"Slow Blues in A" taught by Ernie Hawkins (Part 1 of 2)

[MrAlboy27]

what would we all do if we didnt have mr ernie hawkins,thank you sir , you are such a great help,and a real breath of fresh air. Kind regards from northern Ireland.

[QuistTV]

wow!!!!!!! Just wow.

[JerryHatTrick100]

This is typical of an audience of the sixties.We used to sit there and drink in the atmosphere.Astounded at the vertuocity of these guys.With polite clapping in appreciation at the end.

It was only with the advent of poor performers,electronics and todays manufactured groups ,churned out as "flavour of the month" that screaming and swearing took over ,desguised as enthusiasm.

Thanks Ernie for analysing the sound and giving a new generation the chance to play real music.

[donottawaguitar]

wow hes good

[JuanDeSoCal]

The guitar is not tuned to Open G (all open strings tuned to a G Major chord), nor is the song really in the key of A. He is using chord shapes in positions that would ordinarily yield a blues in A, but he is tuned down one whole step. Therefore, it is in fact a blues in G. For simplicity's sake though, Ernie is describing the chords as though he is NOT tuned down a step—"G" is "A" etc.

[danbrooklin]

It amazes me to read many of these comments by people who complain that this is really in G not in A. Don't people listen? Ernie makes it very clear what he is doing. This instruction is for SOLO GUITAR PLAYERS- not band members, not playing with harmonicas or other instruments. So Ernie is describing the chords as a guitar player would think of their SHAPE.

[freddysmith123]

why is everyone sitting around like zombies ...???

[t3hpwnzerer]

@freddysmith123 he killed them with the blues D:

[TheMahagoni]

oh and thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TheMahagoni]

HOLY BITCHES THIS BROTHA IS KILLING

i wish that when i go to mississippi i'll see people like him

i dont know if there are so much like him left

[petrochemicals4u]

Smile' pussycat...!  lol

[hellofrederick]

Great

[jcuchiara]

Lots of confusion on this one! It's the opposite effect of putting a capo on the second fret and playing the G, C, and D chords. You'd be hearing A, D, E but playing shapes from the key of G. Here you're playing shapes from the key of A but hearing them in G. Think of a blues in E that's played while tuned 1 / 2 step down. It's really Eb but everything is organized and played on the guitar as though it were in E. Your sax or piano would play in Eb and everyone would be on the same page.

[Proflutzn]

dude this guys my hero!!!

[vinbasshred]

great I love learning blues lately, but yes this is in the key of G, A position in this tuning... it's meant for me cause I always have my guitar tuned like this; one whole step down (2 semitones) for my baritone voice!

[sgtpeppercr]

hey where's the other part??

[KINGSLIDEGUITAR]

I want thats Hat ,,says Doc!

[jkuebler89]

thats the heartbeat!

[neve1073]

lightin footage is amazing

[scrumpymanjack]

Just in case beginners out there are getting confused it worth repeating that this is in G, not A. Nice post but totally misleading information. Please be more careful next time.

[NortonG15CSR]

There's nothing misleading about this. If you listen to Ernie's' instruction he points out that LIghting has his guitar tuned down - in this case a whole step. This is a blues in A, played in an A chord 1-4-5configuration, but comes out sounding in G. For students wanting to learn LIghtnings fingering, it would be more misleading to represent it as a blues in G.

[Texusify]

Great comment. For guitar pickers around the world it's not about what key it sounds like, it's about the 'original' key it's played in, no matter how far down you tune your guitar.

Nevertheless, you can always pick your own key and change any song to your own just by doing that.

But in this case, it would be pretty difficult doing this song in, say F, considering ordinary tuning. Requires loads of open strings.

[TEB1952]

Tex: That may be a way of looking at it, but the key is the key it sounds in. Another guitar in standard tuning would have to play G to match his A. A singer would have to sing in G to fit. Using his A form, he is actually making a G chord.

[toby099]

so he is just playing his normal e blues stuff except tuned down a whole step?

[jimihendrix1967]

i don't understand how those old microphones get every sound from a particular distance and gives you a very clear sound.

[johndela1]

There are recent microphones that are the same type and give similar results.

[jimihendrix1967]

I'll search for those.

[7upIsLove]

:40 that is the mark of a true performer. i watched this like 3 or 4 times before i noticed him tuning during that pause. like a magician taking your attention away from his hands while he pulls off the trick.

[MinorMeriwether]

holy fuck so much soul it just oozes.

[CoolKindaGuy1029]

This is in G, not A

[semiauto25]

You're right.

[infamousnation]

OK for everyone confused on the tuning of the song, you need to know about concert music. Take saxophones for instance. You have E flat and B flat sax's. If you play a C on a B flat sax and a C on an E flat sax, they wont be the same note.  This is what everyone is missing I think. They see that the song is in the key of A and assume that is the standard guitar tuning A which it is not. Anyone who was in concert band in high school would understand thisl

[jimbomckeckney]

You've missed the point a bit; for one thing, they won't be the same pitch, but they'll be an octave above or below. Same note. What's happening here is that some guitarists don't want to think in terms of the actual key they're playing in, because they only think in terms of chord shapes.

[winstonparker6]

I have the wonderful Luck of having Lighting"s last Bass player as my friend and bass player (Ron Wilson) and from the stories he has shared with me Lighting "just played" time,tuning were his car that HE drove and you were just along for the journey.This sit is great! blues is the blues( The real blues anyway) and this site should give you a way to teach you how to drive not give you the car!! Thank you for the great site D

[NevadaPic]

It's in the key of Lightnin'

[savagerabbit]

That remark deserves a "Fuck yeah!"

[Bendik2006]

its in G not A

[supersnake93]

how can you tell?

[infamousnation]

def not in A cause i got my D harp and it aint right

[supersnake93]

i mean how do you tell what key a song is? im not disrespecting and im sorry if you took it that was

[jimbomckeckney]

In this instance, because he's using the chordal background of an A blues while tuned a tone down. Some people have perfect pitch and can work out they key of a piece just by listening.

[Bendik2006]

I lissend to it, and its in G

[NATXXCORE]

ur right

the A blues is based on the fifth fret of the bigger string

[galaxyrock]

Bendik2006, Everyone is aware that the sounding key is G. If you had watched the whole video, you would know that. Shut the fuck up about it.

[Nunsweepit421]

I've only just discovered Ernie Hawkins (shame on me!). I just love this guy. A very pleasent tutor indeed and very patient by showing you every note on each string and fret which is what I need. Amazon have a lot of Ernie Hawkins instructional DVDs which I'm going to buy.

[IXLennonRIPXI]

that thumb slide is excellent

[MrJamieo]

brilliant =] i love the blues

[goc1973]

My last comment is a response to cosmojh, in case it's not clear.

[sixtytwosoon]

The tuning is not open G it is standard tuning droped down. Like he shows you in the following lesson duh! The man, Lighting nobody does it better.

[kaorwada]

maravilloso

[VideoWithLight]

really fin great. thank you!

[Phynx1273]

DGCFAD ...is definitely the tuning. I recently bought this instructional DVD, and this song takes practice. especially the Thumb slide on D7 chord.

you gotta Love Lightnin's style

And damn do i dig the hat!!!

[imairlax]

everything on that friggin' dvd takes practice :-P

did you tackle "take me back" yet? that's where it really gets fun.

[cosmojh]

I can't imagine why he doesn't call the strings by what they're really tuned down to, DGCFAD. The piece IS in "G." It's fingered as if it were in A, BUT A is not a fingering it's a 440 beats per second. If you play this with a sax player, or a pianist, or a bass player, or harmonica "A" is gonna be wrong. But, it's not in "open G" either.

[goc1973]

Ernie's way makes perfect sense to anyone with basic guitar skills. Your way might be more musically correct, but it would be totally confusing. Esp. since Lightnin's guitar tuning tends to be pretty idiosyncratic: he always makes the A chord the same way, even if its "really" a G or an A# or whatever. If you play with others, you can tune the guitar upthe only reason we tune it down is to be in tune with Lightnin Hopkins recordings.

[ratboy68]

It's in A, with the guitar tuned down a couple of steps. It's not in Open G. It's standard tuning tuned down. Anyone who thinks Ernie Hawkins is "lame" needs to go back to Jr. High School. We're lucky to have Ernie to pass on his deep knowledge of the blues to us. He's a great player and a great teacher.

[zkafel]

it's only one step down [dgcfad]

[Lookup2Wakeup]

@ratboy68

Totally agree, I learnt to play all this stuff off the DVD - first class instruction.

Ernie has studied all Lightenings tunes in incredible detail.

[mesimar]

Beatiful

[api9mm]

Nice. But it's in open G ant A

[peglegsam]

wow, it directly goes to top of my wishlist near 2 "Mance Lipscomb by Ernie Hawkins" DVDs!