
I introduce myself and try to explain the overall approach I have taken to create this course. I will also provide basic information on my lecture format and resources - including the TABs.
It is REALLY important that you become familiar with Jimmy Reed's recordings in the key of E BEFORE you start working through this course. This video includes snippets of a few of the songs mentioned in my lectures along with lists of all the songs in E that I have referenced to make this lesson series. There is a printed listed included in the Resources for this lecture.
The Jimmy Reed sound is based on the presence of a strong rhythm part played on the bass strings of the electric guitar. In this lesson, I will teach you what I call the "basic" pattern for playing this rhythm. In the other lectures include in this section, I will teach you the many variations of the bass rhythm that are heard on Jimmy Reed's recordings.
Turnarounds are guitar licks played at the end of one verse - leading into the next verse. They are heard on almost every Jimmy Reed record. In this lecture, and section, I will teach you all of the turnarounds played on Jimmy Reed's songs in the Key of E.
One of the three guitars typically heard on a Jimmy Reed record would play fill licks over the chords and bass rhythm. In this lecture, and section, I will explain and teach most of the different fill licks that were played on his songs in the key of E.
The 3rd guitar on a Jimmy Reed record usually plays some form of chord rhythm - usually a swinging rhythm where the chords are played with upstrokes on the beat. In this section, I will explain and teach the ways chords were played on Reed's songs in the key of E.
Jimmy Reed used a variety of licks and phrases to kick off his tunes in the key of E. In this section, I will teach you the intros played on 20 different Jimmy Reed tunes - grouping them according to the "approach used. I will do my best to teach these note-for-note from the original recordings, but keep in mind that this is sometimes hard to do. So, I will do my best. I will explain enough that you will know where/how the licks are played and be able to figure them out for yourself if you disagree with my "translations."
Guitar solos were rarely included on Jimmy Reed records. However, I will teach you the complete solos for three tunes in the key of E that did include simple, but very cool solos!
In this final lecture, I will demonstrate how I go about "creating" a Jimmy Reed song in the key of E. This will serve as a review of all/most of the licks and ideas covered in this course.
Jimmy Reed was the king of the electric blues shuffle! His recordings for the Vee Jay Label in Gary, Indiana (later Chicago) featured 2-3 different guitar players working together to produce a sound and style that is one of the most commercially successful and influential blues styles of the post-war era. This stuff is NOT hard to play, but it is more challenging to play it "correctly," that is, how it was played on the original recordings. That's what this lesson series is all about!
In this first part of a two-part lesson series, I will teach you how to play the Jimmy Reed guitar style in the Key of E. I will breakdown and teach all of the important elements that made-up Jimmy Reed's tunes - bass rhythms and variations, fill licks, turnarounds, song intros, chords and chord rhythm patterns, and even a couple of solos!
The guitar sounds heard on recordings like "Baby, What You Want Me To Do," "Big Boss Man," and "Take Out Some Insurance" are deceptively complex and feature a number of subtleties that often go unnoticed by listeners and guitar players alike. At the conclusion of the course, I will demonstrate how you can "build" a Jimmy Reed-style song in the Key of E.
As far as I know, this is the first lesson series to tackle the complete Jimmy Reed guitar sound. When you have completed my course, you should be able to learn ANY of his songs in the key of E and/or apply what you learn to your own style of playing blues guitar.
There are TABS and charts for each of the different lectures. My TABS are printed using Guitar Pro 7 and show the finger positions only! They are not written in standard notation -I am not musically trained - nor should one be to play this kind of music! Trust me. The TABS have been carefully researched and, to me knowledge, are extremely accurate if not 100% on the money. .
*The second part of the course will teach the Jimmy Reed tunes in the Key of A!