Delta-Style Strumming

TrueFire's Guitabulary

The queen of Delta blues guitar sits in and serves up a lesson on authentic country blues strumming. If you want to get next to the concepts laid down by Tommy Johnson, Charley Patton, Robert Johnson, Skip James, and Willie Brown, you'll find this lesson a watershed. Rory uses Tommy Johnson's classic "Big Road Blues" as a foundation for teaching a series of techniques: bass notes followed by one or two strums; strumming sixteenth notes; pounding (hitting your guitar top in conjunction with a strum) and snapping (pulling a string away from the fretboard for an enticing percussive effect). As a bonus, Rory ties it all together by playing her own version of "Big Road Blues." This lesson includes Power Tab and is featured on the following CD compilations: HOW TO PLAY GUITAR: Anthology , BLUES U, ACOUSTIC U.