5 comments about Guitar Rigs: Classic Guitar and Amp Combinations.

1. This is a fantastic book. Dave Hunter is also a great writer. I personally have always dug the guitar/amp combinations of my favorite bands. If you are a "gearhead" this book is a must. Hunter really does a great job covering different generes of guitar music-surf, blues, british sound, jazz, and a fantastic chapter on garage sound. The CD that accompanies the book is killer in both dynamics and sound-goose bumps!!



2. A very interesting book. It takes you an an interesting journey through the history of this little darling of ours, the electric guitar with accessories.
   It is not just a description of the classic guitar/amp combos, but an in-depth explanation of which elements in the sound chain that affects your output sound, and why.
   Unfortunately most of the readers have already bought their guitars and amps before reading this book, but remember, there's always place for one more combo in your den.



3. This is a great book, particularly if you are interested in guitar music pre-1980 or so. I can't help but feel, though, as if something is missing from the book, because so many setups that are now considered "classic" are missing. The most obvious oversight is think is the complete lack of coverage of the Roland Jazz Chorus JC-120 amplifier, one of the most important guitar amplifiers ever manufactured.
   
   A close second is the omission of any information on Mesa/Boogie amplifiers, whose most "classic" proponent would probably be Carlos Santana. If the combination of a Paul Reed Smith guitar and any Mesa/Boogie amp isn't "classic" by now, it never will be! PRS actually play-tests all their guitars before they ship through a Mesa/Boogie amplifier.
   
   It would also be nice to see some bass guitars and amplifiers in here, say, the Ampeg SVT, Trace Elliot SMX, and others. Ah well, maybe if there's ever a second edition...I'm sure if I thought about for a little longer, I could come up with even more examples that should be included.



4. I read Hunter's tube amp book and found his style and focus both unique and useful to those of us who are looking for info that is in many cases, difficult to find in a clear, organized format. Guitar tone is something that is more than just amplifiers and pickups so Hunter covers the effects of first, the guitar then the amps. I'm sure that there is some chance that your favorite guitar or amp isn't in here but many seminal ones are. If you really want to examine the subject; this is the best book yet.



5. Dave Hunter has written a complex yet very understandable way for readers to get to understand why classic guitar and amp combinations sounded and still sound so good. Dave is a tube man, yet gives very logical explanations why tubes sound better than solid state. I appreciate the fact that Dave Hunter talks about the entire sound chain that effects the tone we hear...from guitar scale length to strings Dave Hunter hits on all the ingredients that make us guitar players shiver when we lock in that great tone.

4 comments about Classical Guitar 2000: Technique for the Contemporary Serious Player.

1. This book is terrific for any serious student who wants a complete book of exercises for left and right hand development. What I like most about this book is the presentation of the scales. He gives you 33 pages of scales: melodic minor, major scales, chromatic, diminished, etc. in one, two, and three octave ranges. He shows you different approaches to the same scale -- two string version and three string version; 5 string versions and six string versions, etc.

   There are good arpeggio exercises, cadence exercise,slur exercises, chord change exercises, chromatic octave and tenths exercises, and everything else you could think of. The explanations are clear. The print is big (nice layout to the book) and easy to read.

   I first read Duncan's book, The Art of Classical Guitar Playing, which is a companion to his Classical Guitar 2000 book. That's also very good and unique. Classical Guitar 2000 is the practical application of what he discusses in his Art of Classical Guitar book.

   I also have Pumping Nylon by Scott Tennant, and although both books are outstanding and I use both on a frequent basis, I prefer this book.




2. This book contains the quintessential essay on nail-filing in the literature for classical guitar. I require it for all serious classcial guitar students studying with me. It's discussion of tension as falling into the categories of functional and dysfunctional tension is a very important discussion that helps the developing student realize how the hand function properly. This book is on my "Basic Library" list for all students, classical and otherwise.
   Thomas O. Olson, MM, Performer and teacher of Classical guitar, graduate, the Cleveland Institue of Music.



3. Classical Guitar 2000 is what is says:a companion to Charles Duncan's Art of Classical Guitar Playing (Art of Series).
   Tons of guitar instruction books are being published. Just type in words like "mastering the guitar" and within soon you may get lost musing what to choose.
   This book, written in 1993, may be the one to look for.
   It is not written for the beginner. You'll not find the word "easy" in the book.
   The serious student (Duncan's words and, I may add, the serious guitar player) will be guided from basic guitar technique to practical examples taken from the classical guitar literature.
   It offers a well organized compendium of excercises, tools which provide guidance to "the process of learning and performing music". Again Duncan's words however to be completed by the tag "technical".
   
   Do we learn "music" from books? I don't think so. The book provides the tools to reach the technical levels to perform but it is not by accident that Duncan uses the word "student" several times in his introduction.
   Set a goal, get organized, be inspired and find a source to fire the inspiration and enthousiasme to make music. The book may help you to reach that goal.



4. I can't really add much more to say about this very useful book - the above reviewers did an excellent job of describing it's content. I will, however, type up a list of what's in the content page since you can't "see inside" this book:
   
   Preface
   Introduction: First Principles
   Section I: Scales
   Comprehensive Diatonic Scales
   Two-Octave Scale Forms
   Rhythmic Formulas for Practice
   Two-Octave Diatonic Scales in all Keys
   Three-Octave Scales
   Developing Velocity in Scales
   Scales Beyond the Diatonic
   
   Section II: Chords and Arpeggios
   Systemic Cadences
   Recurring Chord Forms
   Cadences in the Principal Keys
   Arpeggios
   Basic Arpeggios in Increasing Complexity
   Arpeggios with Thumb and Fingers Played Together
   Practicing Arpeggios with the Carcassi Etude 2
   Two Etudes by Dionisio Aguado
   
   Section III: Left-Hand Development
   Slurs
   Basic Ascending Slur Exercises
   Descending Slurs
   Ascending and Descending Slurs Combined
   Triplet Slurs
   Slurs Across the Fingerboard
   Chromatic Octaves and Tenths
   Bar-Chord Strength Development
   
   Section IV: Exercises in Technical and Interpretive Control
   The Left Hand
   The Right Hand
   Interpretive Control
   
   And there you have the entire contents page. Pretty impressive I think. If you practice these exercises and drills that Mr. Duncan has given, you will improve in many areas. I ask my more advanced students to purchase this book and we begin practicing two octave scales - minor and major.
   There is nothing about this book so far, that I can find anything negative to comment on. It's well worth the money.

3 comments about Best of Dave Matthews Band for Easy Guitar.

1. I bought this book as my first guitar book, because I was about to start learning how to play. The DMB was (and still is) my favorite band, so I figured that if I learned to play their music, it would keep me motivated and I would want to practice. The music was just right for me, and I have so much playing it!



2. Bought this because I was interested in learning some of DMB's music, and I have to say, this is an excellent resource! All songs have notes & tabulature (for you lazy guitarists ;) and all of them are fun to play... my favorite to play is Crash :)



3. ...and boy am i glad i did! I've been playing guitar for nearly 15 years now, and none of these songs are formatted correctly, but rather mere "fake transcriptions", if you will, of the songs they are meant to reproduce. While the tablatures sound like the correct song, if you read, listen, and learn the correct chords and structures from his recordings, Dave Matthews incorporates so much more into his music that this book cannot recreate. If you are buying this for a beginning guitar player, make sure you get them some real lessons to go aolong with this, trust me, they will aprreciate it much more, and it will go soooooooooo much further in the long run if they want to progress with their skills.
   Hope this helps,
   -chris-

5 comments about The Beatles Best: Over 120 Great Beatles Hits (Piano, Vocal, Guitar).

1. I ordered this book primarily for piano practice but also guitar reference. Even for an intermediate-level book, this should have had more accurate chord progressions and harmonies. On the very first song, Across the Universe, V1 guitar chords start D,(D), F#m. This sounds wrong to anyone who's heard the song! It should be D, F#m, D7. The piano arrangement sounds poor too. I wish I'd been able to preview a few pages before purchasing - I probably would not have purchased this particular book. Hopefully the rest of the book is better. On the positive side, the book has a good selection of classic Beatles tunes, and would be useful for intermediate-level guitar and piano practice, if you're not too fussy about the integrity of the harmonies or chord accuracy.



2. This book is ideal for piano players and it is also good for guitar references. The only real drawback this book had was the chord progressions were not fully accurate. For people who play guitar, just try using some of the chords in this book for some of the songs and your ears will tell you that this just ain't quite right.
   
   You will find an excellent selection of Beatle songs and intermediate guitarists will undoubtedly get a lot out of this book. If you are a stickler about the harmonies and the chord accuracy, this is not the book for you.



3. The arrangements in this book are maddeningly inaccurate. They range from boring to bad. If you're a fan of Beatles composition, chords and harmonies you'll be very disappointed.



4. I bought this product as "new" but Amazon packaged it in a very tight box so when I received it was damaged at the corners giving the impression I bought a used one. Amazon you should be more careful about this, otherwise I don't see any reason buying on the internet so It'll be best to buy it on a bookstore.



5. The problem was not the publisher of the book, our problem is that we ordered and paid for a new item. We received a book with damaged corners and worse a brown sticky substance on the edges of 2/3's of the pages in the book. It is difficult to play music when the pages do not turn easily. Further, we wrote to Amazon customer service regarding the fact that we received a damaged book even though we ordered and paid for a new item. Amazon did not even acknowledge our complaint much less check in to the reason we did not receive the product in the condition ordered.

3 comments about The Complete Book Of Alternate Tunings (The Complete Guitar Player Series).

1. If you've run out of riffs or are looking for a sound that sets you apart, this is THE book. I probably wouldn't reccomend it for less than intermediate (2-3 years on gutiar) But if you're even curious about alternative tunings this book is the best resource you can find for the money, covering the most common dadgad to the obscure i.e. B'Gdf#ad'. It loses points for D.I.Y.ers in assuming a working knowladge of chord and scale theroy. You can over look that as a small trade off for the sheer volume of information and well laid out information and examples. (Pages 85-120 are nothing but lists of artists and tunings, covering Chet Atkins, Sonic Youth and Led Zepplin just for starters.) If you want Hawaiian,Celtic or Heavy Metal you can find something to make your self heard here and if you're fingerstyle folk, just lock the door behind you and take enough food for a couple of days.



2. This book is a literal encyclopedia for alternate tunings. It contains several of the most odd types Ive seen. Page after page of different types of tunings. It also has a list of what bands have been known to use which tunings. Since new tunings are always being created by artists, the book will probably never be complete as the author states. But this one is as close as it gets!



3. I've been guitaring -- some pro, mostly for my own joy -- for 35 years. I hate "how to play" books... but this is the exception. Don't assume it'll be "the magic touch," but BUY IT, play around with it, bust up a dozen sets of strings, maybe even buy another guitar (like I did) just to leave in "weird" tuning while you experiment.
   
   This book, honestly, will vastly expand your thinking. From Neil Young & Richard Thompson, through Sonic Youth & Soundgarden, you'll learn how to get that unique "sing" from the strings. If you make it through Adrian Legg's tunings without your head melting, let me know.
   
   So why didn't I give it 5 stars? Well, some of it is just wrong -- & the author has no one to blame but himself. Some of the chord diagrammes are simply wrong. Some of the tunings in the Discography are incorrect. And I wouldn't have known this if Mark Hanson hadn't done such a great job of teaching me a new way to hear the tones I produce.
   
   Again: if you're reading this, you need this book.

1 comments about Tom Petty - The Definitive Guitar Collection (Guitar Recorded Versions).

1. This is an excellent collection of Petty's best (through about 1993). It's not as if Petty's guitar work (whether his own or that of his sidemen) is extremely complex, but some of the odder little riffs that he uses, with open-string hammers and similar articulation techniques are made clearer here. (All the vocal harmonies are also in the book, a nice thing to have.) All but one of the songs in this book are on the CD "Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Greatest Hits," and all but two from the CD are in the book, so they're great companions. Highly recommended.

4 comments about Guitar Chords Poster: 22 inch. x 34 inch..

1. My girlfriend is learning guitar and this chart is what she asked for. Hang it up on the wall, and lookup some music on the internet! You can easily learn songs with the chart and some internet research, for the newbie guitar player.



2. It is decent, shows 40 chords but there is another one that has 120 chords I think by the same person. I'd go with that one myself I did not know the difference between the two.



3. A buddy of mine had this Chord Poster at work, I was always looking at it and trying to remember the Chords, so.... I had to buy one for myself. Easy to read, and covers the basics.



4. This is a great product for someone who is just learning how to play guitar such as myself and needs a visual aid. Not only are the guitar tabs shown clearly but there are pictures of where your fingers should be on the frets themselves which is immensely helpful. This is a great product and I would recommend it to anyone who might be having some trouble learning chords or is a visual learner.

5 comments about Guitar Man: A Six-String Odyssey, or, You Love that Guitar More than You Love Me.

1. Though the premise sounds pat -- a bit like a book proposal: journalist with no musical training picks up guitar with the goal of playing a gig in six months, and then writing about it -- Guitar Man in fact blossoms into an enormously entertaining, and by the end, exciting story. Will Hodgkinson is a funny, charming, smart, ballsy, sympathetic guide to the world of guitar and guitar obsession. Plus he's got taste, too, and common sense, and his own peculiarly interesting (and peculiarly British, I suspect) ideas of what the guitar should be and how to go about learning to play it. For anyone who loves to play but isn't "professional," it's a fantastic lesson on why mistakes don't matter if your heart's in your fingers. And for American readers in particular, the book gives us the pleasure of encountering, in person or legend, Davey Graham, Bert Jansch, our own Jackson C. Frank, as well as understanding that maybe Eric Clapton isn't god after all. Now I need to learn to play "Anji" -- and only regret that I can't hop on over to Bert Jansch's flat for an impromptu lesson.



2. GUITAR MAN: A SIX-STRING ODYSSEY, OR, YOU LOVE THAT GUITAR MORE THAN YOU LOVE ME comes from a 34-year-old who decides to play guitar even though he's tone deaf and has no rhythm. His quest to become a musician at a later age involves instruction from friends and guitar 'greats' alike, in the process revealing much about the music world's finest figures from PJ Harvey to the eccentric old bluesman T. Model Ford. His odyssey is more than autobiography: it charts the evolution of guitar, methods of playing, and more and takes readers along on a rollicking journey through the music world in the process. General-interest collections will love it; music libraries will find it a fine leisure reader's choice.



3. As a 40+ wannabe guitarist I finally picked up an acoustic guitar and tried to learn after 20 years of 'thinking about it'. A few months in I literally stumbled across this book in a shop whilst looking for some music so that I could finally answer the question being asked of me, "When are you going to learn to play a real song on that thing?". This book had me glued from start to finish and I am now all fired up again! I am shamed to admit that I had never even heard of the great Davey Graham and many of the other characters that so shaped the guitar.
   
   As earlier reviewers have said, the premise of the book sounds a little cheesey, and perhaps suggestive of an unlikely film script, 'untalented latecomer goes on quest and finds hidden guitar skills on the way', but this book is much more than that. It provides a superb potted history of the guitar from a UK/US blues-folk-rock perspective whilst the main protagonist is honing his new found skills. I found it inspiring. Sure, Will Hodgkinson isn't your average Mr Joe Public, he seems to have indirect connections to several key players, which may be helped by his journalist background, and maybe some of his 'memories' are a little odd - he could only have been 5 or 6 years old when Marc Bolan died so can he really recall his TV appearances? And the coincidence with watching "The Servant" just after a night out with Davey Graham, artistic license perhaps? But, these very minor points aside, to all you ageing wannabe guitarists out there - read it, dust off the old guitar and get strumming!
   
   Now 'all' I need to do now is find out how to play 'Anji'!
   
   P.S Whilst researching on the Web it is interesting to note that Davey Graham is on his uppers again - if this is partly through this book and/or Will's article in the Guardian then this is great for all guitar fans!



4. This is the story of a man in his 30s that decides to learn how to play guitar and sets the goal of playing a gig within six months. The author's quest leads him to a number of characters, most of them eccentric if not downright weird. He even takes a junket to the Mississippi Delta to learn about the roots of the blues, a visit to Nashville and Memphis and a trip to see Les Paul perform in NYC.
   
   While the story has its merits I think that the author spent too much time describing drug use and other behaviors that many guitarists (myself included) feel are negative stereotypes which leave the false impression that all guitarists use illegal drugs or drink to excess. A lot of musicians use drugs and drink like fish but there are just as many of us out there that do not. This book would have been every bit as interesting to me without the drug stories.
   
   In any event, the book ends shortly after the gig; which went well, all things considered. At the end of it all Mr. Hodgkinson realizes that his dream of performing in a band was only one tentative step forward in his development as a musician and songwriter and he proceeds to work towards correcting bad habits that he picked up in his rush to learn the guitar on the fast track.
   
   Overall it was a satisfying read and very accurately conveyed the hopes, misconceptions and dreams of guitar students everywhere. The sensation was not unlike talking to a student guitarist that was enthusiastic, idealistic and a trifle over-optimistic; like many guitar students I've met.



5. I picked up this book at the recommendation of another friend who's also been in bands and is an excellent musician. After playing in a number of bands I can honestly say that everything this guy writes is true. I'd swear Will played in one of my bands in the past. I really liked the musicians he traveled around to hang out with. I walked with Will and knew all the other musicians he's hung with. Great book - how being a musician really is!

5 comments about Guitar World Presents: Dimebag Darrell's Riffer Madness (Guitar World Presents).

1. I first met "Diamond" Darrell in 1984 when he was only 17, and giving guitar lessons at Mansfield Music. I'd finally decided I really wanted to PLAY guitar, and not just bang on it. They tried several teachers, classical, and a country teacher. It just didn't work out, so the owner told me he had one more teacher, a kid with his own band. In walked a skinny kid with the biggest electric frizz hairdo I'd ever seen, Darrell. Each week, he'd take my list of 10 songs I wanted to learn, and if he knew them, would show me how to play them. If he didn't know them, he'd take the list home, and next week, he'd have all of them down pat. I learned more in that 18 months than in the previous 35 yrs! Ten yrs later, I went to a guitar show in Dallas, and was waiting outside the Dean showcase when I heard a voice call, "Hey, Everett! How're you doin'!". It was Darrell, there to put on a demo for Dean. Needless to say, there were some wide eyes around me after that! Darrell dropped everything to talk to me for about 10 minutes. That's the kind of guy he was. We lost a goodern, that's for sure. R.I.P. Darrell...



2. I found the content to be pretty good. I am a big Dime fan so to just have his entire column in one book was great. I did notice that there is some bad tab but it's enough to get you going in the right places. Additionally I expected Dime to be playing on the CD instead of the author.



3. This is a must buy for a Dimebag Darrell fan. This guy knew what he was talking about when it came to guitars.
   
   Everything is transcribed perfectly.
   
   My only beef with this book is that Darrell doesn't play on the CD.



4. Though it may not provide much in the way of theory, scales, or fundamentals, this book is a great insight into the style of one of rock music's greatest guitarists. Not only did it offer written and recorded examples of great riffs, intriguing solos, and useful exercises, it offered great practical tips for any serious guitarist. I poured through the book in under a week and it made me totally re-think several aspects of my playing. Riffer Madness reminds us of the importance of forgetting the rules and just playing great music.



5. I have played for a few years now but I consider myself a noob and never thought in a million years I would be able to play Pantera. Thanks to this book I am able to play Revolution is my name, walk, and a few others. Not the solos of course. Pantera is my favorite band and I shed a tear the day Dime was taken from us. This book helped me play the music I love and I am very grateful to those who made this possible. Anyone who is a fan should buy this book.

1 comments about The Eva Cassidy Songbook for Guitar (Gtab).

1. Very nicely written book including most of Eva's most popular songs. I particularly love the chords above the music to remind you what you need to do for each particular chord. Also nice is capo placement. If you are an Eva Cassidy fan, I recommend this book even if you are a beginner guitar player due to the ease of chords etc. I would have given it 5 stars, but some of my favorite songs are not in this book, so I need to figure those out for myself.