This one is a super challenge for my chops! I haven't really got a good vibrato yet, so this is quite a reach. I couldn't get the hang of the "falling vibrato", so I decided to cheat and use the whammy bar. :-)
The timing of the riffs is so tricky too! But it's been a lot of fun to work on.
Wow, that's fantastic, Mike! And what a challenge! But so many great licks in there; it will definitely push my playing up a notch just working on this. Also, thanks for doing the metronome track. It makes it so much easier to make sure I'm hearing the time correctly. I'm on vacation today and will be spending much of it with Otis Rush. ;-)
No worries! You're doing a great job, I'm learning a heck of a lot from you already. It probably seemed like a small thing to you, but when you mentioned about doing the upstroke on the 16th note skip on the previous lesson -- it actually was a huge revelation for me. I've been struggling with Duke's lesson on "Flying Home", the great Charlie Christian/Benny Goodman tune. I've spent maybe a month working on it, and havent been able to get the phrasing right on the head when I play it up to speed. After your comment I realized that I was trying to do it all in downstrokes, and it's just way too fast to get the swing feel doing all downstrokes -- at least for me. So because of your comment, I re-thought it, and I'm now making great progress on it. Thanks so much, Mike!
Great stuff! I love all the nuances of Otis' playing that you've been able to capture and really appreciate your sharing them. Thanks so much!
Just a couple of points I wanted to mention. I believe you left out a phrase. It's very similar to the other licks, but some folks might be confused when they run out of notes too early. ;-) The missing phrase is played after it goes to the IV chord and leads you back down to the I. Then you play the riff that you have that leads up to double stop at the V chord.
And by the way, in my listening, and not trying to be pedantic or anything :-), Otis does NOT do the double stop slide down, though Clapton does something like that in his version. However, it's a very cool riff and sounds fantastic. Definitely one to steal! :-)
No worries! You're doing a great job, I'm learning a heck of a lot from you already. It probably seemed like a small thing to you, but when you mentioned about doing the upstroke on the 16th note skip on the previous lesson -- it actually was a huge revelation for me. I've been struggling with Duke's lesson on "Flying Home", the great Charlie Christian/Benny Goodman tune. I've spent maybe a month working on it, and havent been able to get the phrasing right on the head when I play it up to speed. After your comment I realized that I was trying to do it all in downstrokes, and it's just way too fast to get the swing feel doing all downstrokes -- at least for me. So because of your comment, I re-thought it, and I'm now making great progress on it. Thanks so much, Mike!
It's amazing how much of a difference little alterations in technique can make. Charlie allegedly played with all downstrokes, but you know, he was Charlie Christian and I'm not. Everyone's hands are different, too - I know from playing with Duke that he and I sometimes have COMPLETELY different technical approaches to making basically similar sounds. It boils down to what works for you.
I put a quick video with that missing phrase above - hope it helps.
It's funny about the double stop thing; I've never been a note-for-note guy (so this experience was at least as instructive for me as it was for anybody), but I've heard so many versions of that song and played that song so many times that once I got in front of the camera, some of the note-for-note went out the window and I ended up playing it the way I thought I remembered it. Clapton definitely did the slide down, but I know I also heard Otis live versions with that part in it. If I do this video lesson thing again, I might not try to go AS note-for-note as I did here - it would give me a slightly wider margin of error!
EDIT: Huh. Just listened to the intro of about seven different Otis live versions, and he never does that (although sometimes if there's a rhythm guitarist, they're doing something similar). Must be a holdover from the Mayall/Clapton version. This is the humbling part of the experience, I guess.
You have great taste, Monster Mike. Mr. Wonderful is definitely the best, though the two albums they recorded in Chicago with Otis Spann, Willie Dixon, Shakey Horton, J. T. Brown, Buddy Guy (I assume it's Buddy -- he's credited as "Guitar Buddy"), Honeyboy Edwards and S. P. Leary are really great too. WIth players like that, how could you go wrong? ;-)
Hi Mike -- you were so right about using the upstroke on the skip! It not only makes it easier to play; it make the phrasing work better. I just have to remind myself to do it until it becomes habitual. Thanks again!
By the way, Hugh Flint, the drummer on the "Beano" version of "All My Love", is a friend of mine. So I can pass along any questions to him that folks might have regarding that version of Mayall's band. He was also with them when Peter Green first joined the band. He told me that Peter was quite hesitant at first, but improved very quickly. I personally prefer Peter's playing to Eric's, because it's not quite as perfect as Eric's playing. To me, Peter's playing is much more deeply emotional and involving...perhaps even haunting. But still, both pale in comparison to Otis Rush, in my humble opinion.
I'll .l have to check out Peter Green I've been hooked on Johnny Winter and Stevie for so long that I need to branch out and check out some new players but I've also been hooked on Duke and Ronnie earl because they have that trail off technique that no one seems to have quite like them and Mike Welch is awesome as well he's gotta a great style and does some excellent BB.
I don't have a bad word to say about Clapton - not only was he my earliest "lead guitar" influence, but a huge percentage of my music taste is directly traceable to a couple Guitar Player interviews he did back in the day where he brought up ALL the cool stuff (Muddy, Little Walter, Freddy King Sings, Ray Charles Live, of course Otis and Buddy).
Peter's playing had a vulnerability to it that's really moving, though, and he was probably deeper in the tradition than Eric was (actually, that's a tough call - Eric knows the tradition as well as anyone, but Peter probably could have fit in better in the West Side of Chicago). My favorite Peter Green playing is the early Fleetwood Mac before Kirwan joined - Peter had stepped out of Clapton's shadow and was exploring the deep blues as well as anyone. The later Mac records are great, too, but that early stuff is my favorite.
It's funny; I didn't hear Peter until I'd been playing for more than ten years and someone told me I sounded a little like him. When I heard him, I got it (in terms of style, not quality, anyway; he was better) - he was a guy who started out under the spell of Eric Clapton and loved B.B. King and Otis Rush as much as I do.
You have great taste, Monster Mike. Mr. Wonderful is definitely the best, though the two albums they recorded in Chicago with Otis Spann, Willie Dixon, Shakey Horton, J. T. Brown, Buddy Guy (I assume it's Buddy -- he's credited as "Guitar Buddy"), Honeyboy Edwards and S. P. Leary are really great too. WIth players like that, how could you go wrong? ;-)
Thanks for noticing the guitars, Mike! Next time you are in Los Angeles, look me know and I'll show you my guitar room. ;-)
You're right that I often default to downstrokes. I've been trying to break myself of that habit, so thanks a lot for pointing it out! I'm still relatively new at doing lead guitar work (~ 1.5 years) but Duke's lessons have been unbelievably helpful and inspiring.
So thanks again for pointing that out; I'll work on that! Can't wait for the rest of the lesson.
Hello Duke and Monster Mike! I'm so excited about working on this song. It's been on my todo list for decades! ;-) I first heard this back on that Blue Horizon collection with Double Trouble, another one of my favorite Otis tunes, that collected all his Cobra sides.
Here's my unperfected-so-far take on the lesson. Thanks for it!
Nice work, Bruce! (Also, LOVE the Rick 325 and Duo Jet back there...) I notice you're using all downstrokes on that little 16th note skip; have you tried alternating just that one bit? It might be a little easier on your wrist!
Thanks for noticing the guitars, Mike! Next time you are in Los Angeles, look me know and I'll show you my guitar room. ;-)
You're right that I often default to downstrokes. I've been trying to break myself of that habit, so thanks a lot for pointing it out! I'm still relatively new at doing lead guitar work (~ 1.5 years) but Duke's lessons have been unbelievably helpful and inspiring.
So thanks again for pointing that out; I'll work on that! Can't wait for the rest of the lesson.
Hi Mike -- you were so right about using the upstroke on the skip! It not only makes it easier to play; it make the phrasing work better. I just have to remind myself to do it until it becomes habitual. Thanks again!
Paul, I have a question for you regarding your Loar guitar -- at least I'm pretty sure it's a Loar. If not, then please disregard. ;-)
What model Loar is it? Are you happy with it? They look beautiful and I keep reading great things about them. They also seem quite (relatively) affordable. I'd kind of like to get a Loar and put a Charlie Christian pickup on it, but I haven't been able to find anyone who has one in stock to try out to see if the neck suits me.
I enjoyed your lesson very much, thanks for it! I should have a video to upload this weekend, and would very much appreciate any feedback from you and Duke.
Mike, there's a transcription error in this one. The 2nd note in the 7th bar, currently a 6 on the 2nd string, should be an 8 on the same string. Thanks.
Hello Duke! I finally got around to recording myself a piano/vocal track to play to. I would greatly appreciate any feedback you have on this one. It's such a great tune, and it's been a real education learning these riffs! Best wishes on the shoulder. Thanks, Bruce
Hello Duke! I'm really enjoying working on this one. I was playing along with CC's version and really wanted to learn that lick on the bridge where you did your own thing. So here's what I think he played. It's a pretty cool riff! Hope the shoulder is getting better. Be well! Bruce
I'm finally around getting to this lesson! :-) I've been working very hard on getting the swing feel right, because I feel it's always been a problem for me, even on the piano. So I'll be anxious to hear what you think of this. Am I getting close?
This one is a super challenge for my chops! I haven't really got a good vibrato yet, so this is quite a reach. I couldn't get the hang of the "falling vibrato", so I decided to cheat and use the whammy bar. :-)
The timing of the riffs is so tricky too! But it's been a lot of fun to work on.
Oh -- and in this measure, I think that pull-off from 16 to 12 is meant to be 16 to 14.
Thanks Bruce! Fixed.
Here are a couple more corrections to make in the tab.
The third note is on the B string, not the E string as shown in the tab.
Two bars after the one above. The fifth note is on the 16th fret, not the 17th fret as shown in the tab.
Thanks Bruce! Fixed.
Wow, that's fantastic, Mike! And what a challenge! But so many great licks in there; it will definitely push my playing up a notch just working on this. Also, thanks for doing the metronome track. It makes it so much easier to make sure I'm hearing the time correctly. I'm on vacation today and will be spending much of it with Otis Rush. ;-)
Thanks again!
Bruce
That's terrific, Mike. Thanks a lot! Much appreciated.
No worries! You're doing a great job, I'm learning a heck of a lot from you already. It probably seemed like a small thing to you, but when you mentioned about doing the upstroke on the 16th note skip on the previous lesson -- it actually was a huge revelation for me. I've been struggling with Duke's lesson on "Flying Home", the great Charlie Christian/Benny Goodman tune. I've spent maybe a month working on it, and havent been able to get the phrasing right on the head when I play it up to speed. After your comment I realized that I was trying to do it all in downstrokes, and it's just way too fast to get the swing feel doing all downstrokes -- at least for me. So because of your comment, I re-thought it, and I'm now making great progress on it. Thanks so much, Mike!
Hi Mike and Duke -
Great stuff! I love all the nuances of Otis' playing that you've been able to capture and really appreciate your sharing them. Thanks so much!
Just a couple of points I wanted to mention. I believe you left out a phrase. It's very similar to the other licks, but some folks might be confused when they run out of notes too early. ;-) The missing phrase is played after it goes to the IV chord and leads you back down to the I. Then you play the riff that you have that leads up to double stop at the V chord.
And by the way, in my listening, and not trying to be pedantic or anything :-), Otis does NOT do the double stop slide down, though Clapton does something like that in his version. However, it's a very cool riff and sounds fantastic. Definitely one to steal! :-)
Thanks again!
Bruce
Ah! I could have sworn I covered that phrase. Casualty of first time jitters, I guess. Sorry about that!
No worries! You're doing a great job, I'm learning a heck of a lot from you already. It probably seemed like a small thing to you, but when you mentioned about doing the upstroke on the 16th note skip on the previous lesson -- it actually was a huge revelation for me. I've been struggling with Duke's lesson on "Flying Home", the great Charlie Christian/Benny Goodman tune. I've spent maybe a month working on it, and havent been able to get the phrasing right on the head when I play it up to speed. After your comment I realized that I was trying to do it all in downstrokes, and it's just way too fast to get the swing feel doing all downstrokes -- at least for me. So because of your comment, I re-thought it, and I'm now making great progress on it. Thanks so much, Mike!
It's amazing how much of a difference little alterations in technique can make. Charlie allegedly played with all downstrokes, but you know, he was Charlie Christian and I'm not. Everyone's hands are different, too - I know from playing with Duke that he and I sometimes have COMPLETELY different technical approaches to making basically similar sounds. It boils down to what works for you.
I put a quick video with that missing phrase above - hope it helps.
It's funny about the double stop thing; I've never been a note-for-note guy (so this experience was at least as instructive for me as it was for anybody), but I've heard so many versions of that song and played that song so many times that once I got in front of the camera, some of the note-for-note went out the window and I ended up playing it the way I thought I remembered it. Clapton definitely did the slide down, but I know I also heard Otis live versions with that part in it. If I do this video lesson thing again, I might not try to go AS note-for-note as I did here - it would give me a slightly wider margin of error!
EDIT: Huh. Just listened to the intro of about seven different Otis live versions, and he never does that (although sometimes if there's a rhythm guitarist, they're doing something similar). Must be a holdover from the Mayall/Clapton version. This is the humbling part of the experience, I guess.
You have great taste, Monster Mike. Mr. Wonderful is definitely the best, though the two albums they recorded in Chicago with Otis Spann, Willie Dixon, Shakey Horton, J. T. Brown, Buddy Guy (I assume it's Buddy -- he's credited as "Guitar Buddy"), Honeyboy Edwards and S. P. Leary are really great too. WIth players like that, how could you go wrong? ;-)
Great to hear your thoughts on these players!
Hi Mike -- you were so right about using the upstroke on the skip! It not only makes it easier to play; it make the phrasing work better. I just have to remind myself to do it until it becomes habitual. Thanks again!
Thanks, Charlie! I'm still working on "Flying Home". It's a challenging one, but a lot of fun.
By the way, Hugh Flint, the drummer on the "Beano" version of "All My Love", is a friend of mine. So I can pass along any questions to him that folks might have regarding that version of Mayall's band. He was also with them when Peter Green first joined the band. He told me that Peter was quite hesitant at first, but improved very quickly. I personally prefer Peter's playing to Eric's, because it's not quite as perfect as Eric's playing. To me, Peter's playing is much more deeply emotional and involving...perhaps even haunting. But still, both pale in comparison to Otis Rush, in my humble opinion.
I'll .l have to check out Peter Green I've been hooked on Johnny Winter and Stevie for so long that I need to branch out and check out some new players but I've also been hooked on Duke and Ronnie earl because they have that trail off technique that no one seems to have quite like them and Mike Welch is awesome as well he's gotta a great style and does some excellent BB.
I don't have a bad word to say about Clapton - not only was he my earliest "lead guitar" influence, but a huge percentage of my music taste is directly traceable to a couple Guitar Player interviews he did back in the day where he brought up ALL the cool stuff (Muddy, Little Walter, Freddy King Sings, Ray Charles Live, of course Otis and Buddy).
Peter's playing had a vulnerability to it that's really moving, though, and he was probably deeper in the tradition than Eric was (actually, that's a tough call - Eric knows the tradition as well as anyone, but Peter probably could have fit in better in the West Side of Chicago). My favorite Peter Green playing is the early Fleetwood Mac before Kirwan joined - Peter had stepped out of Clapton's shadow and was exploring the deep blues as well as anyone. The later Mac records are great, too, but that early stuff is my favorite.
It's funny; I didn't hear Peter until I'd been playing for more than ten years and someone told me I sounded a little like him. When I heard him, I got it (in terms of style, not quality, anyway; he was better) - he was a guy who started out under the spell of Eric Clapton and loved B.B. King and Otis Rush as much as I do.
Jerry - check out the Fleetwood Mac album Mr. Wonderful. It's my favorite.
You have great taste, Monster Mike. Mr. Wonderful is definitely the best, though the two albums they recorded in Chicago with Otis Spann, Willie Dixon, Shakey Horton, J. T. Brown, Buddy Guy (I assume it's Buddy -- he's credited as "Guitar Buddy"), Honeyboy Edwards and S. P. Leary are really great too. WIth players like that, how could you go wrong? ;-)
Great to hear your thoughts on these players!
Thanks for noticing the guitars, Mike! Next time you are in Los Angeles, look me know and I'll show you my guitar room. ;-)
You're right that I often default to downstrokes. I've been trying to break myself of that habit, so thanks a lot for pointing it out! I'm still relatively new at doing lead guitar work (~ 1.5 years) but Duke's lessons have been unbelievably helpful and inspiring.
So thanks again for pointing that out; I'll work on that! Can't wait for the rest of the lesson.
Thanks, Duke!
Hello Duke and Monster Mike! I'm so excited about working on this song. It's been on my todo list for decades! ;-) I first heard this back on that Blue Horizon collection with Double Trouble, another one of my favorite Otis tunes, that collected all his Cobra sides.
Here's my unperfected-so-far take on the lesson. Thanks for it!
Bruce
Nice work, Bruce! (Also, LOVE the Rick 325 and Duo Jet back there...) I notice you're using all downstrokes on that little 16th note skip; have you tried alternating just that one bit? It might be a little easier on your wrist!
Thanks for noticing the guitars, Mike! Next time you are in Los Angeles, look me know and I'll show you my guitar room. ;-)
You're right that I often default to downstrokes. I've been trying to break myself of that habit, so thanks a lot for pointing it out! I'm still relatively new at doing lead guitar work (~ 1.5 years) but Duke's lessons have been unbelievably helpful and inspiring.
So thanks again for pointing that out; I'll work on that! Can't wait for the rest of the lesson.
Hi Mike -- you were so right about using the upstroke on the skip! It not only makes it easier to play; it make the phrasing work better. I just have to remind myself to do it until it becomes habitual. Thanks again!
Yeah, it's one thing playing simpler parts with all downstrokes, but that sixteenth note goes by FAST.
Paul, I have a question for you regarding your Loar guitar -- at least I'm pretty sure it's a Loar. If not, then please disregard. ;-)
What model Loar is it? Are you happy with it? They look beautiful and I keep reading great things about them. They also seem quite (relatively) affordable. I'd kind of like to get a Loar and put a Charlie Christian pickup on it, but I haven't been able to find anyone who has one in stock to try out to see if the neck suits me.
I enjoyed your lesson very much, thanks for it! I should have a video to upload this weekend, and would very much appreciate any feedback from you and Duke.
Best Regards,
Bruce
Mike, there's a transcription error in this one. The 2nd note in the 7th bar, currently a 6 on the 2nd string, should be an 8 on the same string. Thanks.
Hello Duke! I finally got around to recording myself a piano/vocal track to play to. I would greatly appreciate any feedback you have on this one. It's such a great tune, and it's been a real education learning these riffs! Best wishes on the shoulder. Thanks, Bruce
Thank you, Duke!
Hello Duke! I'm really enjoying working on this one. I was playing along with CC's version and really wanted to learn that lick on the bridge where you did your own thing. So here's what I think he played. It's a pretty cool riff! Hope the shoulder is getting better. Be well! Bruce
Hi Duke,
I'm finally around getting to this lesson! :-) I've been working very hard on getting the swing feel right, because I feel it's always been a problem for me, even on the piano. So I'll be anxious to hear what you think of this. Am I getting close?
Thanks,
Bruce