4 comments about Learn to Play the Guitar: A Beginner's Guide to Accoustic and Electric Guitar.

1. There are a lot of fretboard diagrams in this book. In contrast to every other book I've seen, they are all drawn as though you were looking at the guitarist, i.e., the nut is to the right. This makes them nearly indecipherable.
   
   The book doesn't cost much, especially if you get it used, and it has some nice tips for the beginner. There's no depth at all, though, and there's a lot better information available for free on the web.



2. In common with many gigging guitarists I keep a copy of Phil Capone's Guitar Chord Bible permanently in my guitar case, so I was interested to see he had written a new book. In it he takes a step backwards and addresses the guitarist who is learning to play the instrument. Although familiar with all the techniques he describes, I can't help thinking that I could have saved myself a lot of trouble if I'd had this book twenty years ago. The chord and scale libraries at the back of the book are useful (although Capone's Chord Bible, mentioned above, is really unbeatable in this regard) and the included CD ensures that the student reader can hear what the material taught in the lessons should sound like when played correctly. All in all, this is a good package, and one I shall recommend to my students.



3. This item was purchased as a gift and was well recieved. It is very thorough and extremely helpful. The order was filled promply.



4. This is one of many books that I have purchased. However it spends a lot less time on the bookshelf than many of my other books I have purchased for the purpose of learning guitar. I recommend it to guitar players that are just outside of the step of begining yet not quite intermediate.

No comments about Guitar Chords and Scales: An Easy Reference for Acoustic or Electric Guitar.

No comments about Elmore James - Master of the Electric Slide Guitar.

3 comments about Instruments of Desire: The Electric Guitar and the Shaping of Musical Experience.

1. I would like to quickly state my thoughts about Dr. Steve Waksman. Although I have not yet been able to read through the entire book, I have read many sections of it. Dr. Waksman is a professor of mine at Miami University in Oxford, Oh. Throughout the semester he taught me a countless amount of information on the guitar and the history of Rock n' Roll. Out of all my classes I have ever been enrolled in, his American Studies class has not only been the most interesting, but I have also gained the most out of it. I am about to start reading the book and I'm sure I won't be able to put it down. Thanks Dr.Waksman! Sincerely, Joe Rada



2. this is a terrific book; it weaves together lots of well-researched cultural history, theoretical savvy, musical insight and a true rock and roll spirit to create an eminently readable and yet very intellectually responsible volume. it is hard to find a scholarly book that is so accessible, entertainingly written, and consistently adept at keeping so many balls in the air at once --gender and racial politics, sonic codings in popular music (purity of sound vs. distortion), the facts and figures of the history of popular music and the development of the electric guitar, etc. etc. highly recommended for smart groovoids.



3. While this book is mostly readable and does contain interesting and useful information where it is dealing specifically with guitars, and the direct histories of the artists involved...
   ....it fails when it takes an acedemic's perspective and drags in unwanted cultural, social speculations.
   I bought a book because I wished to read about nuts and bolts guitars and electric guitar history. I did NOT wish to enroll in a class in ethnic studies. If the author wanted to write about ethnic studies, I'm sure he could have found better and more appropriate subject matter.
   Tell me how Gibson put the Les Paul together with what woods and wiring and what problems they had. Tell me about electric guitar chord progressions in rock compared to jazz.
   As it is there are whole pages of academic, social intrepretive mishmosh.
   
   I will finish the whole book and there are interesting facts that are what I was looking for. But giving a psychological interpretation about a photo of Les Paul and Mary Ford sitting on a Gibson guitar was not what I need. Instead of suggesting that Les Paul was a sexist, why not talk about how Mary Ford had learned to play her electric guitar? Not a word about that.
   And when it comes to an important fact like how Chet Atkins fingerpicked his electric guitar like no one else had done, there is one paragraph.
   
   This appears to be a book for a sociologist, not for a guitar player.

1 comments about 101 Razor-Sharp Blues Guitar Rhythm Patterns in the Electric Urban / Chicago Style (Book and CD) (Red Dog Music Books Razor-Sharp Blues Guitar Series).

1. I have used Larry McCabe's instruction books for years with my music students, with good results, so I picked up a copy of this new book last month to use in my teaching studio. My students are enjoying the book very much and so am I. It is quite a nice book and CD, unique in format and impressive in its instructional design and educational goals.
   
   As the product description mentions, these are the patterns that are played on authentic blues recordings. I have not seen as complete a collection of blues guitar rhythm patterns in another book. This is a comprehensive manual of urban blues rhythm patterns.
   
   The book is designed in a workbook/reference format that encourages the participation of the user in transposing, and applying, the patterns to standard eight-and twelve-bar blues chord progressions.
   
   Each pattern is demonstrated on the I, or tonic chord, in C major. Clear instructions are included that encourage the user to apply the pattern to other root tones, and also to "entire" blues progressions (I7-IV7-V7), such as the blues progressions found in real songs.
   
   One great thing about this book is that it motivates the user to form decisions regarding appropriateness of application, or use, in real blues songs. It is not a book for the lazy person who expects spoonfeeding, or a beginner who is satisfied with note-by-note copying of someone elses playing. To put it more bluntly, this book might not be useful for guitar students who fall into the "dumb" category. The format is designed for the guitarist who wants to learn to think for himself or herself, and who wants to learn by doing.
   
   I am showing my better students how to apply the patterns to real songs, and more importantly, I am teaching them to teach themselves how to apply the patterns to real songs, which is the overall instructional objective of the material.
   
   The patterns cover many positions on the fingerboard, up to the twelfth fret. Each pattern is written in the same key, C, for ease of analysis and comparison. It is a smart idea to present the material this way, again, because the user is encouraged to learn to transpose the examples to entire progressions, various keys, and songs having different types of rhythms.
   
   Even though most urban blues rhythm patterns are fairly easy to play from a technical viewpoint, this book would not be appropriate for a beginner. A beginner's focus is necessarily on mastering basic technique, not original application. This book encourages creative thinking and decision making. It is a book for ambitious students having early intermediate, or better, skills.
   
   A player with light experience, or lack of motivation, or inability to read instructions, might be confused by this book's goals. The exercise of musical application requires original thought, motivation, and experimentation. Thus, this is not a book for uninspired folks whose ability, ambition, and conceptual grasp is limited to copying note-for-note guitar licks and patterns.
   
   The professionally mixed CD is clearly recorded, and remarkably, contains every pattern, each recorded at a moderate tempo. Commendable effort.
   
   The book also contains a valuable appendix covering Basic Types of Blues Rhythm Patterns; 12-Bar Progressions in the Major Keys (with variations provided); 12-Bar Progressions in the Minor Keys (with variations provided); Open Charts for Application of Patterns.
   
   I highly recommend this impressive and useful book for any emerging guitarist who wants to "learn by imitating-and then doing." Fellow teachers with motivated guitar students, take a look at this one. Five stars.

5 comments about The Complete Electric Bass Player: Book 1-The Method (Complete Electric Bass Player).

1. I've been playing piano for a number of years and recently decided to take up the Bass Guitar. I don't currently have the time or money to work with an instructor for learning the bass. I picked up Rainey's book and found it to be very good. I'm about half way through the book and am now looking to buy the next book in his series. I don't know if this book is good for someone who is 'brand-new' to music, in general. It could be. But, having already had a background in music but NO practical experience with the Bass, this book has proven to be very valuable. I personally recommend this book. The author has a good, straight forward way of teaching that I really enjoy.

   Todd




2. I found this book to be very well done and a good resouce for the higher level beginner/intermediate player. Many people have written to note Rainey's odd playing style, and I would agree with them - it is probably actually best for the student to skip this section.

   It is important to understand that Rainey wrote this method book much like the Arban's book for trumpet players - more exercises than you can fathom and very few bells and whisltes.

   If you can take the dry, repetetive (and sometimes downright boring) studies, then there is no question you will be a better bassist.




3. This is a hard core introduction to all scales and arpegios you can think of, plus a few you couldn't have. If you master each exercise, with your metronome set at least to 80 bpm, you will get a LOT out of this book. It will take a lot of will power to turn from one page of exercises to next. It is more practise than music, most of the time. This is OK, as long as you are serious.
   
   Unfortunately, there is no CD, but you probably wouldn't want to listen to it anyway.
   
   Also, I'm going to go on a limb here, and say ignore the "right hand" technique section. Chuck has a very unorthodox way of plucking the strings.
   
   It's not easy, but if Chuck Rainey says this will make me play better, I'm going to believe him:)



4. An excellent book for beginners and for players who want to say fresh with plenty of practice exercises. Learn from one of the great masters of bass playing. Highly recommended.



5. 
   Standard notation only -- This may be a really good instruction book, but not if you can't read it. I don't read music, so this one gets tossed back. Why no TAB? (I can work out the notes, sure, but I've got 15 other instruction books, many of which have a ton of scale patterns that I'm probably never going to get to & finger-strengthening excercises are also in most of these books, so why keep this one?)
   
   A beginner would probably enjoy something more fun/entertaining than scales & scale exercises, even if this is the best way to learn.
   
   So if you are an absolute beginner & can't read music, maybe skip this one & look for a book that has: TABLATURE (notes written in an easy-to-figure-out manner). Possibly also look for some sort of CD- or DVD-included with whatever book you choose so you can hear what a particular piece is meant to sound like.
   
   One other thing, & this has absolutely nothing to do with this book, which looks like a perfectly good book: generally speaking, I've found mel bay titles to be not-so-good, so if you have any choice--and often in music shops you don't--steer clear of mel bay publications.
   
   (i'm sure that there are exceptions to the mel bay thing, but I haven't found any for beginner how-to music books).
   
   If you are a serious bass player and/or can read music, or feel like learning to read music, then the other reviews for this book are much, much more appropriate than this one & no offense is intended.

1 comments about Hot Guitar: Arlen Roth.

1. This is a great book for knucklebusting hot guitar licks, especially in the American roots music/Telecaster style. I recommend this as a textbook for my guitar students.

2 comments about Echo and Twang: Classic Guitar Music of the '50s.

1. Along with its companion volume 'Fuzz and Feedback: Classic Guitar Music of the '60s', this book provides a richly-illustrated account of electric guitars and their manufacturers from a seminal period in the history of popular music. From the classic to the bizarre, from the familiar to the esoteric, they are all here in big picture and full-colour. Its magazine-type layout and writing approach makes for very easy perusal, providing an entertaining overview of the period and these fascinating time-pieces.
   BUT BE WARNED ... this book was previously published in 1996 in hardcover under the title 'Classic Guitars of the '50s'. To the best of my knowledge no mention is made anywhere of this in the write-up.



2. I'm one of the macaroons that didn't notice that these two books Fuzz & Feedback, and Echo and Twang are actually older books with brand-spanking new Titles and Covers.
   
   They were originally: Classic Guitars of the '60s, & Classic Guitars of the '50s.
   
   I ordered them from Amazon thinking they were cool new books by Bacon and Company. Bacon's books are usually similar to DK books with great pictures and good text, so I normally just order them when I see them.
   
   I've reported this to Amazon and we'll see if they'll let me exchange them.
   
   (i reported this to Amazon on 12-29-06 and as of 1-5-07 I have heard nothing)

2 comments about Electric Guitar Primer.

1. this book shows the in's and out's of the basic electric guitar. it is not to advanced and gives helpful tips for problems that may occur with beginners, like muffled sounding chords.



2. This is a clear introduction to rock guitar. There is also a companion video that I would highly recommend. The course covers different strumming and rock rhythm techniques (shuffle, power chords, chordal riffs)using a nice selection of songs ("Louie, Louie", "Wild Thing", "All Along the Watchtower", "Johnny B. Goode", "Old Time Rock and Roll", "Black Magic Woman", "Gimme Shelter", "Miss You", "Don't Be Cruel", and more). You can play along with both the video and the CD that comes with the book (the book/CD is more comprehensive than the video, but the video is great for showing proper technique).

   I became a performer and teacher starting with this book - and you can, too. Use this as your guide, put in the time, use follow-up books by Peter Vogl, and you'll get there faster than you thought possible.

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.