CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF, ROBERT
Johnson didn’t invent Delta blues. In fact,
Delta blues was already beginning its migration
to a more urban sound when the
Mississippi-born bluesman recorded what
was to become his legacy—multiple takes of
29 songs recorded during just five sessions
held in San Antonio and Dallas, Texas,
between November 1936 and June 1937. Johnson
simply absorbed the music of his era and
re-wrote the blues bible. As Johnson historian
and archivist Stephen C. LaVere so
eloquently wrote in his liner notes to 1990’s
Robert Johnson: The Complete Sessions CD box
set, “what he made of that influence was such
a departure from what he was given that it
fails to become a matter of significance, except
in determining the basis of his style. However,
what is significant is the profound
influence he and his music and recordings
had on his contemporaries and the tremendous
contribution they all made and continue
to make on the evolution of the blues and
popular music in general.” It’s true. You’ll
hear echoes of R.J. spread across generations
in the music of everyone from Muddy Waters,
B.B. King, Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, and
Eric Clapton, who has championed Johnson’s
music since his pre-Cream era, to Keith
Richards, Bob Dylan, Billy Gibbons, and Todd
Rundgren, who is recording an album of Johnson
covers as I write this.
You can find loads of biographical info and
speculation regarding Johnson’s personal life,
his death at 26 on August 16, 1938, and his
musical influences (who included mentors
Willie Brown, Son House, Charley Patton,
and peers such as Leroy Carr, Skip James, and
Lonnie Johnson) both in print and on the web,
but when it comes to actually playing his
music, we’re all pretty much on our own.
Johnson’s uncanny ability to simultaneously
juggle two or three independent guitar parts
while singing like hellhounds were hot on his
trail is notoriously difficult to duplicate on
the instrument or the printed page, but we’re
here to help. For best results, you’ll need
this article as a primer, a copy of the Robert
Johnson: The Complete Sessions (Columbia),
which contains 41 takes of 29 songs, for
audio reference, and print copies of Robert
Johnson: The New Transcriptions (Hal Leonard),
which contains Peter Billmann’s excellent
and extremely detailed transcriptions of 31
Johnson tracks, and Dave Rubin’s Robert Johnson:
Signature Licks (Hal Leonard), in which
the author analyzes excerpts from 15 of the
transcriptions, for visual aid.
Many who dabble in Johnson’s music end
up reducing it to a few repetitive guitar riffs,
and that certainly helped keep the songs
alive, but playing them à la Mr. J. is a whole
’nother deal that can open up magical new
worlds. (Just don’t get me started on that
sell-your-soul-to-you-know-who crap!) First,
you’ve gotta...
1 BANG YOUR BOX &
CHANGE IT UP
The bulk of Robert Johnson’s
catalog is based on, but does
not strictly adhere to the 12-
bar blues progression, so it’s
common throughout his
repertoire to find a 2/4, 3/4, 5/4, or 6/4
measures mingling with 4/4 bars, or the
omission/addition of a complete measure to
produce 11- or 13-bar verse and bridge forms.
Of course, these cases are often highly subjective
and we’ll never really know exactly
where R.J. was feeling the “one.” For examples
of such rhythmic hiccups, check out the
first two verses of “Kindhearted Woman
Blues” (Take 1), and the astounding flurry
of open chords in verse 2/bar 5 of “Rambling
On My Mind” (Take 1). WTF!
Regarding Johnson’s instruments,
exhaustive research by scholars, historians,
and devotees has determined that the two
flat-top acoustic guitars in two of the only
three photos of Johnson known to exist (the
third remains unpublished) are a Gibson L-
1 (ca. 1929) in the famous studio portrait,
and a Gibson L-00 (ca. 1935-36) in the dangling-
butt photo booth self-portrait, where
R.J. is capoed at the second fret and appears
to be fretting his signature turnaround in
standard tuning. The first photo also confirms
that Johnson played with a plastic
thumbpick and bare fingers. On his recordings,
it sounds like he generally stroked his
almost-always palm-muted bass figures with
the pick while plucking upper-string counter
lines and licks with his fingers, but this is
not a hard rule, so experiment at will. The
same goes for fret-hand fingerings. Except
for the notated suggestions, you’re on your
own, but take a tip and employ a full firstfinger
barre whenever practical to fret entire
chord forms even if you are only using parts
of them. (Tip: R.J. reportedly only used his
thumb to fret the bass note of D/F#.) And
oh yeah—you’ve gotta sing like you’ve got
hellhounds on your trail. But that comes after you...
2 WRAP YOUR HEAD
AROUND THE TUNINGS
Johnson has been documented
using seven different
tunings—standard, plus six
alternates—and he had
numerous signature moves
in each one, but exploring these in tandem
with his recordings isn’t quite as simple as
it might seem. Apparently, when the original
78 rpm discs were referenced from Steve
LaVere’s collection for The New Transcriptions,
considerable pitch and key discrepancies
were discovered between these and many of
the remastered CD tracks on 1990’s The Complete
Sessions. It was also determined that R.J.
often tuned down a half-step, which (along
with capoing) made song keys difficult to
decipher, and to further complicate matters,
the 1998 Sony/Columbia reissue of King Of
The Delta Blues Singers features a selection of
songs that reflect their original 78 rpm pitch.
Yikes! This clusterf**k makes playing along
with Johnson’s recordings confusing and
transcribing them a nightmare! So how do
you deal?
Fortunately, The New Transcriptions puts
the whole mess in perspective by providing
state-of-the-art tuning and capo info for at
least one take of every song from each source.
(Fact: Johnson was known to switch tunings
for different takes of the same song, as on
“Phonograph Blues.”) I’ve condensed this
info into the handy chart shown in Fig. 1,
which lists the tuning and capoing for every
track from The Complete Sessions in accordance
with TNT. (Tip: You can find the song titles
at Amazon.) To play along with the TCS
tracks, you’ll have to move your capo one
fret higher than indicated (open-to-first,
first-to-second, etc.), except for tracks 9-11
and 13-15 on disc 1, and tracks 2-6, and 18-
21 on disc 2, which are played as indicated.
Finally, tune 1/4 step sharp for tracks 7 and
8 on disc 2. (Of course, you could always
varispeed the source, but it just ain’t the
same.) Whew! Now that that’s out of the
way, it’s time to...
3 WRAP YOUR MITTS
AROUND THE GRIPS
Johnson recorded a dozen of
his 29 songs (five of which
share similar forms, chord
voicings, and riffs) in standard
tuning, and played
them in the actual (non-capoed) or virtual
(capoed) keys of A and E, but, according to
TNC, not always at concert pitch, hence the
tune-down-half-step and tune-up-half-step
indications in Fig. 1. This makes sense, as
Johnson was constantly retuning between
takes and probably had no fixed pitch reference
available. For simplicity’s sake, let’s
keep it at A-440 and begin stocking our R.J.
chord book with characteristic voicings.
Perhaps Johnson’s most enduring contribution to the blues pantheon was his signature
turnaround, which was typically dropped
into the last two bars of a blues progression,
used as an ending, or “doubled” for use as an
intro. Familiarize yourself with the key-of-A
voicings in Ex. 1a, noting the common-tone A’s
in grids 4-8, and then slowly play through all
nine chords. Give the first three and last two
grids two beats and all others one beat, and
you should hear the mournful sound of a signature
Johnson double turnaround begin to
take shape. (Tip: Start on grid #4 for the single
version.) Memorizing the four pairs of 2-,
3-, 4-, and 5-note I7-IV7 (A7-D7), or I7-Idim7
(A7-Adim7), voicings shown in Ex. 1b will help
you get a handle on quite a few of Johnson’s
verse accompaniment figures, as will the additional
IV- (D/F# and D/A) and V-chord (E5, E7,
and E7#9) shapes in the next row. Follow suit
as we switch to the key of E for a new set of
single turnaround voicings in Ex. 1c, and some
boogie-shuffle-ready I-, IV-, and V-chord movements
(E5-E6-E7, A5-A6-A7, and B7/F#) in Ex.
1d, and you’ll have everything you need to put
together a moderately slow blues or medium
boogie shuffle à la Johnson in A or E. (Ah, if
only it were that simple!)
Because if you want to be recognized,
you’ve gotta...
4 INTRODUCE YOURSELF
What better place to start than
with Johnson’s first recording?
But first, this important
message: Key-wise, chances
are R.J. simply thought of
capoed songs and their chords
in terms of open-string keys (primarily A and
E), so the actual pitches and names of chords
essentially become irrelevant—if you’re playing
capoed A chord forms, you’re in (virtual)
A, and if you’re playing capoed E forms, you’re
in (virtual) E. With this in mind, the following
excerpts from take 1 of “Kindhearted
Woman Blues,” a moderately slow blues
(though Johnson speeds up considerably as
the song progresses) played in the virtual key
of A, have been notated with all tuning, capo,
and play-along info labeled exactly as in TNT.
If you’re playing by yourself, tune however you
like, but if you want to play along with TCS or
KOTDBS, you’ve gotta follow the footnotes.
(Submit or ignore—the choice is yours.)
Ex. 2a illustrates how Johnson used the voicings
from Ex. 1a to begin the song with a
signature double turnaround employed as a 3-
bar intro, complete with two extra beats in bar
1 and a rare, off-the-cuff hammered-and-pulled
triplet at the end of bar 2. Ex. 2b shows how
R.J. accompanies his vocal by thumb-picking
some of the I7-Idim7 verse accompaniment
voicings from Ex. 1b and simultaneously adding
upper-register counter lines. The Adim7 functions
as a temporary IV (D7) chord. Next,
Johnson responds to his 2-bar vocal call with
the cool, slightly dissonant I7-Idim7-I broken
chordal run in Ex. 2c. (Tip: Switch your fingering
from A7 to Adim7 on the and of beat three.)
Ex. 2d paraphrases another I-chord verse move
found in many Johnson songs, this time using
a slide into his A7 intro voicing (try subbing
Adim7 on the repeat) and some palm-muted
bass thumps (another Johnson trademark)
played on the open E and A strings as A5/E.
Johnson often tacked a busy triplet figure like
the one in Ex. 2e onto the previous lick to build
momentum into the IV chord. This variation
features both full and arpeggiated A7 and Adim7
voicings and has achieved immortal status.
Consult TNT for the rest of the story. (Bonus:
Look and you’ll find much crossbreeding in
Johnson’s songs. “K.W.B.” is very similar in
form to and contains many of the same riffs as
“Phonograph Blues” [Take 1], “Dead Shrimp
Blues” [Take 2], “Me and the Devil Blues”
[Takes 1 & 2], and “Honeymoon Blues” [Take
1], so check ’em out!)
5 FORMULATE A BLUEPRINT
(FOR THE FUTURE)
Robert Johnson didn’t invent
the “dun-ta-dun-ta” boogie
shuffle, but his “Sweet Home
Chicago” has long been
regarded as the blueprint for
the form. The song, possibly the only R.J. tune
that consistently conforms to a 12-bar form,
kicks off in the key of E with a transposed version
of the turnaround from bar 2 of Ex. 2a
voiced with the pinky at the 12th fret. Johnson
then breaks into a contrapuntal I-chord
(E7) verse accompaniment figure similar to
the one in Ex. 3a, which adds fingerpicked open
third and first strings to a thumbed E5-E6-
E7-E6 boogie bass riff built from the voicings
in Ex. 1d. Transpose the same bass moves to
the fifth and fourth strings a la Ex. 1d to cover
A7, the IV chord. Ex. 3b depicts a typically
sparse Johnson V-chord (B7) move ideal for
bar 9—four muted B7/F# voicings and a lone
open B—which he often liked to follow first
with quarter-bent, even-eighth minor-third
intervals plus a single-note, 5-6-root lick similar
to Ex. 3c, and then with a turnaround like
the one in Ex. 3d, which puts into context the
voicings from Ex. 1c. (Bonus: Check out both
takes of “When You Got a Good Friend” for
similar moves.)
6 ALTER YOUR STATE
OF MIND
We’ll begin our journey into
Mr. Johnson’s mysterious
world of alternate tunings
with open A—spelled E, A,
E, A, C#, E, low to high—
which he employed on ten songs. The grids
in Ex. 4a reveal the four shapes Johnson used
to play his patented turnaround in this tuning.
(Tip: Start ’em on beat two.) Open A’s
inherent minor third interval on the top two
strings offers options not available in other
tunings, especially (but not only) for slide
guitar, and Ex. 4b shows three pairs of twochord
moves that Johnson played barehanded
to create movement within the I and IV chords
(A7 and D7) in the actual or virtual key of A.
Need a V chord (B7)? Simply raise those IVchord
voicings two frets. (Tip: These voicings
produce chords one whole-step lower in open-
G tuning.) Moving into the realm of open-E
tuning (E, B, E, G#, B, E), Ex. 4c offers a highly
economical adaptation of Johnson’s classic
turnaround that now requires only a single
fretted note for each of the first three shapes
and no fretting at all for the last one. Again,
you’ll want to start on beat two. Ex. 4d outlines
the minimalist moves necessary to form
E5-E6, A5-A6, and B5-B6, the I, IV, and V
chords in the actual or virtual key of E. (Tip:
All open-E voicings in Ex. 4c and Ex. 4d also
work in open-Em tuning [E, B, E, G, B, E],
which Johnson used only for “Hellhound on
My Trail.”)
Finally, we come to Johnson’s Aadd9
“mystery tuning”—an ingenious hybrid of
open E on the bottom (E, B, E) and open A
on top (A, C#, E). A recent discovery, it’s
believed that Johnson only used this tuning
on two songs, both of them boogie shuffles,
and the stretched-out key-of-E turnaround
voicings in Ex. 4e may explain why. Ouch!
(Tip: You can play open-E-shaped verse
accompaniment voicings in this tuning.)
Now, let’s check out how Johnson operated
within each tuning’s unique topography.
7 OPEN UP AND SAY “A”
Johnson’s second tuning of
choice was open A, which he
utilized both with and without
slide on “Terraplane
Blues,” “Crossroads Blues,”
“Stones in My Passway,” and
“Milkcow’s Calf Blues.” All of these songs are
in the actual or virtual key of A and stand outside
the realm of the standard blues
progression with Johnson’s signature turnaround
appearing only as an intro and ending,
but they all adhere to a somewhat flexible form
built around a tonic chordal movement based
on grips we learned in Ex. 4b and similar to
the one illustrated in Ex 5a, interspersed with
sparse slide fills. Astute readers should immediately
recognize this motif as the source of
the main riff from Cream’s version of “Crossroads”
riff, though it actually originated in
“Terraplane Blues.” (Tip: In “Terraplane,” Johnson
sometimes substitutes a 3/4 version of
this riff by replacing the last two beats with a
quarter rest or muted bass thump.) Ex. 5b also
makes use of voicings from Ex. 4b. Play it three
times as written (R.J. sings over the first two
bars and subs A6 for A7 on beat three of bar
3), and then follow up with either the riff from
Ex. 5a alone, its 3/4 version, or both riffs in
sequence (4/4 + 3/4) to approximate some
of Johnson’s off-kilter “Terraplane” verse
rhythm figures. For the IV-chord (D7), Johnson
liked playing around with the cool chordal
riffing in Ex. 5c. (Tip: Try swapping strings on
any of those 8th-fret pinky notes.) In this song
context, R.J. generally covered the V chord
with sparse, moaning slide licks based around
a single A note at the 4th-string/5th-fret, which
appears only as an intro in “Crossroads” and
an ending in “Terraplane,” gets its due in Ex.
5d, where it begins with a brief signature slide
lick. Dig deep into TNT and you’ll discover
how Johnson chose his tunings to fit the type
of song he was playing (recording, actually).
8 EXPLORE OPEN-E
Johnson recorded “Ramblin’
on My Mind,” the first R.J.
song to feature a slide version
of his “Dust My Broom” riff,
in open-E tuning, a strategy
that proved ideal for playing
the song’s boogie shuffle rhythms and
“Broom”-ish slide figures. The raised fifth string
allows easy access to root-5 and root-6 chords
on the bottom two strings (a la Ex. 4d), while
tuning G up to G# facilitates full- and brokentriad
slide riffs on the top three strings, as
demonstrated in Ex. 6a, which fits snugly into
bars 3-5 of a 12-bar boogie shuffle in E. Johnson
used the chord grips from Ex. 4d to cover
the IV (A7) and V (B7) changes, and then
tacked on the open-E-conversion turnaround
(or its imbedded parenthesized variation) in
Ex. 6b to the end of each verse. (Tip: Consult
TNT for those pesky rhythmic irregularities.)
9 LET NECESSITY
FATHER INVENTION &
DEVISE A MYSTERY
TUNING
Speaking of the classic and
often-imitated “I Believe I’ll
Dust My Broom” riff, Johnson
originally played it barehanded sans slide
in a tuning of his own design. Discovered when
the original 78s were re-examined for TNT,
and dubbed “Aadd9” tuning, Johnson’s aforementioned
“mystery tuning,” which he also
used for take 2 of “Phonograph Blues,” was
indeed a revelation that finally explained how
he was able to pull off the signature “Broom”
licks and decorate his boogie shuffle rhythms
with high-fretted counter lines using a single
tuning. The A-tuned top three strings and Etuned
bottom strings facilitate both the
faux-slide licks, and the I- and IV-chord boogie
shuffle rhythm figures in Ex. 7a, which
essentially allows you to play open-Alead licks
in the key of E. Ex. 7b shows how this tuning
stretches that signature turnaround and some
very modern-sounding V-chord moves into
nearly unmanageable fingerings, but I doubt
this presented a problem for Johnson’s supernaturally
long fingers! (Tip: Use the alternate
second measure for an authentic R.J. ending.)
10 PLAY A
SOLO,
ALREADY!
We’ll end where
we started, back
in standard tuning
for Johnson’s
only recorded solo from the first take of “Kindhearted
Woman Blues” presented TNT-style,
with all tuning, capo, and play-along footnotes
present and accounted for. Treat ’em as
you like and dig in for the complete 11-bar
solo transcription in Ex. 8 to learn how Johnson
put it all together. Highlights include
shimmering 7th chords (bars 1 & 3) alternating
with descending diatonic-sixth-based fills
(bars 2 & 4), in-depth IV-chord moves (bars
5, 6, & 9), Ex. 2c’s dissonant I7-Idim7-I7 lick
displaced by a beat in bar 7, bar 8’s elongation
to 6/4, and of course, that turnaround
one last time in all its glory (bars 10 & 11).
So there you have it—the realization that
the study of Robert Johnson’s guitar playing
is a lifelong endeavor. Though the
preceding examples barely scratch the surface
of the music Johnson etched into those
78 rpm discs, they illustrate a good portion
of the raw materials he used and will help
to point you in the right direction.
