Roger Hurricane Wilson has a new lesson out that will teach you how to play acoustic slide guitar like Tampa Red. The lesson is in Open E and Roger uses a National Reso-Phonic guitar in the video. The material will work well on any acoustic guitar though. Tampa Red was one of the early legends of blues guitar. His slide style often used single note runs instead of whole chords and as such was a precursor to modern day blues soloing. Below you can check out a demo of Roger’s Tampa Red Style Lesson. I’ve also included a video of Tampa Red himself playing It Hurts Me Too. The solo kicks in at the 1:09 mark.
Guitar Player has a good article on five insights into Roy Buchanan’s guitar style. It’s a collection of quotes from Roy, tips by the author, and a listening guide. An excerpt:
Roy Nichols once asked Buchanan, “Where’d you get them bird sounds, Roy?” Guitar lore has it that Buchanan recorded the first pick harmonic (Buchanan called ’em “whistlers”) on “Potato Peeler,” a 1962 single he cut with Philly-based drummer Bobby Gregg. (True story: An unsuccessful online search for a reissue of the full song finally located an excerpt of the legendary moment … as a ringtone!!) Buchanan chalked up the prehistoric event to a happy accident in several of his GP interviews: “How I first did that harmonic thing was actually a mistake, and I only did it once so you have to really listen for it. Somewhere in the back of my mind I was trying to hit one of those high notes that R&B sax players like Junior Walker and Plas Johnson would always hit. I thought we were going to have to do another take, but everybody was digging that one thing, so I just figured out what I did and I’ve been doing it ever since. You have to have a lot of treble to do it. As you pick the string, you let a little bit of the skin from the thumb touch the string with the pick. You’ve got to do it with pressure— you can’t do it easy—and it works best on the thinner strings.” (For the scientific lowdown on pick harmonics, see “Demystifying Harmonics,” in the May 2008 GP).
Our own Roger “Hurricane” Wilson has a three part series on playing like Roy Buchanan. The videos touch on both Roy’s country and blues sides. Check out a demo for lesson 3 from the series below
Roger Hurricane Wilson has a new lesson available that will teach you a beginner blues shuffle. We’ll use power chords to play a 1-4-5 progression of E, A, and B. Roger will walk you through a variety of different rhythms and tempos you can use to play this and simulate several blues styles. We’ll also learn an intermediate level turnaround lick to play at the end of the progression. This lesson can be played on an acoustic or electric guitar. To get the tab check out the lesson page.
Roger Wilson had previously released a premium lesson on Roy Buchanan that touched on Roy’s country side of guitar. In the Style of Roy Buchanan Lessons 2 & 3 will switch over to his more traditional blues style. Lesson 2 will teach you a song intro and the third lesson will pick right up from there. Roger will guide you through playing each section in detail. Below are demo videos for both lessons. I’ve also included a Youtube version of Roy’s classic tune “After Hours”
Roger Wilson has a new lesson that will teach you a fingerpicking guitar version of Greensleeves. This Old English Folk Song is instantly recognizable and fun to play. This is an elementary level lesson that will first teach you how to play the song as a single note melody. Roger will then show you how to work chords into the arrangement as well. The download includes a Quicktime video and a .pdf of the tab.
