Over the span of ten one-hour lessons, students will study the following:
- The five-note West African scale which, combined with Western musical concepts, defines the vocabulary of blues guitar. The 8, 12, and 16 bar blues forms.
- The earliest blues, based on a simple melody using that scale.
- The Delta Blues (what it is, where it’s at, and how to play it).
- East Coast, or Piedmont style blues.
- Texas Blues, lesson one. Henry Thomas, Lightnin’ Hopkins.
- The East Coast Blues move to Nashville. Merle Travis.
- West Coast Blues. Texas transplants T-Bone Walker , Charles Brown and PeeWee Crayton, Oklahoma transplant Lowell Fulson all move to California and develop a jazzy, sophisticated style which could still make the joint jump.
- Delta Blues goes to Chicago. Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and other Delta musicians migrate north and adapt their music to the city.
- Open Tunings and slide guitar techniques.
- Blues in the Sixties and beyond: Taj Mahal, Ry Cooder, Canned Heat, The Rolling Stones, SRV and more.
We will take one tune each week exemplifying the topic and learn it. There will be a simple tablature and audio sample available for each lesson.
Instructor
Tim Williams
Inspired by the Hillbilly and Western Swing music he heard as a child, Tim absorbed late Fifties Rhythm & Blues and Rock & Roll, Hawaiian and Mexican music, early Sixties Folk, and Bluegrass “like a sponge” before discovering a passion for traditional blues styles which was fueled by seing many first generation blues musicians live during the “Blues Boom” of the mid and late Sixties.
Contact
Schedule
| Session | Duration | Class Time | Class | Tuition | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2021 September to December | 10 Weeks | Wednesday 8:00 - 9:00 | Learning the Blues with Tim Williams | $195 | Register |
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The Academy
Address
2505 14 St SW
Calgary
Alberta
T2T 3T8
Canada
Opening January 2020, this new space will house all our classes and will feature an array of some of the best private lesson teachers in the city.
