When you think of Blind Blake, what comes to mind?
For me, it’s the incredible rhythmic pulse laid under a beautiful, crisp and snappy melody. The same thing comes to mind when I think of Blind Boy Fuller. No doubt that both had an incredible fingerboard prowess and could baffle any on-looker with their incredible ability to bring a clean melody and driving bass-line together on one guitar.
But lately, I’ve been listening a little deeper to these guys and noticed something a little different. From time to time, they both break the melody of the song and tear into a sweet little bass lick.
Check out the intro to Fuller’s ‘Mamie’ to hear what I mean.
After listening to this, hopefully you’ll want a ragtime bass run to use in your playing. In this lesson, I’ll show you a quick bass lick to work in your acoustic blues repertoire.
Ragtime Bass Run Video Lesson
Watch on YouTube | Grab the TAB – PDF | Guitar Pro
Performance Notes
This lick works great in the context of a ragtime tune in the key of C. Specifically, when you change from a C chord to an F chord.
The key to nailing this lick is tied to an understanding of the triplet rhythm that the lick is built upon. A great way to do that is to break down this one-bar lick into groups of three notes as seen in the video.
The picking hand’s role in this lick can’t be ignored. I play this mostly with my thumb which requires a quick down-stroke at a steady pace. Set your metronome to a comfortable speed and work up to speedier tempo.
With practice, this lick will work nicely in your acoustic blues.