R.L. Burnside How-To

[jpmsaelman]

Greatt lesson !! Joshuablues

[MrZaf12]

can you post another ver. of this video, this time taking more time to explain?

you talk about the fingering which is pretty simple but you don't talk about the picking and progression enough IMO. would be nice if you'd make another video.

[scottwasson]

Thanks for these lessons man, great stuff. And you obviously got respect for the blues. Would love if your lessons could include a breakdown of the right hand, the picking pattern, etc. Thanks again for keeping this music alive.

[blueseddie]

wrong, wrong, wrong, thumb aint got it mate..only guy who has is spottytoad nervous niven check out his vids

[12BarBob]

Great vid on RL. Thanks for posting. Amen on Robert Lighthouse.  I get to see him about once a year. Drive thru love is a masterpiece. Amazing it was recorded live.

[scout005]

Insufferable git.

[JLennon05]

Much respect for R L his style is a lot of fun to play!! Thanks for posting this

[bluelereaux]

Thank you!! I had the pleasure of hanging with RL one afternoon in Holly Springs Ms...been trucking and playing harp and guitar a long time...rest assured I'm on this like stink on shit...and if you need a harp man....Ronnie Lereaux Meadors Facebook

[learnacousticguitar]

Very cool!

[MDunclestinky]

Very Nice playing keep em coming. - I've seen Robert Lighthouse more than a few times - he's also a bad man.

[thebluesrockers]

Thank you Veronica....great jam and an awesome lesson

[hm333333]

Your explanation of the escence of Burnsides 'blues'..."the gritty, nasty..the real deal" at the begining of the video was SO right on.  Been listening to burnside since the late '60s. Thank you.

[tiwill4]

Thanks man, you're a great teacher and we can see the passion you have for the blues by the way you talk about it.

[pmay222]

keep it slow man..the blues aint gotta be rushed

[kentuckuh]

to me the best part of "poor black mattie" is the muting (bump-a-thuck-uh bump-uh-thuck-uh). haven't seen many who can do it like r.l.--he must have had some badass thumb callouses.

[ShoulderTap]

@kentuckuh Check out Yazan's version on the shouldertap channel... he's recording an instructional video too to teach folks how to actually play it like RL

[wilbuvarna]

hey johhny i am on your side!! most guitar players are so picky and want to spilt hair's about thoery and technique and tunning, but real blues dont even have to be in tune to anything!! i am sure you heard ceddell!! most of these people cant make there own blues, the blues is not learnable, you may able to learn it on the surface but if you aint got pain and hearache underneath then it is just going thru the motions, keep it up johhny grave!!

[vatonaught]

Wow thanks ...

[PaulIsDeadMissHim]

The very NATURE of the root styles like blues, jazz, and country is that the musicians would always copy each others tunes, but put there own spins on them, to the point where the "original" form is almost meaningless. Hell, Burnside didn't even play his OWN songs the same way every time. Where's the individuality when everyone plays everything the same?! And for the people on here arguing about tunings for a blues song, that's just stupid.

[noiseintoner]

where do you live man so I can come hang out with your ass man?

[Masterphonic]

Hey, man... this is the BLUES and if you don't play it EXACTLY THE SAME WAY the original writers of the song played it than you're just fakin' the funk.

lol, I've never understood those who took the cookie cutter approach to playing music.

[kleingrid]

top vid mate thanks

[eddiefrank]

hey dude. dont listen to nuthin these guys are sayin. I stumbled onto one of yer videos a long time ago, and got yer CD offa Itunes. Keep thumpin man. Jonny Grave can play it people, trust me.

@Kesava - put a damn capo on the thing. sheesh.

[deltapunk]

great video, thanks

[deltapunk]

great video, thanks!

[spottedspot]

thanks for posting this, its super-informative! i grew up on folk music and blues music, so i'm trying to broaden my repertoire, thanks so much! do you play out anywhere? i live near baltimore and would love to see you play :D

[OverdriveBlues]

Far away from RL Burnside,sorry.Lot of crap talking.Nice guitar playing though.

[JonnyGrave]

@OverdriveBlues If you really feel that way, then why don't you post a Burnside lesson of your own?

[PierreMoore]

@OverdriveBlues Personally I like the 'crap talking'...its nice to learn about what you're playing when its an art form thats dying....its nice to be able to play it for your friends and tell them about the history to help keep it alive ....and agreed, nice playing

[Espeliowski]

Yeah, too much crap talkin'!!!!

[Espeliowski]

Yeah, too much crap talkin'!!!! My God!

[vatonaught]

Thank you, thank you...

[deathofamailman]

old ladies dancing on a cruise ship to "Mustang Sally" -- I want to drink with you, man

[kraker109]

Is there a tab anywhere I'm able to learn a little better from them

[kartracerxx]

hey Johny I think i met you at Reds and Ground Zero last month and i think we wonder around the blues musem at the same time ---Clarksdale

--so do you think that was really Eric Clapton --------

[SavantSvant]

Thanks a bunch for this, i've just picked up the guitar cus of RL Burnside.

Looking forward to more of these, if you wouldnt mind!

/ thanks from sweden.

[mejiasjoseluis]

Thanks. Learning now.

[EnsoBlues]

Hello Jonny, I think I have the basics of the Poor Black Mattie rhythm on the high strings down but I'm a bit unsure for the bass notes.

It alternates between 5th/4th string but do they fall alternate or on top of the stuff your playing on 2nd/3rd string?

Any chance you could expand on the vid but focus purely on Poor Black Mattie? Just like you said, just because it's simple doesn't mean its easy to learn :D

[delu5i0n]

man i cant see how u be finger picking and what u finger pick .

[sebbagos]

hi friend

thank you so much for this. was great learnin from you. Just wnated to say that McDowell's blues is called Black Minnie and that on 1929 Sleepy John Estes recorded a piece called "Black Mattie Blues" though it goes differently.

so thanks again/ agree with you on every word you've said: burnside is the real deal.

Peace and Blues On!

[phl202]

Thanks. The left hand technique presentation is very clear, but RL's distinctive style is also heavily dependent on right-hand technique. Your style is quite different from his and it's nice. Some right hand lessons would be nice. Thanks again for the great video.

[BlingDogg01]

Thanks for the video!! I've been wanting to learn this style for a while. I love RL Burnside!

[utoobia]

Got it. Dang easy even for me. Thanks for posting this.

[Kesava1975]

I'm afraid your tuning is wrong, RL for this tune, is open A, not G. So the strings are as follows; 6th-E, 5th-A, 4th-E, 3rd-A, 2nd-C#, 1st-E. You can also check out the video of him playing the song "Black Mattie" on youtube for the reference of the tuning.

[JonnyGrave]

wow, dude... you're going to try and call me out over a whole step in a guitar tuning? you know it's the same fingering, right? do you play guitar? i mean, you're also wrong-- the poor black mattie video i think you're talking about (the one where he's wearing a yellow shirt) is played in the key of Ab. there's another video of him playing the same song in the key of F. my point is that it's the same fingering. a step or two in the tuning really doesn't make much of difference. it didn't for RL.

[mkrdmt]

I just wanted to say thanks for putting this instruction on the web, don't worry about nitpickers - at least you are doing something productive. RL would be proud that you are passing on knowlege to others.

[nolflex50]

hahah i love you,

mustang sally on a cruise ship!

im writing a midterm exam in the library and i laughed out loud when i heard that

[derrickman81]

what brand of strings do you prefer using ?

[JonnyGrave]

john pearse, medium gauge. i'll use d'addario mediums when i do gigs, but, derek-- if you can get yourself a hold of the joh pearse strings, you'll convert for life.

[archambault65]

Are they phosophor bronze Johnny? My new Martin came with medium strings and the tone difference is truly noticeable, warmer, richer. Never heard of John Pearse. Guitar Center have them?

Thanks for all you do. This video is amazing. I'm a convert, 15 min a day brother thanks to you.

Steve

[hellwaterfamily]

those are my fave strings too. John pearse are awesome. Cheaper than the overrated (in my opinion) elixers.

[joshiegee]

wow i cant belieave ive hardly heard of burnside, i love these licks thanks again what are the tuning? did u say D,A,D,G,B,E?

[JonnyGrave]

nope-- open G. DGDGBD

[joshiegee]

oh i knew that haha thanks, just to let you know that tomorrow i will be uploading videos of some of my songs and covers, so please comment rate and subscribe, many thanks for your blues wisdom

[frontsidefiveoh]

This is a great lesson, as well in taste as in playin' the blues... thanks for spicin' up the playin' of your fellow musicians. But best of all - you're a great singer. Thanks for this vid, keep da attitude and have the best of times!!!

[Vapor40]

please do a How to finger pick in this style lesson

[JonnyGrave]

i'll post a lesson next week,

[bxplosion]

Thank you so much! Been trying to pick it up.

[moas689]

Dude...awesome, but SLOW IT DOWN!! The hardest part of this song is the picking and I couldn't see what you were doing. Thanks!

[donluke578]

Jonny, fantastic stuff but....please use better lighting and try to slow the instructional part DOWN for a little longer if possible. Please check out deltabluestips style. You have so much to offer but I find it very hard to see and then follow. Thank you so much for what you're doing.

[pbyhre]

THANK YOU! Been trying to figure some of this stuff out...without much luck. This is a big help.

Robert Belfour is another great hill country player, and he's still alive and playing. Check him out if you get the chance.

[x2mars]

thanks man

[kinada0]

Legendary work JonnyGrave!

Burnside gives me chills and I've been trying to pick up what he's puttin down so thanks for the vids. Like you said...simple doesn't mean easy.

I've got the FG also, love the neck and she loves the alternate tunings.

Oh and bad/good luck on getting rolled, ipods & laptops are replaceable but your guitar never is.

Thanks again man