Editing Howlin' Wolf (section)

===Beginnings, 1930s===
On January 15, 1928, at the age of 17, Burnett gathered enough money to buy his first guitar. It was a date that Burnett reportedly never forgot until "the day he died".<ref name="Life and Times of Howlin' Wolf">{{cite web |last1=Mitchell |first1=Ed |title=The life and times of Howlin' Wolf |url=https://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/the-life-and-times-of-howlin-wolf-254631 |website=MusicRadar |date=June 10, 2010 |access-date=September 8, 2022}}</ref>

In 1930, Burnett met [[Charley Patton]], the most popular bluesman in the [[Mississippi Delta]] at the time. He would listen to Patton play nightly from outside a nearby [[juke joint]]. There he remembered Patton playing "[[Pony Blues]]", "[[High Water Everywhere]]", "A Spoonful Blues", and "Banty Rooster Blues". The two became acquainted, and soon Patton was teaching him guitar. Burnett recalled that "the first piece I ever played in my life was{{nbsp}}... a tune about hook up my pony and saddle up my black mare"—Patton's "Pony Blues".{{sfn|Segrest|Hoffman|2004|p=19}} He also learned about showmanship from Patton: "When he played his guitar, he would turn it over backwards and forwards, and throw it around over his shoulders, between his legs, throw it up in the sky".{{sfn|Segrest|Hoffman|2004|p=19}} He played with Patton often in small Delta communities{{sfn|Segrest|Hoffman|2004|p=20}} and would perform the guitar tricks he learned from him for the rest of his life. 

Burnett was influenced by other popular blues performers of the time, including the [[Mississippi Sheiks]], [[Blind Lemon Jefferson]], [[Ma Rainey]], [[Lonnie Johnson (musician)|Lonnie Johnson]], [[Tampa Red]], [[Blind Blake]], and [[Tommy Johnson (blues musician)|Tommy Johnson]]. Two of the earliest songs he mastered were Jefferson's "[[Matchbox (song)#.22Match Box Blues.22 history|Match Box Blues]]" and [[Leroy Carr]]'s "[[How Long, How Long Blues]]". The country singer Jimmie Rodgers was also an influence. Burnett tried to emulate Rodgers's "blue [[yodel]]" but found that his efforts sounded more like a growl or a howl: "I couldn't do no yodelin', so I turned to howlin'. And it's done me just fine".<ref>Gifford, Barry (1968). "Couldn't Do No Yodeling, So I Turned to Howlin'." ''Rolling Stone'', August 24, 1968.</ref> His harmonica playing was modeled after that of [[Sonny Boy Williamson II]], who taught him how to play when Burnett moved to [[Parkin, Arkansas]], in 1933.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Malone|first=Bill C. |title=The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Volume 12: Music|date=2014-02-01 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AOynAgAAQBAJ&q=Sonny+Boy+Williamson+II+howlin+wolf+harmonica&pg=PA194 |publisher=UNC Press Books |isbn=978-1-4696-1666-7|page=194|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last1=Welky|first1=Ali |last2=Keckhaver|first2=Mike |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bX2TAAAAQBAJ&q=Parkin%2C+Arkansas%2C+in+1933+howlin+wolf&pg=PA112|title=Encyclopedia of Arkansas Music |publisher=University of Arkansas Press|year=2013|isbn=978-1-935106-60-9|pages=112 |language=en}}</ref>

During the 1930s, Burnett performed in the South as a solo performer and with numerous blues musicians, including [[Floyd Jones]], [[Johnny Shines]], [[Honeyboy Edwards]], Sonny Boy Williamson II, [[Robert Johnson (musician)|Robert Johnson]], [[Robert Lockwood Jr.]], [[Willie Brown (musician)|Willie Brown]], [[Son House]] and [[Willie Johnson (guitarist)|Willie Johnson]]. By the end of the decade, he was a fixture in clubs, with a harmonica and an early [[electric guitar]]. It was around this time that Burnett got into some legal trouble in [[Hughes, Arkansas]]: While he was in town, he tried to protect a female acquaintance from an angry boyfriend, and the two men fought, with Burnett killing the man with a [[Hoe (tool)|hoe]]. What happened after this is a matter of dispute; Burnett either fled the area, or did some jail time.<ref name="Howlin' Wolf, 1910-1976">{{cite web |last1=Lamplugh |first1=George |title=Howlin' Wolf, 1910-1976: His Life, His Times, His Blues |url=https://georgelamplugh.com/2018/04/01/howlin-wolf1910-1976-his-life-his-times-his-blues-blues-stories-27/ |website=Retired But Not Shy |date=April 2018 |access-date=September 9, 2022}}</ref>