Jim Bruce Guitar Articles

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Contents: Various aspects of blues guitar lessons. Format: PDF and Word.

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Blind Willie McTell

Muddy Waters

Robert Johnson

How To Play Blues - Jim Bruce Interview

Finger Picking Acoustic Guitar - Doc Watson

Kings Of Blues Guitar T-Bone Walker

Play Authentic Blues Guitar - Jim Bruce

Blues Guitar To The Next Level - Jim Bruce

Blues Legends - Jim Bruce

Origins Of Ragtime Guitar

Blues Guitar Tips

Blues On The Streets Of Paris

Blues in Toulouse

Blind Blake - King Of Ragtime

Roots Of The Blues - Carolina Men

Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers

There are maybe hundreds of thousands, not to say millions of acoustic guitar players over the planet. 

It's the most popular musical instrument by a long shot , as its easy to take somewhere and it's quite easy to create a little tune in a week or two. I say 'acoustic guitar' as that's my instrument and I prefer the finger picking style of playing.

Generally, electric players employ a plectrum pick the strings in an up down direction. Of course, there are always exceptions to the golden rule, like Mark Knoppfler, who uses bare fingers for both acoustic and electric guitars. His techniques made Chet Atkins say "I'm not sure what he's doing, but he can sure can play! "

You don't need to follow the crowd - just make your own rules. Mind you, we've to begin somewhere. The beginning point is usually centered around previous great blues guitarists. In the style of acoustic blues guitar, we are talking about people such as Robert Johnson, Doc Watson, Lightnin' Hopkins, Reverend Gary Davis and a lot of others.

There are many differences in technique, but those who play finger style can be loosely split up into two bands - those wearing finger picks and the players who prefer their bare fingers.

Let's not talk about how many picking fingers they use for now. What are the variations in sound and what impact does a finger pick have on technique? I've seen ragtime blues artists play very well with up to 3  picks for the right hand, which didn't include the thumb! At the other end of the scale, some master pickers only use just one finger, either steel or plastic.