Son House - Depot Blues Guitar Lesson
Depot Blues
Orville Johnson teaches a classic blues song entitled "Depot Blues." This lesson was inspired by the blues great Son House.
Taught by Orville Johnson in Songs with Orville Johnson seriesLength: 35:31Difficulty: 3.0 of 5
Orville introduces the tune, plays through the solo he will teach and talks a little about bluesman Son House, upon whose playing Orville's guitar arrangement is based.
House was born near Clarksdale Mississippi, raised there and in Louisiana, was drawn to preaching in the Baptist church and at age 15 was actually a practicing pastor. He started playing guitar in his early 20s and moved back to Mississippi and played alongside other major blues pioneers Charley Patton, Robert Johnson, and Willie Brown. He spent time in prison after killing a man, allegedly in self-defense. His first recordings were made for the Paramount label in 1928 and 29. Arguably his best cuts were made for Alan Lomax and the Library of Congress in 1942 and 43. He disappeared from the music scene for many years until his rediscovery in the early 60s. He was in ill health by then but still managed to play many concerts and make several new recordings. His grave is in Mt Hazel Cemetery in Detroit Michigan.
He was a great slide guitar player and a mighty singer and a huge influence on Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson and others. His music is still played today. The White Stripes covered his song Death Letter Blues and played it at the 2004 Grammy Awards.
Scene 2
Orville describes the chords we need to know. E, A7, and B7. The B7 shape will be moved up to make a C7 and a C#7 toward the end of the piece. The song starts with a long slide on the 5th string. Orville talks about how do this accurately and with a smooth sound. He also shows how to get a snappy, popping sound out of the bass strings.
Another subject that is well covered is finger damping or pick damping, the act of bringing your picking finger back down on the string to stop the note you just played. In this lesson Orville plays with bare fingers rather than fingerpicks which contributes to his round tone. He talks about keeping your right hand fingers in touch with the strings and not letting them fly too far away. This helps with your accuracy and tone.
Scene 3
Orville continues with the first three licks of the song that happen over an E chord. They all start with the sliding 5th string move and all three use mostly the same notes on strings 1 and 2 with slight variations in phrasing and timing.
Scene 4
The first chord change takes us to an A7. We hold the chord with our left hand and play a phrase with our picking hand that includes what Orville calls a rest stroke. This name comes from classical guitar conventions and you should make sure you get this idea because we'll use it a lot in subsequent lessons. More about two hand damping here, too, to cut off the E chord when you return to it and give it a percussive, staccato sound.
Scene 5
More detail on the rest stroke. Orville talks about not rushing, not hurrying when you play blues. Cultivate a relaxed manner and try to take as long as you can to get from one place to another, taking care to do so without dragging the song tempo.
Scene 6
Orville recaps the tune up to the point we're currently at.
Scene 7
Orville demonstrates the next lick on the E chord moving on strings 1 and 3. This lick finishes with two strums on the chord.
Scene 8
Now we're at the last bit of the tune using the B7 shape. In this scene, Orville breaks down the strum pattern for this section and talks about how to make the feel of the groove present while still hitting the accented chords. We then wrap up the song by repeating the lick from Scene 7.
Scene 9
Orville plays the whole song one more time and talks about different things you can do with your thumb on the 6th string in the early part of the tune. Think about those train whistles while you play this song!
Supplemental Learning Material
Songs with Orville Johnson
Found in our Beginner Lesson SetsOrville Johnson teaches a select group of his favorite songs, including a few originals.
Lesson 1
Come Back Baby
Orville Johnson teaches his version of the classic blues song "Come Back Baby."
Length: 29:43 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Depot Blues
Orville Johnson teaches a classic blues song entitled "Depot Blues." This lesson was inspired by the blues great Son House.
Length: 35:31 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Railroad Bill
Orville Johnson teaches the traditional blues song "Railroad Bill."
Length: 16:10 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Bye Bye Baby Blues
Orville teaches the classic blues song "Bye Bye Baby Blues" by Little Hat Jones.
Length: 21:48 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Spanish Fandango
Orville Johnson teaches the classic "Spanish Fandango."
Length: 32:50 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
A Bicycle Built for Two
Orville Johnson teaches a classic song entitled "A Bicycle Built for Two." This song is also known as "Daisy Bell."
Length: 23:54 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
About Orville Johnson
View Full Biography
Orville Johnson was born in 1953 in Edwardsville, Illinois and came up on the St. Louis, Missouri music scene, where he was exposed to and participated in a variety of blues, bluegrass and American roots music. He began singing in his Pentecostal church as a young boy, in rock bands in middle school, then took up the guitar at 17,with early influences from Doc Watson, Rev. Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt, and Chuck Berry. In the early 1970's, Orville spent several seasons playing bluegrass on the SS Julia Belle Swain, a period-piece Mississippi river steamboat plying the inland waterways, with his group the Steamboat Ramblers.
Orville moved to Seattle, Washington in 1978, where he was a founding member of the much-loved and well-remembered folk/rock group, the Dynamic Logs. Other musical associates include Laura Love, Ranch Romance, File' Gumbo Zydeco Band, Scott Law, and the Twirling Mickeys. Johnson, known for his dobro and slide guitar stylings and vocal acrobatics, has played on over 100 albums. He has appeared on Garrison Keilor's Prairie Home Companion, Jay Leno's Tonight Show and was featured in the 1997 film Georgia with Mare Winningham. His musical expertise can also be heard on the Microsoft CD-ROMs, Musical Instruments of the World and the Complete Encyclopedia of Baseball. He teaches as well at the International Guitar Seminar, Pt. Townsend Country Blues Week and Puget Sound Guitar Workshop.
Orville released 4 recordings in the 1990's: The World According to Orville (1990) Blueprint for the Blues (1998) Slide & Joy (1999) an all-instrumental dobro tour de force and Kings of Mongrel Folk (1997) with Mark Graham. He also appeared on 4 discs with the File' Gumbo Zydeco Band and produced Whose World Is This (1997) for Jim Page and Inner Life (1999) for Mark Graham. In the 21st century, he has released Freehand, a new Kings of Mongrel Folk disc, Still Goin' Strong, and been featured in the soundtracks of PBS' Frontier House and the Peter Fonda flick The Wooly Boys as well as the compilation cd Legends of the Incredible Lap Steel Guitar.
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Member Comments about this Lesson
Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.I enjoy your instruction and would like to perform some of your arrangements, but they're too short...kinda like samples. Is there a longer/full transcription of Depot Blues available?
I don't know why but your lessons flow in through the brain and out through the fingers!! You've got that teach'n mojo
Hi Orville - This is a very well constructed lesson for a great song. The pacing and breakdown into sections makes it easier to learn. Hope that you do some more Son House and Charley Patton style delta in the future.
I'm at a loss for words as they've all been said. Thanks again Orville.
Great job, but I still can't figure out what "hangin' crepe on my door" means (in verse 4).
there's an interesting discussion about that here on the WeenieCampbell website (a site devoted to country blues music) http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=2513.0;prev_next=prev
Thank you so much for this lesson. Excellent teaching. Keep it coming. I can do this!
nice, broken down well and the coolest guy called orville i know good 1
Very nice! Thank you!
Thanks as well Orville,I love that you like the sound of playing with bare fingers.I do as well and am being constantle chastised by my Guitar playin buddies(all in good spirits though)
Wow! Orville thanks so much. I love this song and you made it so easy for me to learn it. Maybe in the future you can introduce something by Robert Johnson? Looking forward to more of the old blues!
Thanks Sir, You and I are around the same age around 40 right.:) I'm retired living in Thailand learning the blues. Fills the day in a great way. Been enjoying Hawkeye but came over here just to learn a song from you. Thanks so much.
What a great tune, what a nice pace and teaching style! Thanks Orville for making me sound better.
More ... Please.. please.. please
great lesson. youre teaching is great. Yourself , mary and hawkeye are constantly inspiring me to improve . keep them lessons coming!thanks
Oh I feel them blues.. great lesson. Thanks!
woohooo! I'm learnin' a Son House tune, how cool is that!? Thanks so much Mr. Johnson.
This looks awesome! Just need to get myself past my jetlag and picking up my guitar again, combined with Mazza's lessons this is great!
I am so excited to have you on the teaching staff. Together with Hawkeye's lessons, yours should make me into the blues player I want to be.
Wow, Orville...this is my first time really checking out your lessons, and you are an amazing teacher. I love your style of playing, very nice!
Your teaching style is easy to understand and fun. Really appreciate it!
Mister Orville you are fantastic Greets from Belgium
Man, these lessons are awesome! Thanks Orville!