Blues Acoustic Guitar Method with CD (Audio)

Rating:
Summary: Very disapointing
Review: I am very disapointed by this book, I sent it back to Amazon for refund 10 minutes after having opened the book. The content is poor, it mainly deals with techniques like hammer-on, slide, shuffle,I-IV-V etc. All this information can be freely accessed from the Net. There is nothing about what the blues really is and how it works (the first chapter dealing with the blues scale is...the appendix, can you believe that?). All examples are with open string chords, you want go farther than the 5th fret, which is IMHO a very bad approach. All in all the book may be worth the money only if you never ever played guitar and want to start with the blues.

Rating:
Summary: Good beginner book
Review: I have read some criticism of this book that it is too basic. I think that's wrong on two counts. First, if you go all the way through the book, you'll learn a lot of chops. Maybe not terribly advanced chops, but you'll be able to play some really cool-sounding stuff, and you'll have enough knowledge to be able to improvise and start expanding on what you've learned. Second, I can't tell you how many "Beginner Blues" books I've bought that were way, way beyond what the beginning student could play. Even this book would be a serious challenge for someone who is just learning to play guitar; but it would be a challenge, not a frustrating, tantalizing impossibility. I've been playing for over four years now, and I've learned quite a bit of acoustic blues, including stuff that is a lot more difficult than anything you'll see here. Nevertheless, I picked up several nifty tricks from this book. In fact, I pulled it out just this weekend and tried out some things I hadn't gotten to yet (I've now gone through the entire book at least once). I've already built one 12-bar example into a fairly cool little song. The book was easily worth the price I paid. I have three books from this Progressive series; they have all been good. If I have a complaint, it's that only one thing in the book, a fingerpicking solo, goes beyond a single 12-bar. Sure, it's good to learn 12-bar chops, and then start improvising on them. But a few examples of complete songs, with some simple solos and fills and runs, would have been nice. I'm experienced enough to be able to create this stuff myself; less advanced players will probably feel like they've been left a little short. But look at the price! Is it worth such a small amount to be able to learn some cool sounding blues? I say yes.

Rating:
Summary: Great beginner's book (once you've learned a few basics)
Review: I love the Progressive guitar books. They get you into music making right away. No wasted time. The examples and lessons are easy to grasp, and the CD's let you hear what you're tying to accomplish. Academic music theory is taught secondarily. This book takes you right into that great blues sound. By the time I got 3/4 through the book, I couldn't believe what I could play. I love to listen to the CD just for musical enjoyment.

Rating:
Summary: Great for learning the Blues for beginner and advanced
Review: This book was excellent. I am an advanced player and was playing blues in no time at all. It will take a beginner a little more work but it will be well worth it. I have also purchased other books by Koala publications and found them to be excellent. Having the cd to listen to is what makes this book so good.

Rating:
Summary: Great for learning the Blues for beginner and advanced
Review: This book was excellent. I am an advanced player and was playing blues in no time at all. It will take a beginner a little more work but it will be well worth it. I have also purchased other books by Koala publications and found them to be excellent. Having the cd to listen to is what makes this book so good.