5 comments about The Funkmasters-the Great James Brown Rhythm Sections.

1. Go no further, it's all broken down for you here: the history, the songs, individual tracks. This is a great learning tool and obviously a labor of love.



2. As a guitarist, this book rules for expanding your chord base and learning new rhythms. The CD tracks are great to play along with on repeat until you nail 'em, and the historical text is a nice bonus. Quit dorking and buy this book, whether you are just beginning or an expert guitarist. It is a NO BRAINER!



3. Really a great book. Has a bit of interesting history about James Brown.
   
   Really breaks down the interplay between drums, guitars, and bass on JB's band. Also provides some insight into the different bassists during JB's career. Finally, really provides a good description of the rhythmic interaction between the drummer and bassist.
   
   If you want the FUNK - start here.



4. I've always wanted to understand how James Brown got that Funk sound. This book breaks it down for drums, bass, and guitar. It isolates each part so you can focus on finding the groove. The transcriptions are accurate, although some recordings may have variations depending on the player. The book also gives a brief history of the players behind the Godfather of Soul. Bootsy is a monster, and this book has his lines laid out for you. Worth it!



5. Great book for any player. A good 101 of subdividing the funk riddim for both non solo players. These skills are adaptable to almost all other styles of music. Pick it up!

5 comments about Blues Bass - A Guide to the Essential Styles and Techniques: Hal Leonard Bass Method Stylistic Supplement (Book & CD).

1. This bass blues book is excellent. Why? Because it has a great variety of styles-from Chicago to New Orleans to Texas blues! And the CD makes it even better. It also has more than several variations for most of the examples, great slow blues, and great blues classics. Also included are variations for endings and turnarounds. There are 43 examples on the CD, covering the good ol' blues up into more rock blues. There is a great version of "Stormy Monday" on this that I just play the heck out of! This is certainly a HIGHSIERRABASSPLAYER must buy! Thanks Ed!



2. Ed did a great job with this one. Well thought out and presented, this book may be the only one you need to get you up and running in the Blues / Rock format. The play along songs and examples are first rate. If you already know how to hold a bass and tune up then this book will teach you some essential blues standards. There are enough full songs presented for a good set list. Two thumbs up! I would also reccomend the Hal Leonard R&B Bass by Glenn Letsch. Tab and notation.



3. Every book by Ed Friedland is great value for money. This one is no exception to the rule. Get this book if you want to play blues bass. I would recommend it for beginners.



4. I got some other more sophisticated (I.e. Jazz) bass book by Mr. Friedland, and I didn't like it at all, probably because I don't like Jazz, since it came after the blues form. This blues bass book is just fine for my rudimentary bass learning needs. Good front cover photo of a bass I would buy in a second if you could get one new made U.S.A.



5. Ed Friedland might not be the most famous bass player around but he is in my book the best bass education book writer. Blues Bass takes you step by step from simple blues lines to more complex songs. The tab is very helpful for somebody who has a hard time to read music and the play along CD really helps. As an adult in my mid 40's struggling to learn bass the help he conveys through is book has been invaluable. Yes I do have a bass teacher but working on his Ed Friedland's material with my teacher is really terrific. I have also used his "Bass Grooves" book and Blues Method 1, 2 and 3 books. All of them take you very progressively from simple things to more complex one. Many books push too many things at the same time at their audience. This author has a real talent for breaking things down into bites that are manageable. The song selection of Blues Bass is also fantastic and allows the student to learn songs that are fun to play. I should also say that it is quite extensive and it covers pretty much all the standards. This book should be part of any bass library, it's a great book for learning and it's a great reference book, who knows "Born under a bad sign" or "Stormy Monday" might be on your next play list!
   Thank you Mr. Friedland for a fantastic book, you have really helped me learn the blues.

5 comments about Principles of Violin Playing and Teaching.

1. As a former violin student of 9 years who moved towards piano instead, I have found this book immensely valuable in helping me as a Suzuki parent of a young violinist myself. If you have a child moving into the Kreutzer etudes, or in Book 7 or later in the Suzuki series, this book is a godsend. At this point in your child's studies, you have no doubt been listening to many great artists, and wondering how they attain the immense variety in tonal coloring, or how they actually implement such amazing shifts, or complex bowing techniques. This book, with its pictures, is outstanding in deconstructing these motions. While it is highly analytical in parts, the book is also excellent in addressing the body's motion as a whole - in showing the coupling between the hand, elbow, shoulders, violin... using well known extracts from etudes, caprices, and solo works as practical examples.

   It most definitely helps to be an advanced instrumentalist in reading this book, as the author certainly presumes that the reader has a trained ear. The sections on how to practice will also be appreciated by those who have worked in intensive Master Classes, and have carried back from these classes some improved practice habits.

   All-in-all, this is book not to be missed, particularly by the supportive parents of maturing artists.




2. this is a MUST for any violinist who is serious about playing the violin. This book has solution to all of the problems that a violinist faces, in addition, this is a great leaning tool, lines from major concertos are used as exemples. again, this book is a must for anyone who's serious about playing the violin or even becoming a concert soloist.



3. I would recommend this book to any musician. Although it extensively covers bowing and left hand technique, the most important aspects are in how to practice and master your art. The variations suggested can be used by any musician on any instrument and will take you to a new level of technical control.
   
   I would not suggest this book for a beginner, this material is best learned from an experienced teacher. Advanced students and teachers should all have this book in their book collections.



4. After seeing the positive reviews on this book, I decided to go ahead and get it, as I realized despite my having played viola for such a long time, I don't own a single tome detailing the principles of good technique and playing.
   
   So far I've gone through sections dealing with left hand positioning (the frame) and intonation. The writing is clear and engaging; Galamian observes many times it is important not to lay down arbitrary rules on how things should be done - unless there is a compelling reason. I like how the sections contain exercises that are written out - the provide a concrete method to achieve the results he discusses. The photos of hand positioning are also very descriptive.
   
   I can tell I'm going to refer to this book again and again in the coming years - it is so nice to have it reinforce what I've heard (and often forget!) from different teachers! Definitely recommended!
   
   I'd like to add that I found this book for about $20 less at Shar Music - but at any of these prices it's completely worth it!



5. As a young teacher, this book has been unbelievably helpful in crystalizing my thoughts about playing and teaching. A lifetime of violin study with a master violinist and teacher in a single volume, absolutely priceless. Along with
   The Suzuki Approach,
   The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance, The Inner Game of Music,
   The Art of Practicing: A Guide to Making Music from the Heart, The PracticeSpot Guide to Promoting Your Teaching Studio: How to make your phone ring, fille your schedule, and create a waiting list you can't jump over,
   and What Every Musician Needs to Know About the Body: The Practical Application of Body Mapping & the Alexander Technique to Making Music,
   this is the foundation and core of my violin/viola playing and teaching philosophy and of my studio.
   
   What Every Pianist Needs to Know About the Body is extremely helpful as well since we all need to play the piano!!

5 comments about Old-Time Fiddle for the Complete Ignoramus (Book & CD set).

1. this book and cd was all i needed to be playing old-time music by heart in a few short sessions. It's wonderful. The book isnt so much a "how-to" as it is a "hey, come sit down and i'll tell you about fiddling" kinda book. very enjoyable to read, simple steps, and teaches you to teach yourself. if you're even thinking about getting into fiddling, get this book!



2. After taking violin lessons for 3 months I came across this book. I with I had started with this instead of Strings 2000. The writing is very humorous and all the basics are covered - D, D Dorian, A, A Minor, C, G... Tunes are simple but the author encourages improvisation and tell you how to do that! I showed this book to my violin teacher, who is predominantly classical and jazz, and she promptly bought a copy. This book makes learning the fiddle fun!



3. In good shape and with lots of helpful tips on how to begin playing fiddle. There is even some info I couldn't find anywhere else. It's very casual and provides a down to Earth motivating approach to teaching beginner fiddle.



4. This is a pretty fun fiddle book. I have bought several books, but this one is the best basic book and CD that I have.



5. If you just beginning to play Old Time Fiddle, then Wayne Erbsen's "Old Time Fiddle for the Complete Ignoramus" is the best instructional material you can get. After sampling the instructional materials out there, I feel it is THE BEST book and CD to start with. Instead of other books that just throw songs at you, Wayne TEACHES you, step by step, taking care to present the simple things first and in the right order. The book is written with humour and an understanding of what the novice fiddler's problems will be. That insight is the mark of a good teacher. The CD is simply beautiful with the songs played up to speed and slowly as well; the playing on the CD is inspirational; if these demonstrations don't motivate you to play the fiddle, then you've taken up the wrong instrument! One of the best features of the book is the way the tablature is written. Instead of just using "numbers" (signifying fingers) the way other books do, Wayne has you reading NOTES in no time, which is going to be alot more valuable in the long run when confronting standard notation in other situations. In conclusion, I'm very glad I started with Wayne Erbsen's book; he promises that you "will" be fiddling in a very short time and he keeps that promise!

5 comments about The ABCs of Cello for the Absolute Beginner: Cello, Book 1.

1. I wish I had studied the cello years ago, but it's better late than never! I started with this book for the Absolute Beginner and 'am now in ABCs of Cello book 3. This cello book 1 starts out easy with familiar tunes and warm-up exercises. It explains the staff and bass clef which is not the same as a violinists clef, the treble clef. You learn all the basic notes on all the strings in this book in 1st position and as you move along in the upper books you learn "shifting" which means you move your arm and fingers up the neck of the cello. All these books cover alot and are very basic at the same time.
   
   Cello is the best!!



2. We recently ordered this book for my adult (40 something) son who had never played cello before. He finds the book to be more than adequate and he is enjoying learning from it.



3. I used to play cello in highschool and then dropped it completely for 20 years. I am finding these three, beginning, intermediate, & advanced books very useful.
   
   The beggining book has a nice mixture of melodies and instructions, and I quickly got back up to speed. To get the most out of it, you really need to sit and read it as well, small phrases can be passed over that are very important, such as "try to think about the musical phrase while you play" is easy to overlook while practicing, but important to keep in mind.
   
   Having played before I am finding myself flipping back and forth between books, but even the begginning book has some lovely pieces that with changes in emphasis or repeats become compelling pieces for performance.



4. Good book for the adult beginning cello student. Simply laid out, nothing cartoonish. Good exercises. I do wish it detailed proper bow grip better though.



5. Great book for the beginner, well explained with lots of diagrams to understand the music notes and placement of fingers on the cello bridge.

5 comments about The Luthier's Handbook: A Guide to Building Great Tone in Acoustic Stringed Instruments.

1. I'm not luthier even if I would like to be. When I boght the book my purpose was to understand why some instruments sounds good and other sound bad. Reading it I understood the many varibles to consider when designing and thus building an acoustic instrument.



2. I thought that this was a very good product, one that was easily read and that was very nicely laid out.



3. A 5 STAR rating still does not give this book the credit it deserves compared to ALL the other books written on guitar construction "Tuning".
   
   Although I am not a luthier, I have spent a lifetime earning a living in the field of structural vibrations, and as such, I can firmly say that this is the only guitar construction book I have read that gets it ALL right with regards to "tuning" the instrument during construction to achieve the desired response. Most of the Masters seem to know how to "tune" a guitar, but I think many may not truely understand the technical details of the process.
   
   Yes, as one of the reviewers stated, it may be too complicated for some beginners, but the title says "Luthier's" Handbook, not "Beginner's" Handbook.
   
   I plan to build my first guitar (or more) during my retirement and entend to use this book as my "Bible".



4. Very Very Poor.
   A complete waste of time and money.
   All about his theories (some of which are scientifically incorrect)without any real practical guidance.
   I'm sure he can build a great guitar or mandolin, but this book puts YOU no closer to achieving a good result.



5. This is one of the most incredible books I've had the pleasure of reading. This is not a "how to" book but more of a "why and what if" book. The insight the author has into his craft is something I, being a carpenter / builder can only aspire to have. It inspires you to create. Read this book any brace yourself for a life of creating musical instruments that you will never part with

5 comments about Beginning Autoharp Instruction Book.

1. If you only buy one Autoharp Instruction Book, this is the one you need to get. It is very easy to understand. You will be playing in minutes. I have several Autoharp Instruction Manuals, but not one can compete with this book. Everthing you need to know, is located in the book. It's a great book and well worth waiting for.



2. I have several autoharp instruction books and this one is the best of all of them. Everything is clearly explained and illustrated, each lesson building on the previous one.



3. This was the book I used when I first began learning the autoharp. I found it very helpful, more so than other books. My only complaint is that there isn't a sequel.



4. As stated in other reviews, I am an absolute beginner with the Autoharp. I purchased this book along with another but this is currently the book I am working out of. Excellent information on the Autoharp as well as music theory. Many old favorite songs that are easy to follow. I really appreciate the finger positioning explanations for both 12-15 bar and the 21 button Autoharps. The text provides various strumming techniques followed by an appropriate song on which to practice. You can learn to play a number of songs by simply strumming the chords or use the varying techniques to make them sound special. An excellent choice for the beginner with a lot of material to further develop skills.



5. Bought an OS15-purchased the book-just in case...there's more to the AutoHarp than just "button-pushin'" and this book makes the case!
   
   Some History, clear, concise instructions on starting to play, etc. Excellent starter songs-to boost one's confidence on up to more advanced strum/pluck patterns. This book is well-done and an excellent resource-even as a previously trained musician-there's always more to learn! Glad I bought it!

5 comments about Strictly Strings: A Comprehensive String Method Book 1 : Violin.

1. This is a very good music book for children beginning to learn to play the violin. It starts with explaining how to hold you bow and violin with nice illustrations. The lessons in this book go from basic to moderate playing levels. Everything that you will do in this book is explained in detail at the top of every page. There is an illustration also. There are some very nice pieces of music in this book also. I reccomend this book to any beginners.



2. I'm a cello student and I really like this book a lot. I tried to read ahead though, and it doesn't really explain things well enough for a novice. With my instructor and the lessons, the book is perfect. I recommed the CD's that go along with it... they are sold separately.



3. I'm a cello student and I really like this book a lot. I tried to read ahead though, and it doesn't really explain things well enough for a novice. With my instructor and the lessons, the book is perfect. I recommed the CD's that go along with it... they are sold separately.



4. My daughter uses the book to learn to play the cello, it's a great intro!



5. this book is in terrific condition and was shipped very fast. would by from again

5 comments about Gruhn's Guide to Vintage Guitars : An Identification Guide for American Fretted Instruments (2nd Ed).

1. This book was very limited as far as various makes of guitars. It didn't have any price guides on any of the things listed.
   I would think that would be the main information anyone owning a vintage guitar or other musical equipment would be most interested in. This book was useless to us. I wish we could return it. Thank goodness we ordered "The Offical Vintage guitar Magazine Price Guide 2003" It included everything any collector would want to know!!!



2. You can get all information quick and without doubt !! I had the first edition, but this second edition is a lot more complete and updated !!!



3. This is a vast improvement over the older version of Gruhn's Guide to Vintage Guitars. I would like the next version to include vintage Sunn amps, heads and cabinets, as well.



4. I bought this second edition hoping to find more information than I found in the old edition, but beyond expanding the breadth of models, the book is still not extremely helpful. Its basic setup is to use a one-line description of a change that occurs to a guitar model and note the year that this happened in. That's fine of course, but it sure would be helpful if the lines referred to illustrations or pictures. the result is an extremely dry text summary - and it doesn't even really go far enough. for example, the area on Fender Stratocasters lists every model throughout the 20th century, yet the initial list entries of changes seem to stop in the 70s, and while it does make mention of the shoulder on the control cavity routing changing in 1959, it doesn't mention changes in pickup routing in 1970 or so, nor the addition of a ground screw shoulder in the control cavity in 1979-81. it mentions how many patent numbers are on the headstock during which year, but no mention of what they are nor illustration of where they are placed. no mention of logo design changes.
   the list of fender serial numbers is sort of accurate, but the lowest and highest numbers per year listed are just plain wrong. they might look in Duchossoir's book for more information!
   I think it might help people to have more information on Norlin-era Gibsons as well, explaining which were made in Kalamazoo and which in Nashville and how to tell... one thing i noticed was that they say how the reintroduction of Les Paul Standard/Deluxe models had 4 piece pancake bodies, but in my experience I've seen more very early 70s whose bodies were two pieces of mahogany with a maple top and had (3-piece) mahogany necks prior to 1975 when they became maple, and some even had bodies that were one piece of mahogany.
   also since people on ebay seem to be making so much money peddling parts of old guitars, it might be nice for someone to take on the description of how to correctly identify potentiometers, capacitors, even knobs, pickup covers and tuners!
   all of these suggestions would make this a very useful guide! but - especially pictures.... describing how a screw position changes on a pickguard from one year to another is not nearly as comprehensible as an illustration!



5. I am a collector of vintage stringed instruments. I purchased George Gruhn's first volume in 1991, which was called the "Guide to Vintage Guitars". As I used it, I found that it corraborated, expanded and corrected the many other sources I use. The 2nd edition is greatly expanded, and now includes "American Fretted Instruments". It continues to be the most usable, informative and authoritative guide to vintage stringed instruments I am aware of. This is my "go to" guide. All other sources are used for additional detail and corraboration. A must have reference for anyone interested in vintage stringed instruments.

5 comments about Picture Yourself Playing Violin (Picture Yourself).

1. YES!!! The PERFECT way the understand and learn violin! Take some advice from someone who has tried almost everything, GET THIS BOOK if you want to learn violin!



2. This book is a MUST HAVE to learn violin, I got this book with Mrs. Seidel's Beginner DVD Series, and we absolutly LOVE IT!!



3. This book is perfect. This is the most complete, comprehensive and concise introduction to the violin available.
   
   The book's breakdown is as follows:
   
   Chapter 1: Getting Acquainted with your New Best Friend
   Chapter2: Bowing Techniques
   Chapter 3: Fingering Techniques
   Chapter 4: Music Theory
   Chapter 5: Specialty Techniques
   Chapter 6: Beginner Songs
   Chapter 7: History
   Chapter 8: Continue the Journey
   
   Also included is a DVD that instructs you on every concept in the book as well as a performance, with metronome, of the beginner songs.



4. This is a pretty good product, but the DVD is definitely a do-it-yourself job. It's a bit hard to navigate the DVD menu which is not organized very well.



5. The book covers all the basics needed to learn and maintain your violin and very easy to use. The dvd is great companion to the book as well. Recommended for any beginning violinist.