Acoustic Delta Blues Moves

by Jim Burger The old Delta Blues masters such as Son House and Charlie Patton had a percussive approach to solo acoustic blues that relied on a mixture of bass grooves on the low strings and melodic riffs on the high strings. The moves they used were often quite simple and yet the sounds of these fellows is always tough to replicate.

In this lesson, we'll look at some fairly simple bass grooves and fingerings that were used quite often. We'll then examine verses from a couple of songs by Son House, Charlie Patton, and others. Although the moves may be easy, in the end it's up to you to try to sound like these guys -- I've been trying for quite some time now, and there always seems to be something missing.

Below is an illustrative verse of Charlie Patton's signature song "Pony Blues," which we'll look at in more detail later in the lesson.