Hawkeye Herman - St. James Infirmary Guitar Lesson
St. James Infirmary
Hawkeye presents his take on an 18th century traditional folk song. Hawkeye breaks down all of the techniques used in his rendition of the song.
Taught by Hawkeye Herman in Songs with Hawkeye Herman seriesLength: 38:08Difficulty: 4.5 of 5
Supplemental Learning Material
Songs with Hawkeye Herman
Found in our Beginner Lesson SetsHawkeye Herman teaches classic blues songs.
Lesson 1
Death Don't Have No Mercy
Hawkeye teaches the classic song "Death Don't Have No Mercy" by Reverend Gary Davis.
Length: 23:38 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Baby What You Want Me To Do
Hawkeye teaches his interpretation of the classic Jimmy Reed blues song, "Baby What You Want Me To Do."
Length: 25:19 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Give Me a Grandma Every Time
Hawkeye introduces one of his original songs entitled "Give Me a Grandma Every Time." This song features many techniques taught in the Phase 2 Blues Series.
Length: 14:22 Difficulty: 3.5 Members Only
I Used to Ride that Train
Hawkeye presents another original song entitled "I Used to Ride that Train."
Length: 33:24 Difficulty: 3.5 Members Only
St. James Infirmary
Hawkeye presents his take on an 18th century traditional folk song. Hawkeye breaks down all of the techniques used in his rendition of the song.
Length: 38:08 Difficulty: 4.5 Members Only
Rocket to Chicago
Jump on board with Hawkeye as he demonstrates his song "Rocket to Chicago." With this song, Hawkeye uses his guitar to imitate the sound and feel of a steam engine train.
Length: 11:42 Difficulty: 4.0 Members Only
About Hawkeye Herman
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""One of America's finest acoustic guitarists and blues educators."
Cascade Blues Association
"Herman plays with a sensitive, reflective touch that continually draws
attention to his vocals, which are effectively understated and free of
affectation... Herman can rock with the best of them. A solid choice for fans of
traditional acoustic blues."
Living Blues Magazine
" ...plays haunting music on a mournful guitar."
Los Angeles Times
"The only thing better than hearing this live album is seeing Hawkeye Herman
in the flesh. Whether adding his own spin to blues classics or offering his
own songs, Herman is a one-man history of blues, noteworthy guitar player and
inimitable communicator. Miss him at your peril."
Blues Access
With over 40 years of performing experience, Michael "Hawkeye" Herman
personifies the range of possibilities in blues and folk music. His dynamic blues
guitar playing and vocal abilities have won him a faithful following and he leads
a very active touring schedule of performances at festivals, concerts, school
programs and educational workshops throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
His original music has been included in video dramas and documentaries and in
four hit theatrical productions.
In 2000, Hawkeye was awarded Philadelphia's
Barrymore Award for Excellence in Theatre for best original music in a
theatrical production. "Everyday Living," Hawkeye's first nationally released album
from 1987, now reissued on CD, features the late blues giants Charles Brown and
"Cool Papa" Sadler, and established the demand for his now long-standing
festival and concert touring. His latest CDs and DVD, "Blues Alive!" (CD), "It's
All Blues To Me" (CD), and "Hawkeye Live In Concert" (DVD) have been greeted
with rave reviews. Hawkeye's journalistic efforts have been published in numerous
national and regional blues and music-related periodicals.
In 1998 he was the
recipient of the Blues Foundation's "Keeping The Blues Alive" award for
achievement in education. He served on the Board of Directors of the Blues
Foundation for six years. Hawkeye was inducted into the Iowa Blues Hall of fame in
2004. In September of 2005, Hawkeye composed, at the request of the British
Broadcasting Company (BBC), "Katrina, Oh Katrina (Hurricane Blues)," detailing the
hurricane disaster on the Gulf Coast. The song was aired to over 7 million
listeners on the popular "BBC Today" program. He is the cofounder of the Rogue
Valley Blues Festival, Ashland, OR.
This musician has definitely carved out a
spot for himself in the contemporary acoustic blues/folk field, and has earned a
reputation as one of the most accomplished artists in the genre, and
audiences throughout the US/Canada/Europe have come to know and appreciate Hawkeye's
talent, dedication, and captivating performances.
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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.Fantastic lesson Hawkeye! Thanks for teaching this classic!!!
Thanks so much, Richard. I hope you check out my many videos posted at youtube.com so that you can see how I use the techniques I teach here at JamPlay.com when I'm performing in concert and at festivals: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=HawkeyeH ... more specifically, you can watch & hear me perform "St. James Infirmary" here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOzCc900x10&list=UUNUaPpej5oSY3rs8MjxDitw&index=18&feature=plcp ... Thanks again for the kind comments. I hope you continue to enjoy these lessons.
Dear Hawkeye, I am a new student of Yours and I am nasty and skip around, because I have played the guitar for more than 40 years. I have never had lessons and I am having the best guitar time of my live following Your lessons, so thank You a million times. And I think I will take the time and follow all Your lesons step by step even it will take the rest of my life. Best regards, Peter
Hi Peter. Thanks so much for your kind comments and for your honesty in regard to 'skipping around.' I've been playing the guitar for over 50 years and teaching guitar for over 40 years. I have given a lot of thought and planning as tot he order and content of my lessons. If you follow my lessons in the order they are presented, progressing patiently at your own speed from one lesson to the next you will gain a strong foundation and understanding of blues music and blue guitar that will allow you to play blues music freely and improvise at will. Blues is a 'language' ... would you try to learn a language by 'skipping around' amongst the lessons? I hope not. ;-) I'm no psychologist ... ;-) ... but I think you need to be more patient with yourself and with the concept of your not being in control of the 'program' ... get with the program and the benefits will come incrementally, day by day ... follow your own path/'skipping around' and there will be huge gaps and holes in your understanding and foundation in the music ... just as there would be if you did so when studying a language ... or, would you advise a psychology student to skip around in the lessons in a psychology primer? ;-) Whatever you path you take, I hope you continue to enjoy these lessons. Thanks so much for your comments.
Dear Hawkeye, thank You for Your fast reply and good advice. I am shurely following the path that You give the students and I enjoy every lesson. I have spent so many hours in trying to find out licks and riffs without getting it and in Your lessons there are so many small and easy details that help and make it sound great. Best regards from a stormy friday norwegian westcoast, Peter maybe I should try to write a simple "stormy friday westcoast blues"
"stormy friday westcoast blues" ... why not? ... blues is about life ... wherever you are. ;-)
I enjoy so much learning the blues with you....I grew up learning Flamenco guitar and Sevillanas....this is different in a way but you are a great teacher .
Gracias muchisimas por sus palabras amables, Alejandro. Me gusto mucho Flamenco guitarra. Muchos años antes you estudio un poquito de Flamenco desde libros acerca de Flamenco ... sevillanas, boleares, etc. Como blues, hay much improvisation en flamenco guitarra y mucha de la music is en claves minor, como blues. Tengo muchos discos y CDs de flamenco ... me gusto todos ... Manitas de Plata, Carlos Montoya, y otros ... y los cantores como el grande 'Chocalate.' Espero que tu continua gustandas mis lecciones aqui a JamPlay.com. Saludos, amigo. El Ojo de Halcon (lo siento para mi destrucion de su lengua ;-)
At first I was impressed that Hawkeye spoke some Spanish. But then.... I was shocked that I understood all of it! ;-) I love this song, by the way. I was looking it up on YouTube, and found a Hugh Laurie version of it. I had no idea the man could play music....
Liam, I'm fairly fluent in Spanish, studied the language for 4 years in high school and I have performed in concert and at festivals in Mexico and S. America in speaking and singing in Spanish. MY grammar is not so good, but my vocabulary is large. I have no fear of speaking the language and making myself understood. ;-) Hugh Laurie has a new blues album/CD out called "Let Them Talk" featuring some superb New Orleans guest musicians. His music is also featured on a new 1 hour PBS documentary called "Let Them Talk" which is currently in the PBS network programming/circulation. I saw the TV program on PBS last week. He plays the piano okay ... and sings ... not so good, but with some feeling. I like his version of the song "St. James Infirmary." You can see/hear my complete version of the song here: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=HawkeyeH#p/u/16/qOzCc900x10 .... and there are over 20 other Hawkeye videos/songs here: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=HawkeyeH&view=videos ... I hope you continue to enjoy these lessons.
Why was I not using that walk up before this? This is a song that I too have played for some time now and I enjoyed seeing the great take on it. loved the transitions. I had not for some reason stuck those 7th in there. Thanks again :)
Thanks so much for enjoying this tune and lesson. This is my own arrangement of the song, including the ascending 'walk up' on the E chord. I highly recommend that you view this song in performance/video, along with others of my songs/videos so as to see how I use the techniques I teach here at JamPlay.com when I'm performing live in concert or at festivals ... try to play along with me, and 'steal' some of my licks/riffs: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=HawkeyeH&view=videos ... I hope you continte to enjoy these lessons.
One more shot of booze, great idea! Hawkeye, you are nothing short of a legend! This is great. Just got back from a trip to Nepal and feeling shit to be back, but stoked to see this tutorial!
Welcome back, Stu. Hope you had a great trip while away from JamPlay.com. Take your time and enjoy this one, it's a good story that's fun to tell and and audiences embrace the song/story ... and then please go watch the live video of this song at youtube: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=HawkeyeH&view=videos ... you'll see how I use the guitar techniques in this lesson when performing live/in concert. I have a basic accompaniment pattern that I use and abuse ... all of the single note fills and lead playing are improvised from one performance to the next ... and that's what makes it always fun to play and sing this song. There's always more down the road ;-) Welcome back. Keep the faith. Namaste, Hawkeye
Hawkeye, Noy only is this a Great song, BUT one can have a lot of fun with it,as you can add many things too it(One can be creative) Thanks for teaching us this along with the other lessons.I really ubderwstand why you you emphatic about not trying this before taking your other leassons.Had I not been through your other lessons I would have been lost on thiis.I suggest other Students take your advice to heart and not be offended. Dennis
Hawkeye, This is a Great Song,and I had my doubts if I could play it properly,but it is amazeing how all the things you have been teaching started to come into play. Mor practice for me of course. Thanks Dennis,Canyonville
Thanks for the comments, Dennis. I'm glad you're making progress. Please be sure to watch me perform this song in concert, so you can see how I use the techniques I teach here at JamPlay.com when I'm performing ... try to play along with me ... and even 'steal' some of my riffs/licks/ideas. It 'pay's to follow my Phase Two lessons in the order they are presented. Thanks again.
Before seeing this video I thought that fingerstyle was pretty boring. Amazing lesson , Thank you very much:)
Thanks so much for your comments, Moshe. Very much appreciated. Anything that is repetitive and lacking in dynamics can be boring ... including fingerpicking. What bores me? Well, what bores me is flatpicking electric rock/blues players who constantly play a zillion fast cascading notes at a very loud volume ... that, in my humble opinion, sacrifices 'feeling' for speed ... sort of like yelling a lot of words in a short time and saying nothing. I hope you continue to enjoy these lessons. Thanks again for the kind comment.
Thanks Hawkeye. It's great to have a song to learn rather than 'in the style of'. I understand the problem Jamplay has with licensing but for me 'in the style of' is like going to buy a new car and the dealer says 'you can only have it in bits - you need to assemble it yourself"! The way you have presented this song is perfect for me. I can learn the simple version first - and accompany you as you sing it. Then, with more effort, I can hopefully pull off the leads and embellishments. Your version of this on You Tube then shows how it should be done. Fantastic Hawkeye. If you asked me what I want from Jmplay - it is more of this
Thanks so much for your comments, Barry. Much appreciated. We'll keep you suggestions in mind for my future lessons here in the Phase Three area ... within the limits of 'copyright and licensing.' I hope you continue to enjoy these lessons.
I remember hearing this song from an episode of.. In the Heat of the Night reruns... it stuck in my head and I can't believe I can now learn it. Thanks for the solid lesson. You were great!
Glad you enjoyed the lesson and the song, Tonya. The song St. James Infirmary goes all the way back to the 1600s in Scotland, and was adapted as a blues song most likely in New Orleans in the late 19th Century. It's a very old song ;-) MAy I suggest that you might enjoy watching me perform the song in concert ... so that you can see how I use the techniques I teach here at JamPlay.com when I'm performing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOzCc900x10 .... Thanks again for enjoying these lessons.
Thank you, Hawkeye, for another fabulous lesson! Your teaching method is so right on the money! Learning by rote is ok as a beginning. However, to progress as a guitarist, one must internalize the various nuances and colors of the pallet and use them creatively! We are so lucky to have you share with us that which has taken you many years to develop! The journey along the Blues Highway is a great experience! May your journey be a long one! Bob
Thanks so much for the kind words and generous comments about my lessons. Very much appreciated. You have described my concept of teaching extremely well. I do suggest you look here, if you're interested, in the many articles I've wriotten on blues history and the icons of the blues that I was fortunate enough to have met and learned from: http://hawkeyeherman.com/articles.htm ... and don't forget the free lessons at my web site: http://hawkeyeherman.com/guitar-lessons.htm ... and I feel it serves my students well to view the many blues performance videos I have posted at youtube.com ... if you want to see how I use the techniques I teach here at JamPlay.com when I'm performing ... and even try to 'steal' some of my ideas ... this is the place to go: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=HawkeyeH ... again, thanks so much for taking the time to let me know these lessons are serving you well. ;-)