Advanced Techniques Fingerpicking Guitar

This lesson is intended for advanced players looking for ways to voice chords and arrange tunes in ways that sound rich and complex but feel nimble under the hands. We’ll look mostly at arrangements I’ve made of blues and fiddle melodies, and also look at the playing of the remarkable Johnny St. Cyr. We begin our lesson with Ma Rainey’s Yonder Comes The Blues. This is followed by Jelly Roll Morton’s Jelly Roll Blues. Composed in 1915 and was one of the first published jazz compositions. Johnny St. Cyr was a famous New Orleans musician who played both guitar and the sixstring banjo. He recorded with Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven bands. He also played with Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers. His Guitar Blues is a tour-de-force and challenge for any fingerstyle guitarist. We finish our lesson with the Mineola Rag first recorded by the East Texas Serenaders.