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McKinley Morganfield, born on April 4, 1913 and died on April 30, 1983, more popularly known among his fans as Muddy Waters, was a reputed musician of the American blues genre. Muddy Waters was generally acknowledged as “the Father of Chicago blues”.

Muddy Waters debuted on harmonica but by the age of 17 had started playing the guitar at a number of parties where he emulated two very reputed blues artists Robert Johnson and Son House. Qualities for which he got instantly noticed were his rich baritone, his ability to add dark coloration to his tone and his wonderful ability to add a lot of embellishments to the music he played.

The real success phase for Muddy Waters the Original Huochie Coochie Man began with an association with the Chess brothers Phill and Leonard Chess who had formed a music group known as Aristocrat.

In the year 1948, his music on “I Feel Like Going Home” and “I Can’t Be Satisfied” were huge hits and that was the point in time when he began to climb the popularity charts in the clubs. After this, soon, Aristocrat rebranded their name to Chess Records and instantly, Muddy Waters the Original Huochie Coochie Man’s signature tune which happened to be “Rollin’ Stone” became a huge hit among its fans.

By the time September 1953 arrived, Muddy Waters the Original Huochie Coochie Man had started recording in association with one of the more acknowledged blues groups ever in history: This group comprised Elga Edmonds who played on drums, Otis Spann who played on piano, Little Walter Jacobs who played on harmonica; and lastly, Jimmy Rogers who strummed the guitar.

The highly acclaimed band had already recorded a number of blues classics during the time of early 1950s, with the active help of Willie Dixon who was a bassist/songwriter and the masterpieces included “I Just Want to Make Love to You”; “Huochie Coochie Man”,  and “I’m Ready”.

These songs were branded macho songs and they earned a lot of critical acclaim. These songs gave Muddy Waters a series of showstoppers and a tremendous thrust, which proved very important for a hitherto unknown bluesman who was trying to break free from the world of local gigs into the lime light of national prominence.

His beginning was not great but he had a lot of support, both institutional and from his peers who helped him with free guitar lessons and Blues Guitar lessons. It was to his credit that he utilized the opportunities to perfection to rise to prominence.

Muddy Waters, by the time he passed away, had carved out his own niche and his music and songs had inspired an entire generation and the Blues Music had begun to earn its laurels.

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With the diversification of instruments and musical styles, it stands to reason that there are an equally diverse amount of possible gigs. What instrument you play may limit your success. Some of the more basic ones will be covered here but do not limit your horizons by not trying out other avenues that may present themselves. I will mention several types of instruments in the following article. If any are unfamiliar to you, may I suggest a trip to your local library where taped samples of the various styles and sounds may be observed.

The Guitar is now possibly one of the more requested and versatile instruments that can play so many types and styles of music. Most commonly used in restaurants, cocktail lounges, parties, one-man-shows, and any type of show where the guitarist also is required to sing, such as a coffee shop. Sometimes they may have an electronic drummer and possibly bass pedals for rhythm. Happy hour gigs will sometimes use a guitarist, but more commonly it is a keyboard artist.

Playing keyboard is probably one of the most versatile instruments around, since it will fit in to most musical styles and arrangements.

Finding solo gigs such as small parties, cocktail lounges, waiting areas, restaurants, receptions, churches, studio recording, classical, ragtime, jazz, airports, backup for singers is a good place to get started.

Joining or accompanying another musical act or being part of a trio for another group of singers in any style is a joy.

It is not uncommon to have two keyboard artists playing in the same group. While one plays piano, the other may simulate a variety of other woodwinds, brass, flute, stringed instruments or special sound effects. Most times the player will be coordinating the arrangements as the group is playing, all without the use of a musical chart. Keyboard players are the most versatile musicians in the industry, so they have a lot more opportunities to work and are a valuable source of referrals and recommendations for bookings.

Two guitarists accompanying each other on pop tunes, playing for vocalists and other types of instruments, in clubs, restaurants, and the occasional casual get together is great fun.

Being a bass player has several opportunities available for performing. The field of classical music, concerts, jazz, and in combos with piano and guitar or brass always seems a good fit.

Rhythm is the basis of all music, and a good drummer should be able to handle many styles and variations of them. Drummers work in small combos as well as the larger bands and symphony orchestras. The more successful players are also able to sing lead and the drummer who plays well and sings will more often than not get the gig before the non-singer will.

The stringed instruments have been primarily used in the classical format for hundreds of years, but the natural evolution of music has led to more diverse uses for violin, viola, and cello. Nowadays it is not uncommon to see one of these specialty acts perform at a wedding, in a shopping mall, or a private party The three types of stringed instruments have made great advances in the jazz, rock, and pop music categories. Most trio and larger groups are handled by a booking agency that specializes in this type of music.

The Woodwind category would include clarinet and sax, flute, piccolo, oboe, English horn, bassoon, and their like. Generally, the type of work involved can include symphony orchestras, studio work, jazz ensembles and large show acts. The musicians who can “double”, that is, play more than one instrument will naturally be in greater demand and usually work more than one who plays an instrument exclusively.

Brass Players in this category include ones well versed in trumpet, cornet, tuba, horn, trombone and the like. The normal types of work available may include Dixieland, jazz symphony, big band, theater acts and orchestra, and even the player that announces the parade of horses at the racetrack. Most of your gigs will come from referrals from bandleaders, agents, or contractor calls. Another way to break into the business is to get referrals from your instructor.

Being a singer In general, the vocalist should be able to perform many types of music variations just to be versatile enough to continue to work. When filling in at a gig, it may be beneficial to bring arrangements of songs that you perform well, and any styles that you are comfortable with. Vocalists do whatever work they are trained to do, and can do it a professional level.

In closing picking what instrument you have decided to learn and what type of music and the portability of the instrument you choose will make a big impact on your success at making it in music.

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When you first start or begin to learn how to play the blues it is a very good idea that your first know what type of blues you want to learn to master. There are several types of blues that have been developed in this country. Many regions around the United States have their own style of blues guitar playing. There is Chicago Style of Blues, there is Texas Style of Blues, The Delta Style, also New Orleans Style of Blues Guitar, and the Piedmont Style of Blues that comes for the mid east coast up to Delaware style.

A very first and most important thing in my opinion is knowing what a progression is. The blues is comprised of a kind of pattern or order of notes that are played. This is the blues progression patterns. The blues progression is a one, four, five progression (1-4-5-). I’ll try to describe what this means so pay close attention. There are seven major notes in playing music. These notes are A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Now here is where it gets kind of tricky. If some one says they are going to play the blues in the key of A, this simply means that the A is the (One Chord) or the very first chord in the song. The next chord to be played in the song would be the ( Four Chord) or the second chord that would be played. And then the next chord is the (Five Chord) this is the 1 4 5 progression.

Looking at the 7 major chords A, B, C, D, E, F, G, start counting from the left you will notice the first chord is the A chord the fourth chord is the D chord and the fifth chord is the E chord. Now lets look at a song in the key of E. Can you figure out what the progression is?

Starting with the E Chord as the first chord in the song it would be the one chord. Now counting from the E Chord and using it as the number one chord you count F chord as the 2nd chord in the major scale, then the G chord would be the 3rd chord in the major scale then the next chord in the song would be the A chord or the four chord in the song. Now to complete the 145 progression the 5 chord would be the B chord. So the 145 progression in the key of E would use these 3 chords. They are the E, A, B chords.

Start practicing using these chord progressions, keep playing them over and over and try to develop a smooth strum or plucking when you practice them. Its far better to practice chord over and over again with out pausing from on chord to the next. I guess what I am trying to say is play them until they become fluid with out stopping to find the next chord. After a while you will start to here the music and you can move on to new and better things.

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One of the first chords a new guitar player will have difficulty with is the Fm7 or F major 7th. To play this chord your fingers will get a work out but it is a chord you must learn so I would not put it off. Start off with this chord because it will help your guitar playing and you will learn and progress much faster if your hands are in playing shape.

There is definitely some stretching going on when you play this cord. This is an important lesson particularly for beginners because you will soon see that the stretching that your fingers will go through will help you with all of the other difficult chords you will learn.

I should first start off by explaining how the strings are numbered. As you hold your guitar the smallest string is the first string. Then each string is numbered 2nd, third, fourth, the fifth and then the sixth string is the top string or the thickest and bass string.

The Fm7th chord starts off with your third finger on the fourth string just above the third fret. If you don’t know what frets are, they are the little metal bars that go across the neck of your guitar. Now place your second finger on the third string just above the second fret. Now place your first finger on the second string over the first fret.

When you strum the strings start with the fourth string and strum all the way through the first string. You want the first string to ring out and when many people start to play this chord there fingers are laying over the first string which dampens or mutes the first string so it won’t ring out. This is common but with a few days of practice your sound will be much fuller and you can play the chords with more fluidity.

Now work on this chord and start having a little fun with it. Begin moving all your fingers up the neck one fret at a time. Now when I say up the neck it means that your are moving your fingers towards the sound hole of the guitar. It is called up because the notes that you are playing are higher in pitch. When I say down the neck you move your finger towards the tuning keys. If you’re a real beginner they are the little knobs that the strings are attached to at the head stock. The head stock is the where they are found. The little white bar across the top of the neck and above the frets with the notches in is called the nut.

Now start moving and strumming the guitar one fret at a time. You will begin to notice that it starts to get easier to play the chord because the frets are getting closer together.
Now as you start to get past the eighth fret you may start having problems holding the chord positions because the frets are getting to close to each other. Don’t worry with some practice it will get much easier as your fingers get used to the stretching that is going on. Yep it is a work out trying this chord but it is a must chord to know how to play correctly.

Keep practicing this chord up and down the neck. You will begin to see that as you move from one chord to the next your fingers will have to stretch wider as you go down the neck and closer as you go up the neck. Try not to get hung up or be discouraged if it doesn’t sound that good for now. This is a stretching exercise and as your fingers learn and get stretched your sound will improve.

Now when pressing down on the strings you really don’t have to push that hard. Most beginners start pushing much too hard. All you really need to do is have the string your pushing on have solid contact with the fret. You don’t need to have your finger placed directly over the fret but just before it.

You will also start to notice that the tips of your finger will begin to get a little sore at first. After a week or so you will begin to develop calluses on your finger tips. This will become a source of conversation and pride with new guitarist. Don’t worry if your fingers are too sore to practice just wait a day or two and start to practice again. It may take several weeks before you can put in more than a few minutes of practice at a time. The important thing is not to give up. Learning to play guitar will bring you a life time of free pleasure.

by Bruce Lamb.

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If you have ever had a chance to go to a Slack key guitar concert or festival most likely you have heard this interpretation from one of the many performers at the concert.

How did the Hawaiians come to owning guitars and learning how to play them? First off the guitar found its way to the Hawaiian Islands back in the 19th century. The Hawaiian king at that time King Kamehameha the 3rd I believe was given a few cattle as a gift from some Portuguese traders who stumbled upon the islands.

Now there are many different ideas on who actually gave the cattle to him but we do know he liked them and made it a law that no one was to harm them. Well Hawaii is an abundant land and cows being cows all they did all day long was eat and make more cows. The population grew and many of the cows began to eat the homes of the islanders, Grass shacks.

When more Spanish and Portuguese explorers began to discover the islands King Kamehameha employed some of the Spanish cow boys who were on the ships to help with and teach the Hawaiians how to handle the cattle. These Mexican and Spanish vaqueros or cowboys in English brought some of there most prized positions with them.

One thing every one knows is the these people love to sing and play guitar. Because the Hawaiian cowboys or (paniolo) in Hawaiian, has always had their own style and deeply rooted type of traditional music they fell in love with this new instrument and I’m sure they sensed that this could be adapted to there own style. At the end of each long day of chasing cattle the Paniolos and Vaqueros probably began sharing musical ideas around the campfires every night. Boy would I have loved to be around those jam sessions.

After a few years many of the Vaqueros began to head back home. Many of them stayed on and started families in Hawaii, but most longed for their own homeland. Many of the guitars that were brought over were left with their new friends and that seems to be the story on how the Hawaiians got guitars of their own. The Hawaiians began to develop their own unique style of guitar playing and tunings. Using their traditional chants and songs this type of music began to evolve into the slack key style.

The Slack key style is a full sounding music. The Hawaiians figured out that by loosening the strings they could develop full chord sounds by just strumming the guitar and using very few fingering positions. They started playing and experimenting with using their thumb on the picking hand and plucking alternating bass strings. Usually they will hit the sixth string then the fourth string with the thumb then pick a melody with which every finger got to the higher strings first.

Most players only use the thumb and index finger to play but some players have developed full picking patterns. Well that is the story of how the Hawaiians got guitars to the islands. On my next post I will be talking about the many players I have met and got the chance to record with. My fondest time ever spent was with the five days I spent with Uncle Ray Kane at his home about fiver years ago. I have some great video of him playing and singing with his wife Elodia who is an amazing singer with one of the most beautiful voices I’ve heard.

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Aloha

Bruce Lamb