How To Play "Hesitation Blues"

[joemofobro]

Nice one Will.

[nicenielsen]

This video was very good, as is your entire site. Thank you very much!



[schechy4]

i tried to get the tab of your website and it appears that there are some problems. What should i do?

[HenfieldWill]

@schechy4 It goes down for admin purposes from time to time - seems OK at the moment - try again and, if you can't download it, email me (my email address is at my website). :-)

[richieville1]

thanks so much for this very easy-to-follow lesson. Excellent!

[DrGitpaws]

I echo the rave reviews - you put a LOT of thought and effort into this. I just bought a six string banjo and I'm trying this out on it and it sounds great! Did you know this song was written in 1915 by Art Glilam (The Whispering Piano Player") as a ragtime piece? The more I dig into it the more interesting it gets... Thanks! 

[quadraSpazed]

Thanks a lot for this lesson. You can tell you put a lot of work into. It's really well explained.

[yadotoday]

Thanks for this. Very clear. Was able to play it almost straight off!

[telecasterock]

I really appreciate all the work you put into sharing the music. I've used videos to learn stuff, but your format is the best that I've come across. I will check out some of your other videos. I'm just starting to put some of my own music together on the 'tube' too. Thanks!

[Matty73]

slickly and comprehensively done, thank you.

subscribing. 

[grambutterfield]

By far the clearest and most thorough guitar - or any instrument - lesson and demonstration I've seen. Thanks!

[theunwisemonkeys]

I like this version.

Here is another version;

youtube.com/watch?v=Ha_3iD1dur­g

[openedmindable]

Thanks for the lessons Will. I find the diagrams to be very helpful. Also, you're website is fantastic. You're time and efforts are greatly appreciated.

[frewgosh]

This is great stuff Will. You really are one of the most generous people out there. May your lum aye reek. :D

[stickdood123]

I like the diagrams but I think more people would like these videos and it would help to teach if instead of diagrams just show the tab since most people can read tab

[HenfieldWill]

But the tab IS available from my website - so you can have both... :-)

[GDguitarplayer]

i actually don't like your arrangement but this vid did help me with a opart or two. :)

Thank you.

[mickhustler]

hey will great lesson, have you looked at any of the roy bookbinder stuff on yube .

[HenfieldWill]

Yes - good stuff. :-)

[mrprytania]

Interesting way of teaching a fingerpicking song. I've watched a number of VHS, DVDs and online instructions.  This method is quite refreshing and clear. Thank you!

[corey949]

Great stuff. You're a truly generous musician, Will, I'm grateful to have stumbled upon you in my search for a reminder of the chords to "Nobody Knows You." You've assembled a real feast for the fingers and your format is refreshingly clear & organized. It's also interesting  that around the same time you were discovering the old blues in the North of England, I was doing the same in the South of California! Our spot, from '56 through the early 70's was the Ash Grove in Hollywood. I'll be back!

[HenfieldWill]

Thanks - glad you find it useful. :-)

[tcanova]

Thanks Will for that lesson. I am still working through the manolin on Lindy. I have bookmarked this one to come back to. I love this song and this is a great instructional video to get me started.

[HenfieldWill]

Hi TC - many thanks! :-)

[Aureliomelis]

nice try but im not feeling it man

[SuonoElettronico]

The original version is not played with the capo at third fret.. Why you do that ..?

[HenfieldWill]

Because of the limitations of the camera I was using at that time - with a 4:3 ratio - I wanted to get both hands into the camera shot at the same time. So - to shorten the distance between hands and allow the camera to get closer - I put a capo on the 3rd fret. OK? :-)

[SuonoElettronico]

@HenfieldWill Thanks for the quick answer.

I was thinking that was a soft option for have less pressure under the finger..but you explicate the real reason for the capo..Sorry for my english..and compliments for your video works.. Great man !

A big ciao from Italy Frank

[HenfieldWill]

Ciao! Apart from camera angles, there are two other reasons to use a capo (for me). One is, of course, to play a particular chord arrangement to suit any vocals. The other is to heighten the tone of an instrumental piece. Raising the pitch by 2 or 3 semitones/frets can make the melody line sing out more. Naturally, you lose some bass response, but some tunes - not all - can benefit from the treatment. :-)

[grimobo]

excellent lesson. i bet even ralph could've done with this sort of help back then when he was working this out ;-)

[cyberfan5]

that was great

[chesshirecat2]

ah, I want your guitar! hah ha, I got a martin but it's much less end than yours. nice playing

[duffer29]

this is a GREAT lesson. just subscribed, there is an amazing amount of information there. thank you.

been playing 35 years and still SO much to learn.

[HenfieldWill]

Glad you liked it. :-)

[Gwyhir]

Hi Will, another great vid. In the 'bars nine to twelve section' I use a turnaround from an old Ivor Miarants book (The Chord Encyclopedia - I bought it around 1966!) which runs C,C7,F,Fm,/ C,,G,, I cant remember if Ralph McTell uses that one too.

[HenfieldWill]

Yes - that's a good, standard turnaround which fits well with the tune (and many others!). I used to go to Ivor's shop in my lunch hour when I was working for the BBC in London in the 1960s. His sons were running the shop then, but Ivor was always there, playing some guitar or other, and I had many a chat with him. Great salesman - he made even cheap guitars sound good! :-)

[mainan888]

Thank you for this video, the BEST VIDEO,

[paulob06]

excellent! the best way to share. tjs for all the work

[mmmansuy]

agreed, standard has been raised. great job! and of course, thanks

[Alan62651]

Will, Your teaching style is one of the best I've seen on YouTube. Not too slow to bore everyone, but not so fast as to be unfollowable. Nice work.

[HenfieldWill]

Thanks Alan - glad you find it useful. :-)

[MrWhoey]

I was reading over the tab on your website and it appears to be off, looks like the "C" on the first "G7" should be a G or is the tab correct and it's wrong on here?

Great tutorial by the way love the styling of it and keep up the good work :)

[Monkberry50]

excellent tutorial.... extremely helpful .... well done

[HenfieldWill]

Well, I have quite a few videos in this style - check out my channel for further info...

[HippiehavenCanada]

I agree that this is the best instructional method by a long shot. When are you going to do this again?

[iainmcgeachy]

Great stuff-effectively sets a Gold Standard for instructional material on youtube guitar playing (and infact guitar video instructional material in general -this is the best I have seen anywhere).

Also, one day I was going to work this out after hearing Ralph McTells version a few years ago. This is going to make it easier, much..!

Thanks again.

[Jockopain]

thanks will, i just lost my brother, music helps me through, this makes me feel better, bless your heart

[sjziro]

Just amazing the time you've taken to share this stuff with the YouTube world! All the charts, chords, fingering's, diagrams, slowing everything down, getting it all in sync, INCREDIBLE!

I suppose you have your reasons. I just want you to know that I for one really appreciate it!

[HenfieldWill]

As my main channel page says, I got a huge amount of encouragement, information and support from older and wiser guitarists when I was a young player starting out. Now I'm slightly older and wiser myself (!), it's my turn to keep the flame burning. :-) Will

[sjziro]

Well thank you Will, thank you very much. Your talent is appreciated very much...

[markstrad2]

This is such a great help. Thanks very much for posting such a clear explanation.

[KnightBiologist]

Thanks for showing this song so completely! The chord diagrams, slow motion close-ups, and up to speed... great work!

[RandyHaddock]

great video, 5 stars

[jbirsner]

Thanks. Now, if I can get it out of the key of E and work up for ukulele, I'll be good to go! Thanks so much for posting. Very nicely organized and presented.

[loubich76]

merci ! pour ces instructions détaillées

[GDguitarplayer]

With all due respect can you show me the rendition you learned this from? This dosent use hardly any of the chords that Jorma Kaukonen OR JellyRoll Morton used? Sounds great but just very different than I have ever heard it played. Thank you Will

[HenfieldWill]

Well actually, Jorma plays most of the same chords but just uses different inversions or shapes to play them. I've never heard Jelly Roll play this - and I have most of his recordings with the Red Hot Peppers - but I'll check it out. I got my version - many years ago - from an English guitarist called Ralph McTell, and from the Rev. Gary Davis. :-)

[ardentoctopus]

Came across this looking for another piece by the same title and I am very glad I did.

[ElvenDane]

Thanks for uploading - great job and very well explained.

I can play a version of this one, but always nice getting some new inspiration and more details to add.

Try "Leonmitch" for a very advanced

version with lots of exciting variations ;-)

watch?v=AittjiOEKDU

[Koesl]

Thanks for your great job. must have been a lot of work, with all these pictures in the movie!

[canteni]

Do you know any bass line instructional video for this song?

[HenfieldWill]

Not offhand, I'm afraid... :-)

[canteni]

nice job Will Fly! thank you so much!

[zolf1988]

this song is so hard to play

[HenfieldWill]

The song is not for a beginner - it's aimed at someone who can already pick a little and can play the relevant chords - as the text in the "More info..." link (top right) says. However, if you take it slowly and persevere, it will eventually come. :-)

[zolf1988]

well... I'm not a beginner! I play guitar since 2003. I'm a heavy-thrash-metal guitarist, but I also like blues. And now I'm practicing with fingerpicking because I would like to learn better this style. I can play some classics, like Blackbird (Beatles), Something In The Way She Moves and Carolina In My Mind (James Taylor), but I'd like to try something harder :)

[Dai3eb]

Is it just me or does hesistation blues song nothing like the regular blues?

[HenfieldWill]

There is actually an underlying traditional 12-bar blues structure in this song, but it moves through a more interesting chord sequence - which is why it's so catchy and popular. Blues can take many, many formats - which is good, because the form could become very boring if it never expanded or varied. :-)

[ElvenDane]

In spite of its title, I think it's more of a ragtime piece, which is of course very much related to blues ;-)

Yes, so much more interesting than just the basic blues stuff.

[empiremonkey]

Yeah- I like the rag feel to this, too... a lot of the Reverend's stuff was ragtime heavy influence from that early 20th century popular format.

[mcob1]

not exactly a rag (6/8)but the rev's thumping bass had that feel.

[firbough]

Great work... very thorough. Thank you!

[pippofilippo1]

Thanks for your lesson,

very clear & helpful.

And it's a pleasure to ear good music & watch a lot of books in the background...

We will fly with both...

Thanks!

[Ragpicker81]

use that microphone, I hate this piezo sound :)

[HenfieldWill]

Well, it suits many people - and it's not just piezo but a blend of piezo and mic. :-)

[GulfSouthGene]

I like the fret diagrams, showing fingering, notes, and chords. I might be able to finally learn this. I am 66 and still trying to learn to play. Layed Guitar down until I discovered YouTube guitar. Thanks Will

[mcob1]

since the song is in c I would just hit am em instead of e

[dealer205]

thanks, best all round lessons and teaching on youtube!

[pickinpop]

what picup are u using if u dont mind me asking is it an internal mic, its the best sound ive heard from an acoustic ever

[HenfieldWill]

It's a Fishman Ellipse system using an under-bridge piezo and a built-in mic - blended 50/50. All part of the Martin XC1T. I record it through a Lin6 Pod which gives me control over tone, volume, reverb, etc. :-)

[fendermac]

Good tune choice.Helpful,interesting and skilful.Thanks.

[Bancaer]

This is a great help for beginner fingerpickers

[yarods]

exellent presentation & explanations with moving diagrams ! great ! thks a lot

[seahawkjase]

Thank you very much! I've been trying to get the tab for that for ages after hearing Ralph McTell's version.

[DRGasMoney]

i like the ledbelly version

[HenfieldWill]

Hmm...don't knwo that one - must go through my "Collected Leadbelly" box set and check it out!. :-)

[jonno52]

Terrific instructional video, Will: the clearest to follow that I've seen. Will take weeks to get it right but must have a go. Thanks a lot!

[showergold]

very nice presentation, now i need to practice it, i must be a slow learner but thanks for this lesson...

[tunegoon1234]

This is MOST EXcellent Will ! Thank you SO much. I have wanted to learn that song for years ever since I heard Jorma play it. It is much simpler to play than I thought it would be. It sounds pretty complicated but is really quite basic once you learn it, like many other pieces (thankfully)

Your format is one of the best I have seen. Very similar to Mike Herbert's. I am very appreciative. Looking forward to any others you may do.

[NightingaleHMP]

This is the best tutorial I have ever seen online so far! Truly excellent thank you so much for posting this.

[HenfieldWill]

Thanks very much - glad to be of use! :-) Will

[terrialan3]

good, but wish u wouldn't use the capo. screws up the key for a lot of us.

[HenfieldWill]

Point taken. I use the capo to get both hands closer together on the video so that I can get closer up with the camera. However, when you've got the piece learned with the capo on - just take it off or slide it to your chosen key. I actually sing the piece with no capo myself. :-) Will

[TheArmchairBandit]

Brilliant really helpful video thank you very much!

[GreyStrat]

Now I understand !

[xclsaga]

Looking good! Just like with your lesson covering "Angi", this is a nice lesson format, and your voice is soothing, if not therapeutic.

I don't have time to get with this lesson right away, but after watching the video a few times, I think that the part showing the fretboard might be a tad bit too fast. But then again, I have yet to give this a try, and you have very kindly provided tabs for the song, so it should not prove a problem.

Thanks for the great lesson!

[HenfieldWill]

Yes - I worried a bit about the fretboard diagrams speed - but you can always pause the video... "-)

[bluesmanstrat]

great stuff!! helped me tremendously with this song that i've been struggling with for some time now. Keep on comin' with these lessons!

[palenville5]

Will, thank you, great lesson, I wish you would do more

[brucewithab]

hey will.that was a great lesson,wish you wood do more of this . thanks again

[ednamaetrip]

nice lesson format, will. i'm cumfy with it. i think i'll give it a go? plus, thanks for your thoughtfull contribution.