The Guitar Workshop Blog » teaching blues

Charley Patton the Founder of the Delta Blues- The Legend Lives On

aguitarlesson — Thu, 20 May 2010 01:38:43 +0000

By Bruce Lamb

Though he used to write his name as Charlie Patton, yet popularly called Charley, is considered as the father and proponent of the American Delta Blues genre of music. This style is one of the oldest renditions of blues style of music and hence it made Charley Patton as one of the oldest known figures of American Popular Music. Said to be been born in the year 1887 and have died in 1934, Charlie Patton is still considered one of the most influential figures of American music.

Charley and the Early Years of Delta Blues: The Origin of the Genre

Charlie Patton was born in Hinds County, Mississippi and had passed most of his life in the Mississippi Delta. He did most of his work on Delta Blues style from here and for that reason this style was also known as the Mississippi Delta Blues style of music. Most of that area was covered with extremely fertile land, yet poverty was rampant. The socio-economic condition became the soul of this genre. The cigar box guitar, guitar and harmonica formed the base for this genre’s music.

The Unique style that separated it from other country blues: The Differentiating Factor

Although there was not much of a subsequent rhythmic difference between Charlie Patton’s style and other country blues to have originated at the same time. Most of the areas had the same cultural background, yet Mississippi Delta Blues stood out because of its harmonic structure and theme that talked exhaustively about travelling musicians’ life, sexuality and life the delta. Women also had a part in this style, but only a few made names for themselves.

The Accolades for Charlie Patton and Delta Blues Style: Accolades even after his Death

In 2001, Revenant records released a 5-CDs feature called Screamin’ and Hollerin’ Blues-
The Worlds of Charley Patton. This included several released and unreleased works of Charlie Patton and his partners. This became an instant hit amongst the discerned music population and such was the magic of the genius after so many years, this album became a proud winner of not 1, but 3 Grammy Awards in the year 2003.

Not just a musician, a proper showman in himself, Charlie Patton was a charismatic figure who changed the course of American Popular Music. He was so down to earth that he gave blues Guitar lessons to the local enthusiasts, and at the same time became a larger than life figure with his raw and energetic voice. Stalwart like Bob Dylan to famed musicologist Robert Palmer have praised the contribution of the man popularly called Charley Patton and his legend lives on forever.

Learning To Play Blues On Guitar Using The Blues Progression

aguitarlesson — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:13:56 +0000

By Bruce Lamb

www.TheGuitarWorkShop.com

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.