Prodigal Son

This info-filled volume samples the many sounds of early acoustic blues, with transcriptions of six classic tunes, notes on the history and development of the genre, extensive instruction in the different playing styles, and biographies of the pioneering artists. The CD features examples of all songs, exercises, and licks. Includes: Baby, Please Don't Go (Lightnin' Hopkins) • Come Back Baby (Mance Lipscomb) • Hey Hey (Big Bill Broonzy) • I'm So Glad (Skip James) • The Prodigal Son (Reverend Robert Wilkins) • and Stack O'Lee (Mississippi John Hurt).

Using instructional text and actual songs, author Kenny Sultan covers blues in five different keys and positions and shows how they can be adapted to any key. Along with the basic blues rhythms and leads, fingerstyle blues is covered, using both an alternating and monotone bass. Sultan also touches on the specific techniques of various well-known players, open tuning, and bottleneck guitar. The accompanying CD includes each example and every song, most of which are played both in slow speed and at regular tempo.