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Rating: 
Summary: Better to borrow or as present.
Review: Before I bought this book I could play the guitar using a pick. I bought it solely to learn the Atkins palm mute "bom chick" alternating base. Probably because this audio came from a video, Chet describes and plays it, but we dont actually have any picture of where his palm, base of thumb is, except "To get this sound I put my hand lightly on the strings of the bridge." That said, there are some good exercises to develop finger thumb independance. They appear to be carefully graduated so that they are not too tediuos to practice, and the presence of two other students on the C.D. plus some studio recording tricks makes you the student feel part of the action as you practice.As well as the above the book and C.D have some other good points. Chet's natural sense of humour, and natural musicallity make him a joy to have as a teacher. So different from the boring old blokes I had years ago. I am enjoying the exercises set out, and practice isn't too much of a chore. But how to get that muted base? The book and C.D give exercises on how to develop the skills necessary to do this and it can be done if you just let the base strings ring - undampened. The way I did it was to let the strings ring, then find a friend, and for the price of a couple of beers, get him to show me how to do it. So in essence, if you are buying the book, just to master the Atkins sound, you might be disappointed, and three stars might be a bit too generous. however if you want to get inti basic finger picking and develop the right hand skills to get to that sound, but then be happy to "finish it" by getting someone show you the very last step, then you can make it three stars or more.
John Melbourne Australia December 2003.
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