Andrew Lardner
patreon
"Blue Dot," by Leo Kottke
🕑 Added 2022-11-01 14:00:16 +0000 UTCFriends:
I'm excited to share this month's lesson and transcription with you. "Blue Dot" is yet another early favorite of mine, and a very interesting piece because he only appears to have played it for a few months, from late 1972 to early 1973. This makes transcription easy but also difficult, because we have only one true source recording to transcribe but no others to compare to and draw firm conclusions from.
This one is in standard tuning in the key of E, and starts off with the very fun phrase alternating between the E6 and B9 chords that we probably know recognize from "William Powell."
As stated earlier, yes, this piece has been previously published some 40 years ago but we know much more about Kottke's impeccable technique than was known then, and we've corrected a couple key sections (previously written incorrectly) that will now bring a high level of success to your renditions.
Many are probably disappointed that Renbourn didn't happen this month, but we'll see him on December 1st.
You'll want to take a close look at the sections in measures 43-50 and 51-59 as I have yet to see anyone play these correctly. It's time to turn a new leaf on this part.
This transcription is absolutely packed with little bits of nuance so any who believe they can play this already will surely find there is still much to learn.
As a fun bonus, I'm also including a snippet of Leo starting to play this from a show in 1973. Unfortunately he only gets through the first several measures before bailing on it, but it is the only other known recording to date. Interesting to here some little variations that deviate from the recording many of us know so well.
Here is my lesson video https://youtu.be/uWqQD3eCCfs
The transcription is also attached below. I hope to see some lively discussion on this one.
Comments
Andrew Lardner
CT, if I’m remembering correctly there are three chords that use the thumb. The B9, the partial barred A, and the E. Is there one in particular that you are most struggling with? Issues fretting with the thumb are certainly not uncommon. The main things I would want to look at are the angle at which you are fretting with the thumb and whether you are overusing it. This will be hard to convey with words but when the thumb is on a lower fret it hinges back toward the fret, think F chord. When it is higher, like the B9, it frets more perpendicular to the fretboard. When I say overusing I mean you need to apply very little pressure with the thumb to get the pitch to fret cleanly. A lot of issues I see with students is they are over prioritizing the thumb and it takes away from the stability of the rest of the hand. Get the rest of the chord clean then add the thumb, making small adjustments to the hand to get the thumb to fret cleanly. Feel free to email me a short clip demonstrating where you are having trouble so I can better assess.
CT Ransdell
Hey Andy, really appreciate your Patreon page and all the work that goes into these transcriptions. I am curious if you have any suggestions on how to improve the use of the thumb on the fretting hand for this tune? I'm struggling to play the notes on the 6th string when I attempt to use my thumb. Been using my index finger to go up and down from 5th to 6th strings which only lets me play so fast. I use my thumb regularly with chords or arpeggios that don't require use of the index finger on the 5th or 4th string, and I have found it hard for this one!
raychrl .
The first Leo Kottke concert I went to was at a venue in Ft. Worth Texas in the early 90's which is not there anymore. He was talking between songs about there being a Cactus Garden on the roof there. People were calling out songs, and I said 'Blue Dot!' He said 'I can play ALMOST everything I've recorded'. There was this drunk lady that kept making loud appreciative noises while he started playing Ojo. He responded by pausing playing and did this funny 'SHhhhhhhhhh' thing while wigging his finger in front of his mouth mimicking her playful squeals. But, he said 'I want you to hear this part' and started playing again. It's always been an awesome time seeing him play live.
