preaching blues artists

The Guitar Orchestra

The guitar technique common in Mississippi blues was described by Fred McDowell as 'frailing'. This is a word used by banjo players to describe dragging your nails across the strings in a downward stroke. But as Kenny Brown says, it's not really like Banjo frailing. It's a thumb and forefinger technique on open G guitar tuning. It allows me to play a bass note on the beat, a counter-rhythmic upstroke on the middle strings, and a melody on the top.

The guitar is tuned in open G. Only a few chord shapes are available, far less than in normal tuning. But it's easy to play open and fretted notes and get a rhythm and melody sound. Also, it's easy to accidentally play minor thirds (third string third fret) and major thirds (second string open) together, next to each other etc. This is a happy accident, because it sounds great. I like to see it in notation form, because it looks like I've mastered an impossibly complex sophisticated technique.

The key of G and D are easily accessed, and a very odd limited form of E minor which you can hear on Kenny Brown's version of 'Goin Down South'. For anything else, I use a capo or I retune. Key of G Capo-d at the 5th fret is my favourite - the muddier string tone and firmer tension feel really good. We do Hooker's Groundhog Blues like this.

I split the output of my guitars' two pick ups through a stereo jack socket I've had fitted. Gibson call this 'stereo', Rickenbacker call it 'Rick-o-sound'. Either way, it allows each pick up to power one amp each, from a splitter box on the floor. Then I have some phrase recording pedals to trap loops of the song and I can layer a new riff on top.

I use an octave generator to multiply the bass drone to an octave below. This gives the guitar a bigger sound by adding a 'bass-baritone' note.