This programme is for beginner and intermediate guitarists who want to start fingerpicking. Presented by Stefan Grossman, it explores how to master the alternating bass style. Each tune is taught phrase by phrase and then played again slowly on a split-screen so that you can carefully see what both hands are doing. There is also footage of some of the great fingerstyle players such as Rev. Gary Davis, Lightnin' Hopkins, Mance Lipscomb, Merle Travis, Brownie McGhee, Elizabeth Cotten, John Jackson, Pink Anderson and Doc Watson.

The first volume in a series of lessons exploring various fingerstyle blues guitar styles and techniques. In this lesson, Stefan Grossman demonstrates alternating and monotonic bass techniques, blues slides, hammer-ons and pull-offs, and blues slurred notes.

Contemporary acoustic fingerstyle blues encompasses a wide variety of styles, techniques and sounds. In this lesson, Stefan Grossman teaches four multi-sectioned blues instrumentals that are bases on traditional techniques, blues piano ideas, single-string melodic guitar licks and horn styled solos. The music varies from a piano styled boogie to a slow country blues reminiscent of the playing of Blind Blake and Jelly Roll Morton to a New Orleans blues in the style and feel of Ray Charles and Snooks Eaglin. A detailed tab/music booklet is included as a PDF file on the DVD.

Featuring John Fahay, Jorma Kaukonen, John Renbourn, Stefan Grossman, Pierre Bensusan, Martin Simpson and Bob Brozman.
The seven fingerstyle guitarists you are about to watch have all put their own, highly personal stamp on the instrument, not only by the way they play, but also by the music they write and interpret and the emotions and images their music invokes. No other instrument has found such a vast, global audience in the last 40 years, and as you'll see and hear, no other instrument is capable of such a diverse range of sounds and styles. As divergent as these performances are, the personal backgrounds of these highly creative and influential musicians are interwoven by the mentors who inspired and guided them, their influence on each other, and by the events which have become a part of modern musical history.

The Early Masters of American Blues series provides the unique opportunity to study the true roots of modern blues. Stefan Grossman, noted roots-blues guitarist and musicologist, has compiled this fascinating collection of 16 songs, transcribed exactly as performed by legendary blues master Lonnie Johnson. In addition to Stefan's expert transcriptions, the book includes a CD containing the original recordings of Lonnie Johnson so you can hear the music as he performed it.
One of the most influential blues artists of the 20th century, Lonnie Johnson began his 50-year music career in the early 1920s, and continued to perform and record until his passing in 1970. Recording both as a soloist and with legends like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Eddie Lang, Lonnie Johnson's influence can still be heard today, from the work of blues guitar greats like T-Bone Walker and B.B. King, to a whole new generation of blues players.

The Early Masters of American Blues series provides the unique opportunity to study the true roots of modern blues. Stefan Grossman, noted roots-blues guitarist and musicologist, has compiled this fascinating collection of 16 songs, transcribed exactly as performed by legendary blues master Blind Blake. In addition to Stefan's expert transcriptions, the book includes a CD containing the original recordings of Blind Blake so you can hear the music as he performed it.
Blind Blake was the greatest ragtime blues guitarist to record during the 1920s. His guitar styles and techniques were unique, capturing the pulsating rhythms of the blues, ragtime, and jazz music of the period. His records sold well and were greatly influential on generations of guitarists. This collection presents sixteen tunes that will keep your fingers very busy. Sound, feel, and control over right-hand thumb are the elements of Blind Blake's playing that will demand all your attention and patience. Enjoy the wonderful songs, and good luck developing your "sportin' right hand!"