Thanks Warner I appreciate your comment!!

enjoyed that very much

Boyd I think nobody needs a bendometer!! if you know a tune very well then try playing it on your harp to get the pitch right.... nusery rhymes and hymns are great to get your bends right since most people are familar with these tunes you will know if you got the pitch right or not!! just my 2cents worth of advice.

example Old mcdonald for the 3" bend.... or three blind mice 3 3" 2

I have been hearing a lot about a bendometer, How do you feel about it 

Hi Jerry,

Thanks for the suggestion.  I'm not sure that I am playing it right, but it does sound pretty cool - real dirty.  I'll keep working on it. I am trying to get my band to consider doing a couple of Jimmy Rogers tunes (at least that's where I know them from) - "Goin' Away Baby" and "Ludella." I'd also like to get them on to "Walkin' Blues" in the Butterfield style and also his  "Baby, Please Don't Go."

Take care,

Rich

Hey Rich,

Try Little Red Rooster in third position. Grab a G harp. You can play the key riff - 2 draw (bottom bend), 1 draw, 4 draw (slap tongue) or 1/4 draw octave. 

Hey Rich,

Try this one in 3rd position on a G harp. You can play the key riff - 2 draw (bottom bend), 1 draw, 4 draw or 1 & 4 draw octave. Slap tongue the 4 draw. Try it - you'll like it.

Hi Terryguitar, Thanks! I'm glad you are having fun with them. I do mostly use a unwound G because I still bend the G string when I play jazz. I sometimes use a light gauge flatwounds set with a wound G. As far as that guitar                , it's a JW Murphy archtop. Look up hiis guitars, they're great! Duke 

Thanks Corey...I've studied both version of Gary Davis and Eric Bibb and I tried more or less to mix them and add something more personal..not too much...what I found really interesting in studying this tune is that Gary Davis pick the strings together for example when I play a C chord...the 1st and 3rd strings together instead the 5th and 1st...I surely explained myself very bad but you know what I mean!! :DD It's totally different than Mississppi John Hurt and every song we have studied till today...

he used to say that, according to Stefan Grossman,it was the new way to play!!! new, old...well I like them both!!! :)))

thanks

Alex

I got you Corey. That's the way I always understood the song, but I was always thrown off by the quick switch from "do anything in this world for me" to "studies evil all the time." In my own experience my wife is very steadily on the kind side, though our daughter, being very twelve, swings wildly back and forth like the wind shifting on water. It's pretty baffling actually, though in its own way fascinating.

Just a quick return to Calt's definition, though. He indicates that he got his definition from Skip James, presumably from one of his interviews. The only reason I question it is that I am not sure how he has interpreted what James actually said - in other words, since he did not directly quote James I am not sure the definition of kind-hearted woman isn't colored by Calt's own blind spots and prejudices. Some of what he wrote in his biography of Charley Patton is a bit F'ed up, so I tend to read his writing more critically than most.

Well you blow my mind Corey :) i have also thought of this but i was wondering if i was missing something. I love your explanation. It's the more philosophical one finally and the more realist. I agree with it and adopt it.

Thanks for your light Corey :) !

Wow Corey Your comment make my day (at least my night cause it's 1am here) ! The kind hearted solo is Muddy's Solo with slight variation and i also like to play like him without muting behind the slide. I love ragtime guitar too. I listen to blind blake a lot and it's real close to jazz swing i played before. In France people think picking is for country picking like Marcel dadi and Chet Atkins wich i don't like. So i didn't knew much about ragtime but know i'm in love with it and like to play alternate bass and make it swing ! In My opinion Marcel dadi doesn't swing but Big Bill Broonzy, Josh White, Lonnie Johnson and Blind blake (and many others but these are my favorite) have a great swing !! that's what i try to work on...

thanks again Corey,all my progress come from what i study with you and what we exchange in the lessons ! You bring me to work Kind hearted, then i tried muddy version because in A it was very high. And i wanted to show you my version of Police dog that we talked about so i work a lot on it !

See you on the lessons !

I always thought kind-hearted woman was exactly what he meant...someone who is truly kind but has another side.  We men have all had experiences with women who can be the sweetest in the world when they are happy with you and the most wicked when they are not!  We all have that other side and I think that's what the song is about. 

@John Bunyan...Nice solid rhythm on Rambling on My Mind and your singing is smooth.  Well done and thanks.

@JDY...your version of Police Dog is very nice...good rhythm and tempo.  You got a natural feel for the ragtime guitar sound.  Thanks for posting.

@JDY...Nice version of kindhearted woman...you get a nice tone out of the guitar.  The best part for me was the instrumental break where you play slide on the 12th fret for a measure.  Sounds good.  Thanks for posting.

Hi,

I am really enjoying the lessons - especially the one's from "wobble walkin". What is (are) the make of guitar you use on "all of me"  and on Ïf I had You"? Also do you mostly use an unwound G string? Having a background playing rock I started of with 009 E string -- then when dabbling in Jazz/Blues I went to 013 E string and tapewound. I am now lightening up the strings for two reasons -- one is age, the other is that I am a bit heavy handed and heavy strings sound a bit "thuddy" under my fingers. I have just turned 60 and am enjoying playing more than ever. Your lessons are a big part of this..thanks Terry

I read somewhere (or saw it on utube) that jimmie vaughan uses tapewound strings. Also a lot of the time he uses his fingers (right hand haha). The thing that makes Duke, Jimmie, BB king, Kid Ramos, Junior watson great is that they can put out a great tone whatever gear they use.

Cheers Terry

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T3jutwDfUdo

Forget Butterfield on this one, Jerry played the most mind twistingly incredible 2 solos in the video I've linked. In particular check out the phrase between 1:03 and 1:07. Insane.

Hello Jerry, Thank you so much for your comments & feedback.... actually I didn't touch the harp for about 6 months prior to making those videos!!!!! and i did feel a bit rusty. I am back now and starting to play again and i'm enjoying it...

I stilll got to learn much... you really encourage me to keep moving on and learning.... Jerry I have a small request can you put out a lesson or two on how to play backing harmonica to accompany a person who is singing & playing the guitar. That is one area I need to improve on. In the album Blues Never Die! by Otis Spann with James Cotton on both harmonica and lead vocals is just great and it would be nice if you could break down some of that for us,....

Thanks & Regards, Preston.

Hello Jerry Portnoy... I met you once in Miami, Fl. at the Tobacco Road club where you were working with the Legendary BB. I was standing there with Rob "Wild Boar" Moore a mutial friend. You walked a step or two past us then recognized Rob from Chicago, turned and spoke to us. You recognized Rob from back in the days when he sat in with the Muddy Waters Band in the South Side clubs. Rob worked with Wild Child Bttler after that, then moved to Miami where he and I became fast buddies.

I hope you will turn back to the first page of this thread and check out at least one of the three videos that I posted there. I would love to hear your comments. You could do a "search" at YouTube for < Rob "Wild Boar" Moore > there and see some of his too.

Hey Preston,

Really nice job! Good feel for the grooves and great sense of timing and where to place your very nice phrases. Phrasing and technique are excellent. You're really getting it and just need to convey a bit more confidence and authority in your attack. Well done!

Thanks Jerry,

i was initially relying on a program I have which usually identifies a song correctly, but in this case wasn't right.  I need to trust my ear more. The version we are using is in the key of G, and, as you indicate, a C playing in 2nd position works pretty well, and I am starting to play it reasonably well.  We have nice set list so far with songs like Rock Me, Crosscut Saw, Little by Little, My Babe, Key to the Highway, All Your Lovin, I Miss Lovin, The Thrill is Gone, Sweet Home Chicago, among others.  Between your lessons, lots of practice (around an hour a day), weekly jams I've gotten enough better (still a long way to go) that a fellow from this band heard me play a couple songs and thought I sounded good enough to play with them.  So thanks.  Rich

I'm not sure what version you have so I don't know what key it's in. Once you establish the key, however, either 2nd or 3rd position would work well. It's just a matter of taste. You should try it both ways.