Book – Fingerstyle Blues Guitar

Author – Joseph Alexander

Amazon Link –  https://www.amazon.com/Fingerstyle-Blues-Guitar-Acoustic-Fingerpicking-ebook/dp/B0199U4JCG/

About

Fingerstyle Blues Guitar is a popular book that has gained a reputation as being one of the finest go to books on the subject of acoustic fingerstyle blues. I`ll be reviewing the eBook version although you can buy the paperback version too.

The author claims that this eBook will help you “develop the finger independence to blend alternating bass lines, chords and melodies”. Well, let`s see if it does.

What I liked about the book?

It starts off right at the beginning. Before we get into all the `Fancy Dan` licks in E Dorian using syncopation and staccato, the author starts us off right at the beginning with some basic no frills but absolutely essential rhythmic exercises.

These exercises set the reader up for the rest of the book and are fairly simple to play which gives the reader the encouragement, motivation and understanding to go through and enjoy the rest of the eBook.

It is nicely broken up into distinct chapters starting with rudiments, scales and soloing, then moving onto legato, syncopation, triplets and the Major Pentatonic scale.

Each of those chapters all contain important techniques not just for blues playing but guitar playing in general.

The examples don`t sound like dull exercises but are really musical and you can certainly use most on a daily basis in your own blues jamming or when you want to vary any blues tune.

Is there an audio cd and is it any good?

Yes, there is an audio CD and yes it is good. Very good in fact. There are over 190 well recorded tracks of audio with the examples for every piece of tab in the book.

For a hands on book like this with lots of examples, audio is a must and the author doesn`t disappoint. I`d have liked a few more complete tracks purely as the snippets in the examples are great to listen to.

Maybe the author should have put a variety of examples together to create one big song. That would have been great from a listening and learning point of view. I can`t complain though. The audio is solid.

What I don`t like about the book?

To have made the learning experience of the book even better, there should be a slow version of the audio to go along with the normal tempo versions. The author talks about how important it is to learn things slowly but really he should be offering more encouragement for the reader to do so by creating slower tempo versions of the track. This would make learning the pieces easier and more productive.

I would have loved to have heard a couple of complete 12 bar pieces and some classic blues tunes reworked with the licks in the book played over them but to be fair this book is more about giving you the tools to do that yourself.

Conclusion

This really is a fantastic eBook and I`m a little surprised it hasn`t quite got the acclaim it should. It is better than most of the other books I have reviewed so far in the Inner Circle, but has nowhere near the notoriety.

Okay, it could have done with some complete 12 bar examples, some takes on real songs we know and slower versions of the audio but these aren`t major faults.

I definitely recommend it if you want to start playing more fingerstyle blues.

Rating

9/10

Book – Modern Chord Progressions: Jazz & Classical Voicings for Guitar

Author – Ted Greene

Amazon Link – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ted-Greene-Modern-Chord-Progressions/dp/0898986982

About

Modern Chord Progressions: Jazz & Classical Voicings for Guitar is a chord based book that is designed to help you learn a huge variety of chords all over the guitar and in fresh, new and exciting ways.

This isn`t just any old chord book. It is a book that teaches you some really interesting ways of playing common and not so common chords.

The book also has a small range of chord progressions to help you hear and play the chords shown in a practical sense.

It isn`t a book for beginners or for the faint hearted. I`d say it is a book for those who have mastered their basic chords (i.e. these 32 as well as a variety of barre chords) and now want to expand upon them.

What I liked about the book?

Most chord books suck. You know the ones I mean, where there are about 10,000 chords and most you`ll never use.

This one is different. It is jam packed full of chords, most of which you may well never use, but the difference here is that they are useful, interesting and can be applied to your playing on a daily basis.

It is up to the reader if they want to try them and use them all. Those boring chord books don`t give you anything to work with and give you no context for how the chord can be used. This is different.

There really are so many chord voicings (which just means interesting ways of playing typical chords).

For example, most guitarists who have played for a while know how to play a C Major 7 chord (it`s a normal C Major, minus the index finger) but this book has countless other ways to play this chord and most of these ways are more sophisticated and even more beautiful than the typical way. That is just one example of how useful the book is.

There are loads more really cool voicings of chords such as E minor 7, A 7, Eb9, B Maj 11, etc, etc.

Basically, the author gives you lots of options and possibilities to explore and add to your own playing.

Also, Ted Greene shows you how to add melody notes to the chords which specifically work in that chord progression. This gives you the option to add those fancy Hendrix style embellishments to them if you like.

Is there an audio cd and is it any good?

No, unfortunately there is no CD or audio included. There should be though as this would help readers hear some of the ideas the writer has presented.

Some of the examples are tough to play (not all, but some). Therefore, any student who struggles to play something can at least hear how it should sound. This would help them understand what they are trying to do and have something to work towards.

What I don`t like about the book?

Although there are a huge amount of chords, there are not enough chord progressions shown in the book. The chord progressions he does show you, he teaches you in all 12 keys (useful) and with different voicings, but I would have preferred more chord progressions to play through. This would have added an awesome extra dimension to the book that would make it very, very good.

The layout of the book is confusing and unclear. It`s not hard to find things but you will have to shuffle a couple of pages back or forth to find it. I like books that are well indexed and organised and this one could have done this better – especially as there are a huge amount of chords to shift through.

Also, the diagrams aren`t even drawn in the most clear way. This is a little annoying but you do get used it!

Conclusion

Although it has a few faults and things it could have done better, this is a book you can keep on your bookshelf forever.

If you are into jazz or classical, or want to expand your range of chords, you`ll love this love. If not, this might be want you want to give a miss.

Either way, if you do get it, I don`t think you`ll ever get bored of it. I love to dip in and out of it occasionally, and get some really cool ideas for some beautiful sounding music.

Rating

7/10

 

Book – The Advancing Guitarist

Author – Mick Goodrick

Amazon Link – – http://www.amazon.com/Advancing-Guitarist-Mick-Goodrick/dp/0881885894/

About

The Advancing Guitarist is a legendary guitar book written by Mick Goodrick featuring over 100 pages of in-depth advice and ideas for you to practice and experiment with.

The book is not a typical tuition book. It isn’t full of licks, tricks and tips and most of the knowledge you’ll gain from this book will take time to implement and apply. It is more of a self-discovery, philosophical book than a straightforward tuition book.

I have actually had a love hate relationship with this book. Sometimes I’ll pick it up and it will blow me away and other times it’ll actually make my head hurt.

There are so many ideas, you literally don’t want to look at more than one or two pages in each sitting otherwise you can easily be overwhelmed.

 

What I liked about the book?

There is an absolute tonne of ideas presented in this book that will genuinely take you a lifetime to completely explore. That is what makes the book special.

Don’t get me wrong, the book is hard going but on every page there is something that you could sit down and spend a few hours exploring.

Some of the concepts are ideas presented in unique ways that I have never seen before. Things such as playing up and down one string are given lots of depth.

Most guitarists and teachers actually discourage other players from playing scales up and down one string. Instead, they encourage box shapes or position playing as it is sometimes called.

When I read this book many years ago it made me realise just how important playing up and down one string can be and the unique possibilities this presents. Mick goes into detail on this subject and many others.

Some  other very cool ideas bought forward are ‘Playing on two adjacent strings – movable mini positions,’ a unique look at the pentatonic scale, ‘quartal harmony’, drop 2 and 4 chords and many more ideas.

There really is so much in this book that will help you learn and discover new things about the guitar that you didn’t think was possible.

 

Is there an audio cd and is it any good?

No, unfortunately there is no CD or audio included. There should be in my opinion, to help readers hear some of the ideas the writer has presented.

It isn’t really a book full of licks and examples but, even so, an audio CD is a good idea for some guitarists who like to listen to examples played by the writer to ensure they are playing them correctly.

 

What I don`t like about the book?

There is a lot of emphasis on harmony and melody which are two of the three core areas of guitar in my opinion.

There is, however, not much on rhythm which is the third area and in my opinion the most important. This is a great shame, as so much could be written here and so many ideas explored. As it is, there is still a great deal to learn.

Also, there is no tab. You will have to be able to read standard notation or learn to do so to get the main ideas from this book.

Some of the concepts you don’t need tab for but all the examples are in standard notation. This will put a lot of people off but learning to read music is something that I recommend everyone learn to do eventually (usually once you have played for a few years though).

 

Conclusion

This is a fascinating book and one that every guitarist should own but only those who have played for at least 3 – 4 years and can play a variety of songs to a high standard.

I have played guitar for 16 years at the time of writing, and I have just been pondering, has this book made me a better guitarist?

At first, I was unsure, but then I thought about many of the ideas and ways I see the fretboard, harmony, fingering and realised that a lot of what I have learnt has either come from this book or has been further developed by this book.

Therefore, although you might not notice immediate benefits from this book, you will notice the positive impact it can have on your playing later on down the road—even years later.

The book has to drop a few marks for a lack of chapters on rhythm, no tab and no audio CD.

It is a book that all intermediate and advanced guitarists can learn from for their whole lives and not many books can claim that.

Rating

8/10

Book – 101 Guitar Tips: Stuff All the Pros Know and Use 

About – Adam St. James

Amazon Link – http://www.amazon.com/101-Guitar-Tips-Stuff-online/dp/0634053418

About

101 Guitar Tips is a book written by Adam St. James and it covers a wide range of useful tips for guitarists of most skill levels.

This isn`t a book that I have heard too many things about but a fellow guitar teacher praised it so highly that I got it from his recommendation alone.

Apart from this chap, I don`t think I have come across anyone else mentioning the book.

I have had it for about a year, and have looked at it quite a few times. It is one of those books that is nice to go back to occasionally and check out a new tip.

There is a wide variety of tips here for beginner and more advanced guitarists alike. The book is directed more towards general technique as well as tips specific to the electric guitar (things such as cable maintenance).

What I liked about the book?

Some of the tips are great. As you can imagine when there are 101, even experienced guitarists will see things that are either completely new, or just a great reminder of something learned previously.

When I get a few minutes I like to open this book up to a random page and see what it there waiting for me.

Some of the tips are superb. There is a really in-depth tip on `intervals` which has 8 different examples.

This is one of those lessons that a lot of guitarists don`t really think is worth learning but when they do, they realise how useful intervals are.

Some of the other great tips are about chord progressions, CAGED theory, alternate picking and turnarounds. The turnarounds chapter in particular is great and looks at creating turnarounds in blues, jazz and rock.

The amount of different styles in book is great too. There are little taster chapters on funk, blues, rock, modes, theory and more which is all useful and lots of fun.

Is there an audio cd and is it any good?

Yep, everything is nicely recorded and sounds great. When the CD is loaded into my PC the names of the tracks are there which is great too.

There`s nothing worse than seeing track 1, track 2, etc, and having to work out which chapter or example the track is referring to.

What I don`t like about the book?

As you can imagine with a book that has 101 tips, there is some filler in there. The better tips are all in-depth and/or feature tab examples with the audio on the CD.

Some tips though, feature just 3-4 lines of detail. Things such as `use all four fingers` is useful advice but is it really worthwhile just putting that?

What I would like to have seen is a few examples of things to practice that make you use all four fingers in a productive way.

There`s also other tips that won`t really be that relevant to a lot of guitarists. Things such as flying with your guitar and changing the strings on a floating bridge.

I also would prefer it if there was some focus on fingerpicking and acoustic styles of guitar. How can a book have 101 tips but not really go into anything on fingerstyle?

I know, it is more based on general techniques and electric guitar playing but still, maybe I`m being greedy.

Conclusion

If the author got rid of about 20 of the filler tips and gone into more detail on some of the other ones, then it would be awesome.

As it is, there is a lot of great content in the book, but if you get it and decide to randomly browse through its pages, you will find sometimes you`ll be disappointed but more often than not you will be pleased.

Therefore, the book gets a positive review but it could have been that little bit better.

Rating

7/10

Book – Rhythm Guitar Playing Book 2: The Intermediate Grades

Author – Chaz Hart

Amazon Link –  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rhythm-Guitar-Playing-Intermediate-Grades/dp/1898466157/

About

What I liked about the book?

 

Is there an audio cd and is it any good?

 

What I don`t like about the book?

 

 

Conclusion

 

Rating

 

(also ensure the category is change to book of the month)

Book – `Fifty Easy Classical Guitar Pieces`

Author – Jerry Willard

Amazon Link – http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Guitar-Pieces-Music-America/dp/082562827X/

About

`Fifty Easy Classical Guitar Pieces` is a book that is arranged by guitarist Jerry Willard who also performs the pieces on the audio CD.

I bought this one a while back and have learned a variety of the pieces in the book which were written by the likes of Fernando Sor, Ferdinando Carulli and Robert DeVisee amongst others.

There are a lot of positive reviews on Amazon and many claim it is a great starting point for anyone interested in classical guitar.

What I liked about the book?

The pieces generally sound really good. Some are beautiful and rather inspirational. The arrangements are fairly simple and do a good job keeping them aimed at beginners to intermediates.

Some of the stand out pieces for me are:

• Andante No.1 – (Sor)
• Toy – (Anonymous)
• Minuet – (DeVissee)
• Andantino – (Carulli)
• Welscher Tanz – (Newsidler)

After listening through them you will find some really inspirational pieces, although a couple you might find are a bit samey.

Some of the simple ones are great. `Toy` for example which is track 6 on the CD is really simple but is one that I really love. It`s quite a powerful medieval piece that was originally written on the lute but sounds great on the guitar.

Is there an audio cd and is it any good?

Yes. The audio CD is very well recorded and actually makes for enjoyable listening even if you aren`t bothered about learning the pieces.

I sat down while doing some writing before and listened to the whole CD and enjoyed it. Some of the tracks didn`t really stand out and sounded a little samey but some really caught my ear.

`Andantino` by Ferdinando Carulli was one such piece. I enjoyed that one so much I recorded it and added it to my Fingerpicking Classics Course.

I recommend, if you get the book, you first listen to all 50 pieces and make a note of the ten you most enjoy. After a day or two listen to these ten again and listen to which one you really enjoy the most – then learn it.

After you have learnt that one go back and learn the others that you put on the list.

That way you will narrow down the ones you enjoy the most. With a book with as many as 50 pieces it`s easy to hop and learn lots of bits and pieces and never really master one.

What I don`t like about the book?

Unless you are really interested in classical music you probably won`t recognise many of the pieces. You will enjoy them and appreciate their quality but you probably won`t have heard too many before.

I would of liked more recognisable pieces to be in the book. It`s great that there are 50 pieces but if you only recognise 5 that isn`t so good, although you could look at that as a good thing. At least it will open you up to new music you may never have heard before.

I just would of liked some more pieces that I know by composers such as Beethoven, Brahms, and Mozart – some of their pieces transfer to the guitar beautifully.

One of my other pet peeves about the book is that their aren`t any playing instructions – just the tab and standard notation.

A few playing tips for each piece would help a lot of beginners out here and the biggest downside to this is that there are no chord symbols above the tab at all.

When picking the notes within a chord it is helpful to see the chord symbol so you can save time not working out what shape your fretting hand needs to make and also so you can understand what is happening theoretically.

Take a look below.

In the book you won`t see the chords above the staff like in my example, so you`ll have to work out which shape you need to make to fret the right notes.

Beginners` can get frustrated by this – I know I used to.

All this isn`t too bad if you are a more experienced player but not so much if you are a beginner or someone who is trying to understand the theory.

My recommendation is to make notes – add your own chord notation above the bar as I generally do. This will help you understand the theory behind the music and save you time when looking at the tab or sheet music in years to come.

Conclusion

Despite the lack of playing instructions, chord symbols and recognisable pieces the book is very good.

There is a good choice of simple classical pieces for you to enjoy, learn and add to your repertoire.

It is a book that will stay will you for years and one that you will probably go back to every now and then to learn a new piece. They generally don`t take that long to learn and the skill level varies for the beginner to more intermediate players.

Overall, if you are willing to listen through and hand pick your favourites you`ll find some gems in there and you will learn and discover new music which is always a good thing.

Rating

7/10

 

Book – `Contemporary Travis Picking`

Author – Mark Hanson

Amazon link – http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Contemporary-Travis-Picking/dp/0936799005

About

`Contemporary Travis Picking` is an extremely popular fingepicking book and was one of the very first fingerpicking books that I ever bought.

Travis Picking is a traditional fingerpicking technique which involves picking a chord with the thumb and fingers. Usually you will pick the root note with the thumb, then a treble string with a finger, alternate bass note with thumb and treble string with finger.

It`s a classic technique and the book is dedicated to it.

A quick look on Amazon shows how highly rated it is. It has 98 reviews and a 4 1/2 star rating.

What I liked about the book?

It teaches the fundamentals really well. I had a fair bit of experience fingerpicking before I bought the book but found I learnt a few more things which solidified my picking technique.

The main thing I took away from this book was realising that these patterns are so popular. Before, I would learn the fingerpicking pattern from song to song and often not realise that both songs used the same fingerpicking pattern.

Is there an audio cd and is it any good?

Yep, the book comes with audio. The cd is full of the examples in the book and played to a high standard. It contains the exercises and songs that the book uses and there are 47 tracks on the cd.

What I don`t like about the book?

The book uses only traditional songs such as “John barleycorn”, “Hush Little Baby”, “Freight Train” and watch the “Stars”.

Although they sound wonderful, traditional music is not something that I am a fan of. Not because I don`t like the way it sounds, I just prefer more modern songs.

For some, you`ll love the traditional songs, for others you`ll hate them because you won`t know them and you would rather learn more contemporary artists such as `Simon and Garfunkel` and `Ed Sheeran`.

Don`t get me wrong though, the versions that Hanson creates are wonderful and the although the songs from contemporary artists aren`t here, the techniques are.

Conclusion

If you`re a keen fingerpicker and love that disctintive `Travis Picking` sound, then you`ll enjoy this book. There are only four patterns with a lot of variations, so you may find it overkill, but then again you`ll also enjoy coming back to it over the years.

It will improve your playing, and as long as you don`t mind traditional music, you`ll enjoy it,

 

Rating

8/10