Country Blues Guitar in Open Tunings

Open tunings have always been an integral part of the Country Blues Guitar tradition. In this approach the guitar is tuned to a full chord. Most blues players began playing the guitar in an open tuning as it made playing much easier yet gave the guitar a much stronger and richer sound. For a minimum of effort you can produce a maximum of sound, rhythm and music.

The most popular Country Blues tunings were the Open G tuning, also called Spanish tuning and the Open D tuning, also called Vestapol tuning. Also used by a few Delta guitarists such as Skip James and Bukka White was the Crossnote tuning where your guitar is tuned to an Open Em chord. In this lesson we will explore all three tunings with seven exciting fingerstyle blues arrangements. Also discussed are Delta blues ideas in Open G tuning as well as applying bottleneck techniques in an open tuning setting.

Each tune is taught phrase by phrase and the played slowly on a split-screen. A detailed tab/music booklet is included.

Tunes include: Open D Tuning: Vestapol, John Henry, If You Don't Want Me • Open G Tuning: Working On The New Railroad, Special Rider Blues • Crossnote Tuning: Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues and I'm So Glad.