Blues In My Fingers - Lonnie Johnson instrumental on a 10-string guitar

A Lonnie Johnson instrumental I pieced together from several songs.
The first couple verses are based on Lonnie's instrumental called "I Woke Up This Morning With The Blues In My Fingers", the introduction and the other 5 verses are derived from different songs (which I can't exactly remember)

Tuning : DGDGBE low to high
I'm tuned down half a step though so it should be C#F#C#F#A#C#

I'm playing a 12-string guitar (Gibson LG12 from around 1969) but I removed two strings (the second B string and the 4th thin G string). This way the single string work and especially the second string bending stand out more.




TABLATURE : I tabbed out this song (intro + all 8 verses) so if you're interested go to my website
http://www.daddystovepipe.com
I offer it as a promo "2 for the price of 1" together with the tab for "Blues For The Westend"
Price for the two tabs (9 pages in total) is only €7.50 - howzat for a good deal!
These songs are perfectly playable on a 6-string guitar.

Check out my Lonnie Johnson playlist for more in this style.
http://www.youtube.com/user/daddystovepipe#grid/user/D58A1E169D9A031E

Here's the link to "Blues For The Westend"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZfcWdxrCYY

Here's a link to a free lesson with free TABLATURE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PJPaMkpo28&feature=related
Great introduction to Lonnie's special style of playing.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• lonnie
• johnson
• blues
• instrumental
• acoustic
• 12-string
• guitar
• daddystovepipe

[fatcatbuzz]

What is the reason for not using the G and B strings on the 12-string? Is it to get a different sound when you bend the strings? I would have never thought of doing something like that my self. Is there other guitarist that do that as well?

[daddystovepipe]

@fatcatbuzz

It's to make things easier; note the frequent bending of the second string - with a double course this would be very difficult because bending a double course can lead to sounds that are off-key (if one of the strings is bended more than the other - listen to the note at 2.12 and you'll hear what I mean)

If you play a double course third and fourth string from above (hitting the thinnest G string first) you get that jinglyjangly sound which does not belong in this style of play.

[daddystovepipe]

@fatcatbuzz

Lonnie Johnson did remove strings from his 12-string guitar - in his famous photo (wearing his pinstriped trousers - you can see that picture on this screen - 4th in the right hand corner) you can see that the first and second course have only one string (you'll need a good quality reproduction to see it) - this setup is also very clearly audible in several of his recordings between 1926-32

There are examples of 9-string guitars made in the 20ies.

[fatcatbuzz]

@daddystovepipe That is very interesting. It funny, sometimes when you think all there is to know about guitars and something like that comes up. Are they really built as 9 string guitars or just 12 string guitar with out 3 strings to give it a different sound?

[daddystovepipe]

@fatcatbuzz

they were built as 9-string guitars - removing strings from a 12-string guitar can get you in a bit of trouble with the string spacing....it's not equal in that case.

[ddanze]

Nice. Is that a Taylor with harmonic strings on the inner 4 or the top (treble) 4 strings?

[daddystovepipe]

@ddanze

hi David, please check the description.

[bkm241]

Excellent sound. Love this style of blues

[potatoepeter1]

daddy has stove his pipe, very good

[simpletunes2]

That's a great sound with the two strings removed. Has a real 'Bronnzy' feel.

[Folkmill]

Cool! Love the reflection of the headstock in the pane behind you. It caught me by surprise and I wasn't sure what it was until I watched in full-screen. One thing your comprehensive notes and replies overlook, though, is the tendency for the 3rd course descant - often .008" diameter - to snap, on 12-strings strung "normally"; and thus removing a 2c follows. I get round it by using a lighter-gauge, wound 3c in unison--a solution I read in a library book on the history and development of guitars.

[rayoll]

another gem..the switches in feel into and back out of the march feel are terrific...I had run across the removed string idea a while back but I haven't spent any time on it. I've been playing more open G 12 than "straight" tuning lately

[icespeckledhen]

Great, its good to a 12 string guitar being picked, even if its not a full set

[JesseMathews]

Mr Stovepipe another fine job you did on this one! I Like ! :)

[CerylTrini]

The stovepipe is still smokin' .... ;)

[UkesterBrown]

Hmmmm. Never had thunk of that. I figured 6 and 12 were enough, but people have to try something new all the time and you made that baby cry in a good way....

[fatcatbuzz]

@daddystovepipe That's pretty interesting. I actually never knew this information about the 12 string and will look up those pictures. I really like old blues guitar and never know about the removing of a string to give it a different sound. But, it does make a lot of sense after seeing your video. So, thanks for showing me a different way of looking at the 12 string guitar.