LESSON 1
Delta Blues Guitar: "Pay Day"
by Mississippi John Hart
On To Lesson #2

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This old pre-blues folk song is an excellent vehicle for learning to play a syncopated melody against an alternating bass. The thumb keeps time with the foot and must be independent of the index and middle fingers, which pick the second and first strings, respectively.

This is the TAB of the intro, written for slide playing. It is similar to standard notation except for the slur lines that indicate syncopated note pairs, the basic unit of ragtime. Downbeats are on the sixth string, upbeats on the fourth.

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Charlie Archer
Pay Day
Tuning: OpenD - DADF#AD
Mississippi John Hurt

© Charlie Archer
Master of delta blues and beyond

Online lessons!
Lesson 1 "Pay Day" by Mississippi John Hurt
Lesson 2 "Crow Jane" by Carl Martin's

The Blues Bank Collective is a W.C.Handy Award winning blues education organization whose mission is: To further awareness of Blues Music and its African American heritage To show the historic context that gave birth to the Blues To use the music as a means of positive social change And, whenever possible, to eliminate all forms of racism, intolerance and prejudice.

DRAWING: B. J. Johnson (1906-1986) was a great Portsmouth bluesman and teacher, as well as an inspiration to all who knew him. Art by Steven Lee.
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