Blues Guitar Lessons www.playbluesguitar.eu Free Stuff youtunerecords.com Reverend Gary Davis was a legendary figure in the world of acoustic blues, ragtime and gospel and influenced many guitarists such as Stefan Grossman and Ry Cooder. Althougb well versed in all styles of blues picking, he found religion in his thirties and was ordained as a minister, after which time he refused to play the Devils music. In this video, I take a look at his basic technique when playing in the key of C, using Cocaine Blues as an example. Gary Davis played a jumbo bodied Gibson and favored finger picks, which helped to amplify his sound when performing on the streets of Harlem, as was his habit when living in New York. Its fair to say that Davis had no betters in this field, while other men that he mentored, such as Blind Boy Fuller, enjoyed much greater commercial success. Perhaps Blind Blake and Willie Walker were the only two guitarists to equal Davis, and of these, Blakes playing was limited mostly to fast ragtime picking and didnt have the range of the Reverends repertoire. Davis guitar work was creative and complex, which was all the more impressive when we realize that he only used his thumb and forefinger to pick. His finger was nimble, and his picking thumb could move across all six strings producing a syncopated sound. A characteristic feature of the Reverends playing was the creation of fast single string runs picked with the thumb and forefinger. Deep River Blues <b>…<b>
Jim Bruce Acoustic Blues Guitar Lessons – Reverend Gary davis Style in C – Tips and Technique
6 thoughts on “Jim Bruce Acoustic Blues Guitar Lessons – Reverend Gary davis Style in C – Tips and Technique”
Posted On in Blues Guitar with 6 Comments.
thank you so much for all you do jim
Really informative Jim, about time we had something for the fingerpickin blues anoraks out there 🙂
Out of my experience I can recommend to get the DVD (30ish songs) i got it and it is/was a bit ahead of my capability however I got the hang of some songs! I.e. Jim’s explanation thought me to play them beat by beat (slowly and surely took me there) and I practice my basics and the two meet. Gr&… thx Mr. Jim B. //martin
Awesome style and demonstration! Thumbs up!:)
Very informative, thanks!
Great video! Thank you for information.