Guitar Books
Flatpicking Guitar Magazine declares Norman Blake a legend, and includes him in the "first name club" on the Internet flatpicking news list. The Norman Blake Anthology offers complete lyrics and melody lines to 40 original songs, written and notated just as Norman sings them. Often, the vocal version is followed by a second flatpicking solo edition in notation and tablature including introductions and solos within a given tune- all authorized by Norman himself! 200 pages, illustrated with photos
My First Blues Guitar Picking Songs is the perfect primer for anyone interested in learning blues guitar played with a pick.
An easy to follow chord book, with over 180 of the most useful chords specially arranged for left-handers.
An easy to follow book with over 100 of the most useful scales, specially arranged for left-handers.
This is a very "user friendly" text. It is ideal for daily practice sessions and contains frequently used major and minor guitar scale forms. In addition, each scale is shown in numerous positions up the guitar fingerboard. Also included is a special section on blues and scales in various positions. Each scale form is carefully shown in diagram, notation and tablature.
Play guitar even if you can't read music. This easy to follow guide book tells you everything you need to know about Tab, the easy alternative to standard notation. Keep this easy-to-follow guide book in your guitar case for easy reference.
This book presents a comprehensive guide to chords and scales in the popular G,D,E,A, and D minor tunings. In addition to their application as elementary accompaniment, there is sufficient material here for soloing and improvisation.
Understanding DADGAD is a complete introduction to using the DADGAD tuning for fingerstyle acoustic guitar. The book systematically explores the tuning, starting with simple chords and scale patterns, ultimately showing how DADGAD can be used to play in nearly any key and in many different musical styles. Topics include moveable and open-string chords and scales, intervals, the harp-effect, common chord progressions in DADGAD and more, all in the context of either short musical examples or complete tunes.
These favorite Irish tunes have been arranged in sections of varying difficulty to provide material for beginning to advanced students. The first section of each arrangement is the easiest to play, with one or two more advanced sections following.
O'Carolan's best-loved harp tunes are notated in a contemporary style that makes them accessible to all instrumentalists. This ideal collection with accompanying audio lays bare 20 classic Irish compositions for melody and backing players using standard notation and chords. For all 5-string banjo players, fretting and picking-hand fingerings are included in the transcriptions which match the play-along tracks. This is Hanway's fourth collection demonstrating Celtic fingerstyle banjo in G tuning. It is part of a Celtic 5-string series that includes Mel Bay's Easy Irish and Celtic Tunes for 5-String Banjo: Best-Loved Jigs and Reels (2012) and Mel Bay's Easy Irish andCeltic Melodies for 5-String Banjo: Best-Loved Airs and Session Tunes (2013). Tom Hanway's pioneering work, Mel Bay's Complete Book of Irish & Celtic 5-String Banjo (1998), was acclaimed by Bluegrass Unlimited magazine (1999) "as 'the bible' for any 5-string player with an interest in this joyous music." The current collection breathes life into the Gaelic classical melodies of Ireland. Access to online audio download.
Whether you play rock, blues, Jazz, Country or any other style the correct chord information is contained in this essential guide.
Rob MacKillop presents 20 wonderful fingerstyle blues arrangements and compositions in DADGAD tuning. The styles covered in this book include country blues, boogie woogie left-hand piano blues, early jazz blues, gut-bucket blues and modal blues. Great traditional songs are included such as St. James Infirmary Blues, St. Louis Blues, C. C. Rider and more, alongside 15 full-length studies. The book begins with easy arrangements, progressing to intermediate and more advanced ones - in short, these blues studies will improve your technique through playable 12-bar tunes. A wide array of chord and scale fingerings are also provided, including pentatonic minor and major scales, bluesscales, diminished arpeggios and scales, 7th chords, whole-tone scales and the super Locrian mode and much more! All the tunes presented have accompanying audio recorded by Rob MacKillop and are available to download.
This fingerstyle guitar collection features 20 engaging lyrical tunes from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales plus three original pieces by accomplished guitarist, trumpeter and composer William A. Bay, president, and editor-in-chief at Mel Bay Publications. Tasked with writing intermediate-level arrangements in either standard or dropped-D tuning, guitarist/arranger Raymond Gonzalez displays uncommon music rethinking skills while preserving the plaintive and lilting nature of these enduring melodies. Unique to these settings, you will find sparse, open-chord harmonies accentuated by double hammer-ons and pull-offs, and the odd harmonic mixed with normal tones within a melodic line— all reminiscent of gentle waves washing up against a rocky island shore. Conceived to be played on either steel or nylon-string guitar, these pieces are written in both standard notation and tablature. Includes online access to the author’s own audio recordings.
First Lessons Bass is intended to introduce beginning students to the fundamental concepts of playing the electric bass. The material covered in this book is approximately the material covered in the first 8 lessons of private bass instruction. This book makes use of the "3-finger" left hand position commonly found in double bass technique. The emphasis on left hand technique allows the student to develop a consistent fingering approach to the fingerboard, reduces unnecessary strain on the left hand, and makes the bass more accessible to younger students or students with small hands. After the left hand technique has been established, the book introduces the student toimportant elements of bass line construction including blues patterns, the root-fifth relationship, and common rhythmic patterns. - Introduction for beginning students to the fundamental concepts of playing the electric bass.- Book is approximately the material covered in the first 8 lessons of private bass instruction.- Makes use of the "3-finger" left hand position commonly found in double bass technique.- Offers student important elements of bass line construction: blues patterns, root-fifth relationship, and common rhythmic patterns.- Companion CD included.
Written by expert educator David Harrison, this book has been designed to give you all the information you will need, from the first time you pick up a guitar, through to playing along with the brilliant backing tracks. With in-depth advice, large and clear pictures and easy-to-play exercises that focus on a different aspect of playing, this book will fast-track you from novice to confident guitarist in no time! With the included download card, you can listen to professionally-recorded demonstration tracks as well as backing tracks, allowing you hear how things should sound, before playing them yourself.
This 4-volume teaching series continues to be enormously successful and popular. It aims to stimulate young players in particular, with all the new technical and musical ideas introduced one by one in a lucid and logical fashion.The light hearted illustrations by Peter Nuttall and Gerald Garcia are another attractive feature of the series.
The guitarist's complete guide to traditional Irish music, containing 50 tunes, advice on alternative tunings, chord substitution, techniques for solo playing and much more.An excellent and informative tutor. Soundtrack available.
The first piano/vocal/guitar collection from this Blues legend.