PREMIERCLINIC
David Hamburger’s BluesArchitect
Lone Star, Continued
This month we will be taking a look at the
rhythm part for last month’s installment of Blues
Architect. The guitar is essentially doubling the
bass part, but the added, non-melodic rhythmic
elements differentiate the guitar from the bass.
BLUES
Duke Robillard
Muting is key to the effective use of percussive
elements within a rhythm part, with the majority of the responsibility falling on the left hand.
Laying fretting fingers across unused strings
while using a wide pick stroke helps, and don’t
be afraid to hang the thumb over the low E
string for muting chores. For example, in the first
measure mute the strings with the flattened part
of your ring finger while striking the first non-chord jab, then use it to mute the A string while
playing the open E. This will also set you up to
hit the next note – the octave E on the A string,
seventh fret. Next up is the B on the E string,
seventh fret, all covered by the ring finger. The
first finger then frets the final note in the phrase
with a D, the fifth fret on the A string. Continue
with the muted rakes in-between the fretted
notes to keep the swing feel going. Also look for
the walk up to the A9 in the ninth measure.
The same phrase is moved up to the IV chord in
measure ten, but this time we fret the root on
the fifth fret of the low E rather than strike the
open A string. Fretting the note makes muting
easier, but try substituting the open string once
the technique becomes more familiar. Measure
16 sees the phrase move to the B9 chord and
uses the same pattern as the A9 phrase.
To get a better handle on some of these techniques, check out Duke Robillard, who may currently be the most well known practitioner of
jump blues and swing guitar. He was the original
founder of Roomful of Blues and has worked with
pianist and bandleader Jay McShann and jazz
guitarist Herb Ellis – be sure to visit him online at
dukerobillard.com.
Head to premierguitar.com
to find video lesson segments, rhythm
tracks, notation and Power Tab - powered
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