Skip James Style Part 1 (Guitar Lesson)
What are you waiting for? Get your membership now!
Skip James Style Part 1
Orville Johnson explores the style of Skip James in open G tuning.
Taught by Orville Johnson in Fingerstyle Blues seriesLength: 19:28Difficulty: 2.5 of 5
Video Subtitles / Captions
Supplemental Learning Material
Fingerstyle Blues
Found in our Beginner Lesson SetsThe blues is a distinctly American style of music. Many popular genres such as jazz, rock, and country music draw upon basic blues concepts. Consequently, it is advantageous for any guitarist to study the blues.
Lesson 1
Alternating Bass
In this lesson, Orville introduces one of the basic fingerstyle techniques - the alternating bass technique.
Length: 14:49 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Winin' Boy Blues
Orville Johnson teaches his interpretation of the piano-based song "Winin' Boy Blues" by Jelly Roll Morton.
Length: 29:33 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 3
Blues Turnarounds
Orville Johnson introduces turnarounds and provides great ideas and techniques.
Length: 16:30 Difficulty: 2.5 FREE
Payday Blues
Orville Johnson teaches the fingerstyle blues song "Payday Blues."
Length: 19:04 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Walking Bassline with Chords
Orville Johnson demonstrates how to play a walking bass line in conjunction with chordal accompaniment.
Length: 18:33 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
One Dime Blues
Orville Johnson teaches his take on a blues standard entitled "One Dime Blues."
Length: 13:46 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
I'll Fly Away - Piedmont Style
Orville Johnson teaches the classic gospel tune "I'll Fly Away" in the Piedmont style.
Length: 18:40 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Beulah Land
Orville Johnson teaches the classic gospel song "Beulah Land."
Length: 12:40 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Make Me a Pallet on the Floor
Orville Johnson teaches "Make Me a Pallet on the Floor" in the Piedmont style.
Length: 17:58 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
How Long, How Long Blues
Orville teaches the a fingerstyle version of the classic blues number "How Long, How Long."
Length: 23:31 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Common Blues Melody
Orville Johnson teaches a common blues melody that has been used in several classic songs including "Louis Collins."
Length: 15:09 Difficulty: 0.0 Members Only
St. Johnny
Orville Johnson reviews an original tune he calls "St. Johnny" in this lesson.
Length: 44:09 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Blind Blake Style
In this lesson, Orville Johnson takes a look at the style of Blind Blake with some fun tips and tricks.
Length: 12:50 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Chord Substitutions: Major
In this Fingerstyle Blues lesson, Orville Johnson uses the 12 bar blues in C to talk about chord substitutions.
Length: 35:34 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Softly and Tenderly, Jesus Is Calling
To demonstrate the relationship between gospel and blues, Orville Johnson teaches an arrangement of an old gospel tune called "Softly and Tenderly, Jesus Is Calling".
Length: 20:22 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Chord Substitutions: Minor
Orville Johnson is back with another fantastic lesson on chord substitutions, this time in a minor key.
Length: 19:03 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Mississippi John Hurt Style
Orville Johnson demonstrates Mississippi John Hurt's style using an old spiritual song called "When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder".
Length: 10:18 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Skip James Style Part 1
Orville Johnson explores the style of Skip James in open G tuning.
Length: 19:28 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Skip James Style Part 2
Orville Johnson takes another look at the style of Skip James, this time in cross-note (D Minor) tuning.
Length: 25:08 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Bo Carter Style
Orville Johnson takes a look at the style of blues artist Bo Carter in this lesson.
Length: 15:35 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Jelly Jelly
Orville Johnson walks through "Jelly Jelly," an original piano blues style song.
Length: 22:14 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Travis Picking Pt. 1
Welcome to part one of a two part lesson bundle where Orville breaks down Travis Picking, a fingerstyle pattern made famous by the great Merle Travis.
Length: 21:51 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Travis Picking Pt. 2
This is part two in Orville's Travis Picking demonstration. Orville now teaches how to increase speed with the picking hand. Then, he explains how to improve synchronization between the picking and fretting...
Length: 23:10 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Scrapper Blackwell Part 1
Welcome to part one of a two part mini series on the great guitarist known as Scrapper Blackwell! Orville tackles the unique techniques Scrapper utilized.
Length: 28:15 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Scrapper Blackwell Part 2
Now that Orville has introduced Scrapper's style, he covers some more difficult techniques that he used.
Length: 17:56 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Mississippi John Hurt Style 2
Orville Johnson delves into the style of Mississippi once more. This time around he takes a look at a song that is inspired by "Frankie and Albert".
Length: 16:17 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
The Style of Elizabeth Cotten Part 1
Orville talks all about the style of Elizabeth Cotten, an acoustic fingerpicking legend. He uses a song called "I'm Going Downtown" to showcase her way of playing.
Length: 38:01 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
The Style of Elizabeth Cotten Part 2
Orville dives back into the world of Elizabeth Cotten. This time around he teaches a newsong called "Sugar" and introduces other common musical themes she was known for.
Length: 18:20 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Heavy-Time Bass
Orville Johnson likes to use a technique called "Heavy-time bass" when playing the bass notes on his guitar. In this lesson he teaches you how adding this trick to your arsenal can make you a more versatile...
Length: 25:29 Difficulty: 3.5 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.
Acoustic Guitar Lessons
Our acoustic guitar lessons are taught by qualified instructors with various backgrounds with the instrument.
Dave Yauk
Learn a simple mini song that illustrates just how intertwined scales and chords really are. Dave uses a G chord paired...
Free LessonSeries Details
Mike Dawes
Free LessonSeries Details
Robbie Merrill
JamPlay welcomes bassist and founding member of Godsmack, Robbie Merrill. In this short introduction lesson, Robbie showcases...
Free LessonSeries Details
Orville Johnson
Orville Johnson introduces turnarounds and provides great ideas and techniques.
Free LessonSeries Details
Phil Keaggy
Welcome to the Phil Keaggy Master Course! In this series introduction, Phil shows and tells us what we can expect from this...
Free LessonSeries Details
Mitch Reed
Mitch teaches his interpretation of the classic "Cannonball Rag." This song provides beginning and intermediate guitarists...
Free LessonSeries Details
Mike Tolle
Free LessonSeries Details
Alan Skowron
Alan shares his background in teaching and sets the direction for his beginning bass series with simple ideas and musical...
Free LessonSeries Details
Mark Lincoln
Lesson 40 takes a deeper look at slash chords. Mark discusses why they're called slash chords, and how they are formed.
Free LessonSeries Details
David Isaacs
JamPlay welcomes David Isaacs to our teacher roster. With his first lesson Dave explains his approach to playing guitar with...
Free LessonSeries DetailsElectric Guitar Lesson Samples
Our electric guitar lessons are taught by instructors with an incredible amount of teaching experience.
Guthrie Trapp
JamPlay introduces Nashville session player Guthrie Trapp! In this first segment, Guthrie talks a little about his influences,...
Free LessonSeries Details
Michael Ripoll
Michael "Nomad" Ripoll dives deep into the rhythm & blues, funk, and soul genres that were made popular by artists like Earth...
Free LessonSeries Details
Lita Ford
Lita Ford, guitarist for The Runaways, presents a fantastic and in depth series on what it was like and what it took professionally...
Free LessonSeries Details
Evan Brewer
Evan Brewer explains everything you need to know in order to get going with your bass guitar. Topics include the parts of...
Free LessonSeries Details
James Malone
James explains how to tap arpeggios for extended musical reach.
Free LessonSeries Details
Jane Miller
Jane Miller talks about chord solos in part one of this fascinating mini-series.
Free LessonSeries Details
Brad Henecke
Free LessonSeries Details
Kris Norris
Kris analyzes different pick sizes and their effect on his playing. Using a slow motion camera, he is able to point out the...
Free LessonSeries Details
Tom Appleman
Tom Appleman takes a look at a blues in E with a focus on the Chicago blues style. The bass line for Chicago blues is very...
Free LessonSeries DetailsJoin over 511627 guitarists who have learned how to play in weeks... not years!
Signup today to enjoy access to our entire database of video lessons, along with our exclusive set of learning tools and features.
Unlimited Lesson Viewing
A JamPlay membership gives you access to every lesson, from every teacher on our staff. Additionally, there is no restriction on how many times you watch a lesson. Watch as many times as you need.Live Lessons
Exclusive only to JamPlay, we currently broadcast 8-10 hours of steaming lesson services directly to you! Enjoy the benefits of in-person instructors and the conveniences of our community.Interactive Community
Create your own profile, manage your friends list, and contact users with your own JamPlay Mailbox. JamPlay also features live chat with teachers and members, and an active Forum.Chord Library
Each chord in our library contains a full chart, related tablature, and a photograph of how the chord is played. A comprehensive learning resource for any guitarist.Scale Library
Our software allows you to document your progress for any lesson, including notes and percent of the lesson completed. This gives you the ability to document what you need to work on, and where you left off.Custom Chord Sheets
At JamPlay, not only can you reference our Chord Library, but you can also select any variety of chords you need to work on, and generate your own printable chord sheet.Backing Tracks
Jam-along backing tracks give the guitarist a platform for improvising and soloing. Our backing tracks provide a wide variety of tracks from different genres of music, and serves as a great learning tool.Interactive Games
We have teachers covering beginner lessons, rock, classic rock, jazz, bluegrass, fingerstyle, slack key and more. Learn how to play the guitar from experienced players, in a casual environment.Beginners Welcome.. and Up
Unlike a lot of guitar websites and DVDs, we start our Beginner Lessons at the VERY start of the learning process, as if you just picked up a guitar for the first time.Our teaching is structured for all players.Take a minute to compare JamPlay to other traditional and new methods of learning guitar. Our estimates for "In-Person" lessons below are based on a weekly face-to-face lesson for $40 per hour.
 |
||||
| Price Per Lesson | < $0.01 | $4 - $5 | $30 - $50 | Free |
| Money Back Guarantee | Sometimes | n/a | ||
| Number of Instructors | 104 | 1 – 3 | 1 | Zillions |
| Interaction with Instructors | Daily Webcam Sessions | Weekly | ||
| Professional Instructors | Luck of the Draw | Luck of the Draw | ||
| New Lessons | Daily | Weekly | Minutely | |
| Structured Lessons | ||||
| Learn Any Style | Sorta | |||
| Track Progress | ||||
| HD Video | - | Sometimes | ||
| Multiple Camera Angles | Sometimes | - | Sometimes | |
| Accurate Tabs | Maybe | Maybe | ||
| Scale/Chord Libraries | ||||
| Custom JamTracks | ||||
| Interactive Games | ||||
| Community | ||||
| Learn in Sweatpants | Socially Unacceptable | |||
| Gasoline Needed | $0.00 | $0.00 | ~$4 / gallon! | $0.00 |
Mike H.
"I feel like a 12 year old kid with a new guitar!"
I am 66 years young and I still got it! I would have never known this if it had not been for Jamplay! I feel like a 12 year old kid with a new guitar! Ha! I cannot express enough how great you're website is! It is for beginners and advanced pickers! I am an advanced picker and thought I had lost it but thanks to you all, I found it again! Even though I only play by ear, I have been a member a whopping whole two weeks now and have already got Brent's country shuffle and country blues down and of course with embellishments. Thank you all for your wonderful program!
Greg J.
"With Jamplay I can fit in a random session when I have time and I can go at my own pace"
I'm a fifty eight year old newbie who owns a guitar which has been sitting untouched in a corner for about seven years now. Last weekend I got inspired to pick it up and finally learn how to play after watching an amazing Spanish guitarist on TV. So, here I am. I'm starting at the beginning with Steve Eulberg and I couldn't be happier (except for the sore fingers :) Some day I'm going to play like Steve! I'm self employed with a hectic schedule. With Jamplay I can fit in a random session when I have time and I can go at my own pace, rewinding and replaying the videos until I get it. This is a very enjoyable diversion from my work yet I still feel like I'm accomplishing something worthwhile. Thanks a lot, Greg
Bill
"I believe this is the absolute best site for guitar students."
I am commenting here to tell you and everyone at JamPlay that I believe this is the absolute best site for guitar students. I truly enjoy learning to play the guitar on JamPlay.com. Yes, I said the words, ""enjoy learning."" It is by far the best deal for the money.
Member Comments about this Lesson
Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.Thank you. Will add these licks into my growing medley of "in the style of" licks learned from you, Eric, and especially Hawkeye. Johnson, Hurt, Lightning, Rev Davis, BBBrounzy, and now James' edgy style. Great distinctive riffs!
Mr. Johnson - I wanted to thank you for your lesson set but in particular for the lessons on Skip James' style. These are brilliant! I've looked for some time for a good lesson on Skip James and yours is by far the best I've found. Thank you!