Shake That Thing The Guitar of Mississippi John Hurt, Volume 1 (Mel Bay Presents Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop Audio Series) [Paperback]

Stefan Grossman (Author)

Book Description

Series: Mel Bay Presents Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop Audio Series | Publication Date: November 1, 2003

As part of Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop Audio Series this comprehensive and thorough collection of fingerpicking guitar lessons contains invaluable tips and instruction implemented throughout the arrangements in this book. The three audio CDs give 3 full hours of note-by-note, phrase-by-phrase instruction. Lesson One: Alternating bass, dampening technique, and songs: Shake That Thing, Spike Drivers Blues, Joe Turner Blues, Casey Jones, and Got The Blues, Cant Be Satisfied. Lesson Two: Songs include: Im Satisfied, Make Me A Pallet On The Floor, Nobodys Dirty Business, and Taint Nobodys Dirty Business If I Do, Part II. Lesson Three: Songs: Spider, Spider, Richland Woman Blues, Louis Collins and Let The Mermaids Flirt With Me.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stefan Grossman has been recording, performing, and writing about acoustic fingerstyle techniques and styles for more than 30 years. At age 15 he started taking lessons from the legendary bluesman the late Rev. Gary Davis. He also learned music from records by Brownie McGhee and Lightnin' Hopkins. When Grossman was 18, he formed the Even Dozen Jug Band with guitarist Steve Katz, harmonicist/singer John Sebastian and pianist Josh Rifkin. The group recorded the LP Even Dozen Jug Band [out of print] for Elektra in 1964. At the same time, Stefan became more interested in his work as a blues researcher. During the period from 1965-1975 he studied and traveled with some of the legendary figures in the world of blues guitar-- Skip James, Mississippi John Hurt, Son House, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and other great black American bluesmen and songsters. From this experience Stefan authored his landmark five-volume series for Oak Publications that presented these styles to pickers worldwide. In 1973 Stefan co-founded Kicking Mule Records to counter the shortage of good instructional guitar records and music. With a lineup of artists including guitarists Dave Evans, Ton Van Bergeyk, Happy Traum, Duck Baker, Bert Jansch, John Renbourn and Davy Graham, Kicking Mule has been instrumental in promoting and preserving the best in blues, ragtime, and contemporary picking. Stefan has played with bands all over the world and has recorded numerous CDs. He has also written many books that have been published or distributed by Mel Bay Publications.

Product Details

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Grossman's Guitar Workshop; Pap/Com edition (November 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786671408
• ISBN-13: 978-0786671403
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 8.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,399,466 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Instruction! You Too Can Play In The Style Of Mississippi John Hurt, November 17, 2005

By 

Fingerpickin' Gal (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shake That Thing The Guitar of Mississippi John Hurt, Volume 1 (Mel Bay Presents Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop Audio Series) (Paperback)

I've been meaning to write a review of "Shake That Thing" and "Avalon Blues" for a few months now. I found them at Colony Music in Times Square, NYC. If you are interested in playing the music of Mississippi John Hurt, I don't believe you will find any better instruction than Stefan Grossman's.

He breaks down the songs musical phrase by musical phrase at a very slow tempo. His instruction is very clear and easy to follow. In the beginning, I had a little trouble getting used to playing an F chord by hooking my thumb around the neck of the guitar but it's an important skill to learn. With consistent practicing, I am now playing five songs very smoothly (although not quite up to MJH's tempo yet, but with a steady rhythm and competence!).

I bought this book in July along with Grossman's other book "Avalon Blues" (this is another Mississippi John Hurt book). There is a wealth of things to learn in both books. The material is presented in both standard notation and guitar tablature. Most of the M.J.H. songs are in standard tuning but there are a few that are in alternate tunings which I haven't tried yet (an excuse to buy that 2nd guitar!). Some songs require a capo ("Candy Man" is one of those songs...it's in the "Avalon Blues" book).

Anyway, the bottom line is if you enjoy fingerpicking, you will have a blast with these books. I was only playing (strumming) guitar for 1 1/2 years when I decided to try my hand at this type of music and after a few months, I'm actually playing it!

If you practice regularly, you'll be playing these songs in no time and you can build up an excellent repertoire that people will enjoy for years to come. So far I can play "Louis Collins", "Let The Mermaids Flirt With Me" and "I'm Satisfied" from this book. I can also play "Sliding Delta" and "Coffee Blues" from the Avalon Blues book.

Both books come with CDs that contain the original 1928 MJH recordings of the songs as well as the 1960s recordings made when Hurt was "rediscovered". Grossman includes some additional recorded versions by other Bluesmen (Rev. Gary Davis, Mance Lipscomb).

Grossman doesn't always tab out the entire song, but you get enough info to go back to the original recordings so you can figure out what to do and try to play along. I'm sure when MJH played the songs, he never played them the same way twice. That being said, Grossman also gives minor variations on how you can play some phrases. I also enjoy the extra background info that he gives. For example, in the song "Let The Mermaids Flirt With Me" he talks a little bit about white songster Jimmie Rodgers and how a trademark Jimmie Rodgers lick keeps appearing in this song. It's a cool sounding lick. I recently taught it to a friend who's been playing guitar for years!


This is really an excellent book for anyone who wants to sharpen their fingerpicking skills. It's not for the absolute beginner. You should be able to play a clean barre chord and have sufficient dexterity in your fretting fingers to play over four frets when needed (I hope that sounds intelligible). It will help too if you're not a slave to looking at your fretting hand while playing. All of this comes with time and practice. I don't see why a beginner can't be playing from this book fairly quickly as long as they have determination and a willingness to practice consistently. The fingers will learn to cooperate eventually. I speak from experience.

There's just something about this music that makes it very accessible, even to someone like me. When you listen to the original recordings, it sometimes sounds as if there's more than one guitar playing. As I was learning the songs, I was surprised at how simple and "bare-bones" the music was. This simplicity is what makes the songs of MJH sound so enchanting. The songs are not difficult to learn at all, the way Grossman teaches them. Some are easier to learn than others. This only increases your motivation to keep on learning more songs!

Me? I'm just a middle aged white woman who's used to playing Bach and Beethoven on the piano. Practicing classical music can be a slow and torturous process (for me and anyone who is stuck within hearing range of me). Being able to sit down and fingerpick these Mississippi John Hurt gems is so much fun! And my family doesn't even mind when I play them. These two books "Shake That Thing" and "Avalon Blues" have opened an entire new world of music for me.