Fred Sokolow teaches "Statesboro Blues" in Open D Tuning

For FREE PDF tab/music for this lesson, go to: www.guitarvideo...
Fred Sokolow teaches a version of Blind Willie McTell's "Statesboro Blues" in Open D tuning. From the new DVD release "Open Tunings for Beginners."
More info at www.guitarvide...

[@DrColg8]

I used to play with a semi famous old black guy in Cleve Hts in the mid 80's named Johnny Shines. He got a kick out of my young exuberance I guess. One day, playing on the roof top of my appt building i had asked him to teach me a few blues songs. He aaked me for $50. Im like, Johnny... we are buddies! He said, go to the library.. learn your own blues. Glad this statesboro lesson dudnt cost me $50. Thank you for sharing. I havent explored open D as much as other open tunings. I think i will tune one of my acoustics up and get to work. Thanks again

[@DennisRash]

I cannot thank you enough for doing this for us. For me. I feel like a void has appeared and left me stranded on a island alone. But every time I hear you play this song, I hear a faint song breaking through and getting louder through the later of the song. Great music, great teaching.

[@donfroma1497]

Hope you found what was wrong by now, being 5 yrs ago. Keep your head up.....looks like after last few years and maybe some ahead will be trying as a country. We have to come together, as a giant family if our kids and there kids will see the once great country our politicians unfortunately pillaged and ran in to the ground!

[@VioletLea]

Love love LOVE this channel. It's nice to see HUMBLE professionals perform, never over-the- top.

[@Voltaire1955]

Damn Fred, another song I just have to learn. I've gone down so many rabbit holes with music thanks to masterful performances by the likes of you, Stephon Grossman, Jorma Kaukonen, Tom Feldman, Steve James, Mike Dowling and so many others paving the way for us- hell you've even supplied the road base with classics like this. Thanks Brother.

[@airanwater01]

excellent lesson, no endless talking, just cool blues... i think the singing was an integral part of it, made it real

[@dagnabbit6187]

Fred has good lessons . I have mastered this beautiful pastoral arrangement of Statesboro Blues . I of course don’t do it by rote since any style of blues is an improvisational fit your personality art form but I use the instructions Fred gave me here . From all the I have heard Fred Sokolow does the 2nd best version of this Classic . First is of course Blind Willie McTell’s version

[@jonathana.o2618]

One word for this tutorial: Amazing. I love this song.

[@rockers2rockers616]

And if you capo this tuning then you have open E. The possibilities are endless. Thankyou for posting this.

[@DaleyWard]

After 5 hours practice I started making solid progress. Thanks Fred!.

[@MrJorvik]

Great! Just the right amount of talking, with focus on playing. Thank you!

[@Boris_Chang]

That was very kind and generous of you sir to make this video and share this. Thank you.

[@gracenewlin1093]

This is an amazing breakdown of technique. Thank you.

[@ChrisPippin]

@MatheusMendonca1 In open D, the song will be in D, with G as the subdominant and A as the Dominant.

[@cricklekid]

Great lesson. Perfect pace for me. Thanks Fred.

[@tedpeterson1156]

Great rainy day tune! Thanks Mr. Fred lots of great licks

[@rodneykitchen3869]

A wonderful teacher de mystifying a lot things Thanks Fred ! Rod UK

[@leftchicago]

At last a clear, concise, easy to breakdown way to get into this song and open D tuning. Thanks for the posting.

[@mikekreitzer4394]

Beautiful job........................ I love the old school sound~

[@jonno52]

I'd certainly call this a lesson as much as a performance.. He doesn't hold your hand too much & spell stuff out note by note, but the tricks are there & you just have to pay attention & try & get your head round it. Great vid.

[@AngelHadzi]

You are a true master! greetings from Argentina

[@amphitheatre]

Great video!!! I've successfully learned the whole thing, while singing, just from this video! Praise GtrWorkShp!

[@ardentoctopus]

Love this, I use open tuning with slide and you inspire me to have a go with um... what do ya call those things.... oh yea, fingers.

[@hovlandbound]

Why has it taken so long to find this video?!?! Some great points here that work great for many songs. It's been 16 years since this video was posted. Going on 32! :)

[@DNAblues]

Fred u nailed it. Thank you

[@waldhorn33]

Wake up mama, turn your lamp down low Wake up mama, turn your lamp down low Have you got the nerve to drive Papa McTell from your door My mother died and left me reckless My daddy died and left me wild, wild, wild Mother died and left me reckless Daddy died and left me wild, wild, wild No, I'm not good lookin' I'm some sweet woman's Angel child You're a mighty mean woman, to do me this a way You're a mighty mean woman, to do me this a way When I leave this town, pretty mama, I'm going away to stay While I loved a woman, better than even I'd ever seen I once loved a woman, better than even I'd ever seen Treat me like I was a king and she was a doggone queen Sister, tell your brother, brother tell your auntie now Auntie tell your uncle, uncle tell my cousin now, cousin tell my friend Goin' up the country, mama, don't you want to go? May take me a fair brown, may take me one or two more Big Eighty left Savannah, Lord, and did not stop You ought to saw that colored fireman when he got that boiler hot You can reach over in the corner mama and hand me my travelin' shoes You know by that, I've got them Statesboro blues Mama, sister got 'em, auntie got 'em Brother got 'em, friend got 'em, I got 'em Woke up this morning, we had them Statesboro blues I looked over in the corner, grandpa and grandma had 'em too

[@dinizthemxking]

wow great lesson

[@Gwyhir]

Excellent !

[@LLJJEEYY]

Thanks a bunch Fred. Great amount of understandable open D help. I wish all instructional were this user friendly.

[@joeshea1010]

real teacher. many thanks.

[@WilliamPriceKing]

It's right on. Great technique. Bravo.

[@Vocela]

Fabulous!

[@jasond2138]

Beautiful

[@jayphil4536]

This beautiful

[@bryanmannoia8410]

wow, nicely done! the tutorial was excellent but the performance was even better.

[@jennyomalley]

Still think your version of this is the best Fred, I bought your book fretboard roadmaps,which i recommend, but i just can not seem to get along with drop tunings . I'll post my feeble attempt at Statesboro blues. One take.

[@dieter6219]

I have a very Good Teaching book fom Fred Sokolow from the eighties.

[@Steelhead1233]

Love the Flammang

[@CROSSROADS63]

Thank you for this lesson love it !

[@chiefhalftown]

Metal finger picks! Don't see that too often on guitar. Sounds good and thanks for the lesson.

[@lesoy]

Great teaching style, Fred. Really useful and user friendly! Thank you.

[@alucardisdumb]

a fine picker. kudos good sir for a job well done

[@Volvodad]

Wow! Thanks for that very informative lesson. Lots of useful material! Very nicely played too!

[@OldBlueMusician]

Quite superb!

[@paulrobinson3170]

Nice one Fred. Great lesson!

[@MiniShowProductions]

I Love this never erd till just now boss boss boss

[@Andf-kc4xx]

BLIND WILLIE MCTELL WILL NEVER DIE

[@AllenPinchloaf]

Nice job Fred.

[@007380]

Excellent.... Thanks for posting

[@sawabojo]

great version there

[@braddakimo1954]

definately one of the best guitar lessons i've experienced! plenty of info. thanks!

[@Madgethecat]

Love it!!

[@sonofsawdust]

Bless ya Fred..Ty

[@randytrashcan]

Everyone should check out the Stephen Stills version of this song. Both are equally awesome!

[@adesign101]

Thanks so much! Very helpful information.

[@zapwai]

Great video!

[@strangerfrommars]

great job learned alot...I bought the DVD too.

[@cortezcortez739]

Great lesson!!

[@binzing]

From watching and listening all I can guess is alternating on the D (6th) and D (4th) string, and then the rest you just figure out from his fingerings on the treble strings.

[@karlkellar8614]

McTell played it with dropped D tuning.

[@jungleninja8415]

How do we know what tuning he played it

[@lucienc2555]

super, thanks

[@buzzkelly7808]

Damn. That's good.

[@jkuebler89]

nothin beats this

[@svartsjokolade]

Yup

[@wanketta]

Blind Willie McTell.

[@LoneRhino]

From a long line of Blues playin' Sokolows!

[@peteguitar]

Actually--Video's such as this one, are the BEST Learning Video's you can learn from.. Why??? Because your NOT actually learning the song.. Your learning new techniques, cords, licks, rythms, and stuff like that.. If your here to just learn this song, and thats it---GO SOMEWHRE ELSE---Your in the wrong place....This is a very good video for learning Open D Tuning....

[@mikmc]

Thanks a lot, a great help.

[@oneman49instruments]

Good job MAster!

[@peteguitar]

Good Video---Alot of Cool licks--AS HE EXPLAINS---Very Good Taught Lesson---Can Learn Much More then Just the SONG from this Video---Would Rate it a #10----

[@timothysepperhart]

Hey Fred, Nice video. Weird question here. What kinda hat is that you got there? I wanna buy me one. Cuz I got them no hat blues.

[@upstateguitar]

Man I gotta learn that Travis picking. Sounds great on this song - like most people I'm only familiar with the Allman Bros. Version but this is really nice.

[@nonzerosum8943]

upst8 Without doubt the Greg Allman version with slide is fantastic, but if you're a blues "purist " the original version by composer Blind Willie McTell on 12 string is incredible..so unique a man blind in South Georgia who learned to read braille and manage to procure record contracts tho prejudicial ignorance prevailed..a one of a kind human being & musician. Paolo di Califas

[@upstateguitar]

@@nonzerosum8943 at first I didn't recognize my own comment and then I realized it's cuz I made it 14 years ago!

[@nonzerosum8943]

@@upstateguitar so, whaaaaaaaaaaasup upst8 ? Y'all been hangin' for 14 years....that's gotta be some stamina ... be cool. Paolo di Califas

[@weejoesoap]

love this track!! :)

[@david_jason_music]

That's nice, I play blues in open G, slide style, but never felt the blues feeling in open D, this is interesting. This is the only song that I have composed in open tuning.Check it out if you like. "SONGBIRD"BY DAVID JASON

[@DavidDorenfeld]

this is awesome. thanks!

[@junejackson482]

I have always dug Taj Mahal, like to sing those songs

[@VNTPLA]

Ciao professorone, perche' non provi a farla in accordatura standard accordi C e G fingerpicking ?

[@amphitheatre]

Great lesson. Still wondering what chords were used at 2:23

[@MissKreh]

D A D F♯ A D ??

[@suncat5160]

its just standard tuning with a drop D

[@Rich6Brew]

@@suncat5160 That's drop-D tuning, not open D.

[@suncat5160]

@@Rich6Brew Oh ok, i meant Statesboro Blues the original.

[@tedpeterson1156]

Rich6Brew yeah the title kind of gives it away, nome sayin'?

[@ledbaloon15]

He refers to this tuning when he talks about Skip James inspired licks at the beginning of the tutorial, but aye this is open D :)

[@ludo4cloud]

Great, man. Good old blues Whats the guitar?

[@gtflyer]

Man, I love that guitar.. Is that a Santa Cruz by any chance..?

[@yomotoro]

Yep..t'is said feller...same one.

[@krazietokkie]

thats my guitar teacher!

[@bcolebuild]

@ 7:29 I'm having trouble with the left hand, specifically when to pluck the 1st and 2nd strings, do they land in time with the base or in between or both? Thanks!

[@user-ro8xu9hz7g]

Benjamin Cole なバナナヌナかぬ名にいにいとタミヤ 拉致やねんメラや！ない

[@Guillaumejazz]

with a XII strings this tune should be just wicked..

[@jkuebler89]

is it possible for someone to never get this independent thumb. im gettin stuck!

[@-DRIP]

@MatheusMendonca1 huh?

[@nonzerosum8943]

FRED SOKOLOW...I made a comment about a tablature I had downloaded and mistakenly thought it was yours saying you had made the tab. BUT it was another KZbin dude named Jim Bruce..but I prefer open tuning to standard for my old country blues...open G seems to me to come closer to Robert Johnson's slide blues..and since I'm in the neighborhood..all slide blues really is better in open tuning it's a beeeaaach in standard.

[@amutemusic]

Check out the band THE DEVIL MAKES THREE's cover of this song! You might fall in love! Trust me.

[@MarkMaysey]

Very nice picking friend. What model of guitar is that, it sure sounds good. Check out some of my instrumentals in open D if you get a little time. Take care now! Mark

[@jessupar]

to be honest i didnt watch the actual lesson, i just like the way you played it. the intro may be stolen from skip james, but alot (ALOT) of people use that as an intro, so he very well could have taken that from someone else too.

[@zombyfrank]

find some stuff a little easier and practice that for a while, then come back to this. you'll get it if you keep at it, it's not that hard.

[@noreggi]

it comes eventually dude try not looking it as doing two things at once but like your hands a claw and your clawing the bass notes with the melody. if you look at it from a singular way it will come

[@MiniShowProductions]

is the tunning DADF#AD? or DADGAD

[@Grave187RIP13]

This is really good. And I'm not even a big fan of blues.

[@yoebutt]

Flat ass cool !!!

[@ccc3701]

While I completely agree in the conventional sense, that a lesson is probably something where every detail is explained and exampled - I don't always believe such measures are always the most beneficial to the listener. Sometimes it's nice to just get little tidbits of information and advice, and just let you play it the way you want. You can even pick up more sometimes that way.

[@eithernet2010]

welcome to the Lee Marvin teaches the blues DVD

[@MattBackstreets]

I was going crazy trying to figure out who he reminded me of, then I realized he looks like a mixture of Lee Marvin and Jerry Orbach LOL.

[@ccolby8593]

Miss Jerry, man.

[@AC-nq6os]

With a titch of Cesar Romero around the eyes.

[@mojoefelix]

Honestly, this is a well intended lesson, but ultimately not learnable as the actual details of the picking pattern are not delineated. I spent an hour trying to figure out the details of even the most basic parts so I could play it and really I was just making up my own picking in a realm of shaky uncertainty so nothing stuck. Luckily I found the guitar tablature on ultimate-guitar.com of exactly what Fred is playing in his version of this song in this lesson, so I am learning it from the tab with this lesson to refer to.

[@sir0nion]

Felix Hackenberg the link to the tabs are in the video description

[@tommym321]

Travis picking is completely eluding me. Just can’t seem to make it fly.