Many
blues guitarists feel that the key at E is both the most accessible
and expressive key for deep blues sounds. Blues in E is a sound
as old as the blues themselves.
In this video, Mary shows you how
to reach deep into the blues bag by teaching the licks and tricks
that have kept this genre interesting and fun. Going beyond mere
role demonstration, she also explores the 12-bar blues structure
and offers tips on creating your own arrangements. Starting with
the Delta style where the thumb pounds out ifs steady, compelling
bass, Mary shows you how to add single notes, up-the-neck bends,
moveable chords, and powerful boogie-woogie patterns. Then she
walks you through a plethora of blues turnarounds, the figures
that add color and spice o your arrangements when you use them
as fills between vocal lines.
Mary mixes classic and contemporary songs to add variety to her teaching and
help you diversify your own repertoire. In this video, she uses Leroy Carr's ";Midnight
Hour Blues"; and Big Bill Broonzy's "Key to the Highway" (made famous by Eric
Clapton) as well as her own tunes to show you how blues techniques and structures
really work, and how to make them work for you. True to Mary's style of teaching,
songs and techniques are presented in progressive order of difficulty. This video
is geared to the intermediate/advanced player As a guitarist, singer, and songwriter,
Mary Flower has carried on the tradition of roots music for over three decades,
specializing in the blues. A longtime favorite in Denver, Colorado, she took
to the road after her children were grown and quickly achieved national prominence.
Today she is best known for her many CDs, concert and festival appearances, and
as a prizewinning contestant in the National Fingerpicking Guitar Championship
at the Walnut Valley Festival. In addition to performing, Mary is also a respected
teacher. She has shared her deep knowledge of blues styles and history with students
privately, in workshops and blues camps, for the Handy Awards in Memphis, and
on staff at the Augusta Heritage Center (Elkins, West Virginia), the Port Townsend
Washington) Blues Festival, and the Swallow Hill School of Music (Denver).
