how to play cigar box guitar video CD 28 yrs experience

 

 

  Bluesboy JAG's "How To Play A Cigar Box Guitar" Video CD

 

"I've been playing six and 12 string guitar (on and off) for 30 years. Within an hour of watching Jag's video, I learned more about playing fingerstyle and slide than I've picked up from the countless books and competing videos I've wasted money on over the years. I can't recommend or endorse Jag's video lessons highly enough. It's opened up a whole new style of playing for me. Jag's video makes it simple. You'll learn most all of what you need to know about fingerstyle and slide in nothing flat. In short....Blind Doughboy says "Buy it!"

 

 

 

Now In My Third Year! 

Over ONE HOUR of video closeups.

Regular CD Format - Plays In Any Computer

How to tune a CBG

How to play slide on a fretless CBG

How to play a fretted CBG

Licks, tricks and tips

Learn how to play three and four string CBG's

Intricate fingerstyle picking and chording

Learn basic chords on a 4 string CBG

Includes instructions on how to play "Baby Please Don't Go"

Basic Music Theory

Bluesboy JAG CBG Manual

Tabs

 

 

 

 

JAG's the real deal!!! I've played his cigar box guitars and they absolutely rock. His cds are mandatory listening for any prim-rock wannabe. -Shane Speal, self-proclaimed king of the Cigar Box Guitar ----- I love my three string cigar box guitar.  But it's dangerous to have around.  Whenever I grab it, I can't put it down.  It's seriously addictive.  Though intimidated at first by the lack of frets, I've found it to be very easy to play.  It's well constructed and the electronics work fine.  And the best thing about it of course, is that all the groupies go crazy over my new natural sounding groove.  Doug Czajkowski ----- The guitar came today, we love it, and it sounds great. Thank you. richardalanfox.com ----- Deb is so happy withthe banjo! This is the best present we have ever given her since the bouncy horse she got for Christmas the year she turned 4! I saw the pictures of it on your website. It looks awesome. Mary Davis melkdav@NOSPAMgmail.com ----- I just received my first cigar box guitar by Jag, and I simply couldn't be happier with it! This little instrument is a whole lot of fun, and EASY to play. I've owned a bunch of musical instruments over the past 30 years, but dollar for dollar this has got to be THE best bargain I've ever had! Jag is a true craftsman! I know that he plays it with a slide, but for myself, I've found that the neck is so silky smooth that I like to "fret" the strings and slide up and down the fingerboard that way. Overdrive it a bit, through a little tube amp, (or in my case a solid state amp with a tube emulator pedal), and you've got the makings for some geniuine, heart grindin', foot stompin', po' boy, street corner blues. For a different sound I'm thinkin' about getting another one fretted . . . string it up lighter, and try it with a drone string (like a mountain dulcimer.) I think that would be the cat's ass, too! I can't wait to incorporate this into my band's "MucklandMusic" sound! Kevin Sprague http://www.mucklandcrooners.com ----- Hi! I've left positive feedback for you (of course!), but I just have to tell you personally, this Harley guitar has an absolutely amazing tone! I believe that this is your best CBG style guitar yet! Congratulationson a tremendous instrument! Bob Serra ----- Jag, I recieved my cgb on friday and have barely set it down since. This is an incredibly fun little instrument. Your craftsmanship is superior. Thanks so much. Bryan Smith ----- Holy Moly, got my cigar box guitar and am blown away. this thing is killer.. i have already worked it into about 6 tunes per night with the band. we will be in Little Rock on Feb 17th.. at midtown billiards.. very late gig.. 1 am - 4 am. happy new year! Aaron Moreland "Moreland & Arbuckle" Roots Blues http://www.kingsnakesblues.com http://www.myspace.com/morelandandarbuckle

 

 

 

 

About me:

I've been playing guitar for almost 30 years and recording for almost as long. I've been a guitar teacher for 25 years, specializing in beginners and fingerstyle acoustic blues. I started playing in a cover band in Little Rock while still in high school. Opened up my own recording studio in 1984 (still in business) and recorded about 40 90 minute cassettes of my own music over the next 20+ years. Got into blues after discovering Robert Johnson and RL Burnside. I've recorded over 20 full length CD's in the past 4 years including acoustic blues, electric blues, piano blues, ambient electronic and experimental electronic. I play regularly at local bars and coffehouses, playing my cigar box guitar and 6 string Simon and Patrick acoustic. I've made over 450 CBG's of various types.

 

 

A little history about this fun instrument:

• According to Dr. Tony Hyman, curator of the National Cigar Museum (http://www.cigarnexus.com/nationalcigarmuseum/), cigar boxes as we know them didn't exist prior to the 1840's.  Prior to then, cigars were shipped in larger crates containing 100 more per case.  But after 1840, cigar manufacturers started using smaller, more portable boxes with 20-50 cigars per box. 

  Cigars were extremely popular in the 19th Century, and therefore, many empty cigar boxes would be laying around the house!  The 1800's were also a simpler time for Americans, when necessity was truly the mother of invention.  Using a cigar box to create a guitar, fiddle or a banjo was an obvious choice for a few crafty souls.

  The earliest proof of a cigar box instrument we have found is an etching of two Civil War Soldiers at a campsite with one playing a cigar box fiddle [click here for picture].  This was created by French artist, Edwin Forbes, who worked as an official artist for the Union Army.  The cigar box fiddle appears to sport an advanced viola-length neck attached to a "Figaro" cigar box.  The etching is copyrighted 1876.

  In addition to the etching, plans for a cigar box banjo were published in the 1870's by Boy Scout's founder, Daniel Carter Beard in St. Nicholas Magazine.  The plans, entitled "How to Build an Uncle Enos Banjo" [diagrams pictured above] showed a step-by-step description for a playable 5-string fretless banjo made from a cigar box.  The plans were eventually published in Beard's immensely popular American Boy's Handy Book. 

  By the 20th Century, times were still lean for many Americans and cigars gained even more popularity.  The "television of the day" was the trusty Sears and Roebuck Catalog that allowed families to dream of items they'd love to own.  It also provided a catalyst for more homemade creations. 

  In her magnificent book Fiddle Fever, writer Sharon Arms Doucet describes Felix LeBlanc, a young Cajun boy who makes a cigar box fiddle after studying violin pictures in the Sears Catalog.  The story, based on the life of Cajun fiddler Canray Fontenot, details the entire building process.  "Canray said that he really wanted a fiddle when he was a little boy," Doucet told us, "and an uncle or somebody told him to use a cigar box.  It was somewhat 'common knowledge' for them to build instruments like this," she said.  Fontenot and the fictional Felix both used a tree branch as a bow, pine tar as resin and screen wire as strings (although Felix eventually replaced the screen wire with old strings from his uncle's fiddle.) 

  The cigar box guitar has such an awesome pedigree. Blind Willie Johnson made a one-string when he was five and learned how to play melodies up and down that lonely string. Later, he would record the monumental Dark Was The Night (Cold Was The Ground) on standard guitar. The song is a instrumental classic that has droning chords laying the background for a haunting melody played up and down on the high E string...a technique he learned on his original one-string.

  Not only does the cigar box guitar have a great history, these little suckers are so much fun to play. Each one has it's own unique sound. Mine are played with a slide and have a great whining blues sound...one that just cannot be emulated from another guitar. They're small, portable and almost indestructable. And let's face it...they're weird looking and attract major attention.

 

 

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