Want to play like Son House?

[Deleted]

 HERE you go. Particularly good for the classically trained musician.

[Michael Messer]

Extraordinary!

Shine On
Michael

[Pickers Ditch]

Whomsoever printed that page needs shootin' - there's ink splatter and flies all over that sheet.

[pete1951]

Also, in bar 6 Sun H. would have used a flattened note, and not a true natural.........
PT

And why are there all the drawings of tadpoles on telephone wires?

[Michael Messer]

Extraordinary and wrong. If you are going to teach the style of a particular musician, at least get it right.

Shine On
Michael

[Deleted]

Reckon Son House would be in hysterics if he could see this.

[Michael Messer]

It is fine to write it out in proper musical notation as long as the notation is correct and relates to the artist's style.

I do not use written notation to learn or play music. Like many of us reading this, I have learnt to play using my ears, logic, and a lifetime of listening to this and other types of music. Some of Son House's tunes could be written out on a stave, but it has to be done by someone that actually understands what they are listening to and knows how to play it correctly. Usually what happens when these two meet, is a total lack of understanding of the genre and the style of playing.

The problem is that we have moved our musical taste and understanding from what used to be considered correct. This music is better understood when it is taught & learnt one-to-one, from the elder or master to the student. Most of us have done that by listening to recordings of the masters from another time and place. It was the only way. In all cultures other than Western, music is not learnt and played by writing it down on paper. This is not going to go away in our culture because it is so deeply rooted. I believe it is going to get more like western classical music. It is already happening, which is why we are having this discussion.

Having worked with African, African-American, and Indian musicians in recent years, I could write a book on this subject.

Shine On
Michael

[tigercubt20]

words of wisdom from a master, mr MICHAEL MESSER. i first heard SON HOUSE on a VINYLE LP, my friends were all listening to early beatles, but i had become obsessed with the blues. which is odd as at the time, i was having beginers classical guitar lessons. i soon realised the teacher was unimpressed by my improvs of the lesson material and the generous inclusion of string bending.the loss of a fretting hand fingertip put an end to my SEGOVIA antics. bottleneck in open tunings was my only way forward. for me a fortunate accident, overcoming a problem, makes you work harder. then along came VHS, and a tape of SON HOUSE live. i was amazed, and confused. he was doing it all wrong, slanted slide,no damping, smacking the guitar.i realised there is no method, if it sounds good, it is good. i dont play blues,rock,metal,jazz,folk,classical. i play whatever i like the sound of, with the slide and fingers, in altered tunings,on acoustic resos.

[pete1951]

Son House live was something I will always put down as a high point in my musical journey. Before the days of video-phones, it is still fresh in my memory.
PT

[Michael Messer]

Aug 4, 2018 15:14:14 GMT tigercubt20 said:

words of wisdom from a master, mr MICHAEL MESSER. i first heard SON HOUSE on a VINYLE LP, my friends were all listening to early beatles, but i had become obsessed with the blues. which is odd as at the time, i was having beginers classical guitar lessons. i soon realised the teacher was unimpressed by my improvs of the lesson material and the generous inclusion of string bending.the loss of a fretting hand fingertip put an end to my SEGOVIA antics. bottleneck in open tunings was my only way forward. for me a fortunate accident, overcoming a problem, makes you work harder. then along came VHS, and a tape of SON HOUSE live. i was amazed, and confused. he was doing it all wrong, slanted slide,no damping, smacking the guitar.i realised there is no method, if it sounds good, it is good. i dont play blues,rock,metal,jazz,folk,classical. i play whatever i like the sound of, with the slide and fingers, in altered tunings,on acoustic resos.

It is a very interesting point, because I don't see or hear that Son House broke any rules. His music is as near perfect true delta blues as you are ever likely to hear. His understanding of rhythm was not in any way primitive. Listen to his original recordings of Dry Spell Blues and Preaching Blues and I do not hear anything other than perfection. Incredible voice, playing and delivery. A total master in his prime that was right up there with Robert Johnson, Charley Patton and Muddy Waters.



The rediscovered Son House, post 1964, had good and bad moments. He was a heavy drinker and sometimes that enhanced his performance and the integrity of his music and sometimes it did quite the opposite. For me, the peak of his rediscovery was when John Hammond Senior recorded him in 1965, which resulted in the classic "Death Letter" album, retitled and issued as "Father of the Delta Blues" recordings. Another absolute classic moment in Son House's recording career was also in 1965, when Studs Terkel recorded an interview and live session in Chicago. It captures a lucid Son House that is totally in control and on the ball. His recollections and stories are clear and well put across, and his delivery of a dozen or so classic Son House songs is right on the money.



Sadly, during the 1960s and 70s, Son House did hit the bottle pretty hard and that resulted in a few substandard recordings and ragged performances.

I never saw Son House perform, but from all accounts it was an overwhelming, life changing and unforgettable experience for all those that did.

Son House's affect on British baby boomer audiences has lasted 50 years and his appearances with various National guitars have become iconic images and symbols of the blues which will affect many generations to come.

There is one thing for sure, there will never be another Son House, or anybody remotely like him. The world was very lucky that he lived long enough to perform and record in the 1960s and 70s.



Those so called rules that were being broken only existed in the minds of the baby boomer generation of musicians that started trying to adopt and teach delta blues guitar playing.

Shine On
Michael

[Pickers Ditch]

....and that last sentence says it all.
Thank you,MM.

PD

[blueshome]

Back when I started to play in the early 80s I was looking for anything to help me in my quest to play blues. There were a couple of Stefan Grossman books from Oak and I was given as a present a book by the great jazz and session guitarist Mickey Baker on blues and bottleneck guitar. It had transcriptions of RJ and Son House. The problem was it was all in standard notation which made impossible for me to follow, especially as most on the tunes were in open tunings.
Not to be put off, I found a book on music theory and over several weeks converted things to tab, which I could follow. This helped me unlock some of the parts of songs that I couldn’t figure, in the same way as the Grossman books had. I learn by listening and used to use tab to solve problems my ears couldn’t.

In conclusion, a few years ago I revisited my notes and I have to say that Baker’s transcriptions seemed pretty accurate. The book has long since vanished but I think it does show that we shouldn’t always reject the idea that down home blues can be captured in standard notation, especially by a guitar genius such as Baker, although I think really this is the exception that proves the rule.

[pete1951]

Just like Phil, I have found that some tab. does help to get you started on a song. (Though seeing Son H. play it was more help) The problem usually comes from compromises made by the tab. writer, as the subtle nuances of the music get lost. Western educated musicians (I guess I have to count myself here) have to ‘unlearn’ some of the things we have been taught to really play trad. country blues. The Blues however , is now such a broad genre , that there is room for the Euro-style, Afro-beat or whatever you want to call blues-fusion stuff that turns up.
PT



“The Blues had a baby , and they called it Rock and Roll”

“I like Rock music, I play it now and then,
But you know it’s only blues with the volume up to 10* “


*12 on a Fender amp, 11 for Spinal Tap fans.

[Michael Messer]

There is no doubt that this music can be written in western notation, but in my opinion it is a pointless exercise because that is not how the music was formed and learnt by the original masters.

I learnt the basics of playing this music in the 1970s. I bought one or two books along the way, one was the Mickey Baker book, but I would say I never learnt anything from these books. I learnt more from listening and reading about the players and their styles. Watching the British players as often as I could. I was also lucky enough, because I was younger, to be kind of adopted by the British acoustic blues players and via them I got to meet and play with some of the American players. Most of it really was absorbed and learnt from sitting around with my friends and playing for hours and hours every day.

Shine On
Michael

[blueshome]

I never had the good fortune to learn from others directly until I attended the first Bluesweek.
I had played in an electric band but this didn’t really help my country blues playing, which what I wanted to do.
I was able to get out and play acoustic blues in the late 9”s with my son Mike on harp. This was an eye opener as he’s a great musician in his own right and he kept me on the straight and narrow. (Currently he’s touring with Paul Lamb as well as running Rimshot Studios.)