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194 Part IV: Sounding Like the Masters: Blues Styles through the Ages Understanding the Delta technique
The Delta blues style is an acoustic, self-contained approach (rhythm and
lead combined) used almost exclusively as accompaniment for a singer. The
thumb and fingers often play different parts. The thumb plays either steady
quarter notes or a shuffle-eighth-note rhythm, especially when the high notes
are laying out. The Delta blues liberally uses the minor pentatonic scale. (For
more on the minor pentatonic scale, see Chapter 8.)
Figure 11-1 is a 12-bar blues in the Delta Blues style. The thumb hammers out
either quarter notes or shuffle eighths. In the spaces where the vocal rests,
high notes are introduced as melodic fills.
Many Delta players use thumbpicks for extra power. For more rhythmic playing,
thumbpicks are especially appropriate, even if you don’t normally use
them.
The more experienced players try to incorporate licks and subtle chordal
flourishes while keeping an insistent bass going. Figure 11-2 is an expanded
version of the passage in Figure 11-1. It contains more movement in the treble
part and bass runs connecting the chords for even more forward momentum.
If you’ve read through Chapter 8 and you think your knowledge of the openposition
E minor pentatonic scale is up to snuff, create your own variations of
fills between where the vocal phrases fall. The hardest part may be keeping
the thumb going in quarter notes while you play the lick up top — especially
if the lick contains rests, syncopation, or triplets mixed with shuffle-eighths.
TEAM LinG
Ladies and gentlemen, king of the Delta
blues: Robert Johnson
Robert Johnson (1911–1938) is universally recognized as the “King of the
Delta Blues,” and for good reason. His influence is felt not only through those
who followed but also in every student who picks up the guitar with a mind
to play the blues.
Johnson influenced so many aspects of the blues — through his playing, his
songwriting, and his aura. No performer has led — or was alleged to have
led — a more mythic or legendary blues life. Some people believe that Johnson
gained his talent in a deal with the devil; he died young and under mysterious
circumstances, and his songs are haunting with chilling themes about the
devil and death.