The Ultimate Guitar Scale Bible

Rating:
Summary: Very complete
Review: A very complete scale reference book. In fact, The Guitar Workshop, the editors of this book, have a variety of interesting books for the guitarist... check it out!

Rating:
Summary: Not only for guitarists
Review: Don't be misled by the title - this book of scales has a wealth of information and inspiration to offer to any improvising singer or instrumentalist. I am a jazz singer, and this is one of my favorite (and most useful) books. Sometimes I want to practice something specific, sometimes I just open it at random - I am always rewarded. With a little basic music theory under your belt and this book as a travel guide, you will find your ears and your ideas and your music expanding in exciting ways. Highly highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A poor teaching tool and non-practical reference guide
Review: I had high hopes for this book. My intention was to use this book as a reference/tutoring device so that I could improve upon the execution of various guitar scales. I found the book very hard to understand and use. The book is broken down into individual sections for each of the different scales. The scales are numerous and very obscure. So much so that many of them will fail to be used in everyday playing or jamming. Because of the abundance of different scales and versions, the user finds him/herself overwhelmed by all the fingering boxes and tabulature. There is very little advice on how to assimulate all these various scales and under what circumstances and musical settings they would be used. This book is more of an odd collection of musical runs for people who like the esoteric and the odd. There is little, if any, practicallity in using The Ultimate Guitar Scale Bible for improvement of technique or style. If anything, it is a basic and confusing collection of non-common scales. Of the many books out there available for improving your guitar improvisation and scale knowledge, I would rank this at the very bottom. As a reference book, it fails miserably to incorporate effective uses of the many various scales spotlighted. If the information in the book is not practical, then what use is it?

Rating:
Summary: Not very helpful
Review: Not enough technical and helpful information for me. I think this book is more of a dictionary rather than a helpful guide for guitar players seeking to improve skills. You wouldn't buy a dictionary to understand grammer just as this book won't help in making you a better player. I think it might be useful to people who are professional musicians but for the rest of us, the book is hard to apply. I returned my copy and will be looking for something more applicable.

Rating:
Summary: A collection of borderline scales
Review: The "strength" of the Ultimate Guitar Scale Bible, is also its biggest weakeness...the scales. There are an abundance of very obscure scales in this book. They are so obscure that you would find it hard pressed to utilize any of them in everyday playing or jamming. This book reminds me of some of the extrememly boring music textbooks that I had to go through while I was studying music in college. They were very dry and uninspiring. This book categorizes the scales each into their own section. The sections are then broken down into the ascending and descending music scales with the guitar scale grids. And that's it. As a reference book for music students taking harmony or theory, it may serve as a good source of information. As a guitar scale book to help the rest of us, it fails miserably.

Rating:
Summary: You won't need another scale book.
Review: When I found this book, I was finally able to stop haunting music and book stores. I can't imagine needing a scale that is not in this book. It goes way beyond the modes and major/minor pentatonics that most of us use. From Lydian Dominant 13 Pentatonic to Sus4b9b5 Pentatonic, from Banshiki-Cho to Banshiki-Cho to Zokuso, you can't find a more varied listing. It gives you an explanation and enough shapes to practice for you to be able to use the scales in your playing.
There's some theory and practice ideas in the appendices, but that's just icing on the cake, as is the low price. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: You won't need another scale book.
Review: When I found this book, I was finally able to stop haunting music and book stores. I can't imagine needing a scale that is not in this book. It goes way beyond the modes and major/minor pentatonics that most of us use. From Lydian Dominant 13 Pentatonic to Sus4b9b5 Pentatonic, from Banshiki-Cho to Banshiki-Cho to Zokuso, you can't find a more varied listing. It gives you an explanation and enough shapes to practice for you to be able to use the scales in your playing.
There's some theory and practice ideas in the appendices, but that's just icing on the cake, as is the low price. Highly recommended.