Lesson 20: Innovative Strummers

Across the globe, instruments in the guitar family have been the go-to accompanying instrument for ages.  The instruments themselves, as well as the techniques used to play them, have changed and evolved over time.  Today we look at two people who were "instrumental" (pun intended!) in that evolution, one in the United States, and one in Turkey.

Robert Leroy Johnson was an American Blues singer-songwriter.  He played on street-corners and local community dances in Mississippi, but was never rich and famous.  These days he is known as "King of the Delta Blues."  He was born in Hazelhurst, Mississippi in 1911 and died at the age of 27 in 1938 in Greenwood.

A Gibson guitar, like the one that Robert Johnson played. 

Despite his anonymity in his short lifetime, many musicians consider him to be one of the best guitar players of all time.  When he first heard a recording of Robert Johnson, Keith Richards thought there were 2 guitar players, when in fact it was Johnson playing 1 guitar.

           

(left) A "juke joint" like the ones Robert Johnson played in.  
(right) "Delta Children" 1938 by Dorothea Lange

Robert Johnson made his only recordings in San Antonio and Dallas, Texas in 1936 and 1937.  "Love in Vain Blues" is about unrequited love. *Parents- when sharing other songs from Johnson's catalogue, you might want to listen to the song first.  "Love in Vain" is entirely appropriate for kids, but many others may not be for your family.

Kids in Mississippi today

Born 10 years earlier than Robert Johnson in Adapazari, Turkey, Udi Hrant Kenkulian also revolutionized the way of strumming his instrument.  He played the Oud,  which is a short-necked lute-type stringed instrument that can have 11 or 13 strings.  "Udi" is actually a term that means "Oud-player," so "Udi Hrant" means "Oud-player Hrant."  

Udi Hrant

In 1915 Udi Hrant fled to the city of Konya to escape the Armenian Genocide (his family was ethnically Armenian), and there he began to study the Oud.  Three years later he and his family moved to Istandbul, where he continued to study.  The earliest recordings we have of Udi Hrant are from 1927 (he was then 26 years old).  

Turkish Oud

Udi Hrant played traditional Turkish Classical Music, and was important in its shift into contemporary popular music.   He invented new ways of playing the oud that people had not used before, such as picking in both directions and using left-hand pizzicato (plucking a string with the left hand). He was also blind from birth, and so all of his musical education was done without sight.

Istanbul, Turkey

Udi Hrant lived much longer than Robert Johnson and was very successful and beloved in his lifetime.  He passed away in 1978.  He spent most of his life in Turkey, but did visit the USA in 1950 to see doctors about his blindness.  During that trip he performed for American audience and this started a career of touring all over the world, and playing often on Istanbul Radio.

Children in Istanbul

We heard the love song "Kalbimde Yaran", which translates to "In My Heart."  This song, like most of his songs, is written in Turkish.

Enjoy!

We heard

Love in Vain Blues, by Robert Johnson 

Kalbimde Yaran, by Udi Hrant

To use this lesson:

Find the lesson plan here.

Find the visual slideshow here.

Find the drawing pages here.