Level: 2
Tuning: Open D

What a great song! Uncle Dave Macon recorded this in the 1920s with Sam McGee playing guitar. This lesson is note-for-note what Sam played. In the 1920s and 1930s there were few white fingerpickers. Sam McGee was the best known and he recorded some classic tunes, i.e. "Buck Dancer's Choice," "Railroad Blues" and "Franklin Blues" are great examples of his guitar playing skills. For "I've Got The Morning Blues" he plays in the Open D tuning. Sam uses and alternating bass throughout the arrangement.

The playing is quite unusual. It starts with an almost calypso feel. You need to make sure your strums in the first four measures are strong and full as these lead in to a unique A phrase that introduces precise melodic picking until the last bars. A great arrangement that is different from any other pre-war blues in E.