Delta Drone blues lesson

[PanAsPik]

great lesson, thanks men

[newamericanband]

great lesson man. a lot of guitar lessons online are either lame. this one is the opposite of lame. thanks.

[FIRECRACKER392]

This is about the only video i can relate to , im just beginning guitar and wanting to learn in this style ,,,,, have you put together any more like this ,,, how about the new website that you had mentioned ??? ,,,, please reply ......

[13jacksonm]

i would appreciate if you made the web site, greatly!

great playing man.

[skydogj]

Very nice introduction to the delta style!

[BlindJamesMcTell]

make the site!!!!

[Lessproductivestuff]

Didn't knew that Russel Crowe played guitar! :b

Anyway, nice job!

[BlindJamesMcTell]

@Lessproductivestuff i was just about to comment the same thing

[belikewater001]

Nice.....Love it...Make a website!

[digismash]

great lesson! more please!!

[SUNNYRHOADES9]

Cool Instruction video.keepem coming

[fishnose1]

Excellent lesson! Thanks.

[montreemtx]

I love your love too..

THANKSSS.

This style of bkues hook me.

Keep sharing and teaching..

[blusygal]

Hey where did you go swedish Mike people love your playing and lessons hope you come back online !

[kyleanders0]

HERE'S SOME FUEL! MAKE A SITE!

[FIRECRACKER392]

I guess he forgot about us,, he hasnt checked his page in 10 months,,

I hope hes ok.....

[blusygal]

You wanna sell that guitar?

[wartree]

great video

[bgrasspkr123]

stella?

[Stringyheads]

Cool techneque cool i'll check ya website out when it happens. I really like the concept of this style of blues.

[inikokir]

do the website, god, i want to make a site too. im a musician as well. god, its hard though, so much competition and shit. good luck

[guitarguyjoefry]

Your guitar sounds great! I've been playing for years but just basic chords popular songs. It can become somewhat boring after awhile so I was looking for something to challange my playing to learn something new and accidently found you. this is great. thank you!

[Shumu88]

Great video, man, it's exactly what I searched for wanting to learn some Delta Blues. It's great that you go straight to the point, no 10 min just talkin and not playi

[poppyonepug1]

Any chance of posting more of these vids ?

[TheStotter69]

nice work my friend, please post more

[BagwanVIII]

i know that you posted this a long time ago but pleas keep it up :) your awesome!!!

[scout005]

Nice bro. You have a way of breaking it down and making it simpler to learn. Well done.

[rthbgf]

Do the website bro! That was a really good lesson, thanks man.

[RascalKyng]

harmony or Kay?

[messmeup77]

PLEASE DO THE WEBSITE

[Stringyheads]

very cool, cheers keep em comming. I agree you don't have rules with the blues as long as you make it sound good.

[cobell007]

Dude, awesome! Keep it up. You're a great help.

[holymackeral456]

Cool! I like it.

[1951mustang]

Kudos!  Great lesson. Thanks.

[brenjimen]

great vid but is that guit a stella? I love those!

[zed0469]

Then add some slide,

[sirswedishmike]

for sure... u can play the same "ideas" or notes, and use the slide instead. I find it that the slide usually is used in this style mostly on the high E string and not really anywhere else. That is what I've found works the best.

[klingman308]

GO PHILLIES. cool lesson too, thanks man

[sirswedishmike]

phillies 4 life!

[grovelhog]

@sirswedishmike

yeah...man,great lesson....think i am gonna

roll,drink and drone all night..awesome.....thank you!!!!!!

[WelcomeToReykjavik]

Looooooove that guitar.

[sirswedishmike]

I got it on ebay with the back of it falling off. It came from oklahoma city... and is at least 40 years old, maybe more.... great little thing

[jipes]

useful tricks !

[NickeyWhitfield]

Very good lesson. I like it! Also the plans on explaining music theory. That'd be interesting.

And I love that guitar! Really cool!

[DennisBright]

Amazing stuff! How do i translate this to a guitar tuned to open-e?

[sirswedishmike]

thx for compliment. Just use an open E, A or B or make the note on the 6th or 5th string low on the neck and then play pentatonics (and blues scale if ya want) in the way you would in that tuning, and whalla, you will get drone blues in that key.

does that make sense?

[FlemoZ]

Great vid on easy blues! thanks for putting it up, watching is easy uploading not so easy. I got alot out of your quick ideas and as a struggling learner i appreciate your time. Thanks....

[sirswedishmike]

glad it's useful.

[rugshort]

Good job, check my friend Benjamin Folke Thomas and Lewis Floyd Henry. What guitar do you use?

[rugshort]

He's from Sweden too.

[warriorsagesilvanus]

I really appreciate the time you put into this lesson. I'm a beginning guitarist but I've been trying to find a local instructor who's familiar with the delta blues. Looking forward to practicing some of these techniques.

[beatlesfan129]

make the website!! lol good lesson

[Viken43]

Thanks for sharing, cannot wait to see more.... your lesson style is relaxed, honest and really cool ;-)

[scrumpymanjack]

Dude, nice lesson but the "turnarounds" you describe or demonstrate are not turnarounds at all - their endings. Turnarounds, as you well know, end on the V chord, ie the B7 in an E blues. Ending on the E as you do ends the song.

[sirswedishmike]

you're right. I used the wrong word there. I have however used "endings" as turnarounds, as you have probably seen others do as well. But you are right, they are usually used as endings.

[scrumpymanjack]

I came across this lesson because I was looking for exercises to get that drone thumb independent from the other fingers (something I have totally failed at so far). Do you know any good routines for getting that down? Id be very grateful. thanks in advance

[sirswedishmike]

the best way to get that down in my opinion is just to do it. You gotta develop that muscle memory in your fingers. Also practice "piedmont blues styles" b/c that is the whole concept of that style. Go to the mississippi john hurt museum website, and download their free lessons where you learn the "thumb" exercises. There is a program called "randy tab, or travis tab or something like that. This is the best free program on line I have found to help you learn this. Let me know if you can find it.

[scrumpymanjack]

Now THAT is some useful advice. I'm endebted to you, sir. You're a gentleman and a scholar!

[AutocrossDotUS]

Thanks for the tip on the MJH website. Lots of good stuff there.

[TheBlackroseEp]

hey dude nice guitar playin i have been looking for something like this for a while, do you give lessons, one on one because i live in caldwell idaho thanks 208jahweh

[armadillospin]

Thanks. great vid. Can you recommend some good players in this style?

[sirswedishmike]

sure. RL burnside. mississippi fred mcdowell are my two favorite from this style. Lots of delta blues is actually a type of drone blues, and there is lots of cross over. Anytime notes are droning through substantially while other playing is going on with the guitar it is drone going on, hence drone delta blues, as some of us call it. It can be a real powerful style.

[chunkybutt34]

I enjoyed this video a lot man. Just a fellow adventurer trying to piece together the delta blues. Thanks man. keep postin

[sirswedishmike]

radical. Glad you liked it. Remember that their is no one book or dvd that will teach you all there is to know about this style. You pick up things from every person you play with or every video you watch and every tune you listen to. Keep going and picking out some melodies.

[lodielogan]

you helped me bro. thanks:) been playin that drone blues style for years, never knew what it was called or why. just liked the sound of it:) would love to see the free site. hit me up anytime you got new shit up. stay classy bro:)

[BRooo28]

hey thanks man i would really like to see your web site

[1singularity]

yeah,, get the website up and running. you sound like a good player..a little more attack on the strings would sound much better there...but then again what do i know!

[sirswedishmike]

Thanks for the feedback. I have had heard that from other people as well.

I think it just depends on your personal preferences. When I play guitar, I like to be relaxed, and I want to throw out a relaxed vibe for the most part, and so that is why I play softer, and it is just not my style to punch out the notes to much.

Some songs/styles for sure calls for a very direct way of playing, I just personally play the blues kind of soft.

Have fun!

[downhill240]

thanks for sharing!

[oldenmichael]

Thanks this, I've just picked up a guitar this year and i love it. Please get your web site up and running.

[trapperbt]

Thanks for this!! Please do your web site. I want to encourage you. I am a piano player who want to build my guitar skills. Thanks again

[rjwusher]

Wonderful video. You're a great teacher. I'm really looking forward to your website of free guitar lessons and basic music theory for guitar players. Any progress on that? What kind of guitar do you play in this video?

[sirswedishmike]

This is an old harmony cheap guitar. Sounds pretty good for a guitar I probably paid $30 for. It has great tone. I haven't done anything to it, except that I had to wood glue some parts together when I got it. It is all the original harmony parts.

Not much progress on the website yet. I am probably going to tackle it on youtube first.

[nikopolistan]

Ha! Now I know what my "blues-diddle"-style is officially called! Guess i'm just another drone. Thx mike!

And i'd be grateful if you'd put up more like this for sure.

[sirswedishmike]

I try not to teach any thing that you can't apply right away on most lessons. Thanks for teh compliment.

Again if any one has music theory or music application questions, I'd be glad to answer them for free if I know them. I studied music formally on and off when I was younger, and taught lessons for a few years too, and I'd be glad to help anyone out in any way I can. I remember when I was first getting into learning old blues, I also had a lot of questions. so yeah, let me know. Cheers!!

[nikopolistan]

Actually there is a question that's bugging me at the moment. It seems that blues musicians use a lot of different tunings. Robert Johnson e.g. uses many different tunings on his few recordings.

So, what are the criteria different tunings are choosen for? Bottleneck or not, i suppose, but besides that? Are there patterns at all?

This of course leads to the question as to how to deal with this problem, since the diversity of tunings makes it harder for me to learn. (More scales to learn etc.)

[sirswedishmike]

Robert johnson is one of those blues musicians who uses several different tunnings. He uses open g,d,a, & open e minor.

He also uses a couple other tunnings.

Most prewar blues that I play is standard, open g and open d. Those will get u by good.

But, If you are REALLY into robert, learn e minor. The geographical area that robert was from used a lot of e minor blues tunnings. so if you love roberts style, you should learn this tunning.

You can also play his songs with other tunnings.

[nikopolistan]

I got a RJ-book with notes and tabs, but it's way beyond my skills, so I can't play it.

Still, it's interesting, because i can see how he did it, how he played and altered his turnarounds, and his tunings.

But my question was more general: Is there a "logic" behind tunings, or is it all taste? (And if so, is there a pattern behind taste?) Why so many tunings, i don't really understand what motivates a musician to constantly re-tune his guitar in between songs instead of just using 1 or 2.

[sirswedishmike]

ok, I understand your question.

It is related to how the guitar is set up. Some chords are easier with different tunnings, and that is the basics without getting into the history of tunning. Try playing a full standard cord on the slide in standard tunning, doesn't really work very well. The Em open tunning will give a minor sound with minimum fingering, so you can focus your fingering on soloing, or focus your energy on singing.

[sirswedishmike]

All tunnings have benefits and all of them have serious limitations, we only have 5 left hand fingers, and they only stretch so far, and so to make certain chords or get certain sounds from the guitar changing tunnings can help do that more effortlessly, and in some cases, there are chords you simply cannot physically play unless you change the tunning.

So, for blues, standard, open g,d and em get us through.

does that make sense at all?

[nikopolistan]

Sure. And you gave me a starting point. It's just awfully hard for me as a beginner. I think I'll mess around with em instead of open-D, which i just tried, and i can't get the hang of it.

Tried open tunings some years ago, and liked it, but not constant tuning. Now tuning is easier, but am struggling to get into the feel again.

[nikopolistan]

E.g., tried to play "green manalishi" in open D, to get deeper and even darker, but it doesn't work well. Guess i'll try again in em.

So i'm still looking for clues as to what tuning for what purpose, but i guess it only comes with 'the feel' and some basic theory (major/minor)

[nikopolistan]

btw, a big thanks for answering and of course your lessons! :)

[sirswedishmike]

no worries, I know what it's like. I think open G is really easy personally and it is my favorite tunning besides standard. I like to be really good at 2 tunnings than mediocre at like 5 if that makes sense. That is just how I look at it, and everyone looks at it a little differently.

[bootlegpreacher]

It's been 70+ years and no one can copy RJ, don't feel bad. Some of the old Mississippi guys that i've watched basically place their fingers in position and tune the guitar to the key they want to play in. There are basic patterns used but no hard rules. Changing 1 string tuning can alter the whole mood.

[drewman1990x]

very cool. ill have to sit down with it and try to learn it

i made a nice delta vid today but couldnt upload it for some weird reason

[sirswedishmike]

And I know many many many players who don't know triads or key soling & theory who play absolutely great. I don't think it will hurt your playing to learn this stuff, but you don't "have to have it" to play, or write great music!!!

Customize your learning to your personal goals, sometimes it may not hurt to ask a theory person what to learn, because you can waste a lot of time in my opinion learning theory you won't use, depending on your music goals.

[reissue]

Good lesson , easy to understand and well thought out. This should get people playing instead of decipering.

[sirswedishmike]

yeah for sure. For most styles, Most of the guitar study you do, if you learn all the modes, scales, etc.

For country, rock, blues, folk etc, you use very little theory. Here is what I recommend learning:

*How the natural keys work: Key's A,C,D,E,G (maybe F, but don't worry about the flat or sharp keys like Eb etc for example.

*The pentatonic & blues scales.

*Triads on top 3 strings, & how to solo w/ them.

BETTER TO BE REALLY GOOD AT A FEW THINGS THAN MEDIOCRE AT MANY!

[sirswedishmike]

opps typo, I meant: For most styles, most of the guitar study you do, if you learn all the modes, scales etc, you will probably not even use.

(There are exceptions, like steve vai like players etc, but most rock uses only little theory, and that little theory can lead to a lot of ideas and sounds.)

[icemans69]

Good stuff man!!!

[Reevesy791]

what tuning is this is ?

[sirswedishmike]

standard.

Elephants And Dogs Got Big Ears!!!

Every Acid Dealer Gets Busted Eventually!!!!!

[recordingblue]

sweet licks, mqan helpful!!!

[mrwoodrow]

Yes-Do it Some more!

[sirswedishmike]

I'm glad people are digging this. I'll need to record some more stuff soon.

[neil2381]

more like this please, very good lesson, looking forward to your website

[Rockpig1969]

Great stuff, thanks. More?

[wcoozr]

Great video! I really appreciate your slow and simple instruction. This delta style and it's mellow sound really appeals to me and seems to match my ability. If possible, take a hint form some of the other instruction videos and get a closer view of your hands and guitar. Keep the videos coming. Your site sounds interesting, do it! Thanks.

-W

[sirswedishmike]

thanks for the feedback. That makes sense.

[jessupar]

i've got nothing better to do at nearly 3 am.. so im watching your videos just for the hell of it. This style of blues is basically what i do when anyone asks me to play slide in standard tuning. its alot easyer to play in D however, with the open D, A and E strings as bass/chord notes and the slide on the 10th, 5th and 12th frets respectively.

[sirswedishmike]

for sure. when playing slide in standard tunning, the best freets to slide over would be the 2,3,5,8,10,12,15,17 and occasionally beyond. Play in different order until it sounds great. Don't forget mississippi fred mcdowell and really vibrato those notes at times.

[chainthatdoor]

Your website idea sounds great. Do it!

[DorianGre]

No doubt, your stuff has been very helpful.

[sirswedishmike]

I am glad! Pre-war blues music is such great music, I am stocked that so many people want to keep this amazing tradition alive!

[weakperception]

Id be happy to share my knowledge on your site.

Extensive Music theory. Jazz, Delta,Chord/Scale Relationships etc...

Let me know if you get your site up.

[sirswedishmike]

will do. sweeeeet!  Thanks!

[GoJohnny69]

this is great! well done! more more more pls =)

[sirswedishmike]

K, it will come, check out the vid on banjo blues!

[bullettoothzeke]

yeah u should relli start that up...im sure it would be appreciated by many

[80slibertine]

well nice guitar

[whitestripebuzz]

awesome dude. realy helpfull cheers

[lastelin]

more pls, more, more

[lcorda]

Uugghhhh, yeah... finally- a simple and informative approach to North Miss. style. After at least a few years of searching, I must say that this is absolutely THE most help I have found on the web. PERIOD! Please indulge us with more of your humble approach soon Mike ;) Fans of this playing style owe you one... seriously!

[sirswedishmike]

cool, I will post more north miss blues stuff soon. Thanks!

[kitfuntastik]

Wow, this is awesome!! Thanks, you are nice teach

[lonewolf1234512345]

thx

[teriphillip]

Great lesson and yes I would be very interested in learning more of this style. Can't wait for your website. Thanks

[getupanddosomething]

yes, well thank you very much. I have been trying to get out of just playing shuffles and the SRV/Jimi type stuff, but it is a big box to escape from haha. i'll keep practicing and hopefully get a webcam someday

[sirswedishmike]

ps. search out these guys on youtube,

mississippi john hurt,

fred mcdowell

son house

big bill bronzy

skip james

gary davis

there are so many more amazing delta/piedmont players. These should give you a grip of my favorite, and most of them are on those dvd's I was talking about.

[getupanddosomething]

DUDE.... PLEASE make that website!! Every vid I've seen on the blues is either the basics, or has to do with scales... I KNOW ALL THAT! Every vid I see of people breaking down theory, they will mention the blues and how it "can't really be explained using music theory". Well yes I semi-agree, but it IS music, so there IS theory behind it. I think the internet is starving for an advanced blues site... beyond I - IV - V!!

[sirswedishmike]

totally, I agree. buy the dvd's called, Legends of country blues. there are three volumes. you can get them on amazon. They are movies of live performances of the best country blues players from years back. 90% of the tunes are in open G or standard tunning. Just watch what they do and copy and then make it your own. It is my best advice. The dvd's are so inspiring too.

Thanks for all the compliments people. I need to get going on this thing, just been buisy with life. Keep on keepin on!

[karpopper]

I just leared more off that then 20 years of study woody mann and stephane grossman

[dillenger81]

best blues lesson i seen on youtube, also your guitar has real style, thanks

[melatonin17]

Thanks a lot for the video! very helpful!

[vengermader]

Thanks very much. great lesson. It would be great if you made that website you mentioned- very generous

[romancitoG]

i can't thank you enough for this lesson.

i learned something new today

thanks

romancitoG

[Weltar]

thanks so mutch!! make some more delta!

[superfuntimehappy]

groovy lesson

bad ringtone :)

[sirswedishmike]

yeah seriously. I know have it on vibration only. Cell phones are not my friend.

[TheMasqueOfAnarchy]

Great lesson - look forward to the web site!

Peace Matt

[jordanbuckelew]

Hey man great lesson.

I love the tone of your guitar. What is it?

[sirswedishmike]

An older Harmony. 60's or 70's I believe.

[micmaher]

Thanks for the lesson - you're a natural teacher

[sirswedishmike]

thanks for the comment everyone, I recorded another blues video yesterday that I will try to get up in the next few days.

[pressuredrop3]

For one brief moment I somehow thought you were Russell Crowe xD This is a great lesson, man, this kind of blues vibes with me very much!

[Scurtulos]

You clearly got one of the nicest acoustic guitars i have seen! It sure looks vintage and built to play the blues on =)

[wittinjar]

would love to see more free guitar websites as there are too many so called professionals asking for money to pass on some simple knowledge. what is the world coming to lol.keep up the good work bud.

[kokoro86]

Thanks so much for sharing!

[scriber2b]

looking forward to your website, with this clear down-to-earthness.  thnx thnx!!!

[Astrocrap]

thank you

[freshgreens2006]

Many thnaks !!

[wojo403]

It seems that there should be some kind of funding out there to assist with what you're doing in terms of furthering this uniquely American music. Keep it up. Mike

[sirswedishmike]

I'm thinking of some ideas to do that right now.

[danielqbenatti]

Hey man, I really appreciated this lesson, it helped me a lot.

I'm from Brazil, we have great musicians around here, but it's kinda hard to find someone who can teach how to play the blues.

Keep posting, thank's!

PS: Put that web site on line please.

[sirswedishmike]

ok, I will plan on getting on the web site thing tomorrow. Thanks for the motivation! Keep playing!

[explosivejohnny]

i'm from new york and love the blues.... but it's hard to find someone to teach me some samba!

need to play like nelson cavaquinho!

[thinkwonka]

besides R.L. who else plays in this style?

[sirswedishmike]

fred mcdowell, Jessie Mae Hemphill are two that come to mind right now, but there are several. There is a lot of overlap in prewar blues from what I have gathered, and sometimes regions far apart have similar styles.

[CobinRain]

boy am I glad I stumbled across this! Just what I needed. Please please move ahead with the website...I'll be a regular visitor..I might even learn how to really play this damn guitar..thanks

[wolfieboyer]

hey this is great man, found your link from an RL tune. This is really helpful instruction thanks a lot brother.

[jamjammez]

Hey, good stuff!

[YpsStrato]

I was just looking for some RL. Burnside tunes and

dropped in, more or less by coincidence, to some guitar lessons. Thats well done, I'll keep my eyes on you. Thanks a lot.

[3stringmojo]

Nice start :) I'd love to see you work up some Burnside, etc. Hopefully you'll post a video of the whole thing together that you're reaching for and then break it down.

[sirswedishmike]

thanx for feedback!

[neonbladedotcom]

Hey Mike, nice stuff! Like your style.

[mrbobi]

This is good stuff! I want to learn to play some R.L. Burnside songs - Do you know his tunings or any source of tabs online?

[sirswedishmike]

I believe he playes either standard or open tunings, such as open D or G. What I would do to learn his style would be to initially copy some of his rhythm with your own chordal ideas, and then tweak some of that rhythm and make it your own, in time you will personalize it into your own style. RL learned from mississippi fred mcdowell, so we all initially "borrow" from others until we personalize it and tweak it into our own. Hope that helps a little.

[mrbobi]

Helps a little, thanks! Maybe I'll post something later, if I'll manage to make something out of it.

[mrmudMINISTER]

Great job man, i like when poeple go all the way back and get those basics right, From there you can take it everywhere...... Keep posting please

[thirstonthethird]

I have been playing 12 bar for quite some time and have started up again. I found your lesson very helpful and informative. Drone blues, something new to me...I've heard it...I just never knew how it was played. I am glad I clicked on your video.

[sirswedishmike]

thanks for the feedback. Glad you found it helpful. I will post some more videos soon. I just recorded a video on basic slide and delta slide playing in open G, I hope to post in the next few days.

[erj215]

awesome i would love to see more PLEASE

[ShalomYal]

Thanks  I'd love to see anything you have to offer. I'd love to see several A's E's and B's up and down the neck

[ariellehunter]

I would be interested in your lessons ! You play great and explain it well!

[sirswedishmike]

thanks, I will keep posting these lessons, since people seem to get something out of them. Have a great groovy weekend!