Play Better Fingerstyle Blues, Part I: Groove

Published: Thu, 10/21/21

I've been on a musician-interview podcast jag for the past week, having discovered a long-running series produced at NYU that includes, among many others, a lengthy and highly worthwhile conversation with Kenny Burrell. I'll listen to almost anyone talk about music, especially jazz, so even though I've never listened to trumpeter Dave Douglas before, I checked out an entire interview with him which of course prompted me to see what he actually sounds like. After a few more NYU episodes I stumbled across another series called Club De Jazz and while I'm only about ten minutes into the Bill Frisell interview, they opened with a track from his recent Valentine album that kind of blew my mind.

I like Frisell, saw him play with Greg Leisz many years ago, and once (long story) exchanged hellos at JFK after flying from Seattle to New York on the same flight as both Frisell and Conan O'Brien. But aside from putting in a fair amount of time decades ago with Nashville, one of the first of his "not-exactly-jazz" records, I have not been a steady listener. I love everything about this one recording I just heard, and it made me think about how much time I spend with music from before I was born vs. music being made right here, right now. So much of my listening involves finding my way into music I'm planning on learning something from, which I know is both sort of weird and totally unsurprising. But while this Frisell record isn't part of that, it lights up so many pleasure receptors for me I imagine I'll be spending a bunch of time with it. It's totally grooving, every instrument sounds amazing, it's lyrical in a blues-based kind of way, it's abstract and atmospheric in a film-score kind of way, and it's balanced and conversational, an ongoing discussion between guitar, bass and drums. Plus there's just enough sonic weirdness to the guitar to make it feel a little cryptic and and extra-cool.

It makes me wonder why I don't try harder to find current music to listen to. Because I'm so delighted when I do find something I love, and curiously, this is the second current guitar player in a year to make me feel this way. Lord knows there are plenty more of them out there to investigate, so a playlist may be in order soon.

This morning, I'll be live streaming on Youtube at 10:30am central to talk about groove, or how to get your right-hand coordination together. If you struggle to keep your thumb consistent in the bass, have trouble getting your fingers to land where you want, or just need a better way to get more challenging licks under control, today's lesson will show you a simple three-step process for breaking down any fingerstyle passage and putting it back together. When you're staring down a new piece of tab it can be hard to know where to start, and as you get further into a new song it's not always obvious how to clean up those parts you keep stumbling over. This lesson will show you what to work on and how to work on it, so you can approach any new fingerstyle tune or lick with a clear, organized method.

Today's lesson is part one of a free three-part series called Play Better Fingerstyle Blues, and if you can't make this morning's live stream, you can still download the tab and watch the video on replay whenever you have the time. You can find the live stream here:

Play Better Fingerstyle Blues, Part I: Groove

Live at 10:30am central today

Download the tab here:

Get The Tab

More soon,

David