Homespun

Guitarist Mike Dowling has made a lesson detailing the slide technique that he has mastered during his long and fruitful career. Whether you're a fingerpicker ready to incorporate the slide or a slide player looking for new challenges, this lesson is a must. East coast style Piedmont blues is Mike's forte, and in this comprehensive, articulate lesson workshop he helps you negotiate the pitfalls as well as the possibilities inherent in fingerpicking, bottleneck style.

Mike loves nothing better than making an old song sound new and he'll teach you how to do just that with techniques that are guaranteed to add creativity to your playing. Using traditional blues examples as well as his own original compositions, Mike never loses sight of the melody as he explores often overlooked techniques that are sure to enhance your slide playing. You'll learn how to incorporate fretted chord forms with your slide work and crisp right-hand patterns that will keep it all moving along. Mikes teaches new turnarounds and syncopations, damping techniques for the right- and left-hand, and refinements for vibrato that will make even the simplest lines sound musical. Using primarily D tuning, Mike teaches non-bottleneck tunes he's adapted to the bottleneck, including Mean Ol' Frisco, Stranger Here,  and Tampa Red's Boogie Woogie Dance in addition to his own Swamp Dog Blues, and the haunting Jan's Song.

Student Review:

"I been enjoying the Mike Dowling "Bottleneck Blues and Beyond"video for about a month. The video has the ability to make it seem as if Mike is right there in the living room. I'm very impressed with the quality of the information in the lessons.... Thanks for making this video available." -- Ray Baker

"Hi Mike! Just a few words of thanks for making the Bottleneck video. I bought it about a year ago and out of all the videos I have, I have to say it is the best! Your teaching has really brought me on leaps and bounds. I was listening to your version of "Key to the Highway" on CD and I was able to pick up some of the movements off the video and now I can play it. It is a brilliant version. Thanks once again." -- Steve Thompson (by email)