1 comments about Chord Studies for Electric Bass: Guitar Technique (Workshop (Berklee Press)).

1. I purchased this very hopeful it would help me advance my playing. But, while the technical information is excellent, it's not easy to understand. Mostly it's just musical notation of lots of scales that directly relate to specific chords. Nothing really new or insightful.

   As a REFERENCE book, this might be good, but not as a student workbook (the title says "Chord Studies" so I expected some form of lessons).

   Another serious shortcoming is the lack of a CD. This compounds the problem of understanding WHAT the authors might be trying to offer as instruction.

   Truth is, for the scales and chords presented in this book, a Bass Student could find all this on the Web, For Free.

2 comments about The Classical Guitar (Frederick Noad Guitar Anthology).

1. Noad's books in this series have a very tasteful presentation of staples of the repertoire mixed with more obscure pieces, illustrations, and history. Highly recommended!



2. This is another in the series of Frederick Noad's compilations and I would say ,one of the best.It includes a lot of works by Sor, Giuliani, Diabelli and Carulli but BE WARNED the accompanying CD is more than a little bit annoying. The tempi are all over the place and the duets (which is why I bought it) are truncated versions. The Giuliani Polonaise Concertante is only the trio and le Premier pas vers moi is not even half the complete work but a cobbled version....However if you are student of the era, buy it you will use it for years for your solo repertoire

4 comments about Gipsy Guitar w/2 CD (Flamenco Guitar).

1. So many of this title sold so far, but still not one review!!! Have you an idea why!!? This product is a real deception: just because the cds which are supposed to be playing the role of the teacher with such books, are bin bound.
   
   What I mean is that the pair of cds are of no help to understand the techniques taught in the book, as the passages are played by a band with different instruments and with added electrical effects. Cd2 has the same content as cd1 but in slower version. The book is a good one though, but with such a style as the Gypsy Flamenco or Flamenco itself, you need to lean on a serious guide, which the cds do not provide.
   
   I had placed a lot of expectations in that book&cds when ordering it, but.., what a deception!



2. Maybe I was expecting something unique. I thought this book was expensive and uninspired. It has a brief history of Flamenco for which is always helpful but, the examples are repetitive and not very "hip" melodically and there's not much variety. I would recommend Juan Martin's Solo Flamenco book volume 1. There are a wealth of ideas and some history behind some of the Soleas, Alegrias, Rumbas, Sevillanas etc. It also includes CD/DVD package for $20 here on Amazon, The Juan Martin is challenging, but if you want to learn this style it's going to be. You may want to skip this method



3. I"m a beginning player. I would recommend getting to at least an intermediate and then coming back to this. Not recommended unless you have a good base.



4. Overview
   =======
   The popularity that's been attained by the rumba flamenca, even among people who know nothing of Flamenco and care less, is nothing short of phenomenal (indeed, to judge by the live music presented around San José's up-scale restaurant area, Santana Row, some people make a living playing nothing else). Perhaps this should not be so surprising: the rumba is far more easily intelligible than the deeper forms of Flamenco, it's fast, and it's exciting. To be able to play a rumba well, then, will get you invited to far more parties than the ability to play a seguiriya.
   
   Gipsy Guitar is an addendum to the author's two-volume Flamenco Guitar Method, and is devoted entirely to further material on the rumba flamenca. It consists of a book, two CDs, and a CD-ROM.
   
   Presentation
   =========
   The CDs are bound with the book, in paper sleeves; and the CD-ROM comes in a separate DVD case. The book is not spiral-bound, but is relatively slim and opens flat fairly easily. The printing and photographs are both very clear. The book (with its two CDs) and the CD-ROM are apparently separate products. The CD-ROM has the same content as the book.
   
   Content
   ======
   The text of the book is in German and (good) English throughout. After the standard Preface and About the Author, we have a section on terminology, with the parts of the guitar and the fingers of the hands clearly labelled (in this case, in Spanish as well). This is followed by a brief history of the rumba.
   
   The musical material, which (quite reasonably) assumes absorption of the material in the previous volumes, or at least of flamenco guitar technique generally, consists of five different rumbas, each of which is written out in its entirety in staff notation and cifra. Second guitar parts are also given, sometimes as chord symbols (and associated fretboard diagrams) with rhythms, and sometimes written out like the first guitar part. Each piece is prefaced by a detailed explanation, with photographs, of the techniques it introduces. The fingering is thorough.
   
   CDs
   ===
   The first CD consists of the five rumbas played at normal speed, and the second of exactly the same thing, but more slowly. Each rumba is presented with all instruments, then without the rhythm guitar, then without the solo guitar, making fifteen tracks in all. The two last-named versions have clear rhythmic lead-ins enabling you to play along with no trouble. The total times for the two CDs are 58'04" and 73'51" respectively.
   
   The pieces are idiomatic and quite attractive, and not technically demanding (although neither are they beginner's pieces -- but this is not a beginner's book). In fact, if you program the five full-instrumentation, full-speed versions, they make decent listening music. The playing is solid, rhythmic, and professional.
   
   CD-ROM
   ======
   Unfortunately, the CD-ROM (dating from 2001) is Windows only, although (curiously) the author's website shows a Mac with OS X. A cursory inspection showed that there was no chance of running it on my Mac G4; of course, one of the new dual-boot Macs could be a different matter. The system requirements are:
   
   * PC with Pentium 200 MHz (or compatible) with 8-speed CD-ROM drive.
   * At least 32 MB RAM (NT/2000 at least 64 MB RAM).
   * Graphics card with 16-bit (HighColor) color depth.
   * Sound card.
   * Windows 98/ME or Windows NT/2000.
   
   The advertising for this CD-ROM says 'Stand-alone application -- no installation, no configuration.'
   
   I played it on an HP machine running Windows 2000 Professional (US version 5, Service Pack 3). The first thing it did was offer (in German) to install a German version of QuickTime 4 (since I didn't have QuickTime installed at all). Out of curiosity, I let it do so, and the installation proceeded without incident (but see Website, below).
   
   The CD-ROM then presented a menu that (after giving the choice of German or English) allows the selection of any one of the five pieces, which then plays along with the relevant sheet music, a moving cursor showing the notes currently being played. Cassette-player-like controls are shown, allowing you to do fast-rewinds and repeats. Videos of all techniques in normal and slow motion are also included, and there are various other goodies.
   
   Website
   ======
   I availed myself of the author's invitation to visit his website. A trifle to my surprise, in view of the immaculate English and Spanish in his publications, I found it to be in German only. It was only by accident I found there was a separate English-language site.
   
   The details of his various publications were nicely laid out, with links to vendors in different countries, but I found navigation a bit of a problem, requiring frequent use of the Back button. Also, the site does not distinguish clearly between links and other graphics. There is, however, an extremely good demo of the video from the CD-ROM, so you can see exactly what you're getting.
   
   The website also details a work-around for a potential problem (which I didn't experience) wherein the sound-track is audible but the score is invisible. This is due to Flash being disabled by default; the Advanced tab on QuickTime Settings must be used to change this.
   
   Summary
   =======
   Gipsy Guitar is an extremely thorough job, confirming the impression made by the author's earlier opus. In fact, I find it hard to imagine a better one. I found the three (as I write) negative reviews on amazon.com totally incomprehensible. If you can master the material here, you should easily be able to go on to pieces such as "La Lola", (recorded on Paco Peña's second flamenco album, on CD as Philips 826 904-2), photocopied transcriptions of which have been floating about for years.
   
   The only reservation I have is about the CD-ROM, which would be better as a DVD (as with the Method). Unless you're really, really stuck with the mechanics, though, I don't think the video's essential, although of course it would be nice to have.
   
   The book/CD combo can be recommended, then, even to Mac users; and the CD-ROM also (at least for now) to those on the Dark Side.

5 comments about Fingerstyle Guitar.

1. The great thing about this book is that it really shows you how to play fingerstyle guitar. For every exercise and transcription, the author discusses the new technical problems for the piece -- showing you the most efficient way to fret chords, discussing any particulary complicated picking pattern, etc. Songs are presented in tab and in standard notation.

   Chapters cover everything from basics to hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, bar chords, celtic and ragtime styles, etc.

   Along with Perlman's second book, 'Contemporary Fingerstyle Guitar', makes a great introduction to playing fingerstyle.




2. Ken Perlman packs a gig bag-full of fingerstyle guitar into this book. While it definitely targets novice fingerstyle players, it is not a book for those just beginning to play the guitar. Although Perlman introduces tablature, he assumes the player can read standard notation and already has a good knowledge of the fingerboard. Also, because much of fingerstyle is based on movable chord positions, the student should have some facility negotiating between chords.
   That said, the book begins by introducing the style of alternating bass and builds increasingly complex melodies and techniques over this basic pattern. The student will learn all the standard left hand techniques (hammer-on and pull-off notes, slides, graced notes, etc.) as well as some development of the right hand. Perlman's approach is to use individual songs to introduce each concept which keeps the learning process musical without being overly didactic. In my view, there are several points that elevate Fingerstyle Guitar above most other instructional books. First, Perlman selects great acoustic guitar music. If you like the simple yet wonderful style of Mississippi John Hurt, it's there within the first few pages. With about 40 songs in all, the blues, roots and Celtic tunes are great fun to play, and much of the credit goes to Perlman's arranging and writing abilities. I also like the way Perlman sets each song up, giving the student some context in regard to the composer, or the song's history. And finally, following each piece, Perlman focuses on specific measures in the song that may be problematic, such as fingering patterns in chord transitions or tricky syncopations.
   While Fingerstyle Guitar starts from a very basic level, the pace of skill development is brisk. For example, open tunings are introduced barely half-way through the book. The tunes near the end of the book, such as Joplin's "The Entertainer", are definitely for the capable intermediate guitarist. Therefore, I would also recommend the book to anyone who has previous exposure to fingerstyle.
   For the intermediate-to-advance level player, Perlman's Advanced Fingerstyle Guitar is an excellent companion book which follows the same basic format set-out in Fingerstyle Guitar. Centerstream Publications has done a good job in the clear presentation of text and notation for both books. I particularly like the use of archival photographs of musicians that begin each chapter.
   Overall, you won't be disappointed with Perlman's approach to Fingerstyle Guitar.



3. I began fingerstyle with Zeppelin's "Babe I'm gonna Leave You" - learning from a tab, and picked up this book on a friend's rec. It is outstanding, there are a handful of great tabs provided that sound great and are fun to play (ie, "Freight Train"), while learning the basics. A bunch of Mississippi John Hurt tabs are in there, and after 4-6 months anyone should be able to play 'Candyman' with expertise. If you like fingerstyle and don't know Hurt, get his 'Best of' Live at Oberlin on vanguard. Anyway, an outstanding book for any willing player.



4. I've been learning guitar from books for about a year and this certainly does a good job. I wish I had discovered it 6 months ago. If you like this style of music, then this is the book for you. A lot of the songs can be played after minimal amount of time so there is a lot of reward when practicing from this book. One thing I found it helped alot with was with timing. It really emphasizes and polishes your sense of timing.



5. There are no tempo markings for any of the pieces, so you will not know how fast or slow to play the pieces. He does not use classical guitar technique: he hooks the left thumb over the neck to fret many notes, and worst of all he advocates the right hand pinky extended and placed on the face of the guitar.
   
   There's no CD with the book either.

No comments about SAM'S TOWN THE KILLERS (Guitar Recorded Versions).

1 comments about Classics for Flute and Guitar.

1. I am the guitarist writing here, my friend and I love this book and can't put it down. Don't be mistaken by the thrifty price, the arrangements are very good and pleasant to hear and play. I recommend it to anyone that is into flute and guitar. "

No comments about A Guitar for Christmas: Guitar Solo.

No comments about Mel Bay presents Antonio Carlo Jobim for Classical Guitar.

No comments about 60 Progressive Solos for Classical Guitar: Featuring the Music of the World's Greatest Composers: Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms.

No comments about Hillsong United Guitar Chord Songbook ""6X9 (Guitar Chord Songbook).