Here are some ideas you could incorporate into your acoustic fingerstyle blues in the open tuning of D (DADF#AD) or E (EBEG#BE). Some ideas are basic, some advanced.
A standard12-bar Blues has three main chords, notated with Roman numerals as I, IV and V:
In the key of D: D (I), G (IV) and A (V)
In the key of E: E (I), A (IV) and B (V)
Acoustic players usually prefer Open D, and electric players Open E. However, light strings on an acoustic could also be tuned up to E. To save confusion, I'll just label the chords as either I, IV or V.
Over chord I, try the following: PDF file MP3 file
Over Chord IV, try the following: PDF file MP3 file
Over Chord V, try the following: PDF file MP3 file
Here is an arrangement of Meat Shakin Woman by Blind Boy Fuller, one of the greatest early blues artists from the East Coast of the States. He played in standard tuning, but I've enjoyed making arrangements of his guitar parts in Open D. ‘Meat Shakin Woman', is originally in the key of C. There are a few CD recordings which showcase this song. The great thing is that his accompaniments were so complex, they make great solos. I've made up my own variation, the B section, to lengthen the piece out a bit. You could use that, or better still, write your own. Notice that the original does not fit into the standard 12-bar pattern in 4/4 time. Some bars have six beats. Many early recordings reveal that the standard 12 bars took a while to establish itself.
PDF of ‘Meat Shakin Woman' by Blind Boy Fuller, with variation by Rob MacKillop
MP3 of ‘Meat Shakin Woman' performed by Rob MacKillop
The guitar I use is the Lyn by Brook Guitars (www.brookguitars.com). On the above recordings I used Elixir Phospher Bronze Strings Extra Light (10-47) in Open E tuning, though sometimes I string with 12s and tune to Open D.
