Wishingto learn Delta Blues

[Zenzeypher]

Any tips tricks or advice please folks

any videos and what not would be great.

thanks in advance yo'

[wsigler]

Any modern blues lessons will get you the basics you need. Other than that you'll just need to consume music to find what you like. There will be elements of different styles based on the composer (Folk, Ragtime, etc).

I'll suggest exploring the following in addition to the more well-known players. YouTube is full of music by them.

Mississippi John Hurt
David "Honeyboy" Edwards
Jimmy Reed
Son House
Blind Boy Fuller

and many others.

Have fun and welcome to Mississippi.

[SexyGibson]

Yep, listen to LOTS of it. The best course in the world can teach you theory and technique but until you really get " intimate " with the blues you will never have it.

[bama6977]

It is the feel, the soul feel that you discover by listening to the
Blues. You will know when you get it and then you can play it.

[winexprt]

Good for you for wanting to learn the Blues!

Howlin Wolf talking about the blues and Son House's alcoholism - YouTube

Howlin Wolf talking about the blues and Son House's alcoholism - YouTube

Son House tells us how to make the blues - YouTube

Son House tells us how to make the blues - YouTube

Furry Lewis pt 1 - YouTube

Furry Lewis pt 1 - YouTube

[winexprt]

"If you don't know the blues... there's no point in picking up the guitar and playing rock and roll or any other form of popular music."

Keith Richards

[Hack]

...Gotta pay your dues.

[Zenzeypher]

Thanks guys ive been listening to Robert Johnson, Muddy waters, Koko Taylor, Blind Willie and of course

Howlin' Wolf - How Many More Years - YouTube

Howlin' Wolf - How Many More Years - YouTube

I've always loved the blues and I've taught myself various licks, but I wanna be able to play like a mean sunnofabitch but as it stands I mostly play rock and punk and I feel I should give it my full attention and start using it in my bands style..

and get me a stomp box.

[Zenzeypher]

Seasick Steve - Cut My Wings - YouTube

Seasick Steve - Cut My Wings - YouTube

[JonR]

Originally Posted by Zenzeypher

Thanks guys ive been listening to Robert Johnson, Muddy waters, Koko Taylor, Blind Willie and of course

Howlin' Wolf - How Many More Years - YouTube

I've always loved the blues and I've taught myself various licks, but I wanna be able to play like a mean sunnofabitch but as it stands I mostly play rock and punk and I feel I should give it my full attention and start using it in my bands style..

and get me a stomp box.

Don't forget Son House - see above, and this:

You Tube

You Tube

- who was the last surviving real heavy Delta Blues player
He taught Robert Johnson, for a start. (By "surviving", of course, I mean lived long enough to be filmed).
The others you mention are fine, naturally, but came later.

Here's another survivor from the more "sensitive" end of the Delta Blues

Skip James sings "Crow Jane" - YouTube

Skip James sings "Crow Jane" - YouTube

- a real beautiful performance, with a strong sense of ancient folk heritage.
(BTW, he's in normal tuning, but down a whole step. And yeah he does look a bit drunk...)

There's no film of this guy, unfortunately (and only one photo), arguably the originator of the whole genre:

Charley Patton - Spoonful Blues (Delta Blues 1929) - YouTube

Charley Patton - Spoonful Blues (Delta Blues 1929) - YouTube

- now you know where Howlin' Wolf got his thing from.

The other guy who can claim originator status is:

'Match Box Blues' BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON (1927) Rock 'n' roll song, Classic Texas Blues - YouTube

'Match Box Blues' BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON (1927) Rock 'n' roll song, Classic Texas Blues - YouTube

- because he was the first male blues singer/guitarist to make a record, in 1925, establishing the idea - in the public mind - of "blues" as something played by a guy with a guitar. (Before then, at least on record, blues was a female vocal genre, accompanied by either piano or jazz group.) His records influenced everyone who came later; which was - er - just about everyone.

[Zenzeypher]

amazing thanks a ton for taking the time to post all of those... Im gonna be mega busy catching up on all of these.

[jonesy]

I have always liked the Blues and I spent a lot of time listening to the older recordings. Here is my take on some Acoustic Slide.

Ramblin On My Mind-Robert Johnson Acoustic Slide Blues.m4v - YouTube

Ramblin On My Mind-Robert Johnson Acoustic Slide Blues.m4v - YouTube

[L60N]

John Lee Hooker.

John Lee Hooker - Hobo Blues - YouTube

John Lee Hooker - Hobo Blues - YouTube

[JonR]

Originally Posted by L60N

John Lee Hooker.

John Lee Hooker - Hobo Blues - YouTube

Yes... You can hear way back to Africa in his early stuff like that.

What always strikes me about those old guys, is they're all individuals. Although they clearly come from the same tradition, they all sound different. Nobody sounded like John Lee Hooker. Nobody sounded like Skip James. You could hear Son House in Robert Johnson, but RJ was his own man too.
Howlin' Wolf copied Charley Patton's vocal style, but still ended up sounding like no one but himself. Likewise all the other greats that came out of that era: like Muddy Waters, who ended up defining "Chicago blues"; or B B King, who started out copying T-Bone Walker, and now sounds like nobody but himself.

It's only in more recent decades that you get cookie-cutter bluesmen, and IMO that's because the genre - as a living, breathing culture connected to its roots - died way back in the 60s, as soon as white kids got their sweaty hands on it. It's now a vintage form, like dixieland, bebop, rockabilly, etc.

Before the 1960s, blues was African-American pop music. In the 1960s, that audience moved on to soul, tamla and funk, and eventually hip-hop and rap; leaving blues behind for (us) white kids to pick up the pieces.

[Rant over ]

But B B King reminds me: here's his cousin Booker White, from that earlier generation:

Booker White - Aberdeen Mississippi Blues HIFI - YouTube

Booker White - Aberdeen Mississippi Blues HIFI - YouTube

And my own guitar hero:

BIG BILL BROONZY - Hey Hey 1952 LIVE! - YouTube

BIG BILL BROONZY - Hey Hey 1952 LIVE! - YouTube

Although I'm conscious of the problems in always looking back, trying to copy music from a previous era that's long since moved on, it's only by going right back to the beginning of a genre, and understanding the history, that you get firmly rooted in it, so your own interpretation has the strongest foundations.

Of course it's still important that you follow your instincts. Eg, if you love SRV and don't quite get Charley Patton, go with it. It's your music in the end. All the above is just throwing stuff out there in case it connects. You don't HAVE to respect it.

[california1967]

An amazing delta blues you tube channel is Keni Lee Burgess'. It's a wealth of info and he has a lot of lessons and whatnot - enjoy!

KeniLeeBurgess' Channel - YouTube

[Grand Toad]

I cut my blues teeth learning Delta Blues. I found I teacher back in the Seventies who taught me the basics. He would write down the tab on notebook paper and record the songs on a cassette.

I'd also recommend the following book and CD combo.