Guitar Books Review #9: Complete Country Blues Guitar Book by Stefan Grossman скачать в хорошем качестве

Guitar Books Review #9: Complete Country Blues Guitar Book by Stefan Grossman

Is this one of the best or worst repertoire books for fingerstyle blues guitar? You can learn to play music using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books. Stefan Grossman’s Complete Country Blues Guitar Book is a repertoire book of various substyles of fingerstyle blues (general old time country blues, Delta blues, ragtime blues, Texas blues, and bottleneck blues). Most of the tunes are suitable for late-beginner and intermediate fingerstyle players, although advanced players will certainly enjoy the tunes as well. The music in this book may sound “old-timey” (much of it comes from the 1920s and 30s), but it is really fun to play if you are interested in the style. Aside from the large selection of tunes, the book provides tons of cool history, interviews of blues players (Skip James and W.C. Handy), and historical photos – makes for a great coffee table book! The book is organized into sections for each substyle of fingerstyle blues. At the beginning of each section there is a textual description and history of the blues substyle being presented. Before each tune, there is a description of where that tune originated from, who played it in this style, important recordings to listen to, and some technical performance details. Most of the tunes provide you with a single progression of the tune – sometimes only 20 or 30 seconds long. In a real performance you would probably want to repeat the form multiple times with singing, variations, or improvisation. My only complaint about the book is that it would have been helpful if the author had explained this a bit more. However, if you take the listening recommendations seriously then you will get the idea. The book provides both treble clef and tablature. There are no right or left-hand fingerings provided (except occasionally in the description before the tune). The tablature is unusual in that the fret numbers are written between the lines instead of on the lines, but I quickly adjusted to it without any problem. The majority of the tunes use standard tuning. However, alternate tunings are used extensively within the sections on “Country Blues Guitar: The Alternating Bass and Open Tunings” and “Bottleneck Blues Guitar.” This is a repertoire book full of song arrangements. This is not a method book that teaches you the fundamentals of how to play fingerstyle blues guitar. However, if you have some fingerstyle experience, then this book will provide you with a lifetime of fun (at almost 260 pages, it will literally last you a very long time). 1. Authentic fingerstyle blues tunes from various substyles. 2. Great organization. 3. Good difficulty graduation – easier tunes to start each section. 4. Short tunes. 5. Lots of alternating bass and monotonic bass 6. Strange tablature will take a few minutes to adjust to. 7. No fingerings for right or left hand. 8. ***Corection***: Online audio access! The book doesn’t get into the modern percussive techniques used by modern players like Michael Hedges, Don Ross, Andy McKee, Mike Dawes, etc. No thumb slaps, guitar body percussion, or tapping. I recommend using an acoustic steel string guitar rather than a classical guitar since there are multiple tunes that utilize the fretting hand thumb over the top. You will need a slide for the final section, but you can use it with your normal guitar. Published by Mel Bay Publications. © 1992 My own books: Fingerstyle Blues Guitar: An In-Depth Study of the 12-Bar Blues in E Major – Books 1 and 2 are available in paperback or as an eBook through Amazon [https://a.co/d/g7Udsso (Book 1) and https://a.co/d/aDbh4H0 (Book 2)]. The first priority of these books is to quickly get you playing a solo instrumental 12-bar blues, and then to build on it until you can freely improvise or “jam.” You should be up and running by the end of the third chapter, and each following chapter will add icing on the cake. Arranging for Fingerstyle Guitar: go to http://joemcmurray.com/checkout/ to purchase a pdf of my eBook. Learning to arrange melodies will also help your fingerstyle songwriting and your understanding of the inner workings of fingerstyle guitar. My upcoming book, Arranging for Fingerstyle Ukulele, will be published by Mel Bay in 2026. My music is available on all streaming platforms at https://open.spotify.com/artist/5dcok... Pins on the Map: my third fingerstyle guitar album was released on January 19, 2024. Watch the first single, "Open Road," on YouTube here:    • Joe McMurray - Open Road - Lowden Guitars  . Riding the Wave and Acoustic Oasis: my first two fingerstyle guitar albums.