Best of George Benson Book/Online Audio

This is a fairly accurate transcription of good George Benson guitar work. He is one of the best guitar players, playing with a flat pick, that's ever lived and his solos are tough and nearly impossible to figure out note for note. (They are probably easier for George to play than the rest of us because he made them up.) But this book does a good job of bringing us much closer to accurate perfection in reproducing what the guy actually is playing. As I am a Benson afficiando myself, have listened to this stuff (and tried to play) since the 1970's and have the CD/mp3 slow downer software one could debate a few notes here and there. To be fair, George does have quite a few "ghost" notes that are really soft or don't sound out all the way. After all, he does play very fast and he is after all improvising (making it up on the spot). SO you can't always copy that exactly to the "T". I would like to see a book done on George Benson's most outstanding work (from a jazz improv view) "White Rabbit". I may even do it myself sometime but it is quite time consuming to transcribe live music. But all in all this is a great book to have in your collection to show you how George Benson likely does the things he does. I've seen a few people (myself included when I was a teen-ager) who can sort of "fake" George Benson solos and his style. But this book gives you a clue of how to sound like him and gives you a reference that allows you to attempt to play his solos with some certain degree of accuracy without having to "fake" it.

Several reviewers have discussed "inaccuracies and discrepancies" with the TAB. It should be noted that George is NOT a position player. Rather, he plays horizontally on the fingerboard. Slides and slurs are a key part of the way he moves THRU positions. Sorry, guys, but Wolf is dead on. If you really want to understand how GB plays those quick runs, "Benson style" picking is only part of the story. I've transcribed alot of his stuff, and the TABs really cover his uptempo fingerings. Without using the approach wolf shows, you're going to have a hard time really getting into George's style. Not to mention playing the solos at hot tempos. The most difficult part will be determining which left hand to use for note groups. If you try sticking to 1 finger per fret position playing, you're missing the boat.

The musical notation and the tabs were great but apparently there was supposed to be a CD and there wasn't but that's okay

Hello Folks....Unfortunately you will never find perfect transcriptions on Jazz Guitarists especially this one on George Benson. The transcritpions are somewhat inaccurate. For instance, for the Affirmation Intro there are mistakes on the tablature for the beginning 1st measure. The notes are not at the location specified in the F# Phyrgian Mode. I hope I'm not the only one that notices this. This is my observation so far and the chords for Bm7 are not accurate either. Guitar transcritpions are only used as an study aid and not for copying the artist style note for note.

George Benson is one of my favourit guitarplayer. His Liks and improvisation skills are unique and amazing. This book is a very usefull instrument to learn his tecnique

great book if you are into jazz and like to know the style GB plays

Gave me what I expected. I am quite pleased.

The book is great the CD was damaged So be careful I didn't use the book until it was too late for a refund or exchange (30) days

George Benson's guitar playing on his jazz records is phenomenal. Contained in this book are a good mix of transcriptions from various albums. Six are from his early jazz days in the sixties, a further six are from his funky 70's albums, and the last track (and least interesting) is from a more recent album.If you find yourself able to play all of these transcriptions, it probably means it's time for you to give up your day job and get gigging. The difficultly level is high. That said, there are plenty of very playable sections and lots of Benson licks worth stealing. Highly recommended to all players who want a challenge.

To difficult to follow.

このシリーズの特徴は1.TAB譜がある2.Marshall Wolfによるデモ演奏が付いているという点。TAB譜はかなり信頼性が高く、おかしなフィンがリングはない。日本のTAB譜の場合、著者の未熟さから「こんなフィンがリングじゃないだろう!!」というものも目にする。ギターの場合は同じ音が異弦・異フレットに存在するため、フィンガリングを決めるのに一苦労するわけだが、このTAB譜を使えばそれが割愛できる。付属のCDはベンソンのフレーズを再現しており、ベンソンのCDを持っていなくても、ギターのフレーズがわかる。本家よりシャープさはないが、ほぼ忠実に再現している。すごい。また、片チャンネルを消音するとマイナスワンになるので、コピーを再現するのもよし、カラオケとしてアドリブをするのもよし。それにしても、このMarshall Wolfという人は凄い。数多くの教本を出しているが、ただ譜面に起こしてTAB譜を書いただけの代物と違い、演奏まで再現してしまうんだから。ほんと、このシリーズは良いですよ。

「ブリージン」を購入して、ベンソンのファンになった人が多いと思います。しかし、ブリージンよりも、マスカレードよりも、Affirmation、特にそのイントロに感動したのではないでしょうか。ベンソンのようにはできなくても、ベンソンになりきってAffirmationのイントロを弾いてみたいと思う方、是非この本をご覧ください。きっと役に立ちますよ。

ベンソンのテクニックが断片的ではあるが知ることができる一冊。少し演奏者のタイム間が気になるが、ジャズ系アーティストの楽譜はなかなか国内で手に入れることは難しいので持ってて損はないであろう。