Hello Paul and Duke -

Very tasty solo so far! The Charlie Christian lick is certainly a keeper, thanks for that. Any feedback on this one?

Thanks!

Bruce

Mike - one transcription error. In the "Charlie Christian" phrase (measure 9) the  6th note of the phrase (2nd to the last note in the bar) should be a 10th fret on the 4th string, not 8th fret as indicated.  Thanks, Bruce

Too bad you're leaving, Andy. Your playing on this sounds really great. Hearing it inspired me to start working on it.

Hi Duke! While you are away resting your shoulder, I'm jumping back into older lessons that I missed. 

You were encouraging us to just "go for it", so that's pretty much what's here. A few moments are sub-optimal, though some of it is not bad. I probably should have learned the words instead of trying to read them, as it kept throwing off the rhythm of my singing. I'll learn 'em before I play it in front of anybody. ;-)

Anyway, hope the recovery is going well! Take care, Duke!

I hope the shoulder feels better soon, Duke! Thanks for all of the very interesting and informative comments. 

Thanks to youtube, so much of the music you mentioned is available. Was the Lonnie Johnson/Eddie Lang tune called "Bull Frog Moan"? That's a very cool one that's on youtube. And there's tons of great Carl Kress and Dick McDonough.

And here's terrific *live* footage of Mary Osborne! What a great guitar player!

Hi Duke. So here's my version of the solo with your suggestions. I did take the liberty of adding a couple more notes that I hear in there. I don't know if it's right, but it's what I hear. ;-)

It's such an elegant solo; a challenge to learn and a pleasure to play. I think this one has been a very good exercise for my time, because the phrasing is so difficult to cop perfectly. It's very subtle, but you can hear him change voices in the solo. He starts out much more agressively and bluesy, with that inital long, slight bend. And then by the end he's bouncy and playful in his timing and it falls back beautifuly to Charles' voice. 

So I tried to recreate the different "voices" I hear Moore playing. Not sure if it comes across, but it's in there somewhere. :-)

Thanks for the great lesson. I'm enjoying this one a lot. 

Thank you, Duke. That really means a lot to me.

Another error I've been meaning to mention is the last chord, which is labeled as a Bb7#5. It should be a B7#5. 

Hi Duke! Hey, thanks so much for the kind words on the last video. 

I'm having a lot of fun learning the fills. They are so beautiful and so subtle.  I've been listening to Charles Brown for over 40 years and never appreciated  that gorgeous guitar work until I sat down and tried to play it. Johnny Moore was amazing. It's a shame he refused to give Charles his due credit on the records, but you can't knock the guys' genius. 

So here's an attempt at the first half of the solo mostly following your transcription. It's certainly a lot easier having your example to follow! :-) Thanks for the great lesson, looking forward to next week.

Bruce

So I know I'm jumping the gun, so to speak, but the solo was just so cool, I had to dive in! Pretty close, I think. I'm really trying to internalize the phrasing. 

By the way, that is a *great* photo of you with Muddy that you posted on Facebook! Do you have a higher resolution version of it? I'd love to print it out and put it up in my guitar room!

Anyway -- as always, anxious to hear any feedback on this effort. Thanks so much, Duke!

Best Regards,

Bruce

Hi Duke -

I"m very excited about the new lesson, because as a piano player, I've always loved Charles Brown. I'm going to make a piano backing track for myself to play along with. I'd be glad to upload it here in case anyone else might want to use it. 

Peter, I'm glad you pointed out the chord error, I was going to do that. I think I spotted a couple of other errors in the transcription, but I need to review that. 

Anyway -- thanks as always, Duke. I can't express what a difference it has made in my playing (and consequently my life) to study with you. In addition to being a truly wonderful musician, you are an inspirational teacher.

Best Regards,

Bruce

Nice playing, Charlie! You have a really nice blues feel!

Really nice playing and singing, Steve. Wish I had that fluidity.

Hi Duke!

This tune  presents so many unique challenges.  Lowell Fulson certainly needs his own chapter in the history of blues guitar. It's interesting to see how much he was influenced by T-Bone Walker, and how with just a difference of phrasing it goes from smooth/cool T-Bone Walker to an almost "falling down the stairs" rhythm from Fulson that sounds just fantastic. There's an "urgency" about his playing when he does those explosively fast licks that I just can't get anywhere near as yet. 

You said, "Don't worry about mistakes", so I'm trying not to worry, even if I'm still making some, as you will get to hear. ;-)  

Even with mistakes, I feel this shows some progress in my playing, or at least in my self-confidence. Would be most grateful for any feedback!

Thanks for the great lesson!

Bruce

Hi Duke -

I was listening to my 78 of Lowell Fulson's "Guitar Shuffle" and it sounded so great I wanted to share it with your other students. Looking forward to the next steps in this lesson!

Thanks!

Bruce

Thanks a lot, Mike! I'm using a Vox AC4HW1 (hand-wired), Fender '63 Reverb pedal and MXR Carbon Copy pedal. A 4 watt amp does allow me to remain on good relations with the neighbors, but the 10" speaker keeps it from getting boxy sounding like smaller 4 watt amps.

I don't normally use any effects when I'm practicing, but I was watching a video of Duke the other day where he said, "I'm going to turn up the reverb, because I like reverb." and I thought, well, why not? Indulge myself! :-) And it did seem to help inspire me. That probably is obvious to veteran guitar players. Being a piano player, I never thought much about effects and their affect on one's motivation. So as they say back in New England, light dawns on Marblehead (i.e. someone being an idiot finally realizes something). 

Thanks again for the kind words. They are most deeply appreciated. 

And here's another go, up to speed on my Strat so I can use the out-of-phase setting. Thanks, Duke.

Hi Duke!

Here's a first try at this. I'm still working on it, so it's slowed down a little bit  (86%). I wanted to see if I could get Lowell's unique timing, so I'm playing along with his record. He definitely makes it a challenge. ;-)  There's a great spirit about Lowell's playing that's hard to pin down exactly, but he plays with such confidence and authority! I'm doing my best to emulate that. Any suggestions or comments? Thanks!!

Bruce

Hi Duke - 

This feels better to me. I feel like there's a kind of horse clip-clop clip-clop in the rhythm somehow. :-) What do you think?

Thanks!

Bruce

Thanks, Duke. I'll keep at it!