Blues Branches — Robert Jones

The video opens with Son House's performance (1902-1988) of “Death Letter Blues,” performed on a 1934 National resonator, metal body guitar. Film clips include musical greats as Jimmie Rodgers, Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, and The Temptations. This video's objective is for you to understand how the basic “language” of blues led to a wide variety of popular American music styles. The key phrase in this lesson is “three chords and five notes.”