The Blues Guitar

  In this video I want to share with you my version of John Denver's classic song 'Country Roads'. This is a very famous piece of country music and I have done a fingerstyle guitar version of it with a slightly bluesy feel. The music is a fairly standard fingerstyle guitar piece incorporating a travis picking bass pattern. In my version, I have put in a short single bar Intro played in the open position, then I play through the verse and then the chorus. Finally, I have put in a 4 bar outro section. The original song also has a bridge setion in it but I have not included this is my version. The reason for this is because, although the song isnt extremely difficult to play, it can be quite fidgety and tricky and keeping it to just the verse and chorus makes it more manageable to play. The music is in the Key of D, it is in 4/4 time and is played on a guitar in Open D Tuning. Below are some tips to help you play this piece, and links to download the tab. Country Roads Do...

  In this video I want to share with you my version of Big Bill Broonzy's song 'Mr Conductor Man'. It is very typical of Broonzy's music and it is a fingerstyle guitar piece using a travis picking pattern. As is common with Broonzy's music, it has a quick tempo and is quite tricky to play at the correct speed.  What i have given you in this tab is the intro section for the first 11 bars, the main section of the song which is 12 bars, then the outro section. In Broonzy's recorded version, he repaets the main section throughout the song but does vary it each time, sometimes quite a lot, but I would imagine he did most of them ad lib when he played through it. If you want, you can listen to the recorded version and maybe pull out a few of these variations, but the version I have given you here has all the components required and can just be repeated. The music is in the Key of A, it is in 4/4 time and is played on a guitar in Standard Tuning. Below are some...

  In this video I want to share with you my version of Mississippi John Hurt's famous song 'Coffee Blues'. It is very typical of John Hurt's music and it is a fingerstyle guitar piece using a travis picking pattern. As is common with John Hurt's music, it has a quick tempo and is very repetitive, with one main section being repeated through the entire song.  What i have given you in this tab is a very short intro section for the first 2 bars, the main section of the song which is 8 bars, then another playthrough of this 8 bar main section with a slight variration, then a short 2 bar outro. During John Hurt's recorded version he puts in more variations in this 8 bar repeated section, but I would imagine he did most of them ad lib when he played through it. If you want, you can listen to the recorded version and maybe pull out a few of these variations, but the version I have given you here has all the components required and can just be repeated. The music is...