Novelty Instrumentals of Rev. Gary Davis

In this lesson Ernie Hawkins teaches three Rev. Davis arrangements that will challenge your fingers. Rev. Gary Davis’s tour de force in concert was his Soldiers March. This is a multipart instrumental played in the Key of F and C and is a showcase in demonstrating the genius of Rev. Davis’s playing and arranging skills. Few country blues guitarists played in the Key of F but Rev. Davis explored this key with religious as well as old pop standards. Darktown Strutters Ball is a fascinating arrangement that captures the atmosphere of the 1920s. Rev. Davis use to tell his students that playing with a bottleneck was “cheating”. Yet his Whistlin’ Blues uses this technique combined with an Open D6 tuning to create an unusual boogie piano sound.

Ernie Hawkins teaches each tune phrase by phrase and carefully shows you the right hand picking as well as the left hand fingerings that were unique to Rev. Davis’s approach.