Fingerpicking blues guitar is a never ending study full of surprises and discoveries. Each key of the guitar offers new sounds and textures. A blues played in the key of C sounds world's apart from a blues played in the keys of A, G, D or E. In this series I decided to focus on a single key for each lesson.

The key of A can be very down home and tough. It can be rough and tumble. It can be driving and it can be lyrical. In this lesson I explore playing ideas, licks and techniques from a host of legendary bluesmen: Son House, Lightnin' Hopkins, Blind Boy Fuller, Rev. Gary Davis, Big Bill Broonzy, Mississippi John Hurt, Blind Lemon Jefferson. Playing styles from the delta of Mississippi to the streets of Durham, North Carolina to the juke joints of Dallas, Texas. 

We also take a trip playing a blues in A minor. First we set up a fingerstyle melody and then we play off this with improvised lead lines. All in all, a deep exploration of fingerstyle blues guitar in the key of A.

A detailed tab/music booklet is included as a PDF file on the DVD. Each tune is taught phrase by phrase and played slowly on a split-screen.

Titles include: Blues For Son, Blues For Lightnin', Blues For the Carolinas, Big Bill Blues in A, Monday Morning Blues, Hop Scotch Blues and Hitting the Road With Jack

103 minutes • Level 2/3 • Detailed tab/music PDF file on the DVD

Fingerpicking blues guitar is a never ending study full of surprises and discoveries. Each key of the guitar offers new sounds and textures. A blues played in the key of C sounds world's apart from a blues played in the keys of A, G, D or E. In this series I decided to focus on a single key for each lesson.

The key of G offers specific advantages. It is ideal for the alternating bass technique i.e. Mississippi John Hurt's style of playing. We start by learning an arrangement of Marshall Owens' 1930s recording of Try Me One More Time. This was originally played in an Open G tuning but I have arranged it in standard tuning using a John Hurt approach. Not all blues from the 1920s and 1930s were fingerpicked. Jim Jackson was a popular Memphis songster who basically strummed his guitar. But his repertoire was full of wonderful songs. I have taken his Wild About My Loving and have tried to keep the original feel by combining a strum approach intermingled with fingerpicking the melody.

Little Hat Jones was an amazing fingerstyle bluesman. His Bye Bye Baby Blues was played in the key of G. I have transcribed his version note for note. Blind Boy Fuller recorded many blues in the key of G. We tackle three of his arrangements: Baby Let Me Lay It On You, Baby Quit Your Low Down Ways and I Crave My Pigmeat. We study his playing note for note but also explore variations.

By the end of this lesson you will know six great tunes and have an insight in to fingerpicking blues in the key of G. A detailed tab/music booklet is included as a PDF file on the DVD. Each tune is taught phrase by phrase and played slowly on a split-screen. As well, the original old recordings are included in the Bonus Audio section.

Titles include: Try Me One More Time, Wild About My Loving, Bye Bye Baby Blues, Baby Let Me Lay It On You, Baby Quit Your Low Down Ways and I Crave My Pigmeat

100 minutes • Level 2/3 • Detailed tab/music PDF file on the DVD

I love fingerpicking blues in the key of C. Blind Blake, Big Bill Broonzy, Rev. Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt, Mance Lipscomb and Tommy McClennan all favored this key. All approached their playing from different angles and perspectives. Mississippi John Hurt had a happy sounding alternating bass style. Big Bill Broonzy combined a driving bass technique. Blind Blake's 'sportin' right hand' would stumble his bass alongside quick single string licks and his piano sounding guitar. Rev. Gary Davis had several techniques playing in C. His most unique was using an alternating bass that never played the root C note. In other arrangements his playing took Blind Blake's ideas and explored them with complex bass movements, rhythmic licks and quick single string runs. And then there's Tommy McClennan and his heavy rhythmic right hand.

These legendary blues guitarists all played out of first position chords using different right hand approaches and touch. How amazing that there were so many different sounds produced. So many, that I found it necessary to expand this lesson to two DVDs running close to four hours of instruction in all.

Each tune is taught phrase by phrase and played slowly on a split-screen. A detailed tab/musicbooklet is included as a PDF file on the DVD. As well, the original old recordings are included in the Bonus Audio section.

Titles and topics include: Cocaine Habit Blues, People That I Use To See, Can't See No More, Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight, You Are My Sunshine, Tryin' To Get Home, You're Gonna Quit Me, Love With A Feeling, Troubles, You May Leave, Taking Your Place, At The Break Of Day, Turn Arounds in C and Searching the Fingerboard

227 minutes - Level 2/3 - Detailed tab/music PDF file on the DVD

Review: Imagine being set loose in a vault that's packed floor-to-ceiling with time-tested blues. But better yet is that each one of them reveals its own playing secrets - step-by-step, run-by-run, lick-by-lick. There's the majestic "Tryin' to Get Home," with that cool, little Rev. Gary Davis finger stumble along the strings. "You're Gonna Quit Me" sports sharp Blind Blakeisms, right out of the gate. Big Bill Broonzy contributes "At the Break of Day." "Love With a Feeling" pulls from Tommy McClennan, the great Delta roughhouser who brought a sense of wild to the frets, whereas the mad dash across "Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight" is smudged with Mississippi John Hurt's gentle fingerprints. And nothing is more evergreen than "You Are My Sunshine." However, the dark horse has to be "Troubles." Vintage footage lets Kilby Snow perform his old-time mountain music, which disguises an emotional gut punch as a work of tremendous melodic beauty. Stefan Grossman's haunting arrangement pares down and smoothes out the lament to six strings-from the 30some strung across Snow's autoharp. So much good instruction is spread over these two DVDs that, from the time you first enter via a stately stroll down the Memphis Jug Band's "Cocaine Habit Blues" until you finally exit through Grossman's original ragtime minuet "Searching the Fingerboard," you'll emerge-nearly four hours later! - an expert at "Fingerpicking Blues Guitar in the Key of C". – Dennis Rozansk/Blues Rag

Review: Just when you think that there are no more tuition possibilities out there, up pops the Guitar Workshop with another one! It would be very tempting to just cut and paste any of my previous reviews, in fact I wonder if you would notice? But hey let's not be churlish, Stefan's mission in life seems to be to teach us every possible combination of notes and chords, and new ways in which to play them, so let's have a look at this latest offering. First off, I noticed that this is a longer DVD than usual, running in at 227 minutes, on two discs, damn it that's nearly 4 hours! It also offers 13 different songs to work with as well as the most beautifully produced PDF file of notation and tablature. Production values are as high as ever with crystal clear split screen filming showing both hands at the same time, and Stefan plays over each part at slow speed before ramping up to normal playing speeds, with each piece broken down into easily managed parts. (When I say easily, this isn't any kid's music primer), you are going to have to work at it, but if you persevere, the results should speak for themselves. So, congratulations once again on a fine piece of work (Although we have come to expect nothing less!) – Dave Stone/Blues Matters!