This excerpt from the book “Creative Music for Children”, written by Satis Narrona Coleman and published in 1922, describes the author’s work with teaching music and musical instruments to children. In this section she describes how the children crafted their own instruments, including a cello and violin, from various materials including cigar boxes.
The following excerpt is from the book “Creative Music for Children”, published in 1922, and describes the author’s work with teaching music and musical instruments to children. In this section she describes how the children crafted their own instruments, including a cello and violin, from various materials including cigar boxes. Continue reading “Cigar Box Cello and Violin built by Children – from “Creative Music for Children” 1922″
Shane Speal recently discovered a rare appearance by a cigar box guitar in a vintage film clip, this one from a 1942 music video recorded for the Spike Jones song “Pass the Biscuits Mirandy”. According to the Youtube video post, this short film (which really is a precursor to modern music videos) was called a “Soundie” and was made for playing on special jukeboxes. Continue reading “Cigar Box Guitar in 1942 Spike Jones Music Video”
In this video lesson, Shane Speal distills Howlin’ Wolf’s two-guitar attack in the song, “Back Door Man” into one easy riff for cigar box guitar. Speal is the author of Making Poor Man’s Guitars (Fox Chapel Publishing, 2018)
Shane Speal distills the double-guitar attack of Howlin’ Wolf’s 1960 classic, “Back Door Man” into a single 3-string cigar box guitar riff. You will need to tune your guitar to Open E (EBE), which is lower than standard Open G.
For reference, we present the original recording first…
“Back Door Man” was recorded in Chicago in June 1960 by Howlin’ Wolf (vocals), Otis Spann (piano), Hubert Sumlin and Freddy Robinson (guitars), Willie Dixon (double bass), and Fred Below (drums).
Sumlin and Robinson’s guitars continue to weave in and out with Spann’s piano…making a very busy groove.
Speal takes the Low E string guitar groove and mixed it with a High E string part to create a simplified riff that incorporates much of the mojo.
Video lesson for cigar box guitar. Shane Speal breaks down the iconic riff from Howlin’ Wolf’s “Smokestack Lightning” into an easy-to-play 3-string cigar box guitar riff. Speal is the author of Making Poor Man’s Guitars (Fox Chapel Publishing, 2018)
“Smokestack Lightning” is a one-chord drone blues song recorded by legendary singer, Howlin’ Wolf in 1956. In this video lesson, Shane Speal breaks down the guitar lines, originally played by Hubert Sumlin and turns them into an accessible 3-string cigar box guitar riff.
For reference, we present the original recording. Scroll down for the lesson.
Tune your cigar box guitar to Open G to start the first lesson:
Shane Speal explores the classic Howlin’ Wolf song, “I Asked Her for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)” and arranges the riff for a 3-string slide cigar box guitar. The classic blues song was first recorded by Howlin’ Wolf for Chess Records in 1956. Shane Speal is the author of Making Poor Man’s Guitars (Fox Chapel Publishing, 2018)
Shane Speal explores the classic Howlin’ Wolf song, “I Asked Her for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline).” The drone blues song was first recorded in 1956. Here is the original recording for reference.
In the lesson, Speal shows the riff in open G (GDG) and then explains how to re-tune the cigar box guitar to a rumblin’ Open E (EBE) tuning.
Musician and author, Shane Speal explores the classic Howlin’ Wolf song, “Little Red Rooster.” The song contains a deep blues riff that that has appeared in other great blues songs by Son House, RL Burnside and others. Speal distills the guitar parts down to an accessible riff for 3-string cigar box guitar. Speal is author of Making Poor Man’s Guitars (Fox Chapel Publishing, 2018)
Musician and author, Shane Speal explores the classic Howlin’ Wolf song, “Little Red Rooster.” The song contains a deep blues riff that that has appeared in other great blues songs by Son House, RL Burnside and others. Speal distills the guitar parts down to an accessible riff for 3-string cigar box guitar.
First we present the original recording for reference. Scroll down for Speal’s lesson.
Here is Shane Speal’s full lesson on “Little Red Rooster.”
Shane Speal tackles an obscure R. L. Burnside blues song, “Nine Days In Jail” by inventing a brand new cigar box guitar tuning. This in-depth lesson explores RL’s riffs and the Missississippi fife-and-drum style rhythm involved. Essential blues lesson for 3-string cigar box guitar! Shane Speal is the author of Making Poor Man’s Guitars (Fox Chapel Publishing, 2018)
TUNING: C MINOR (IMPLIED) – A variation of the Open G tuning (GDG). To get this tuning, simply take an Open G cigar box guitar and raise the middle string to Eb.
The song, “Nine Days in Jail” is from R. L. Burnside’s album, My Black Name A-Ringin’.
For reference, we present the original song.
R. L. played the original version in the key of C#minor…or somewhere near that. (He probably didn’t use a tuner.) Shane Speal arranges the song for Cminor using a new tuning that is very similar to Open G: G Eb G.
Shane Speal breaks down Howlin’ Wolf’s “I Ain’t Superstitious” into a version playable on 3-string cigar box guitar. Video lesson, step-by-step.
Shane Speal explores the deep blues of Howlin’ Wolf (aka Chester Burnett) by combining the three guitar parts of “I Ain’t Superstitious” into a 3-string cigar box guitar version. Speal’s version utilizes an Open G tuning (GDG) for this blues song that is played in the key of D.Continue reading “CIGAR BOX GUITAR VIDEO LESSON: “I Ain’t Superstitious” by Howlin’ Wolf”
Click the image above to view the how-to guide PDF.
This is the full how-to guide from C. B. Gitty’s Cigar Box Ukulele kit. While written with a focus on assembling the kit C. B. Gitty sells (which includes all of the parts and hardware you need in one easy package), this how-to guide is a good general introduction to building a cigar box ukulele, and could be useful if you want to try it on your own from scratch.
Click Here or on the image to the left to view the full guide document.
Here is a short article from the July, 1920 edition of Popular Science Monthly, in which author Frank W. Vroom gives fairly brief instructions for constructing what he calls a “Jazzolin” using a cigar box. This is basically another take on the classic one-string cigar box fiddle. Continue reading “Cigar Box Violin (Jazzolin) – Popular Science Monthly, July 1920”
