Dear Fellow Musician,

Here's a "mini-lesson" from my brand new DVD "The Blues Guitar of Brownie McGhee." I chose this song of Brownie's, called "Blood Red River," which is one of my favorites. It has a similar melody and chord structure to the more famous "Key to the Highway," and it illustrates how to play an 8-bar blues in the key of E. You'll see how to play both songs on this short lesson clip, but of course there's a lot more detail on the DVD. I love the way Brownie played this kind of blues. The colorful lyrics refer to way the river was stained by the red clay in the area of southeastern Tennessee where he was raised.

I hope you enjoy this segment and will go on to many wonderful hours of exploring the blues fingerpicking of Brownie McGhee.

Musically yours,

Happy Traum