Hey Carmine,

First, thanks for checking out the lesson. It's awesome that you're interested in the blues. To answer your question, I personally don't get caught up in "correct fingering". It it sounds good do it - that's more my take on things.

The acoustic blues geniuses I love so much didn't seem to care much about what was 'proper'.

That said, I play this type of pattern with my 1 and 3 finger so that my 2nd finger is free to pick up some quick notes around the 3rd fret. Plus a two fret distance is a bit of a stretch for me in between my first and middle finger. I find it difficult to hit the note solidly with that finger.

Are you able to get a good clean sound using fingers 1 and 2?

Thanks again for watching and good luck to you!! Let me know if I can do anything to help you out.

Hi FolkyRingo!

This was a great take and in many ways you nailed it. My suggestion would be to work on palm muting through most of the shuffle bits. I hear this technique in a ton of blues and really adds a cool dynamic to your playing.

To be more specific, instead of letting all the notes ring out, use your picking hand palm to lightly press on the strings near the bridge. This will give the notes more of a dull thud sound rather than a clearly ringing sound.

The other comments here are constructive, but let me say the most important thing is to have fun. When I listened to your take, I really got the impression that you enjoyed playing this piece. When that comes across, the rest tends to fall in place.

Again, awesome job!!

Cheers!

-John

Hey Nether!

I'm glad you're having fun with this lesson and I'm excited that you posted it here in the REC. It takes guts to be critiqued.

Let me start out by saying you've definitely done a solid job!

I will second what Darius said about the timing. Really focus on the 2's and 4's of each measure, this is where the snare hits on the drums. You don't have to hit the strings harder or anything like that. Simply focusing on the 2 and 4 beat will get the pulse of shuffle blues in your bones!!

Doing that will really make the swing come alive. Of course every beat of every measure is important, but to me, the "up" beat gives this piece its groove.

Pay close attention to the top of the measures when you come back into the rhythm part after playing a lick. The real key to this lesson is getting the switch between rhythm and lead parts to sound very fluid. It's tricky but you're almost there. Keep practicing this and I'm sure you'll have the timing down in no time.

By the way, good job on the licks over the A chord. You've got those sounding sweet.

Cheers!

-John

@fran Thanks!

@Brandon We're almost neighbors! Ha! Nice to meet you.

@Mike I've checked out your videos, I'm sure you've got a few secrets yourself

Hey Yoppe! Nice to meet you too! I saw you're profile vid and your lesson. Great stuff man! I will definitely be working on my electric skills with these lessons from great players like yourself on GMC.

Thanks Sensible Jones and Renan! Looking forward to it!

what's up headbanger! so what else could you use that power for? can you turn my amp into a 1952 Fender Twin Reverb? haha!

Blue Willy, I'm loving these videos. I've been diving into country blues over the last few years and you sir, have it down. Really love the guitar break in this tune.

You guys sure know how to make a guy feel at home!

Mudbone - if you make it to charleston, i've got a sam adams with your name on it.

dcz702 - let's break that thing in!

Cheers!

Welcome, Ricardo! Sweet amp, the JCM2000. Only heard in on youtube here and there, I'm sure you're getting some nice tones out of it.

Fan it! That was awesome Blue Willy. Always impressed by some great acoustic blues.

Thanks Gabriel and Nava! I'm excited to be a part of such an awesome community of dedicated guitarists. This site is a great resource, thanks to the GMC staff.

...I may even have to learn to shred a little