To paraphrase Inigo Montoya, I have been in the explaining business for so long, I'm not sure I have anything new to say. But I think that is actually a good thing.
I wrote my first book in 1992 while quarantined in my Brooklyn apartment with the chicken pox. It was called Beginning Blues Guitar, and I talked a lot about phrasing. (There was also a shaggy dog story about hypothetically dropping paté
on B.B. King's shoes, but that's neither here nor there.)
I ended the book with a series of suggestions on how to practice. Three or four books later, in my three-volume Acoustic Guitar Method, every chapter taught a different traditional song, and each song included a kind of annotated discography suggesting different versions to work on and why they mattered.
For my Truefire videos, I made up exercises and etudes based on traditional blues
techniques, and spent most of the time suggesting ways to isolate the bass and the melody, to make it easier to play with solid time and a good groove when you put them back together.
If you follow my channel at all, or have spent any time in my Fingerstyle Five membership, these probably all sound like familiar themes. That's because they represent the ideas that I've found matter most for playing better fingerstyle blues guitar:
- Play actual
songs
- Focus on the groove
- Pay attention to phrasing
- Start simply, then embellish
- Have a simple, reliable practice routine
Five years of teaching the Fingerstyle Five community has taught me one more thing: getting your right hand coordination together is a gradual, cumulative process, but for the people who take the time, do the work and stick with it, there are real payoffs to be had.
In this morning's free master
class, I'll take each of these concepts and show you three hands-on ways they can help you play better in 2025.
Join me on Youtube; we'll have plenty of time for your questions. I'll also preview the songs and techniques I'll be teaching this winter in the membership.
Five Ways To Get Better In
2025
More soon,
David