Lightnin' seldom, if ever, confined a twelve-bar blues to twelve bars. Usually, they counted out to, say 17 bars, or some other strange thing. You never knew when he'd go to the four-chord. You sat there on the edge of your chair waiting for it. It always came around, sooner or later.+ To me, that's what made Lightnin' such a dynamic player. I know this about him because i once played bass with him in a downtown Houston club. I made no money, but it didn't matter.
That’s absolutely right! There’s a story about Billy Gibbons and lLightning playing together. Lightning doesn’t change for the typical turnaround. Billy says”you missed the change”. Lightning says “Lightning change when Lightning wants to change”. Evidently Billy agreed and they went on to change when lightning felt like it. That is a boss move for sure.
Lightnin' is absolutely one of my fave guitar players. It took me a long time to figure out what he was doing because I was only listening to his records. I'm still not sure what he was doing! For a while I thought he was playing an electric because of his style. When I found out he was playing a Gibson acoustic with a pickup attached, I was blown away. I'm still fascinated by the unschooled and wild nature of his playing. I'd give just about anything to be able to play with the feeling he gets, especially on records like "Mojo Hand" or the Herald Sessions recordings.
inertia27 yeah, just goes to show how amazing of a harmonica player Alan Wilson was on the Hooker n Heat record, because he always manages to keep up with John. If I remember rightly, John remarks something about how Wilson must’ve really studied him.
I wished this man was my guitar teacher. He got it right on the head. Also if Lightnin was sitting down with him, here's be so proud that his legacy lives on through such a great guitar player
Nice to see someone using the Fender Ron Emory guitar. Wonder if he even knows who Ron Emory is or would even appreciate his playing, if not he should. One of the best Punk guitarists.
Great lesson on how to play in Lightnin's lick! Now, as you know, it isn't really difficult to replicate the sound, but hell, I don't think anyone can ever replicate Lightnin's feel or attitude. The man was somethin' else, let me tell ya! I love his parts on the Brownie McGhee/Sonny Terry/Big Joe Williams Folk Festival recordings.
Very good lesson, inspiring and not impossible to do with a little practice. Love acoustic blues and love Lightnin' Hopkins. Thanks for this and would love to see more....maybe Son House, Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, Skip James to name a few. Love that Fender parlor guitar.....not sure i have seen one like that before.
Love this. Thank you so much for the lesson. How about a similar analysis of Freddie King's licks? And perhaps just a little more explanation of the fingering of the licks. Thanks.
Brilliant 👏 lick... the key of E allows us to use our fingers more openly I think like on drop D... Using just hands on strings we definitely get a great acoustic sound instead of a pick which is faster to get a grip on electric guitar
Very well done.. I've been playing for 40+ and always interested in other players styles and interpretations. One of the best explained and presented post's. Keep going, I will be following & recommending for sure. Thank you. Lt William B... U.S.Army ret.
EXCELLENT VIDEO Lightnin Hopkins is the only style I actually play which is weird considering I am a Country fan. His style is a full blown addiction. It’s just you and a guitar. No backing tracks. Yep, change cords when you damn well please. 🎸
But, you cannot get the blues without a woman around to give you the blues. You can lose everything you have, and still be happy with your woman there to cushion the blow. And you can have everything in the world and if you lose your true woman you won’t have nobody to truly share it with. And then you’re singing the blues, playa. Take it from an old pro. My true love got leukemia at the age of 25 and died 2 years later. That was 1995-1997 and I been singin the blues all these last goin on 24 years now. There would be no blues without the lost love that makes you feel like a ghost yourself. Now, I’ll just be down here stretched out asleep behind the bottles on the bottom shelf. 😂😂😂
You guys don't know shit about the blues. Only one man that you can learn it all from: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bAudf74RCEs.html
I love Lightnin' Hopkins... I'm a (late) beginner and I try to grasp this unique style (as that of Robert Johnson Delta blues). But I'm stuck in the 12 bar blues basics... the blues scale has helped a little but I appreciate your video. Thanks!
Yeah, we all know Lightnin had a Gibson, but lets not forget he started on a handful of Harmony guitars, and continued using them here-and-there, especially the H-165.
I'd really love some information about what the forefinger is doing. I am always thinking the the forefinger and middle finger are involved in picking out the melody, but I see that you are just using the forefinger. This would be a good topic to cover since a lot of us spend considerable time thinking about what to do with the right hand while going through the changes with our left. It causes 'hiccups' during the transition from one chord to the other.
I wasnt taught classical fingerpicking technique so I dont strictly adhere to the whole thumb on the E and A string and the pointer middle ring and pinky for the D G and e strings so I basically cheat my way by just using my thumb and forefinger. But thats just me.
Dennis Hastings Most of the old blues players just used their thumb and first finger, I’m not entirely sure what you’re confused about so I hope that helps.
Almost of all these were copped by Clapton (who uses them both acoustic and electric); which I copped without knowing they were actually from Lightnin' Hopkins.
Personally I would have kept stock high back VW and installed 6 point harness to keep you in place,less work and weight, safer end result and lighter, but my bug is a toy and not meant for comfort over long periods...I have a 59
Love these, but T-Bone Walker please? The Originator to use Little Richard's term. Without T-Bone and Charlie Christian the electric guitar would not be instrument it is today, or should I say it was yesterday
¿how is every string tuned ? please detail tellme because only i touched guitar for 10 minutes in my whole life up to know and it seems to be basic in order to start work one friend she told me that if i don't know how to 'play' guitar in order to accompany the gathering i could use just the outer e-strings and altogerher it was a nice slam jam but now(2020 vs 2004) i want more and tuning strings seems to be the first step my brother ( some guys from romania talked the guitar out of me, able and willing to play,) so once e guitar is within under grip how to tune it like lightning would ?
I played bass behind lightnin in 73 and he never played a 12 bar anything. Lightnin switch when he felt like it. Pay attention by god. Lmfaoo. It was a lesson in the blues this 23 yr old at the time needed. Now at 74 yrs old i can sit back and laugh at the whole thing. Damn funny.
fighters 606 you can play the blues in any tuning, really, it’s just a feeling. But standard is fine, and open D and open G are popular depending on what artists you wanna play in the style of.
Standard if youre not playing any slide like elmore james for example, some players like srv and hendrix used to tune down their guitar sometimes but id say dont bother standard works just fine
Glad to hear you're into the blues,just the standard tuning is what you want and when you get a few YEARS under your belt the different tunings will come natural...good luck to you,your on a wonderful trip!
@@finnylettuce8566 no you certainly don't but I believe by putting time into normal tuning,other tunings will be easier to deal with but on the other hand I've seen brand new players start with a E or G tuning so they can bar all the strings with one finger and get complete chords,guess it depends
“Used a J-160” proceeds to show footage of Lightnin’ using his iconic J-50 with the dearmond sound-hole pickup.... I am sure he did use a J-160 at some point for recording or something, but that was not his most “iconic” guitar.
Y do u seem like u gotta go so fast to learn people especially when it's called SLOW blues..i would not recommend this to anyone trying to learn from u
