Lonnie Johnson

Lonnie Johnson (1899-1970) is one of the true giants of early jazz and blus guitar. Though billed early in his career as a blues singer, Johnson's guitar style was more like jazz.

He used smooth and lightning-fast single string runs and bends that later became synonymous with blues guitar playing. BB King is among those who cite Johnson as an important influence on their playing.

My favorite Lonnie Johnson tunes are his instrumentals - performed on acoustic guitar. Like so many other early bluesmen, Johnson employed irregular tunings. When he plays in the key of D, Johnson tuned his guitar to G-tuning (same as Bo Carter) - with the 6th string tuned to D and the 5th string tuned to G. This allowed him to keep a steady bass (alternating and/or monotonic) while playing in D. On songs like the instrumental "Away Down In The Alley," he placed a capo on the second fret - while in the same G-tuning.

I prefer Johnson's slower tunes -- mainly because many of his uptemp instrumentals are so fast as to be unapproachable by the mere mortal! His slower stuff is much easier to study and learn.

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