Fingerpicking Blues Guitar: Arrangements in Vestapol Tuning – Stefan Grossman

Stefan Grossman – Fingerpicking Blues Guitar: Arrangements in Vestapol Tuning

Stefan Grossman has been recording, performing and writing about acoustic fingerstyle techniques and styles for over forty years. During the period from 1965-1975 he studied and traveled with some of the legendary figures in the story of blues guitar. These included Rev. Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt, Son House, Skip James, Fred McDowell and Mance Lipscomb. From this period came his landmark five volume series for Oak Publications – The Anthology of Blues Guitar and for Alfred Publications – Mas- ters Of Country Blues Guitar.

Stefan has recorded numerous solo albums includ- ing Love, Devil And The Blues, Yazoo Basin Boogie, Shin- ing Shadows, Black Melodies On A Clear Afternoon and Friends Forever as well as duet recordings with John Renbourn, Larry Coryell, Duck Baker and Tokio Uchida.

“I first met Stefan Grossman in the States years ago and we became extremely good friends. Personally, I have learned a great deal from him. Let’s face it, he needs very little introduction from me as a blues artist, discographer and connoisseur in blues.” – Eric Clapton

“Stefan Grossman has done just about everything one can do in the field of music. He has been, among other things, a performer, a recording artist, a record com- pany founder, a video producer, a literary agent, a writer, an A&R man, a concert promoter, a booking agent, a record producer, a student, a teacher, and a music historian. But it is his success in illuminating classic and contemporary country blues, ragtime, and other fingerstyle guitar techniques that has made him, in the words of guitarist Dave Van Ronk, ‘one of the most important people in fingerpicking guitar in the history of the phenomenon.’” – Acoustic Guitar

The Open D Tuning (D A D F# A D), also referred to as the Vestapol tuning, is a powerful and evocative tuning that was widely used by guitarists in the 1920s to play country blues, ballads, rags and folk tunes. In this lesson I focus on arranging five of my favorite blues melodies in Vestapol plus an original instrumental.

The religious tune When I Lay My Burden Down was in the repertoire of both Black and White traditional guitarists. I have arranged it in an Elizabeth Cotten/Mississippi John Hurt style. The beautiful blues Goin’ To Germany was recorded by the Cannon’s Jug Stompers in the 1920s. I have always wanted to find the right setting for this melodic country blues and the Vestapol tuning gave me the feel and textures that I was looking for.

Sam McGee played guitar behind Uncle Dave Macon when he recorded, I’ve Got The Morning Blues in Vestapol. This is a fun tune to play and leads nicely in to Hesitation Blues, a song recorded by many artists. My arrangement tries to combine a sliding jug sound with some funky blues licks. Peg Leg Howell’s Skin Game Blues is a rare example of an early blues song with three distinct sections. Peg Leg played this with a bottleneck but for our arrangement we will rely on our fingers to make the notes sing out.

We finish the lesson with Innocence Abroard. An original instrumental that ties together the right and left hand techniques we have studied.

A detailed tab/music booklet is included as a PDF file on the DVD. Each tune is taught phrase by phrase and played slowly on a split-screen. Bonus audio tracks of the original 1920s recordings are included. These are the records I first heard that influenced me to rearrange the melodies to the Vestapol tuning.

 

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