Andrew Lardner
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"House Rent Stomp" by Big Bill Broonzy
🕑 Added 2025-06-01 14:03:00 +0000 UTCFriends:
In this month's lesson I'm really excited to share this refreshed look at my favorite Broonzy solo.
The story of "House Rent Stomp" started at least as early as 1927 with his debut recording for Paramount records. He was accompanied by John "Thomps" Thomas on this recording, you can hear Bill's guitar sitting a bit in the background of the recording doing most of the work, I suspect "Thomps" is the second guitar that is heard a bit more up front playing higher melody. The record was originally not well received, I can't help but think if Bill's stellar guitar playing wasn't more in the forefront of the recording it would have been better regarded. Though not entirely like the "House Rent Stomp" that he records in 1951, you can hear some similar passages. Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8RrfC_pPZI
This lesson serves as a much needed follow up to my post on Broonzy's "Shuffle Rag" all the way back in May of 2020. I've learned a lot since then, and I think if you liked the post on "Shuffle Rag," you're going to love this one. The two pieces can be considered the same composition, though each has unique strains that are not found in the other. For a long time I wasn't sure what this piece should be called, but this month I was listening to this 1955 Studs Terkel interview with Big Bill where he actually refers back to his very first recording for Paramount Records in 1927 ("House Rent Stomp"), then plays this piece. (Note in the capture of the entire broadcast the YouTube uploader incorrectly dates the interview as 1957, it is actually from September of 1955) One will note that in the 1955 interview with Terkel, he is playing the strains closer to how they were in this 1957 session with Studs (important to know 1959 is the release date and not the recording date) where it was titled "Shuffle Rag." I now believe all versions of this piece should have been titled "House Rent Stomp." There is also this really great take on "House Rent Stomp" which was incorrectly titled "See See Rider," though I did not spend the time trying to figure out when and where it was originally issued. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcy9YDBjME4
This lesson corresponds to his recording of "House Rent Stomp" that was released on Vogue records, recorded in Paris on September 20, 1951. You can hear this version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuLtO2xOLmA
The most nuanced aspect of Broonzy's playing is the degree with which he uses the right hand to damp the bass notes. In the lesson video I refer to it as "throttling." This is because there is always varying degrees of damping one should use in the right hand, sometimes resting it on the strings to completely mute out the bass, other times allowing pitch to come out clearly followed by an immediate mute with the right hand to produce the staccato effect. I also expect a significant degree of varying pressure in the left hand to add a staccato effect in the melody when needed. Referring to the score, beats 2 and 4 in measures 5 and 6 are an example where I believe a release in left hand pressure immediately after the chop in the bass is what is necessary to produce the sound he gets in the recorded version.
I recorded an especially long-winded discussion/lesson video that can be viewed here:
https://youtu.be/DlAhsd4R9Ns
The score is attached below.
Enjoy!
Comments
Andrew Lardner
You might want to start with this one then go to the post on shuffle rag. There are a few things I would revise in the Shuffle Rag post after learning more about the piece this month. Way more detail here. You could then take what you’ve learned and apply it to Shuffle Rag
mark blomquist
I've decided to go back and refamiliarize myself with Shuffle Rag from your earlier post before tackling this one. Worked well with Graham's Moanin. Thanks for all the hard work and very complete score.
Thomas Kite
I have a suggestion for a possible next song you could learn and showcase, which is “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” by Bert Jansch. It is my favourite instrumental and there is some great footage of him playing it on YouTube as part of the Acoustic Routes doc. Nice work on this song by the way, it seems that you even got the fingering accurate.
