Easy Blues - John Martyn cover

[LukeJKArmstrong]

Great stuff. Your John Martyn guitar work is awesome

[nolittleboy]

My good man this is f**king brilliant...truly that is as good as I've heard anyone play it...I'm so jealous :(

[gffWillie]

@nolittleboy Thanks Peter. I will definitely be revisiting this one though as I think there is more to the picking technique than I have worked out. I just play it the way I first learned from the record in the 70s.

[da1698]

Wow man. That was good. Should have kept going for about ten minutes. Only joking I'll put it on a loop. Respect Sir.

[exeterguitar]

Fair play sir , that is the best version i've seen , i do a version in dadgad but it never sounded right , now i know why !!!

[rapperfrgman]

I still can't get over how good this is.

[gffWillie]

@rapperfrgman Well thanks again. I just had a look at your Anji cover which is fantastic. You write your own stuff too which is more than I can.

[Mystery13Cat]

Must say, your way with that instrument is that of a professional.

May I ask you to visit my channel and give me a review on my own songs?

Good luck.

[bedsitsongbird33]

great stuff man your right on this one top stuff

[gffWillie]

@bedsitsongbird33 Thanks for the comment. Liked your channel.

[blackmaster73]

Holy shit dude! That is seriously good. Love the way u pick that. Always wondered how he gets that rolling, bouncy sound. It does sound exactly like JM's recorded version. You the man!

[gffWillie]

@blackmaster73 Thanks man. I am still not convinced I have got it quite right but the fun is in the trying.

[Jolph1]

It's good to know that while John Martyn may be gone his music truly lives - you've really captured the spirit of his playing. Do I take it,capo aside, that's all standard tuning?

[gffWillie]

@Jolph1 Yes its all standard tuning, relatively speaking. If you want you can tune all strings down 2 frets and add the capo on the second fret. This makes it easier to stretch and also changes the tonality slightly. I'm hoping to do some instructional posts on the Guitar Freaks Forum so please register there for updates.

[LiteGauge]

Keep coming back to this beautiful version!

[gffWillie]

@LiteGauge Thanks. I just had a look at your YouTube channel and see that you have been extremely active doing covers and tutorials, especially John Martyn stuff. I have have a closer look at all of these excellent covers. keep up the good work.

[LiteGauge]

@gffWillie Cheers, Willie. I really admire your mastery of John's technique - particularly the right hand - in your case the left. You'll notice that most of my covers are 'in the spirit of' rather than 'as played by the great man himself'. I saw John a few times in Norwich in the early 70s and like so many I was absolutely blown away by his playing and his songs.

All the best

John

[UFOIST]

WOW It's like listening to great man himself - great stuff!!!!

[gffWillie]

@UFOIST Thanks. Just noticed the Seven Black Roses upload by JM on your channel. Brilliant. Must get the DVD.

[malcolmpaine]

Pure quality. You make it look so easy.

[gffWillie]

@malcolmpaine .Well the fingering is easy. The picking is the tricky bit.

[alexwhyte78]

where do you even start if you want to learn that!?!? there's enough notes in there for 2 or 3 guitars. excellent

[gffWillie]

@alexwhyte78

Its all smoke and mirrors, or more accurately hammer on / pull offs. Some day i will break it down in one or two videos, but I just don't have time just now.

cheers, Willie

[ginger1brain]

@gffWillie

Any hints on when some day might be? :) Thats some absolutely cracking playing there man easily as good as the original

[Jenisonc]

I love watching this video cause your playing is so crisp and vibrant. You sir are one of the best guitarists I've ever had the pleasure to hear.

[gffWillie]

Thank you man that's too kind. I just copy the talented guys.

[gffWillie]

Thank you. Nice Blackbird - an old favourite of mine.

Willie

[squidlysmith]

That's spot on, i've been looking to learn this song for ages and I was wondering if you have any tabs posted for this song or any other material? Can't really get my head around the rolling riffs!  What album do you reckon is Martyn's best acoustic album?

Cheers, Liam.

[gffWillie]

Hi Liam. If you check my site there are some JM songs tabbed there (I see you have registered anyway). No Easy Blues tab yet.

You can sample the albums at my site. Hard to choose a best as some of his best songs are scattered through several albums. London Conversation, his first album is one of my favorites, although his style wasn't fully developed at that point. The Tumbler and Bless The Weather are also very acoustic and excellent.

All the best

Willie

[django1889]

Whats your site?

[gffWillie]

@django1889

The one that appears in the captions. I can't write it here 'cause YouTube blocks any sites being mentioned in text.

cheers

[ianmcgeachy]

Cant believe I've not already commented on this-I've viewed quite a few times already.

This is totally top class. No doubt about that.

And as Ive said before to you- the 'rolling riffs' here have eluded me for years n years-yeh still working on it time to time. At least now I have a vid that shows all frets n strings..I just need a way to play the vid in slow motion now!!

Many, many thanks for this videoclip.

Stellar ***** easy.

-Ian

[gffWillie]

Hello Ian. Good to hear from you again. A guy who registered at the guitarfreaksforum asked me to teach him Head and Heart and Go Down Easy. He came up from Edinburgh one day and recorded me teaching him. He said he had some software which slowed down the video and tempo which he found very helpful. If you are interested I can ask him to give you the low down on it.

All the best

Willie

[nzogbiablues]

quality mate spot on!

[gffWillie]

Thanks mate. Much appreciated!

[andyf2280]

mate that is virtually note for note, full respect!!

[gffWillie]

Cheers Andy. oping to post some more John Martyn stuff in next few days

Willie

[tonyomagic]

quality! with my eyes closed it could be the big man himself playing 5Stars all the way

[gffWillie]

Thanks Tony. Keep an eye on my blog site if you want for any new postings.

cheers

Willie

[Moosefunk1]

thanks man, yeah its a beautiful song, ill be trying it out shortly I've got a new martin on they way so i feel as though I'm gonna have to break it in with a Martyn tune

cheers

[Moosefunk1]

Mate, this is absolutely fantastic i couldnt stop smiling all the way through. Fantastic stuff. I was wandering if you could help actually. Do you know of anywhere i might find a cover music for JM's 'Lay it all down'? I love this song but no one else seems to.

Once again man, fantastic job with both the playing and the shades ofcourse

Sound.

[gffWillie]

Cheers mate.

Glad you like the shades, it means a lot to me.

I have not tried playing Lay it all Down yet but will have a listen. I agree it is a nice song. I have a long list of requests for tabs so I will add this one to it. Please keep an eye on my new blog the Acoustic Guitar Freaks' Forum, where I am posting any new stuff. Please subscribe/register and/or contribute if you want. I will then email you when anything new is added.

All the best

Willie.

[gffWillie]

Hi again. Just had a listen to Lay it All Down. Very nice and relaxing. Had a try playing it and I am pretty confident it is in DADGAD. Try fretting the 4th string at the 4th fret and descending on the 6th string from fret 5, 4 2. That should get you started.

Cheers Willie

[pierre2425]

Willie mate - that is THE best rendition of JRB and is head and shoulders over anything on the net!!

I saw JM and solid air was one of my fave albums at college!!

im gonna keep plugging at it - any help welcome on shapes / fingering gratefully recieved! peter

[gffWillie]

Thanks Peter. Its simple A D7 E blues type shapes, but the fingering requires a lot of hammer-on and pull-off stuff. Its difficult to describe. Great video on your sight just now byt the way.

cheers

Willie

[pierre2425]

hiya - thx for reply - yes - have been putting some time in on it. It seems to me that its the rythm of the thing that carries it. You know how ( if youre like me ) you have a picture in yr head on what yr playing? well it seems to suddenly click in stages!

when i start to emphasise the hammer on off, in my mind it starts to work. its a tricky little divil tho isnt it!

what else do you like to play - noticed that you have a couple of transpositions on the JM website! well done Willie!

p

[gffWillie]

Hi again Peter

Must have missed your reply. Sorry for that. Re what else I play, don't know if you ever came across my John Martyn Guitar Freaks Forum site, but I have a few JM tabs on there and others have contributed. Its temporarily off line, but I have a new blog (Acoustic Guitar Freaks' Forum) for JM, Nick Drake and other acoustic picking related stuff. My aim is to transfer all the original gff stuff to it and keep it up to date with new vids, tabs etc. Please check it out.

Willie

[rapperfrgman]

Your playing is being studied hard, my friend. I have a team on it already. RFM

[rapperfrgman]

This is absolutely brilliant; what a beat! There certainly is no better version on youtube.

[gffWillie]

Well thanks rapper. I'm sure ypu can't have heard them all though. By the way I just listened to your "Blazing fingerpicking acoustic guitar tune" vid. Sounds fantastic and some dazzling technique too. Will listen to the rest of your stuff later

cheers

Willie

[JesseMathews]

10 stars my friend Wille this is a killer :D

Mr jelly roll baker plz let me be your slave...man john really tears it up on that song :).

Cheers,

Jesse.

[jimmyjazz2000]

Thats a great rendition. Can't see entirely what you're doin cos of the camera angle. Sounds brilliant, would love to learn that

[gffWillie]

Thanks. The chord shapes are easy - just A D7 E with the usual 12-bar blues embellishments. The tricky part is the picking hand which uses lots of hammer-on and pull-off combinations + the John Martyn ``string slap`` which I can't exactly replicate so do my own version. Try playing it slowly first without all the complicated picking stuff and progress from there. Good luck!

[brows08]

absolutly shit hot never expected to find a version this good well done

[gffWillie]

Thanks for your comment. I'm sure I have heard some other versions out there on YouTube just as good if not better but thanks for the comment.

[RobOticist1]

Absolute brilliance. You skilled mo fo!

[RichardKBarrett]

Brilliant, really. But if you could play slower and film it in a mirror it's going to make my life a whole lot easier.

[gffWillie]

Thanks Richard. I don't plan to do slowed-down instructional videos just now as I really don't have time. But I don't discount the possibility. I thought it might be easier for a right-handed player to learn from watching a left-handed player as this is kind of like watching yourself play in a mirror?

[whiskylogan]

Fantastic. Best rendition on you tube. Well done.

Would love to have the tuning confirmed..

[gffWillie]

Thanks. Am pretty sure the tuning is standard as seen in live performances and just from listening. Regards

willie

[johni2bad]

awesome willie. gr8 vids. btw the links to ur site r down. i been usin guitar freaks since i started listenin to jm its the only jm forum i ever found its a shame its so inactive. the only way to reach the site now is via big muff links. would b good if we could get ur site rockin again. regards, lyndon

[Gecko129]

Awesome!

Is that in standard tuning?

Please, any tips would be greatly appreciated. I know it's hard to put this down in tab but what are the basic chords you're playing around.

Many thanks, my man!

[Jenisonc]

All I've pretty much found out about this song is that its in standard tuning... If you can find anything on it let me know.

[Gecko129]

I also think its standard tuning. Took me while to come round cos J.Martyn loves his DADGAD. So, standard tuning and I think it's based around A D7 and E ... still puzzling and looking for the Jelly Roll! Good luck.

A comment from our man in the glasses would be appreciated!

[Jenisonc]

How can I learn to play like you. Fantastic man. If you ever do instructional videos on any of your songs let me know.