Chords for Mance Lipscomb's "Charley James" taught by Stefan Grossman
Tempo:
104.6 bpm
Chords used:
Eb
Ab
Ebm
Bb
Db
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
Okay, well for that Avalon Blues we were having an alternating bass.
But in the key of B we can also just thud away on that sixth string, have a, what's called a monotonic bass.
And the king of this was Mance Lipscomb.
And here's a tune that Mance recorded called Charlie James.
Now, our hoolies come out with an excellent CD of over 60 minutes of the best of Mance Lipscomb.
You should make sure you get that album and you'll be able to hear Mance sing this on that CD.
I'm just going to play the arrangement and here's the way it goes.
[Eb]
[Ab] [Eb]
[Ebm] [Eb]
[Bb]
[Ab] [Eb]
[Ab]
[Eb]
[Db] [Eb]
Now you notice the difference in feel, the difference in atmosphere between just thudding away on that sixth string bass
and having that alternating bass.
The alternating is obviously much happier.
Let's take a look at this Charlie James arrangement.
There's some tricks to it.
The first one is that E [G] chord you're going to have to play.
Check this out on my left hand.
[Eb] You have your middle finger fretting the second fret to the fourth and fifth string
and your index finger is tucked in to catch the first fret of the third string
allowing our ring finger and pinky free to play.
And in fact we're going to have [Ebm] to.
[Bb] [Eb] And that might prove very awkward at first.
It'll [Ebm] take you a little bit to get used to that.
[Bb] [Eb] And [Ab] after that, that's easy [Eb] enough.
At this point, that's the same position we used in the beginning of the section in the evening.
The lightning hop influence.
But here, it's [Ebm] more melodic.
[Ab] And then we put our middle finger on the second fret of [Db] the third string
and we sort of put around that a [G] D chord that played in a cockamamie fashion
with our ring finger on the second fret of the first string, pinky [B] on the third fret of the [Eb] second string.
[Ab] And all the while, the bass is [Db] thudding away.
[Eb]
We have that lovely little riff in the E chord.
We're hammering [Ab] on the second fret of the third [Gm] string and then the first fret of the third string.
Check out your tap music.
Doesn't look too bad, does it?
Let's split the screen and let's try doing Charlie James together real slow.
[Bb]
[Eb] That thudding bass, you hear?
[Bb] [Eb]
[Ab] [Eb]
[Ebm] [Eb]
[Ab] [Eb]
[Ebm]
[Eb]
One more time.
Slide up.
[Ab]
[Db] [Eb]
A little faster [Ab] now.
[Eb]
Last time.
[Db] [Ab] [Eb]
But in the key of B we can also just thud away on that sixth string, have a, what's called a monotonic bass.
And the king of this was Mance Lipscomb.
And here's a tune that Mance recorded called Charlie James.
Now, our hoolies come out with an excellent CD of over 60 minutes of the best of Mance Lipscomb.
You should make sure you get that album and you'll be able to hear Mance sing this on that CD.
I'm just going to play the arrangement and here's the way it goes.
[Eb]
[Ab] [Eb]
[Ebm] [Eb]
[Bb]
[Ab] [Eb]
[Ab]
[Eb]
[Db] [Eb]
Now you notice the difference in feel, the difference in atmosphere between just thudding away on that sixth string bass
and having that alternating bass.
The alternating is obviously much happier.
Let's take a look at this Charlie James arrangement.
There's some tricks to it.
The first one is that E [G] chord you're going to have to play.
Check this out on my left hand.
[Eb] You have your middle finger fretting the second fret to the fourth and fifth string
and your index finger is tucked in to catch the first fret of the third string
allowing our ring finger and pinky free to play.
And in fact we're going to have [Ebm] to.
[Bb] [Eb] And that might prove very awkward at first.
It'll [Ebm] take you a little bit to get used to that.
[Bb] [Eb] And [Ab] after that, that's easy [Eb] enough.
At this point, that's the same position we used in the beginning of the section in the evening.
The lightning hop influence.
But here, it's [Ebm] more melodic.
[Ab] And then we put our middle finger on the second fret of [Db] the third string
and we sort of put around that a [G] D chord that played in a cockamamie fashion
with our ring finger on the second fret of the first string, pinky [B] on the third fret of the [Eb] second string.
[Ab] And all the while, the bass is [Db] thudding away.
[Eb]
We have that lovely little riff in the E chord.
We're hammering [Ab] on the second fret of the third [Gm] string and then the first fret of the third string.
Check out your tap music.
Doesn't look too bad, does it?
Let's split the screen and let's try doing Charlie James together real slow.
[Bb]
[Eb] That thudding bass, you hear?
[Bb] [Eb]
[Ab] [Eb]
[Ebm] [Eb]
[Ab] [Eb]
[Ebm]
[Eb]
One more time.
Slide up.
[Ab]
[Db] [Eb]
A little faster [Ab] now.
[Eb]
Last time.
[Db] [Ab] [Eb]
Key:
Eb
Ab
Ebm
Bb
Db
Eb
Ab
Ebm
Okay, well for that Avalon Blues we were having an alternating bass.
But in the key of B we can also just thud away on that sixth string, have a, what's called a monotonic bass.
And the king of this was Mance Lipscomb.
And here's a tune that Mance recorded called Charlie James.
Now, our hoolies come out with an excellent CD of over 60 minutes of the best of Mance Lipscomb.
You should make sure you get that album and you'll be able to hear Mance sing this on that CD.
I'm just going to play the arrangement and here's the way it goes.
_ _ [Eb] _ _
[Ab] _ _ _ [Eb] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [Ebm] _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [Bb] _ _ _
[Ab] _ _ [Eb] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Ab] _ _
[Eb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [Db] _ _ [Eb] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ Now you notice the difference in feel, the difference in atmosphere between just thudding away on that sixth string bass
and having that alternating bass.
The alternating is obviously much happier.
Let's take a look at this Charlie James arrangement.
There's some tricks to it.
The first one is that E [G] chord you're going to have to play.
Check this out on my left hand.
[Eb] You have your middle finger fretting the second fret to the fourth and fifth string
and your index finger is tucked in to catch the first fret of the third string _
allowing our ring finger and pinky free to play.
And in fact we're going to have [Ebm] to.
[Bb] _ _ [Eb] _ And that might prove very awkward at first.
It'll [Ebm] take you a little bit to get used to that.
[Bb] _ _ [Eb] And [Ab] after that, _ _ that's easy [Eb] enough.
At _ _ _ _ _ this point, _ that's the same position we used in the beginning of the section in the evening.
_ The lightning hop influence.
But here, _ it's [Ebm] more melodic.
[Ab] _ And then we put our middle finger on the second fret of [Db] the third string
and we sort of put around that a [G] D chord that played in a cockamamie fashion
with our ring finger on the second fret of the first string, pinky [B] on the third fret of the [Eb] second string. _ _ _
_ [Ab] And all the while, the bass is [Db] thudding away.
_ [Eb] _
_ _ _ _ We have that lovely little riff in the E chord.
_ _ _ We're hammering [Ab] on the second fret of the third [Gm] string and then the first fret of the third string.
Check out your tap music.
Doesn't look too bad, does it?
Let's split the screen and let's try doing Charlie James together real slow.
[Bb] _ _
_ _ [Eb] _ _ _ That thudding bass, you hear?
_ _ _ [Bb] _ _ [Eb] _ _
[Ab] _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [Ebm] _ _ _ [Eb] _ _
[Ab] _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Ebm] _ _
[Eb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ One more time. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ Slide up.
_ _ _ [Ab] _ _
[Db] _ _ [Eb] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ A little faster [Ab] now.
_ [Eb] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ Last time.
[Db] _ _ _ [Ab] _ _ [Eb] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
But in the key of B we can also just thud away on that sixth string, have a, what's called a monotonic bass.
And the king of this was Mance Lipscomb.
And here's a tune that Mance recorded called Charlie James.
Now, our hoolies come out with an excellent CD of over 60 minutes of the best of Mance Lipscomb.
You should make sure you get that album and you'll be able to hear Mance sing this on that CD.
I'm just going to play the arrangement and here's the way it goes.
_ _ [Eb] _ _
[Ab] _ _ _ [Eb] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [Ebm] _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [Bb] _ _ _
[Ab] _ _ [Eb] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Ab] _ _
[Eb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [Db] _ _ [Eb] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ Now you notice the difference in feel, the difference in atmosphere between just thudding away on that sixth string bass
and having that alternating bass.
The alternating is obviously much happier.
Let's take a look at this Charlie James arrangement.
There's some tricks to it.
The first one is that E [G] chord you're going to have to play.
Check this out on my left hand.
[Eb] You have your middle finger fretting the second fret to the fourth and fifth string
and your index finger is tucked in to catch the first fret of the third string _
allowing our ring finger and pinky free to play.
And in fact we're going to have [Ebm] to.
[Bb] _ _ [Eb] _ And that might prove very awkward at first.
It'll [Ebm] take you a little bit to get used to that.
[Bb] _ _ [Eb] And [Ab] after that, _ _ that's easy [Eb] enough.
At _ _ _ _ _ this point, _ that's the same position we used in the beginning of the section in the evening.
_ The lightning hop influence.
But here, _ it's [Ebm] more melodic.
[Ab] _ And then we put our middle finger on the second fret of [Db] the third string
and we sort of put around that a [G] D chord that played in a cockamamie fashion
with our ring finger on the second fret of the first string, pinky [B] on the third fret of the [Eb] second string. _ _ _
_ [Ab] And all the while, the bass is [Db] thudding away.
_ [Eb] _
_ _ _ _ We have that lovely little riff in the E chord.
_ _ _ We're hammering [Ab] on the second fret of the third [Gm] string and then the first fret of the third string.
Check out your tap music.
Doesn't look too bad, does it?
Let's split the screen and let's try doing Charlie James together real slow.
[Bb] _ _
_ _ [Eb] _ _ _ That thudding bass, you hear?
_ _ _ [Bb] _ _ [Eb] _ _
[Ab] _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [Ebm] _ _ _ [Eb] _ _
[Ab] _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Ebm] _ _
[Eb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ One more time. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ Slide up.
_ _ _ [Ab] _ _
[Db] _ _ [Eb] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ A little faster [Ab] now.
_ [Eb] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ Last time.
[Db] _ _ _ [Ab] _ _ [Eb] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _