The Grilled Cheese Department
Published: Fri, 10/13/23
Granted, my efforts do have a 50/50 chance of sporting my signature look, viz., one side blackened beyond recognition. What can I say? I like to work hot, so if the doorbell rings or I get stuck on a particular crossword clue between flips, it only takes a moment for things to go south. But when I'm on my game, it's happening. So while I'm mildly curious, as one seasoned pro to another, what the Post has to say about this timeless craft, I'm pretty sure I know all the secrets, because there are only three that matter to begin with: use real cheese, use bread worth eating, use enough butter to clog a bull's arteries. Plus heat.
I wish everything was so simple; if it was, maybe I'd be better at more things already. Of course, they're usually not, and yet, as a (cough, hack) "content provider," I'm guilty as the next copywriter of promising to explain things in just three steps, or of reducing something meaningful and complex to a buzzword or two. In some sense, that's the racket: there's not a lot of room for nuance on the internet, at least while you're maneuvering for peoples' attention. The rationalization is, once you have that, you can slow down, take your time and really try and present something meaningful. At present, I'm conflicted about this, but not enough so to prevent Exhibit A: the title of my latest Youtube video.
That title, "The Most Underrated Blues Groove," does sound like hyberbole, and yet I do think there's a core truth to it. While every fingerpicker learns something about playing with an alternating-thumb bass, guitarists in the whole Merle-Chet-Tommy lineage have taken the alternating thumb approach to staggering heights, and the accomplishments of Blind Blake, Gary Davis and John Hurt are chapter and verse to blues aficionados, I still think the alternating thumb approach remains the most underrated groove available to the aspiring solo fingerstyle blues guitar player.
Would I care to elaborate? Yes, I would, and I do just that in this week's Youtube lesson, available at the link below:
The Most Underrated Blues Groove?
Note: the version of "Matchbox Blues" and the related lessons on groove and improvisation I mention in today's video are part of the ongoing lessons in my Fingerstyle Five membership; you can learn more and sign up at fretboardconfidential.com.
More soon,
David