
Blind Blake was famous for his ‘piano-sounding’ guitar. He was one of the greatest blues guitarists that ever lived. A true pioneer of ‘finger-style’ guitar, he was also a zealous musical experimenter who re-defined the limitations of the guitar. Southern Rag was recorded in 1927. It is a fast and very syncopated rag using first position chords in the key of C. The difficult part is in getting the “stumbling bass” in your right hand or what Rev. Davis called Blake’s “sportin’ right hand”. Your next challenge is to then slowly bring this up to speed. Southern Rag is a classic Blind Blake instrumental.