5 comments about Teach Yourself to Play Mandolin.

1. I purchased this book on ratings and found it to be very in depth. This is a good book if you have a good background in music, but if you do not it may be over your head. I use this book very little as I have found much better in depth books available.
   Bill
   N.C.



2. This is an excellent book for learning mandolin except it does not come with a CD. At first I was discouraged but then used another mandolin book that included a CD and then went back to learn from this one, which worked out great. Great excercises for learning the fret board.



3. My husband has played guitar for many years & just bought a mandolin. He was unsure how to tune it and this book showed him how to tune it, the notes, etc. He was very pleased with the book and told me it taught him everything he needed.



4. It's been 20 years since I read sheet music; this book has a terrific introduction to reading music and some fun practice songs to play. I highly recommend it.



5. This is a good general introduction to the mandolin, suitable for those with no background in string instruments.
   
   A previous reviewer stated that the book included standard notation and tablature. That is incorrect. There is no tablature for the musical selections in this book.

2 comments about Pink Floyd Guitar Tab Anthology.

1. The tabs are pretty accurate and intensive as far as covering most of the guitar parts (and some of the keyboard) played in the recordings. My only disappointment was that not one song from "Animals" was included. "Dogs" would have been the one I would have selected. Despite this flaw, it is worth the money.



2. You'll be surprised how well you play Pink Floyd with the help of this book. The transcriptions are excellent and the price is great. I got it because on the DVD of the making of Dark Side, Gilmour and Waters are separately shown playing solo acoustic versions of some songs and they sound great. This book will show you how to do that or sound great plugged in.
   
   Another Brick in the Wall (Parts 1&2), Astronomy Domine, Brain Damage, Breathe, Comfortably Numb, Eclipse, Goodbye Blue Sky, Have a Cigar, Hey You, If, Is there Anybody Out There?, Money, MOther, Not Now John, On the Turning Away, Remember a Day, See Emily Play, Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Part V), Welcome to the Machine and Wish you Were Here.

5 comments about Building Electric Guitars: How to Make Solid-Body, Hollow-Body and Semi-Acoustic Electric Guitars and Bass Guitars.

1. I am in the final stages of my first electric guitar. Just about another 10 coats on the neck and a little wiring. Terrible pictures, great info. I find myself refering to Melvyn Hiscock's book (Make Your Own Electric Guitar 2nd edition) for the great (how to) photos and schematics. Both books were a great help. HINT... If this is your first guitar, DON'T use poly-urathane on the neck or body. The book says don't also. So I did. Looks OK now but would have saved me alot of hours if I used lacquer as recomended. I am using autobody (spray can) clear on the neck and it looks great. Have fun



2. Wow, there is a lot of info packed into this book. I agree with most of the other reviewers in that the appearance could be improved. Photos aren't as good as they need to be, but Mr. Koch does a great job of explaining things and the written content is excellent. The only other weak spot, for me, was not enough wiring info for the semi-acoustic version, which is what I intend to build. However, Mr. Koch is accessible and he graciously answered my questions. I'm well pleased with this book.
   
   Ron



3. I purchased this book to aide me in my quest to produce a solid body electric ukulele. I'm having some difficulty understanding the electronics but every other part is easy to understand.



4. Book arrived in excellent condition within the time frame stated. My son was very excited and is working on building his first guitar.



5. I recently purchased this book and I'm impressed at the breadth of information meticulously presented within this book, including how to make your own pickups and how to prepare your wood if you happen to be gung ho enough to saw your own lumber.
   
   I'm not exactly sure how a few others drew the conclusion that this book was poorly organized since my copy seems to be organized clearly enough, unless they have earlier printings. The illustrations and images in my copy seem to be clear enough too as I suspect the author has applied a great deal of effort to tweak later printings to improve his book.
   
   The only downside is that one needs a bit of patience when reading, since Koch is so detailed. This book isn't exactly "Guitar Building for Dummies." On the other hand, patience can be a life and limb saver when operating sharp power tools--so think of his book as a lesson in Zen as well as in lutherie.

3 comments about Fretboard Roadmaps for Slide Guitar (Fretboard Roadmaps).

1. I wanted to get into slide, so I got this book, along with a couple of others. I found this book to be the best, because it had the most. Besides the alternate tunings, and detailed examples, there are practice tracks to improvise with, and scale: two things that the other slide books didn't have. This is a good primer, with everything you'll need to get started (minus the slide and the actual guitar, of course).



2. Like all the Fretboard Roadmaps, this is a great reference for the slide guitar.



3. This is a good book for introducing yourself to slide and techniques. It will show you the standard open tunings and scales as well as a number of songs to put them to use. As with all of the books I have experience with, you'll need to do your homework to take it to the next level. Having a basic understanding of theory and capo use will make this easier.

1 comments about Mel Bay Childrens's Guitar Chord Book.

1. This book turned out to be just what my daughter needed. She is 10 and just starting to learn some chords. This book is simple and easy to understand without alot of extra information. She can take it with her. I recommend this book for a child or teenager just getting started.

5 comments about Mel Bay Play Solo Flamenco Guitar with Juan Martin Book, CD, and DVD: Vol. 1.

1. Very good method. Although it does not teaches how to do "rasqueo", "tresillos", "golpes" & "picados" (vital component for the more advanced pieces), it should give the student a basic understanding of the tempo flamenco style. Again for anything beyond level 0, those techniques are required!



2. A good start for people who wish to learn flamenco and allready play the guitar.



3. Juan Martin's "Solo Flamenco Guitar vol 1" is not so much instructional in terms of technique but is rather a collection of beautiful, progressively graded flamenco solos in many 'palos'(rhythmic styles). Absolute begginers may get frustrated with the lack of explanation here, however, use of this book in conjunction with a method such as Dennis Kosters excellent Mel Bay presents The Keys to Flamenco Guitar, Volume 1, and the begginer will find Martins solos opening to them.
   As an intermediate player I am thrilled with Mr. Martins collection and presentation. The DVD is an especially useful training tool, and entertainig on its own. In vol's 1 & 2 he has given me several years worth of material for study. I can't recommend this series highly enough. Now, I've listened to enough Paco while I write this and must pick up my guitar and play.



4. I think this book accomplishes its main goal: To provide complete pieces to play from beginner level all the way to advanced (book 2). However, Juan Martin uses the word beginner quite loosely so don't be discouraged when you have difficulty with "Level 0" pieces. Even these pieces would be quite difficult for someone with no guitar playing experience (and even some of those who have some experience but none w/classical/fingerstyle guitar!). The great thing about this book though, is that most of the pieces, if not all, are very beautiful and really sound like something more than an exercise, even at the early levels which makes it a great way to learn the flamenco guitar! And yes, a lot of the techniques (rasgueado, alzapua) will seem impossible at first. They are not. Don't be discouraged.



5. This book is informative, and gives a good tuition in the art of learning the Flamenco guitar. It has sheet music with finger charts showing where to place the fingers, and pluck the strings. I have give this course a 4 stars rating, as it gives a first encounter of this special playing technique. I have however seen other courses, and photographed right in front, it is not all to easy to see if all fingers are on the board, or not. Nevertheless, the notation is good, so it should indeed be possible to learn the technique with such an excellent performer that Mr. Juan Martin is. It should also be noted that he is a very good speaker of English.

5 comments about Fifty Easy Classical Guitar Solos (Classical Guitar).

1. Ehhh, I'm truly disappointed in this book. It is truly for the very beginner and the songs are sub par. Many of the songs are very similar and just wasn't what I was looking for. I was hoping for something with more skill/technical. I would pass on this book if you have prior guitar experience.



2. I recently decided to take up classical guitar on my own after playing piano most of my life and diddling around with electric and acoustic guitars. While this book doesn't give any instruction, it is progressive, starting out with extremely simple pieces and working up to easy yet more complex works. Half way through, the pieces require special fingering, and the tablature and notation help show how it's done. I'd give the book five stars since it delivers what its title describes, but I think the book could have been prefaced with some intro to fingerings and other beginner techniques. Nevertheless, there are many books that cover that issue. The songs in this book have mostly a nice Spanish sound to them, and I have really enjoyed working on them. I'd recommend this book to any beginner, hobbiest, etc.



3. I am a beginner and can play the first 5 songs perfectly. I like how the songs get progressivly more difficult. Great book. The CD is handy to preview how the songs should sound.



4. This was my first ever classical guitar book, and I don't regret it for a second! The tablature with standard notation is definitely the way to go for beginners; also, the pieces, as other reviewers have stated, are simple enough for one not extensively versed in classical music to play. However, be warned that this is no method book, and the pieces are not exactly graded (I still have trouble with some of the songs toward the middle). I also agree with most of the other reviewers about the biographies and lack of spiral binding; it would have been better to have technical terms explained, and not force me to clip the book to my stand all the time (shifting those clips after each song becomes a major drag after a while). Problems aside, I love the fact that after the nonsensical biographies, there is nothing but pure repertoire for the budding enthusiast to dig in to. The CD also helps to give the player a better idea of how to play the songs, and can double as a nice addition to your casual listening music collection. When my friends ask me how they can get started making music like me, I always recommend Fifty Easy Classical Guitar Solos!



5. I own several other "easy to intermediate" level repertoire books, and this one has some good pieces not found in any of my other books. I tend to disagree with the reviewers who suggest that there isn't enough variety among these songs--I was actually pretty impressed with the selections here. The CD is very good, because Willard plays slowly enough to make it more helpful than if he was racing along at concert speed. I sure wish I'd had a book/CD like this 20 or 30 years ago! I've played guitar off and on for over 30 years, but just purchased this 2 months ago. I took lessons for a few months way back in 1980 to learn the basics of classical guitar, and have mostly played classical since. However, I haven't played consistently because of re-occurring pain in fingers/joints, and also what I perceive as a lack of talent. So I'm still not much beyond the "advanced-beginner" stage. Which leads to my final reason for recommending this package, and why, for me, one little thing was probably worth the 12 bucks I paid: Willard has slightly modified Tarrega's lovely Study in E minor (one of the best pieces in this book), making it easier by eliminating a bar chord that has always been hard for me to play smoothly--and hurt my wrist... And the change doesn't detract from the beauty of the song. I'm now playing it better than ever, and it doesn't hurt!!!

5 comments about Guitar Tab White Pages, Volume 2.

1. I didn't see a listing of the songs included in this book, so I bought it on blind faith. Some strange, obscure titles by well known artists are included while their more popular songs were omitted-why, I don't know. If you want a variety of fairly tame tab, this book may be for you. As a part time working musician, I don't find this publication very useful. John Denver, but only one Led Zep tune? C'mon, Hal Leonard....



2. This is a very useful book to learn a wide variety of good songs, with detailed note-for-note transcriptions, as recorded by the artists. You might not find every single song you like, but you'll find classics like Tears in Heaven, new punk bands like Offspring and Blink, some other old stuff like Leaving on a Jet Plane, etc. More than 1000 pages, more than 100 songs. Awesome Book.



3. All Day And All Of The Night - Performed by: The Kinks
     All Of You - From: "Silk Stockings" - Performed by: Kenny Burrell 
     All The Small Things - Performed by: Blink 182  
     All Your Love (I Miss Loving) - Performed by: Otis Rush
     American Woman - Performed by: Lenny Kravitz
     Badge - Performed by: Cream 
     Birthday - Performed by: The Beatles
     Blue Suede Shoes - Performed by: Elvis Presley
     Born With A Broken Heart - Performed by: Kenny Wayne Shepherd
     Brass In Pocket - Performed by: Pretenders 
     Brick House - Performed by: Commodores
     Building A Mystery - Performed by: Sarah McLachlan
     Bulls On Parade - Performed by: Rage Against The Machine
     Call Me The Breeze - Performed by: Lynyrd Skynyrd
     Can't You See - Performed by: Marshall Tucker Band
     Caught Up In You - Performed by: 38 Special
     Centerfold - Performed by: J. Geils Band
     Change The World - Performed by: Eric Clapton
     Chinatown, My Chinatown - Performed by: Chet Atkins
     Cliffs Of Dover - Performed by: Eric Johnson
     Close My Eyes Forever - Performed by: Ozzy Osbourne and Lita Ford
     Come Down - Performed by: Toad The Wet Sprocket
     Couldn't Stand The Weather - Performed by: Stevie Ray Vaughan
     Counting Blue Cars - Performed by: Dishwalla
     Crush 'Em - Performed by: Megadeth
     Cult Of Personality - Performed by: Living Colour
     Day Tripper - Performed by: Paul McCartney
     Divorce Me C.O.D - Performed by: Merle Travis 
     Don't Fear The Reaper - Performed by: Blue Oyster Cult
     Down - Performed by: Stone Temple Pilots
     Drive My Car - Performed by: The Beatles
     Dust In The Wind - Performed by: Kansas
     Eye Of The Tiger - Performed by: Survivor
     For Your Love - Performed by: The Yardbirds
     Free Ride - Performed by: Edgar Winter Group
     Full House - Performed by: Wes Montgomery
     Give Me One Reason - Performed by: Tracy Chapman
     Gloria - Performed by: Van Morrison
     Godzilla - Performed by: Blue Oyster Cult
     Green-Eyed Lady - Performed by: Sugarloaf  
     Hair Of The Dog - Performed by: Nazareth  
     Heartache Tonight - Performed by: Eagles
     Heaven Beside You - Performed by: Alice In Chains
     Hey Joe - Performed by: Jimi Hendrix
     Hit Me With Your Best Shot - Performed by: Pat Benatar
     Hold My Hand - Performed by: Hootie & The Blowfish 
     Honeysuckle Rose - Performed by: Django Reinhardt
     Hot Blooded - Performed by: Foreigner
     I Just Want To Celebrate - Performed by: Rare Earth
     I Love Rock 'N Roll - Performed by: Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
     I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man - Performed by: Muddy Waters
     The Impression That I Get - Performed by: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
     Iron Man - Performed by: Black Sabbath
     It Hurts Me Too - Performed by: Elmore James
     Jessica - Performed by: The Allman Brothers Band
     Jesus Is Just Alright - Performed by: The Doobie Brothers
     Kind Hearted Woman Blues - Performed by: Robert Johnson 
     Landslide - Performed by: Fleetwood Mac
     Layla - Performed by: Eric Clapton
     Learn To Fly - Performed by: Tom Petty 
     Learning To Fly - Performed by: Tom Petty
     Let It Ride - Performed by: Bachman-Turner Overdrive
     Lit Up - Performed by: Buckcherry
     Living After Midnight - Performed by: Judas Priest
     Longer - Performed by: Dan Fogelberg
     Loser - Performed by: Beck 
     Mama Kin - Performed by: Aerosmith
     The Man Who Sold The World
     Mannish Boy - Performed by: Jimi Hendrix
     Maria Maria - Performed by: Santana and The Product G & B
     Mary Had A Little Lamb - Performed by: Buddy Guy
     Mississippi Queen - Performed by: Mountain
     Misty - Performed by: Barney Kessel
     Moonlight in Vermont - Performed by: Johnny Smith  
     Mr. Jones - Performed by: Counting Crows
     My Girl - Performed by: The Temptations
     My Own Worst Enemy - Performed by: Lit
     Name - Performed by: Goo Goo Dolls
     No One Like You - Performed by: Scorpions
     No Particular Place To Go - Performed by: Chuck Berry
     Oh, Pretty Woman - Performed by: Van Halen
     Oleo - Performed by: Pat Martino
     Owner Of A Lonely Heart - Performed by: Yes 
     Papa's Got A Brand New Bag - Performed by: James Brown
     Paperback Writer - Performed by: The Beatles
     Paranoid - Performed by: Black Sabbath
     Patience - Performed by: Guns N' Roses
     Piece Of My Heart - Performed by: Janis Joplin 
     Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) - Performed by: The Offspring
     Radar Love - Performed by: Golden Earring
     Ramblin' Man - Performed by: The Allman Brothers Band  
     Ramrod - Performed by: Duane Eddy
     Rebel, Rebel - Performed by: David Bowie
     Rhiannon - Performed by: Fleetwood Mac
     Ridin' The Storm Out - Performed by: REO Speedwagon
     Riding With The King - Performed by: B.B. King and Eric Clapton  
     Rock And Roll Hoochie Koo - Performed by: Rick Derringer 
     Rock Around The Clock - Performed by: Bill Halley & His Comets
     Rock Bottom - Performed by: UFO  
     San Franciscan Nights - Performed by: Eric Burdon & The Animals
     Satin Doll - Performed by: Joe Pass
     School's Out - Performed by: Alice Cooper
     Seven Come Eleven - Performed by: Charlie Christian
     Shake Me - Performed by: Cinderella
     Shining Star - Performed by: Earth, Wind, And Fire 
     Shout It Out Lord - Performed by: Kiss
     Signs - Performed by: Tesla
     Sir Duke - Performed by: Stevie Wonder
     Sleepwalk - Performed by: Santo & Johnny
     Smoke On The Water - Performed by: Deep Purple
     Snortin' Whiskey - Performed by: Pat Travers
     Something To Talk About (Let's Give Them Something To Talk About) - Performed by: Bonnie Raitt
     Song 2 - Performed by: Blur
     Sourthern Cross - Performed by: Crosby, Stills, And Nash
     Start Me Up - Performed by: The Rolling Stones  
     Statesboro Blues - Performed by: The Allman Brothers Band
     The Stumble - Performed by: Freddie King 
     Sunshine Of Your Love - Performed by: Cream
     Susie-Q - Performed by: Creedence Clearwater
     Sweet Emotion - Performed by: Aerosmith
     Sweet Little Angel - Performed by: B. B. King
     Take A Look Around (Theme) - From: "M:I-2" - Performed by: Limp Bizkit
     Take A Picture - Performed by: Filter
     Takin' Care Of Business - Performed by: Bachman-Turner Overdrive
     Teach Your Children - Performed by: Crosby, Stills, and Nash
     Tears In Heaven - Performed by: Eric Clapton
     This Masquerade - Performed by: George Benson
     Thunderbird - Performed by: ZZ Top
     Time - Performed by: Pink Floyd
     Time For Me To Fly - Performed by: REO Speedwagon
     Time In A Bottle - Performed by: Jim Cronce
     Tomorrow - Performed by: Silverchair
     Turn!Turn!Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season) - Performed by: The Byrds
     Two Princes - Performed by: Spin Doctors
     Wait And Bleed - Performed by: Slipknot
     Wake Up Little Susie - Performed by: The Everly Brothers
     Walk This Way - Performed by: Aerosmith
     When The Children Cry - Performed by: White Lion
     Wild Thing - Performed by: The Troggs
     Wonderwall - Performed by: Oasis
     You Give Love A Bad Name - Performed by: Bon Jovi
     You Shook Me - Performed by: Led Zeppelin
     You Were Meant For Me - Performed by: Jewel
     You've Got A Friend - Performed by: James Taylor



4. The transcriptions in this book are terrible. Even fairly easy songs like Hair of the Dog they got wrong. I'm sending mine back to Amazon.



5. Too complicated for her age. Needed to get something that perhaps combined instructions for use of tabs. She is only 11 years old.

5 comments about Guitar Chord Bible: Over 500 Illustrated Chords for Rock, Blues, Soul, Country, Jazz, and Classical.

1. I picked this book after looking through several at the bookstore. What I liked about it was that it had lots of chords and it gave you some of the "logic" behind the chord and why/where you might use them. Most other books just have lots of chord pictures laid out on the page which I did not find helpful.
   
   Also this book shows an actual photo of a hand playing the chord which I liked. The book's tablature (chord pictures) shows which note is the root in the chord which I also liked.
   
   Another cool thing is that the book is spiral bound so that it will lay open flat. This is really helpful when you're actually playing your guitar chords and not holding the book.
   
   So while this book doesn't have 1000's of chords like some do (it doesn't get into a lot of "fancy" chords--suspended, 11ths, 13ths, etc) it does give you 500 of the most useful ones. I also like the appendixes that have more blues, jazz, rock chords.
   
   It's a good book all in all.



2. Without going into a lot of detail...this is THE guitar chord book. Loaded with chords, explanations, fretting pictures, styles.
   
   ...if you looking for a thorough chord listing, this is definately it!



3. This was purchased as a gift and was appreciated by its content and quality. I am pleased with the service and response from the recipient.



4. This was a Christmas present for our son and he loves it! All the cords at his fingertips. Great for a self-taught guitarist.



5. This book is worth its weight in gold... It is an awesome resource for those who think they know it all and those who harly know anything at all, like myself.

5 comments about The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Guitar (2nd Edition).

1. The book came in the mail and was in great condition. I have found the book to be very informational and easy to follow. I enjoy the information and I am on my way to learning the basics of guitar playing. Awesome book.



2. I usually recoil from anything "Idiot's", but when I saw Noad's name on it I was curious. I own several of this famous guitarist/educator's books and thought it would be worth a look. This is a great book! It is appropriate for the absolute beginner; and is also useful to more experienced guitarists. It includes history and interesting guitar information to enhance and add context to the lessons. It does not create the false impression that anyone can learn guitar without hard work and practice; but it does move a student along quickly in simple fashion. I played a beautiful Gomez piece, "Plegaria" from a later chapter in the book (I have not found it anywhere else) at a music circle and it was very well recieved. The CD is also very helpful. I will continue use this book with my students and my own studies.



3. Product received as described with disk intact. Am pleased with purchase and would buy again in future.



4. this book is is full of super basic information if you own a guitar and took 4 lessons you would be beyond this book. i expected it to go into more relevant playing styles but did not really happen. if you are an emo rocker want-to-be just picking up you very first guitar then by all means get this and sit alone strumming you little heart out, but if you are really trying to get beyond your fisher price my first guitar start some where else. it is not a bad book just very very slow moving and i would say that if if your guitar does not look like the one on the cover. DO NOT GET THIS BOOK. i would recommend it to my grand mother to please the shady-pines crew. i know she would find it her speed.



5. Just starting with this but it is well-documented with background tidbits, and it is very easy to use.