest - which helps to fill in the overall sound, and there's also just straight picking the whole chord as a block. The slides just add a little colour! :-) Will

[dirosaga]

The Josh White version of this on Youtube is amazing in my opinion.

[Kirwing1]

Great display of this classic song. Yeah, really enjoy the tonal quality of your guitar and great playing. Thumbs up!

[mickdaniels1]

best lesson ever !!!!! well done...brialliant!! wow

[J4ckstr4w]

Thank you so much. All the effort you put into that is much appreciated.

[oldguy537]

always love your playing, and this was a great lesson ..

[loubich76]

respect!!

[lebowskirulz]

hi im mr. fly :)

[GregRoxx]

Briliant lesson.thank you very much for posting.

[empiremonkey]

Mr. Fly, please check your message box!

[singlishpunk]

thank you! i love it!

[guyglowmore1]

liked the song for 4 decades, nailed it on guitar in a day. thanx will, really appreciate

[guyglowmore1]

great song, fine teaching method short of sheet music, and excellent playing. thanx alot for the lesson. was introduced to this song by winwood/spencer davis, who taught it to clapton, but the original, which is usually the best is just super. thanx again for the lesson. good style for this medium. if ppl want to do another version they can always capo or transpose and quit their complaining.

[oreodontist]

I need to give my thanks again for this remarkable lesson. I added a twangy note here and there...arpeggioed (is that a real verb?) the G6. All just to add a bit of 'my own' to your great interpretation of this tune. Lighter strings and an 'ever so slight' loosening of the truss rod gives my guitar a taste of that unique sound from your Tanglewood.

Bottom line. I can now play this tune HALF as well you do and that's stil darn good.

A big thanks from Canada

[HenfieldWill]

Glad you found it useful - keep up the good work1 :-)

[acdcrocker]

Very nice. thank-you!

[whitestripebuzz]

Best lesson method i have ever seen. Thank you so much for doing this.

[Dannyb24410]

Alright mate don't wet yourself! If you hadn't noticed I paid you a compliment by saying that you have a good teaching method. You truly don't receive compliments well.

[TOMMYd0888]

Wow. You tell him not to wet himself after he corrects you?

"It's all wrong... Eric Clapton would never use bar chords."

You have no idea what you sound like, your ignorance is almost comical. Get a clue.

[Dannyb24410]

Nice teaching process but it's all wrong. Wrong chords and Eric Clapton would never use bar chords.

[HenfieldWill]

Why quote Eric Clapton? The song comes from Bessie Smith and the 1930s. I'm not trying to teach EC's version of it and, in fact, have never heard it! I've been playing this for nearly 50 years and this is one way to play it.

[Pandora20007]

¡muchas gracias!

[croitorasulcelfricos]

God bless you Will, as teacher you are amazing, it was soooooo helpfull, thaks a lot

[warnesie]

Excellent. This is a prettier version tyhe Clapton one which I have been learning and I'm inspired to make an amalgam of both. Thank very much.

[BookofIsaiah]

Really nice instruction!! Please keep posting some more Blues instruction!  Your lessons are very well done!!

[Thomas05091942]

Very nice and thank you!

[bluesjuke]

Excellent approach in teaching!

[BoscoeFrance]

I have been playing for thirty years. That was the most clear concise teaching I have witnessed. Good day sir.

[whistlingboy]

now that's real unselfish teaching.....thanks a lot, Will

[MikeyfromBrooklyn]

Thanks SO MUCH!!

[selracterim2]

useful 100x100 thanks maestro

[thomasioth2]

This is good for the beginners. Gw!

It's thue tho ... "Nobody knows you when your down and OUT" ...and... "when your back on your feet again, everyone wants to be your long lost pal."

Keep it on. My guess is lotta beginning guitarists can use this kinda excamples.

(key remains tho...practise, practise, practise!)

[lamcheezy]

your guitar sounds amazing

[thomasioth2]

Indeed ..fly on ;)

[333blues]

SUPER !

Thank you very much !!!

[KnifemakingUnplugged]

Wow! What a teacher! Pulling out all that technology to our advantage. Best lesson Ive ever seen. Thanks brother!

[HenfieldWill]

Glad you found it useful. :-)

[gnomolokillo]

Thanks! it looked to me a nice and clear way for learning guitar chords. Congratulations for your work.

[PETERMARIAFLOWERS]

OK, MAESTRO

[sjziro]

Hi Will, Thank you so much for this wonderfully useful video. You have a brand new fan/follower! I'm a beginner on the guitar so your videos and website are fantastically helpful to someone like me. Thanks!

[olwhistler]

This is absolutely fantastic. Unreal Will !! I don't think I have sense to do it, you are great . WHP-Texas

[m4rKo7]

Great vid!!!

[philipglaser]

Brilliant - and many thanks from all of us amateurs! We can only admire the dedication,and generosity in your doing all of this.

Philip

[rlsmmm]

Thank You, that was brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!

[sirichai1234]

Thank you so much, great teaching VDO.

[StonernoMax]

this is extremely helpful, i love it bro. with the stop animation... just makes it easy to learn. 5 stars!

[CrackerJackLee]

thank you Will! nice tune. you've passed along another piece of the mystery.

[kdixon7244]

Will, when you play the song on open strings at the end, what chords are you using for D9 and D7/9? I can't find any voicings for them that look like what you're playing. Thanks

[CrackerJackLee]

hey, bud, first inversion of D major chord. instead of D F# A it's F# A D.

in first position that arpeggio/chord is F# A D A D F#.

after learning the basic folk chords, learn the first and second inversion of each while studying the CAGED fingerboard pattern.

took me years to find this out

now i'm too old to rock

all the gals are still young

an' i'm just an ol' crock!

[tositosi111]

thank you! great!

[scouseroulette]

excellent teaching.. i learnt this fast with your video. thankyou

[Nap1manband]

Just want you to know that I'm appreciating what u've done for all of us.

Thanks again for sharing your talent.

[anchormon]

This is so excellent! Thanks. I don't guess you'll be adding the diagrams showing which notes your are picking (and which are fretted) like you have on some other songs? What a lot of work - just know it's really appreciated and enjoyed!

[Ryjen41]

Awesome teaching,keep it up and we will all be jammin!!!

[falco566]

Many thanks!

[steveski74]

That's truly the best tutorial I've seen, very well presented.

[johanndg]

That's so cool. This is the best video lesson I've ever seen on You Tube! Bravo!

[AntonGroeneveld]

will there be a better teacher to find ?

i hardly think so

this man is telling you  A L L

you need to know

how to play a great song

[thomasioth2]

Pretty good...Clapton did it in a different way tho

[HenfieldWill]

Everyone plays it their way - mine's based on the version by Bessie Smith - and the tune's been interpreted many, many ways since being written by Jimmy Cox in 1923.

[sixpakplayer]

That is blues/folk tradition, wonderful thing about blues intrepretation.

From a friend of mine; "If you love these play'em as you please" MIke Bloomfield

and I heard that from the" horses" mouth, not a quote from a book

[philipglaser]

Extremely generous of you to do all of this for us struggling amateurs! There WILL be statues of you erected some day, for sure! Many thanks.

Philip

[charityGSHS]

I'm gonna learn this one.

[audentish]

awesome, you have a really nice voice too, btw:)

[heartofsoul]

I love the moving dots,

Great for a visual.

Thanks so much.

[Mymagicset]

GRACIAS MAESTRO

[toddandhisdog]

What a wonderful gift to give the world. I really appreciate your efforts. I will cherish playing this song. It holds a lot of memories for me.

Thankyou.

[rpalmeri]

WONDERFUL!!

I just got my Gibson big box 12-string back from the company. It's been sitting in its case for ten years, and your video is where we'll start back.

thanks so much.

RP

[pauletaloca]

Thank you, you are a good teacher :)

[BuddyBolden]

This is a very clear and extremely helpful demonstration of the song. Thanks so much for taking the time to put it together!

[oreodontist]

I'm slowly puting it all together. I have the rhythm down and still need to incorporate a couple of bar chords: the second C and B7...hard to squeeze the volume

The sequence C,A,D9,D7/9,G,G+ is just 'so right. The G and G+ are the 'piece de resistance'. They up the feeling of the whole song. When my wife heard your playing, she said it immediately gave her an image of a melancholy Charlie Chaplain as the little tramp sitting on a bench with a flower in his hand feeling all alone.

[elgepudding]

can i ask: What strings do you use?

Very good vid by the way!

[HenfieldWill]

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On this video I was using Martin Lite bronze (.012) strings, but I now use Elixir Nanoweb coated bronze (.012) strings. They aren't quite as sturdy as Martin, but they stay brighter longer. My hands can kill ordinary strings stone dead after about 12 hours playing! :-)

[elgepudding]

hey, thanks mate;).. i've been looking for those crispy yet a bit slappy sounded strings for a long time now, without 100% luck.. i'll try the two mentioned and see..

thanks again for the tip!

[oreodontist]

Older guitarists don't die, they just get better and better.

Wow! This is a keeper. I've played guitar for 40 years and this is one of the most striking pieces I have heard...so crisp and the timing is immaculate.

What a great piece for improvisation. The finger picking of the notes in the chords allows a lot of creativity. You've proved that music is art and put yourself into this tune. I'm inspired to do it at least half as good.

Thanks from Canada

[HenfieldWill]

Thanks for the kind words. Actually, the chord sequence itself is a beauty - it would be hard to make it sound bad! :-)

[Lexinaris]

Hi guy!

I m french, so sorry for my english...

I m 27 years old and I just started guitar 8 month ago. Thank's for your lessons, it's great but when I watch your videos, I think that I will never be able to play like you!

I hope I didn't write in english like a spanish cow!!

Bye

[HenfieldWill]

Merci Lexinaris - vous parlez Anglais assez bien! Le secret est a jouer - et jouer - et jouer - puisqu'on sera parfait! Amitie - :-)

[muras]

Dear Will,

thank you very much for posting so many usefuil tutorial videos. As a budding guitarist I've found many of them quite inspirational in improving my techniques.

Cheers, Neil

[dinchen21]

thank you so much :) here's my version of that great song :)

[dinchen21]

thanks a lot - now i can play it too :)))

[marsters256]

very very good instructional guitar video

[amvetvn]

After beating a guitar to death for a number of years I have tried to learn this type of playing and your video really helped me. I went to your web site but all I get is a nice picture of you no links of anything?

[HenfieldWill]

All the links are in the left-hand menu bar - if you can't see them, there's probably a problem with either your browser or your net connection. :-)

[markkenworthy]

em , will , i have the same problem when i go to your web page"nice picture" but there is not where to click on to open the pages, and i think my internet connection is fine, i really appreciate the time and effort youve put into these vids, theres no comparison to them on the net, its helped me a lot, as im not a natural,but have the passion. thanks.

[HenfieldWill]

I've just re-input the link to my site (above right) - try now! :-)

[HenfieldWill]

I've just re-input the link to my site (above right) - try now! :-)

[carloz1a]

Wow, I accidently found this. Thank you! It is as good and clear a lesson that I have ever seen.

[phlarrdboi]

you seem like a nice man. Where are you from? the North?

[HenfieldWill]

Originally - yes. I live in Sussex now. :-) Will

[winstonsmith60626]

again, I must say WOW!!! I have been playing this song for a while, in the same key, but with entirely different movements and accents. I am sure I'll probably come up with my own hybrid version......which what I am currently playing is!! Thanks

[Castafiore1853]

you're an amaizing guitar player

[gantlyms]

Thanks very much. That video, and the work and talent that went into it it the kindest act I have felt for a long time.

[BraxtonCleburne]

Will,

i love your lessons. You are a great player and a great teacher.

[hernandrix]

hey thanks man

you make my life happy

[patw264]

You are one great teacher Will. Thanks!

[Humanfactor7]

You are a good chap Will. I (we) greatly appreciate all your efforts. Wonderful rendition. I'm not a fan of Eric C's version... love yours. I am trying to learn it now on my Martin 000-15s :)

Cheerio

- Michael (Boston)

[jessyquedens]

Quite marvelous! Liked your version of "Maple Leaf Rag" too.

[acousticaddic]

Verry interresting song that Clapton made me discover to me within his unplugged album from 90's. Thank you for that cover/tutorial, I got it in my favorites to learn it someday.***** BTW, excellent sound from your Tanglewood ;-)

[HenfieldWill]

Cheers AA! I have to give the Tanglewood an outing now and then! :-)

[krejdloc]

Really nice. I especially like the simpler version.Not because its easier to play,It just sounds better to me.

[organicpaul]

Very well made Will

[Straiter]

Sheer brilliance, I already know this tune by heart, but I loved to see your approach!