I'm just glad people are still loving RL and Junior , 2 of the greatest blues musicians ever imo 👍

Thanks for unlocking the mysteries of this foot stomping classic. R.L. is a national treasure.

I always just assumed I’d never be able to play that song until now, thanks you so much for your time and effort to make it possible for others.

its also that electric guitar he’s playing helps get that bump. every version sounds a lil different

This channel is a reference in Hill Country Blues. Probably THE reference.

Inimitable! But worth trying. Another point besides the thumb that's crazy "impossible" is that if you watch RL, he doesn't ever appear to mute the "chuck" stroke with his left hand, but somehow to do so cleanly only with his right. And yet... seems to pull other notes out of the air virtually simultaneously! Anyway you're inspiring me to work on it again. Thanks for inspiring us all. New subscriber.

Imagine the concept of someone 50 years in the future watching a slow motion video of you playing to try to understand what you’re doing. It’s crazy man.

R.L. Burnside ! Master !! and you the only one to make this tutorial thanks you man !!

You got the best Selektion of Song-lessons on KZfaq! Love your Hill Country Blues liabillity. Thumbs up for your work!! Best Wishes from germany

Excellent lesson. Thank you.

Thanks for the lesson! Really great job with this video and nice playing!

I really appreciate your lessons, and especially on this sing since I've been waiting for it.

This is great! Thank you!

Wow, thank you. That's an amazing work you've done there both analysis and teaching. Well done!

your channel is a gift to the delta blues

this is a great lesson 👍

Hey, I don't think he is using the thumb the way you are describing, he is flicking the index finger off the thumb and hit the stricks with the nail of the index finger. It's so much easier this way. It's almost like striking a piece on the carom board or striking a marble.

Excellent deconstruction of a wonderful riff.

Thank you for solving this mystery!!

Dude this is such a thoughtful breakdown, not too many would go into such depth about the source of that brighter sound. Thanks a bunch

oh mannn ı was serching all the time this song to learn. Thank you very much

Wow R L was amazing that's some fast fingerpicking and your awesome for breaking down this song this one will take some practice

Thank You!

Thank you so much xx

Wow! I think you nailed it. 🔥🔥

Personally, I think the downbeat is with his thumb and the chank is his thumb AND the index fingernail. Look at how close he holds his index finger to his thumb. They’re both hitting the string or the index finger nail is hitting the string, but it looks like it’s the thumb because the thumb and forefinger are so close.

Your hill country posts are the best. Great in depth breakdown

This really great work. You're a legend!

Your video’s lesson are just awesome !

Yours is by far the best interpretation of this classic. Thanks !

you are doing a great job! ive been playing this stuff for years this kind of music sounds easy to play until you delve deeper into it. another underrated player is Mississippi fred mc dowel hes an amazing player unfortunately their isn't much of him playing live. be great if you could break his stuff down. keep it up you are doing a great job

Fo real. Ur a treasure brother. Respect!

Been trying for this one forever. I totally get the frustration lol

Verry good job It sounds exactly the same!!!! Thank you for giving the lesson for free!!

RL may have had a callous in his voice 👍 I’m taking a closer look at how I practice after you showed me the build method in more detail a couple weeks ago on one of our Zoom lessons. Thanks for helping me learn better through looking at timing and techniques better to find my voice.

You know how I get that sound with my thumb??? I lost a thumbnail and ever since it has grown back, my thumbnail is much more thicker. No joke. Great video thanks for sharing.

I tried for months too and I keep coming back improving it over time. I've been trying so hard recently, nice to see that you just made a video about this brilliant song. Keep up the great work

Bro you so good I was looking for someone to explain how to play this🤣❤

Merci.

RL is so inspiring and even trying to replicate gets into your playing somehow in your range. Thank you for unlocking and sharing which keeps this magic alive. One thing not covered is possibly the masking tape in the first fret... Binding repair? Intentional slight buzz of open strings?😂 🙏🎸🙏

This song is great and been trying to learn it. Thanks so much for teaching the way R l played. In the video where he is playing in the field, which I have watched many many times, he is also playing a strat so that will change the same where you are playing a 335 with humbuckers so might sound a little different. Thanks for all the videos you make as you do a great job.

Another awesome lesson ❤ cant wait to get home and stuck into it love and respect from Australia

THANX ❤

Best SMJHOTL on YT !

Thank you, I've been trying for years to get that scratchy quack.

Hi! I watch Juniors grandsons channel a lot. Cam Kimborough here on youtube, he teaches this style of guitar too. He actually talks about his fingers in many videos when he teaches riffs and makes the audience weary that it might be difficult to play it like him or don´t sound like when he plays because he has massive calluses on his thumb and index finger from playing this style for all his life. It´s not like when guitarplayers talk about getting calluses on the fingertips on the left hand, not at all. His thumb is all hardened up. I actually think you see that in R.L´s video too, if you look at his thumb. It looks almost deformed and big. Like his thumbnail is thick and his skin is very dry and hard.

Very well done. I've messed with this great song for years and I believe he's brushing both his thumb and his index finger on the strings. Also, if you brush the strings with your index finger on the upstroke, you even get some additional rhythm. It's almost like "painting the strings" with down and upstrokes, with some subtle palm muting. That's my take. RL Burnside and Junior Kimbrough are two great players of this unique Northern Mississippi blues genre. Sadly, they have both passed.

Hi , firstly great channel , I don't think there's many out there covering hill country blues but keep em coming. A player worth looking at regarding technique is Wilko Johnson as he slaps the strings with his finger nails. Thanks bill

Crazy difficult. Been trying for years. I saw a 12 year old kid on KZfaq nail it. Made me want to quit guitar. But there is some cool history in music created by RL ‘s style of playing. It’s really difficult to play a normal drum beat to that style, so a unique drum beat was formed trying to play along with RL. Turns out that beat is amazing and may even have some voodoo qualities to it.

Thanks for this great breakdown of this complex riff. What influenced your choice of guitar?

Every time I think I've got this one, which I'd been trying for several months before this lesson (and even before you featured the tune in an earlier lesson), I'd eventually lose the feeling and couldn't get it back until I revisited your early lesson or another one by Eric Blackmon. I need to internalize what makes the groove drive so with all the subtle changes and strumming. And I think it sounds different from one R.L. recording to another. The truth is this song is deep within R.L. himself and he can do whatever he wants with it. We can try to learn a version but how can we learn to think like R.L. and turn it into a malleable piece for ourselves? Keep practicing, I guess!

RL points his large, long-fingered right hand down the neck, so relaxed.

Omg man please make a video on how to play the entrance part of the song

Great video! I would love to see a video breaking down R.L’s playing on the video “Honky Tonk” on KZfaq, where he plays goin down south and jumper hanging on the line live with a whole different groove going on, it’s awesome. I’ve tried to figure out what he’s playing on goin down south and just can’t get it right

His fingers look pretty identical to how they look in "R. L. Burnside with Johnny Woods" DVD and there he clearly cuts his nails super short and the skin rounds his thumbnail, so he's not playing with the side of the nail, so calluses is probably all it is.

Like thumping the off the thumb? I'll try it. That is the unique sound I've always felt from Muddy Waters, R L & others. Thank you!

Wow great lesson, tried to playing this all year, now I’m a little better er. Ha. Please think about doing a Lead Belly, Poor Howard lesson, maybe the precursor for Hill Country?

Great video, it looks like he has some kind of mute below the first fret that might be causing the bright scratchy sound, just food for thought

Best Hill Country Channel-Wondering if you could get into some Kenny Brown-If you know RL, then you know him-Album: “Stingray”-Song: “You Don’t Know My Mind” Respect

IM JUST LEARNING GUITAR,,LOVIN YUR VIDEOS,,THANK YOU FOR SHARING,,,CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT GUAGE STRINGS I NEED TO BUY FOR MY ACUSTIC GUITAR,,,I BROKE 2 STRINGS IN MY 1ST 10 MINUTES,,,,IM WORKING ON LEARNING THAT HYPNOTIC THUMB GROOVE 1ST,,,,,THANKS AGAIN,,,TONY..

It’s also vintage Japanese pickups ?

Can you show me the original tabs for this song, please.

It could be a thumbnail as some people have a nail grows around their thumb, so they don’t need longer nails. I would run with the thumb pick. A light Herco style pick with a light gauge would get you there.

Hey I was just curious what the riff is RL plays at the very beginning before he even starts the song

44 pistol? Can't quite get it

In b4 this goes viral in guitar players home pages, and this is at 100k views, and you get 30k subs.

Thanks for the education.

He looks like he has a mean callous on the side of his thumb, and that would give it harder brighter sound like from a plectrum. Edit: I made this comment before you had came to the same conclusion in the video, lol.

Down stroke thumb upstroke finger

is it in standard tuning?

Can you please confirm the tuning? Is it open G?

You may be interested in this alternative version from a 1974 Mississippi house party: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bLaniKx115yqgIU.html Completely different vibe.

I have been trying to get this technique down for years, I always thought it sounded like his finger was doing the “chick” but i now play it like I believe R.L does it, with his thumb, with a bit more aggression. Same goes for “Black Mattie”. Peace Elrich

He's upstroke index finger? Isn't he?

He drove a tractor his whole life and did farmwork. He developed calluses on his hands doing hard work. He also played a lot of guitar. Another youtuber tried to teach how to play RL's version of Poor Black Maddie and after at least 9 in depth videos he was still not able to reproduce the sound. You can fake it but you can't make it.

Many years i ask myself why that guitar is white between 0 1st fret

I'm trying to make calloses on my thumbnail. I think these kind of guitarists can't have long nails because they work hard with their hands in their daily life. I have the same problem but not at the same level, of course... Their life were harder.

Love your channel. But I disagree that the sound you're looking for is in the right hand. It is in the muting with the left hand.

Looks to me like he tucks his pointer behind his thumb and is using that fingernail behind the thumb like a pick.

He’s flicking his index finger

why don't you think the index finger is doing the scratch? that's what people who play the style will tell you

This is not country. This is Blues. Mississippi Blues.

Kidds you gotta do your own thing come on i mean if you want to master copying people YOU WILL NEVER SOUND LIKE THEM. I get taking this amazing music but we got to move forward. Im at a loss for this new generationg and all the focus on technique. THERES NO GOOD SONGS !!! Guys come on move ithe future take what you love and make your own legendary NEW THING. Im lost with this obssessive guitar playing. If Pink Floyd hadnt of taking from Pink and Floyd the blues musicians and tried to copy we wouldve never had those amazing albums or David Gilmour. Iron Maidern HAD SONGSSSS. Get back to grooving and moving into the future and quit worrying about techniques and make cool songs! I cant play like David Gilmour or have Angus Youngs amazing pgrasing and rhythm and i mmoved on to where my talents are. Those guy and these old bluesman were the equivelent to world class sprinters and 1 i billions. Even if you think you sound like the legends you probably dont and technique isnt nwhy. Steve Lukather said theres no good songs anymore but all these technically gifted players. Its like the song Its Just Begun by Jimmy Castor. No matter how hard i try that groove is unmatched by me and millions of people. I can take what i love about it and put it into what my natural tendencies are. Theres a lack of song writing and creativity these days but no lack of technique. You gotta at some point do your own thing. I do notice a lot of emphasis with younger players and technical ability but you can practice for 10000s of years and you will still do what you were born to do and not be able to do legends from days gone by. Elton John is a song writer not a shredder or technician for instance just like Barry Manilow. We each have what we were born to do and you have to focus on finding that,.Its like a athlete that wants to be Michael Jrodan so they work and work but they were born to be Dennis Rodman and get rebounds. Do it your way though folks. Steely Dan and Donald found what they do best and it was writing then hiring talented people to do what they couldnt do. Steely Dan wouldve hired this guy to pl;ay a tracj and not tried to master something they werent created to do. Donald Fagan knew he was a good pianist but he was a band leader and song writer first and ego and being a shredder wasnt part of it.

He’s using his index finger and thumb it’s easy to see