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Blackberry Blossom is one of the most popular bluegrass tunes on earth. Everyone loves to jam on it. It was written by Fiddlin Arthur Smith, author of some of the most popular fiddle tunes in the bluegrass repertoire. In addition to the tune itself, I am responding to a Gold Member request for some warmup exercises. You will learn a number of scale exercises that will get you really comfortable improvising, especially in the key of G.
(Note: Although this tune is a favorite of bluegrassers, both Fiddlin' Arthur Smith and this tune actually predate bluegrass music. Also, the tune "Lee Highway Blues" was written by G.B. Grayson, not Arthur Smith as I mentioned in the video).
Play the YouTube clips below to hear me play the tune. If it gets your feet to dancin, then sign up for a GOLD MEMBERSHIP!
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The new video is GREAT. Thanks
Thanks for the scale work and for Blackberry Blossom.
I know it’s great.
New videos are great, and love the finger camera…you are doing a great job, thanks
I like the “Texas Style” guitar cords, can you post those for this song too?
Sure thing John! I’ll add those guitar chords pronto
Mike what is the best way to work my speed up on these songs
The best way to increase your speed is to start slow and work your way up little by little with a metronome. Start at a slow speed where you can play the exercises perfectly. Once you can play it perfectly at that speed, increase the speed on your metronome and practice until you can play it perfectly. The most important thing is to make sure that you can play it comfortably and accurately several times in a row before you bump up the tempo.
Using a metronome is very important because it keeps you honest and doesn’t allow you to cheat when you practice.
This may sound like a slow and painful process, but after only an hour of practicing this way you will have picked up your speed significantly without sacrificing tone or intonation.
you played this song with saw strokes what would be best bowing pattern to try to really put the time in to learn i have been playing at it for two and a half years my going is slow but it is still improving all the time
Same as above.
I would love to see a part 1, with the appropriate slurs.
Hmmm, that’s an interesting question. I think that the answer depends on what genre/context you are playing in. If you’re with a bluegrass band and you’re trying to play it at face melting speed like I did, then I think that saw stroke in the A part is the best — or at least primarily saw stroke with only a few choice slurs. If you’re playing texas style fiddling, then there would be a lot of 2- and 3-note slurs, but the melody line would also be changed significantly (Texas style players like to change things around). You could also do a shuffle bowing (a 4 note pattern consisting of a 2-note slur followed by two saw strokes)
Thanks,
The 2 note slur with 2 saws works perfect, and it does not change the melody.
You make this stuff so easy, I can’t believe it
In your scale roll exercises, should I always opt to use the pinky on the lower string rather than the open string above (for E and A notes)?
I would suggest practicing it both ways. You want to feel comfortable playing either the 4th finger or the open string so that, once you’re in the moment, you can make the musical choice you prefer.