Early Country Blues Guitar Solos

If you’re wanting to add a bit of jazzy sophistication to your acoustic blues playing, look no further than the playing of the three legendary artists featured in this lesson — Lonnie Johnson, Teddy Bunn, and Scrapper Blackwell.

While the structures of these numbers by-and-large follow the trusty old 12-bar blues, diminished seventh chords, ninth chords, and chromatic passing tones abound! Additionally, each number provides ample opportunities to refine your use of dynamics, articulation, phrasing, and other nuances that are guaranteed to enhance your acoustic blues musicality

Ben Gateno leads the way by performing each tune at speed and slowed down, all with crystal clear focus on each hand. Ben explains in detail how to learn and practice each selection so you’re not only putting your fingers in the correct places, but lifting the music off the page and bringing it to life

A detailed tab/music PDF file is included on the DVD with note for note transcriptions of the tunes taught. The original recordings are included in the Bonus Audio section.

Titles include: SCRAPPER BLACKWELL Cherry, Soft Blues LONNIE JOHNSON Stompin’ ‘em Along Slow TEDDY BUNN Guitar in High.

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

Review: Very good tutorial, from all points of view, Ben Gateno respects the 'Grossman style' teaching approach. These remarks apply to the two other DVDs, Volume 1 and Volume 2. The 3 DVDs flights are a must for fans of blues and rag guitar. Very big “big names” are visited in these 3 DVDs. Ben Gateno is as remarkable as the artists he presents! – Amazon Customer Review

Review:Blind Blake and Big Bill Broonzy are no longer with us, but Rochester guitarist Ben Gateno has been reviving their music. He’s spent a lot of quality time with the scratchy recordings 1920s-era guitarists like these have left behind.

Gateno has also produced two books of country blues and ragtime instrumental transcriptions and three full-length video lessons to help other musicians learn how to play like these lost masters.

“There is a lot of mystique surrounding acoustic blues,” says Gateno. “It's old music. Most of the recordings only exist on very scratchy 78s. Many of its greatest practitioners died or otherwise faded away before they could appear on film or make higher quality recordings.”

Gateno says that for anyone interested in this music it is important that people are willing to put in the work to decipher how these master musicians were playing. “It … helps to keep the music alive,” he says.

The focus of Gateno’s transcription work has been centered on virtuoso guitar instrumentals. Gateno says that film of guitarists like Lonnie Johnson, who played these songs, doesn’t exist. “I get great satisfaction from being one of a small number of people who have tried to figure it out and show others what it might have looked like when he performed these numbers.” – John Sievers/Post Bulletin