The Art of Solo Fingerpicking: How to Play Alternating-Bass Fingerstyle Guitar Solos

EXCELLENT QUALITY, PROMPT DELIVERY.THANK YOU SO MUCH.

I don't know of any better book covering this approximate subject, but, unfortunately, that's not the praise you might suppose. It IS why I docked this thing only two stars despite my fairly deep reservations. If this book interests you and you decide to buy it, I recommend you resolve to settle for what you can get from it and take with several large pillars of salt the author's repeated assertions that slavishly adhering to its program will, in and of itself, make you an advanced guitarist. In other words, feel free to skip around.In general, I find the project ill-defined, and it doesn't help that you will want to add very few, if any, of the pieces found within the book to your repertoire. If instead of the author's fairly vapid imitations of who-knows-what, we had accurate transcriptions of music performed by important historical exemplars of the style, we'd be on much firmer ground. (To be fair, the book includes three pieces not written or arranged by the author, including one which is actually a guitar accompaniment for a rather curious song--yes, you have to sing--arranged by a former Pentangle guitarist.)The pieces and exercises are given in a form of standard notation and in tablature, and chord diagrams and a CD are provided. The book claims you can get by with either notation, but in fact you will need (at various points, at least) to consult both the standard notation and tablature--as well the chord diagrams and the CD. This is because the author has unaccountably left off vital information from the "standard" notation. He never indicates, for example, on what string to play a note (properly edited standard guitar notation accomplishes this by placing circled numerals next to notes--where appropriate), nor do we ever find any tempo indications (to say nothing of expression marks). Tablature, of course, is always incomplete. You can get only the merest vestige of rhythm from it. If the author had left off the tablature altogether and instead given us actually complete standard notation, he could have saved a lot of space, and saved his readers a lot of head-jerking and page-turning.We are continually told here to finger notes with our left-hand thumb. Not only is this practice virtually universally proscribed in most styles, it's also pretty much physically impossible on a nylon-string guitar and very difficult for most hands even on a thin-necked electric. Fortunately, you can usually find another way, but it's nevertheless annoying to be given bad advice.About half of the pieces, and even some of the exercises, require scordatura--alternate tuning, that is--and not merely drop-D. I realize alternate-tuning fans abound, but I'm not one. I rarely consider it worth the bother, and a refusal to work within the confines of standard tuning indicates to me (usually, not always) a failure of imagination. (Actually, I'm not so tough on drop-D, but I'm not exactly in love with that either.) Otherwise, it's often overlooked that a string always tends toward a stability of tension. If you drop the pitch from which it's accustomed, it will immediately begin to drift upward, and when you finally tune it up again, it will drift back downward. It actually takes several days for a string really to stabilize. In any case, be aware that in this book you will be continually asked to re-tune (and starting from the second piece!).

This is a great method book for learning to play solo fingerstyle arrangements. I bought this at the same time that I bought Mark Hanson's "Contemporary Travis Picking" but it took me a long time to cross the gap between the two books. "Contemporary Travis Picking" may be the best book for the very basics of fingerstyle guitar. Even at the end of that book, there are songs which are much more challenging than the rest of that book, and those songs ("The Water is Wide", "Hesitation Blues") are a good lead-in to this book.In this book, Hanson breaks the reader out of the patterns that are taught in the earlier book. But to me it really necessary to take extra time and learn as much material as I could to master the patterns. Even the stuff at the very beginning of this book was too hard for me for a while. So I put this book down and came back to it several months later.When I did get back to this book I found that it continued the excellence of the Travis picking book. There are plenty of exercises to develop the techniques. The songs are really really well arranged and very satisfying to play.The thing in this book that is pretty telling to me is that Hanson congratulates you at quite a few points. Eg at the end of one excercise he says "Congratulations, you are well on your way to becoming a top Travis picker" or something like that. And he's not kidding, this book gets you far beyond routine things.

For me, this book/CD raised the bar for all guitar instruction. I'm actually a pretty decent fingerstyle player now, and it is because of this book. I still have a way to go, and I'm still only a little more than half way through, but this book has taken me SO FAR with my playing. The progression of exercises is very natural; don't move on until you feel comfortable with an exercise, and then come back to it once in a while.Proceeding along, you get to the first actual "song", Red White and Blue Rag. I still play this one almost every time I pick up my guitar! The tab itself is the best I have EVER seen, with fingering notation in many places. The CD is a great inspiration, and the slow versions of the tunes are indispensable.I found out about this book from a recommendation on the "Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum", with glowing words from a long line of very experienced players. I gambled and bought it, and I'm a much better player now because of it. Seriously, if you want to get better at fingerstyle playing, this is the book.

Although I don't own this book (I have his other books,) I've seen it and put it in the same category of his others - well written in all respects. You can't go wrong with having a libray which includes Hanson's books. Additionally I have Ken Perlman's "Fingerstyle Guitar" and Happy Traum's 3 DVD set. My most valued tutorial, however, is Eltjo Haselhoff's DVD "How to Play Fingerstyle Guitar" (distributed by [email protected]) which I happened to see previewed on YouTube. I've never seen better and/or clearer camera angles of any fretboard and soundhole area in any other guitar DVD (I've got a lot of Homespun and other DVD's, etc.). The lighting couldn't be any better nor could the scripting, the audio, or the manner in which Mr. Haselhoff teaches. His goal is to make you a very capable guitar player, to the point where you can figure out and play a heard tune without having to search the net for tabs. A remarkable guitarist and teacher.Find out for yourself. Check him out on YouTube.UPDATE:I have since purchased this book to complement my other books by Hanson - brilliant, as expected.

I can't rate this book highly enough. It picks up where the Contemporary Travis Picking leaves off, and takes you through more complex and intricate ideas. It isn't a beginners' book, so I'd recommend starting with Contemporary Travis Picking, but once you've got the basics under your belt, you'll want to move on to this book.I bought it to use with a student. I've been playing guitar for more than 30 years now, and I don't mind telling you I learned a thing or two from it myself. It is very much a practical book, so light on music theory. If you're not strong on music theory, I'd recommend considering using the book with a tutor; that will give you a fuller understanding of what's going on. However, that said, there's no reason why a dedicated learner couldn't use it by him or herself.If you choose to buy this book - and I hope you do - you'll need to work at it, especially the first few exercises. Take your time and get those right. But once you've broken through that wall, you will find you can do some pretty flashy things. When that happens, you'll have every right to feel very pleased with yourself. This really is a terrific book.

If your new to finger style guitar picking as I am this book is a good place to start. The lay out takes the beginer from easy picking patterns through to more advanced pieces, while building up your skills along to way. The accompanying DVD also aids in letting the pupil learn from listening and playing along with the course as it progresses.I would say even if you usually only play rhythm or see yourself as a rock guitarist, finger picking can expand your abilities and allow you to add colour and mood to most pieces you play, even on an electric guitar. So yes I highly recommend this, and other books by the same author.

I wanted material that would allow me to develop into a competent Travis picker.This book does that and more. If you can absorb and play everything provided in the book that and a decent singing voice you would ready for the coffee house gigs.

Excellent teaching book, for all levels of ability. (Seventy year old beginner).explained very well by the author Mark Hanson. And a joy to have a go at. Bound to improve my playing eventually I'm certain of that. I will stick to it and practice practice practice. Very good book, and value. Recommended.

seems to cover the subject well...