Blues music and Blues guitar has its roots in the Gospel and Spirituals that raised the hopes of the down trodden descendants of the slave trade. Deeply connected to religion, early field hollers and chants slowly became the popular tunes that were passed down from generation to generation. Songs like 'The Battle Of Jericho', 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot' or 'Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen', would have been familiar to all the Blues greats. Also, many blues guitarists were preachers by tra...

Fingerstyle guitar has always been the most satisfying ways of playing guitar. I started the long journey on the fingerstyle road when I had my first classical guitar lessons many years ago. From there my interest in grew into using folk styles of fingerstyle, especially after listening to players of the folk boom era of the the 60's and early 70's: Nick Drake, Paul Simon, Bert Jansch, Martin Carthy, John Renbourne and many more. I was amazed at the textures of sound you could get out of a...

Suites are a collection of short pieces of instrumental music. They originated in the late 14th century as a way of grouping together various dance tunes, perhaps played on the lute, or as a group performance. Suites grew in popularity in the Baroque period with Bach harpsichord suites being the most prolific.The suite would normally be set in one key and consist of five dances: Sarabande, Bouree, Prelude, Minuet and Gavotte. In this collection for the guitar I've added a 6th tune c...

Bust into the chords that form the basis of great blues playing. You will learn the essentials of blues chord playing through eight different styles which include Traditional Shuffles, R & B, Delta, Ragtime Blues, Jazz Blues and contemporary blues. Loads of exercises and examples allsupported by video (with on screen chord diagrams)'I've played many blues styles and am constantly amazed how the humble 12 bar can produce so many variations of chord shapes and sounds.Eac...

In Bronzy Blues by Rick Payne you'll be exploring Big Bill broonzy's solo acoustic technique, using six classic Broonzy style instrumentals: 'The Guitar Shuffle', 'Hey Hey', 'House Rent Stomp', 'St Louis Blues', 'Slow Blues' and 'The Glory Of Love'. Also included is Rick Payne's tribute: 'Broonzy Blues'. If you're new to fingerstyle blues there are lots of warm up exercises to prepare you for his stomping style. Rick will play through all the pieces and give you bar by bar breakdowns so yo...

'Of all the guitarists that I've listened to and studied over the years John Lee Hooker is the one steeped in the real DNA of the blues. You can't help but be drawn into the primitive and simplistic way, that with just a few riffs and chords, he conjured up the sound of both the Mississippi Delta and the West African roots of the blues. When I'm giving a blues guitar workshop I often say - if you want to play authentic blues guitar there's only one riff you need, and that of course is one ...

In this second volume of Bottle Neck Blues by Rick Payne you'll be learning more about this magical style by exploring extra G tuning riffs and an introduction to the deeper sound of the blues with D tuning. There are plenty of exercises and study tunes which follow on naturally from Volume 2. Also, in this volume you can try some very bluesy intros and turnarounds along with instrumentals in both G and D tuning. All the exercises and study tunes are supported by video links giving extra d...

Ragtime fingerstyle guitar is one of the most satisfying ways of playing. If you love the challenge and want to try some syncopated rhythms, or move away from the normal arpeggiated fingerstyle of picking, then the tunes in this volume are just for you. There's a mix of classic tunes that I have arranged by players such as Big Bill Broonzy or Rev. Garry Davis, and a whole bunch of ditties that I've written in the ragtime style. Some tunes are more difficult than others, but well worth the ...

Every collection of music has its own story. Sometimes the pieces are planned from the outset; at other times they simply find one another. These six pieces belong to the second kind.As a guitarist and composer I often sit down with no particular destination in mind, writing little musical sketches just to see where they lead. One idea suggests another, and before long a small collection begins to emerge. Looking back over these pieces, I realised they all shared t...

'I've been asked many times if any of my Blues and Ragtime tunes were available in one collection. So, as requested I've chosen some of the oldand written a few more and put them together in this collection Blues and Rags'. As a guitarist I have always had a fascination for fingerstyle.To simply strum with a progression of chords was never enough for me, and I constantly wanted more from the guitar. Great players like Big Bill Broonzy, Rev Garry Davis, Bert Jansch, Ry Cooder ...

In Let's Django, Rick Payne will share with you many of the Django techniques he has learned on his journey as a guitarist. The exercises and study pieceswill give your playing a whole load of gypsy flavour and whatever the style of your playing you will gain extra panache and appeal. In this course for intermediate players Rick guides you through extensive rhythm and solo exercises all supported by video links for extra demonstration and get you playing like Django. Includes seven ...

In this first volume of Bottle Neck Blues by Rick Payne you'll be learning the basics of slide guitar playing. If you've never tried it before it can be at once quite tricky but also an immediate way of sounding just like the old bluesmen Robert Johnson, Son House and many more. You'll have the chance to get your hands on some of the techniques that are necessary to achieve the authentic sounds of the slide guitar. There are lots of exercises and riffs to try all in the blues style....