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 six-string 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.

Bonus audio tracks are included of the original recordings. Each tune is taught phrase by phrase and then played slowly on a split screen allowing you to see in detail what is being played by each hand. A tab/music booklet of all the arrangements is included as a PDF file on the DVD. Also included is a folder with the tab/music in TablEdit format.

Titles include: Yonder Come The Blues, Jelly Roll Blues, Guitar Blues and Mineola Rag

96 minutes • Level 3 • Detailed tab/music PDF file on the DVD