Robert Johnson — £200 · Beginner Rig

• Open G tuning (D-G-D-G-B-D) or open D (D-A-D-F#-A-D) for standard Robert Johnson approach — barring across any fret produces a major chord
• The thumb-and-fingers technique plays bass and treble simultaneously — the thumb handles the alternating bass pattern on strings 6/5/4, fingers handle melody and lead on strings 1-3
• Slide on the ring or little finger of the left hand — allows the other fingers to continue fretting bass notes while the slide handles the melodic slide phrases
• The vocal and guitar phrase in call-and-response — the guitar answers or echoes the vocal line, not playing over it. This vocal-guitar dialogue is the structure of the entire style
• "Cross Road Blues," "Sweet Home Chicago," and "Love in Vain" are the required listening — they contain the full vocabulary and are familiar to rock listeners through covers
• The bass line alternates between two bass strings on every beat — this "running bass" creates the illusion of a rhythm section and drives the song forward without drums
• Standard tuning Delta blues is also valid — some Johnson tracks are in standard tuning. Practise both open and standard tuning blues before attempting the simultaneous bass-and-melody technique
• Rhythm and melody are inseparable — unlike electric blues where a rhythm section provides the groove, acoustic Delta blues requires the guitarist to be their own rhythm section

• ✗Playing at high volume without managing feedback — hollow-body guitars are acoustically live and will feedback freely at stage volumes. Amp positioning and pickup height affect this dramatically.
• ✗Using a distortion pedal instead of pushing the amp — vintage-voiced amps create better overdrive by being pushed hard than by a pedal circuit. Let the amp do the work.
• ✗Using a distortion pedal to replace amp saturation — amp-driven tone has a specific feel (dynamics, touch sensitivity, natural compression) that pedal distortion cannot replicate. The source of gain matters.
• ✗Playing at bedroom volume and expecting full blues tone — tube amps need to push air to bloom correctly. A cold amp at low volume sounds flat and lifeless.
• ✗Using the bridge pickup as the default — the bridge is an accent position, not where the warmth and expressiveness of blues lead tone lives.

Gibson L-1 or Kalamazoo acoustic guitar played unaccompanied, in open D or open G tuning with a slide. No amplification. The tone is thin, immediate and human — the sound of a single man and one guitar in a San Antonio or Dallas hotel room, singing and playing simultaneously with no separation between voice and instrument.