Guitar Books the Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Is this one of the best or worst books for learning about vintage Gibson acoustic guitars?

Kalamazoo Gals by John Thomas is a great book for vintage guitar enthusiasts, anyone curious about why folks are so crazy about vintage guitars, anyone generally interested in the Gibson guitar company and its founding, and anyone interested in the culture and society of the U.S. home front during World War II.  The author weaves the stories of the 1942 – 1945 Gibson “banner guitars,” the personal stories of the largely female workforce of the time, and the context of the wartime manufacturing regulations.

This book does NOT teach you how to play the guitar – it is non-fiction novel.  John Thomas put a tremendous amount of research into this book, making multiple trips to Kalamazoo, MI (where the Gibson factory was located).  He presents his findings with a sense of humor, making for an enjoyable read.

When many of the male employees at Gibson were sent off to fight in World War II, local women (the “Kalamazoo Gals”) stepped in to fill their shoes at the factory.  Despite heavy wartime regulations and an inexperienced, largely female workforce, Gibson built some of its most revered guitars – the “Banner Gibsons.”  Mysteriously, the Gibson company denies ever building these guitars!

John Thomas sought out the Kalamazoo Gals for their first-hand accounts of working at the Gibson factory during WWII, and along the way he discovered their personal stories.  He poured through old shipping ledgers to decode Gibson’s strange serial numbers system (or lack there-of) so that we can more accurately date these vintage guitars.  He X-rays a bunch of Banner Gibsons to discover exactly what made these guitars special.  Finally, he produced a musical album to capture the sounds of the Banner Gibsons.

The early chapters of the book present the history of Orville Gibson and his founding of Gibson guitars in the late 1800s and early 1900s.  As a guitar player, I was intrigued by the history of the company and how it is intertwined with American history.  I had no idea that Orville Gibson was fond of gaudy pinstriped suits and built interesting instruments like harp guitars and lutes.  I have a new respect for the company’s history having learned about how it scraped by during the depression, building both guitars and children’s toys, and how it aided the WWII effort by taking a bunch of contracts to build military weapons.

You will gain a much deeper understanding of Gibson’s flattop guitar models and their histories.  You will read the stories of several specific guitars that were owned by famous musicians including Buddy Holly and Woodie Guthrie.  You may develop an itch to acquire a vintage guitar – the massive, resonant sounds of these guitars and the stories they carry are truly special.

However, most importantly, you will hear the personal stories of some 15 or so Kalamazoo Gals.  It is touching to follow along as John Thomas clearly develops meaningful relationships with these women throughout the course of his research and interviews.

Be sure to check out the album, The Light Still Burns, by Lauren Sheehan and produced by John Thomas, to hear some of the Banner Gibsons in action!

Published in 2012 by American History Press.

My eBook: Arranging for Fingerstyle Guitar: go to http://joemcmurray.com/checkout/ to purchase a pdf of my eBook.  Learning to arrange melodies will also help your fingerstyle songwriting and your understanding of the inner workings of fingerstyle guitar.

My upcoming eBook on fingerstyle blues will be out soon!  I’ll provide order details here.

My upcoming book, Arranging for Fingerstyle Ukulele, will be published by Mel Bay in 2025.

My music is available on all streaming platforms at https://open.spotify.com/artist/5dcokTG6C598OhTslHH5uo?si=hrQb7FViSZewDRSgECw9Ew:

Pins on the Map: my third fingerstyle guitar album was released on January 19, 2024. Watch the first single, “Open Road,” on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/uPBh8sZQsT4?si=EM_wAwnHFqU1VC9C.

Riding the Wave and Acoustic Oasis: my first two fingerstyle guitar albums.

If you want to get started playing acoustic fingerstyle guitar, you will benefit from private lessons with a teacher, online video courses, listening to fingerstyle recordings, and of course… books.  It is beneficial to mix and match all of these resources.  Remember that everyone’s brain works differently, so you may gravitate more towards certain styles of learning / methods of presentation.  I love learning from books because I can read the text at my own pace and as many times over as I want.  Seeing the music written out is extremely helpful for me – I always had more difficulty keeping track of song forms or chord progressions without some sort of written reference.

So, for those of you who want to utilize a fingerstyle guitar method book to beef up your chops, I’ve done my homework and I’ve distilled my favorites into this “greatest hits” list.  I’ll try to be objective and describe who each book is best suited to.

Best Beginner Fingerstyle Methods:

1. Alfred’s Beginning Fingerstyle Guitar (Lou Manzi): Great all-around book to learn solo fingerstyle guitar.  Beginner to intermediate.  Not specific to any one subgenre of fingerstyle.  Nice organization/flow of information with a decent difficulty progression.  Good finger exercises to build some dexterity or to use as warmups, decent explanations in the text (but not too wordy), and nice sounding original tunes.  There aren’t any arrangements of famous tunes, but there are tunes “in the style of ___.”  I personally like working through this book with my students.  Additionally, many of this book’s lessons have sparked creative ideas of my own.  First book in a three part series, so you can continue your studies!  Audio recordings are available.
2. Travis-Style Guitar from Scratch (Bruce Emery): This book is a gem!  This is a method book for learning to play solo fingerstyle guitar using an alternating bass (in the Travis style).  This is one of the best books I’ve found for complete beginner to intermediate players who want to learn this specific style.  Even if you want to play other sub-styles of fingerstyle as well, this isn’t a bad place to start your journey.  The material progresses logically with lots of exercises that build on each other and lead perfectly into performance pieces (old classics like Oh! Susanna, House of the Rising Sun, Jingle Bells, etc.).  Each time Emery presents a new concept, he incorporates it into updated arrangements of each tune.  Emery’s sense of humor is infused into the text of the book, keeping detailed explanations lighthearted and entertaining without losing sight of the important information.  Audio recordings are available.
3. Fingerstyle Guitar from Scratch (Bruce Emery): I don’t love it as much as Travis-Style Guitar from Scratch, but it is still great general method book.  You will not learn to play solo fingerstyle guitar arrangements (other than a very brief introduction to the topic), but you will receive a great foundation if you are just starting out with fingerstyle.  Complete beginner to intermediate.  Emery’s sense of humor is once again infused into the text of the book, keeping detailed explanations lighthearted and entertaining without losing sight of the important information.  The book is focused on fingerstyle accompaniment using arpeggiation and Travis Style / alternating bass patterns.  This book would make an excellent primer for either Alfred’s Beginning Fingerstyle Guitar or any other fingerstyle guitar method.  Audio recordings are available.
4. Hal Leonard’s Fingerpicking Guitar (Doug Boduch): Short and sweet method to learn to play accompaniment and solo fingerstyle guitar through famous popular tunes.  Beginner to intermediate.  Guitar teachers may find this book to be a great teaching supplement.  The progression of topics is well laid out, the examples and arrangements are playable and sound good, and the text is concise.  This book is great if you just want to play arrangements of popular tunes, but I’d recommend that you work with a teacher if you want to learn more about how to apply the information outside the book.  Audio recordings are available.  Don’t confuse this with the next book. 
5. Hal Leonard’s Fingerstyle Guitar (Chad Johnson):  Not to be confused with the previous book, this book is a more in-depth method for learning to play both accompaniment and solo fingerstyle guitar.  Beginner to late-intermediate.  I love the chapter on arranging music for fingerstyle guitar.  There are lots of popular songs – either short samples of the accompaniment parts or full solo instrumental arrangements.  Lots of examples, although they don’t always build on each other very well, creating some tough swings in difficulty.  Audio recordings are available.  I’d recommend Alfred’s Beginning Fingerstyle Guitar over this book unless you specifically want the popular song arrangements.
6. Mel Bay’s Complete Chet Atkins Guitar Method (Chet Atkins): Excellent method book aimed at beginner and intermediate guitar players who want to learn to play solo fingerstyle guitar arrangements in the style of Chet Atkins (the majority of which utilize an alternating bass/ Travis Style).  If you are interested in this country-blues style of playing that Chet Atkins made popular starting in the 1950s and lasting until his death in 2001, this is a great place to start.  This book ranges in difficulty from easy to intermediate, although a few of the final arrangements are fairly difficult.  This one is moves faster and gets significantly more difficult than Bruce Emery’s Travis-Style Guitar from Scratch.  I’d really recommend going through Emery’s book first and then tackling this one if you are primarily interested in solo Travis Style playing.  This book is arranged much differently from Emery’s book.  Each section focuses on playing in a new key signature, and each new key presents new challenges and new opportunities.  This book also gets you playing up the neck (but don’t be in a rush to play up the neck!).

Is this one of the best or worst method books for fingerstyle guitar?

You can learn to play music by simultaneously using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books.

Dan Thorpe’s Fingerstyle 101 is a method book for learning to play fingerstyle (or “fingerpicking”) guitar.  The book is appropriate for absolute beginner fingerstyle players who have some experience with open chords.  Intermediate and advanced players will fly through this book and may find a few useful ideas but probably won’t find any revelatory information or inspiring performance pieces.  The author has written this book with older adult students in mind, although any beginning students would certainly benefit from working through it.  The book contains lots of practical advice on fingerpicking technique, playing posture, and strategies for practicing and memorization.  It has sections including “Pro Tips to Make Your Fingerpicking Journey Easier and More Enjoyable,” “The 7 Most Deadly Fingerpicking Mistakes,” and “The 10 Steps for Getting the Most Out of Your Fingerpicking Playing.”  There is one section of the book (less than half the book) with actual playing examples, and these examples are great first fingerpicking patterns to learn along with some practical applications.

There is lots of text in the book.  Fortunately, this text is informative without being bland.  Lots of lists, summaries, pictures, etc.  The text has a large font size so it is easy on the eyes.  Thorpe provides advice for avoiding guitar-related injuries – i.e. information about how to hold the guitar in the classical style to help older students avoid back pain.  There is some psychology about how to learn efficiently/effectively and how to make and set goals.  There is a chord reference guide as well as sections on understanding basic rhythms and reading tablature (TAB).

The playing section in the middle of the book progresses at a reasonable pace for a beginner fingerstyle student.  Thorpe teaches ten fingerpicking patterns, and for each pattern there are three examples.  The first example is as basic as possible over a single chord shape.  The second example has you play the pattern over a simple chord progression (always C G D).  Since you always utilize the same C G D chord progression, you will be able to focus your brain power on your picking hand and the new pattern.  This is also very practical because if you want to fingerpick the guitar while singing, it is useful to try out a pattern over simple chord progressions that you might find in folk or pop songs.  Finally, the third example introduces a more complex chord progression, stylistic elements such as hammer-ons and pull-offs, and sometimes a (very simple) moving melody or bass line.  These third examples are not long enough to be performance pieces, but they may inspire you to add some flair to your accompaniment fingerpicking or to write your own compositions.

The book doesn’t progress far enough to establish a specific style within the umbrella of fingerstyle guitar.  You learn a few classical arpeggiation patterns, a few Travis picking patterns, and a few patterns that have some folk or blues flair.  The book doesn’t get into the modern percussive techniques used by modern players like Michael Hedges, Don Ross, Andy McKee, Mike Dawes, etc.  No thumb slaps, guitar body percussion, or tapping.

All playing examples are provided in standard notation (treble clef) and tablature.  Audio recordings are available for all playing examples.

You could use either a steel string or nylon string classical guitar to work through this book.

Published by Rockstar Publishing  © 2015, 2020.  Distributed by Hal Leonard.

My eBook: Arranging for Fingerstyle Guitar: go to http://joemcmurray.com/checkout/ to purchase a pdf of my eBook.

My music is available on all streaming platforms:

Pins on the Map: my third fingerstyle guitar album will be released on January 19, 2024. The first single, “Open Road,” was released 10/20/23. Watch it on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/uPBh8sZQsT4?si=EM_wAwnHFqU1VC9C.  Three other singles have since been released: “Lost and Found,” “The Matador,” and “Pins on the Map.”

Riding the Wave and Acoustic Oasis: my first two fingerstyle guitar albums.

Christmas repertoire books featuring solo fingerstyle guitar arrangements are great for the holiday season!  Whether you simply want to get into the Christmas spirit or you need to perform Christmas tunes at your gigs, there are a number of great Christmas repertoire books.  In this review I will look at three books that I really enjoy: Hal Leonard’s “Fingerpicking Yuletide,” Mark Phillips’ “Christmas Carols for Easy Classical Guitar” (Cherry Lane Music Company), and John Hill’s “Classical Guitar Christmas Sheet Music” (Hal Leonard).

To be clear, all books are suitable for either steel string guitar or nylon string classical guitar.

All three books feature a range of tunes suitable for late-beginner through intermediate fingerstyle guitarists.  Hal Leonard’s “Fingerpicking Yuletide” features mid-twentieth century tunes like Frosty the Snowman, Jingle Bell Rock, and Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!  Phillips’ “Christmas Carols for Easy Classical Guitar” and Hill’s “Classical Guitar Christmas Sheet Music” both feature traditional Christmas carols like O Come, All Ye Faithful, The First Noel, Jingle Bells, and Silent Night.

Hal Leonard’s “Fingerpicking Yuletide” and Phillips’ “Christmas Carols for Easy Classical Guitar” provide both standard notation and tablature, but Hill’s “Classical Guitar Christmas Sheet Music” provides only standard notation (no TAB!!!).

The arrangements in Phillips’ “Christmas Carols for Easy Classical Guitar” flow really well with nice arpeggiation.  The arrangements in Hill’s “Classical Guitar Christmas Sheet Music” are a mixed bag, but many of them have nice arpeggiation or feature an alternating bass line (Travis picking).  Some of the arrangements are a bit clunky in comparison to the Phillips book.  The arrangements in Hal Leonard’s “Fingerpicking Yuletide” are also a mixed bag, but tend to be a little stripped down/simplified to make them easier.  While some are great as they are, some are a little uninspiring until you add some extra inner harmony, arpeggiation, or other pizzazz.  The arrangements are great for late-beginner/intermediate players, and they are excellent skeletons/frameworks/starting points from which more advanced players can add extra spice.  The arrangements utilize a variety of alternating bass lines and arpeggiation.

Hal Leonard’s “Fingerpicking Yuletide” has 16 tunes.  Phillips’ “Christmas Carols for Easy Classical Guitar” has 22 tunes.  Hill’s “Classical Guitar Christmas Sheet Music” has 30 tunes.

Hal Leonard’s “Fingerpicking Yuletide” is the only book out of the three that has the lyrics written into the music which is nice when playing with friends/family or for helping you to sing the melody out loud or in your head while you are playing solo.

Phillips’ “Christmas Carols for Easy Classical Guitar” is the only book out of the three that comes with recordings of the tunes (mine came with a CD).

All three books are worth buying – it just depends on what you’re looking for.

My eBook: Arranging for Fingerstyle Guitar: go to http://joemcmurray.com/checkout/ to purchase a pdf of my eBook.

My music is available on all streaming platforms:

Pins on the Map: my third fingerstyle guitar album will be released in January 2024. The first single, “Open Road,” was released 10/20/23. Watch it on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/uPBh8sZQsT4?si=EM_wAwnHFqU1VC9C.  Three other singles have since been released: “Lost and Found,” “The Matador,” and “Pins on the Map.”

Riding the Wave and Acoustic Oasis: my first two fingerstyle guitar albums.

Is this one of the best or worst method books for fingerstyle guitar?

You can learn to play music by simultaneously using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books.

Ken Perlman’s Fingerstyle Guitar is a method book for learning to play solo fingerstyle guitar in the folk, blues, fiddle tune, Celtic, and ragtime styles.  The book becomes progressively more difficult – the beginning is appropriate for beginner fingerstyle players, and the end is challenging for intermediate and even advanced players.  The book is extremely long (232 pages) and extremely detailed with sections of dense explanatory text.  While I enjoy many of the tunes in this book (especially the Irish, English, and Scottish fiddle tunes), some of the arrangements are clunky, difficult, and not worth the effort.  While I’m happy to have worked through Fingerstyle Guitar, I would not recommend this to most players unless you are specifically interested in older styles of music and you’ve already exhausted other options.

The book quickly introduces alternating bass (Travis picking) arrangements and gradually presents standard guitar techniques including hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, etc.  I like that Perlman provides exercises and lots of short, accessible tunes like Elizabeth Cotton’s Freight Train to build your technique.  The tunes and arrangements are stylistically similar to those in Stefan Grossman’s Complete Country Blues Guitar Book and Complete Celtic Fingerstyle Guitar Book but with more technical explanations.  The book also provides types of tunes similar to those found in Mel Bay’s Complete Chet Atkins Guitar Method although with a very different teaching approach.

While the first five chapters of the book are accessible with some fun 20 second tunes, the book’s difficulty increases starting in Chapter 6.  The tunes move higher up the fretboard, utilizing alternate tunings, and requiring much more fretting with your thumb over the top.  These are important things to learn and prepare you for the fun repertoire-heavy chapters at the end of the book.

The final four chapters of the book provide repertoire tunes organized into categories: “Southern Fiddle Tunes,” “Old-Time Songs and Ballads,” “Irish, English, and Scottish Fiddle Tunes,” and “Rags.”  There are some nice arrangements in these chapters, but I found that many of the arrangements seem to be especially difficult.  I believe that a good arrangement should find a balance between the complexity of the tune and playability, and many of these arrangements just feel clunky to me.  Lots of difficult passages and fingerings even after putting in serious practice.  There are detailed explanations of techniques (hammer-ons, slides, etc.), but little explanation of how to actually play through an individual tune with a smooth performance.  Other books like Richard Saslow’s The New Art of Ragtime Guitar provide smoother arrangements and much more tune-specific help.

If you are a performing musician, you will find that most of these tunes are too short to actually play out at gigs without coming up with your own variations.  The exceptions are the rags in the final chapter which are quite lengthy and difficult.  For the shorter tunes throughout the book, there is no discussion about how to go about extending them for performance.

Perlman provides some cool background information on styles and specific tunes.  The Celtic fiddle tune chapter has great information on the differences between single jigs, double jigs, slip jigs, set tunes, reels, hornpipes, and slow aires, with great examples of each.

The book provides examples in both TAB and standard notation (treble clef).  Each tune/example is presented in its entirety in TAB, and then again in standard notation.  This is great in that it minimizes page turns if you are reading the tune.  It is also highly annoying because all of the fingering details are only included in the standard notation, so if you are reading the TAB version of the tune, you have to constantly flip over and search through the standard notation version.  The author/publisher should have included the fingerings in the TAB.  Also, after the beginning of the book, there is no right hand fingering.

Overall, this book contains a wide scope of valuable information and fun old folk, blues, fiddle, Celtic, and ragtime tunes.  Many of the arrangements feel clunky and difficult to me even after putting in a lot of work.  Many of the explanations of techniques are helpful if you’ve never used them before but are hard to read.  If you want to play fingerstyle guitar, don’t start with this book.

The book doesn’t get into the modern percussive techniques used by modern players like Michael Hedges, Don Ross, Andy McKee, Mike Dawes, etc.  No thumb slaps, guitar body percussion, or tapping.

I recommend using an acoustic steel string guitar rather than a classical guitar since there are many tunes that utilize the fretting hand thumb over the top.

Published by Centerstream Publishing  © 1980, 2002.  Distributed by Hal Leonard.

My eBook: Arranging for Fingerstyle Guitar: go to http://joemcmurray.com/checkout/ to purchase a pdf of my eBook.

My music is available on all streaming platforms:

Riding the Wave: my second fingerstyle guitar album.

Pins on the Map: my third fingerstyle guitar album will be released in January 2024. The first single, “Open Road,” was released 10/20/23. Watch it on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/uPBh8sZQsT4?si=EM_wAwnHFqU1VC9C.  The second single, “Lost and Found,” was released 11/3/23.

Is this one of the best or worst method books for fingerstyle guitar?

You can learn to play music using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books.

Richard S. Saslow’s The New Art of Ragtime Guitar is a fun, well-graduated repertoire + analysis book for learning to play the fingerpicking guitar style known as ragtime guitar.  It is aimed at intermediate and advanced fingerstyle players, although late beginners can certainly take a stab at the first couple tunes.  The book teaches ragtime guitar through studies of 8 tunes of increasing difficulty.  Each tune is broken down into sections with around 6 measures of the music (treble clef and tablature) on one page and a detailed analysis on the facing page.  Full condensed tunes are in the back of the book.

Out of the author’s eight original tunes, seven are standard sounding ragtime tunes and one is a blues.  Among the ragtime tunes, there is a bit of variation in feel from upbeat and happy to bluesy and minor to jazzy.  There are also several key signatures and some unique harmonizations.  All of the ragtime tunes utilize an alternating bass line as well as some short segments of walking bass line.  The blues tune mainly uses a monotonic bass typical of the Texas blues fingerpicking style.

This is not a method book for learning the basics of fingerstyle guitar in a logical progression from your first notes through to mastery (check out Alfred’s Beginning Fingerstyle, Hal Leonard’s Fingerstyle Guitar, or Mel Bay’s Complete Chet Atkins Guitar Method).  However, there are about 20 pages of introductory text discussing equipment, notation, the ragtime style, and technique.  There is definitely some useful information in this section, especially for novice players.  However, I wouldn’t get too caught up reading this entire section all at once – I would recommend jumping into the tunes which often refer you back to the technique sections of the introduction.  Read the detailed stuff then!

Where the book really excels is in its presentation of the music and its corresponding analysis.  As I mentioned before, for each ragtime tune you will see ~6 measures of music on one page and the detailed analysis on the facing page.  This analysis features detailed directions, techniques, and other tips for the 6 measures at hand.  I usually play through the music once, and then go through the analysis carefully, marking fingerings, anchor fingers, guide fingers, etc. into the music as well as into the condensed version of the tune in the back of the book.  The analysis really does give you insights into how to properly play these tunes (and future tunes from any source) smoothly and musically.

1. Authentic sounding fingerstyle ragtime tunes.
2. Good difficulty graduation.
3. You will spend much more time playing music than analyzing music theory. 
4. Online recordings of each tune are available.

The book doesn’t get into the modern percussive techniques used by modern players like Michael Hedges, Don Ross, Andy McKee, Mike Dawes, etc.  No thumb slaps, guitar body percussion, or tapping.

I recommend using an acoustic steel string guitar rather than a classical guitar since there are multiple tunes that utilize the fretting hand thumb over the top.

Independently published by the author via Acoustic Truth.  © 2011, 2017 (2nd edition)

eBook: Arranging for Fingerstyle Guitar: go to http://joemcmurray.com/checkout/ to purchase a pdf of my eBook.

Riding the Wave: my second fingerstyle guitar album is available on all streaming platforms.

Pins on the Map: my third fingerstyle guitar album will be released in January 2024. The first single, “Open Road,” was released 10/20/23. Watch it on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/uPBh8sZQsT4?si=EM_wAwnHFqU1VC9C

Is this one of the best or worst method books for fingerstyle blues guitar?

You can learn to play music using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books.

Miggs Rivera’s Fingerstyle Blues is an inspiring, well-graduated method book for learning to play fingerstyle blues.  It is aimed at intermediate and advanced fingerstyle players.  Each chapter ultimately provides a full performance tune, but starts by describing a new concept or technique (or two) and providing examples that prepare you for the performance song.  As advertised, this book is focused entirely on fingerstyle blues with deep dives into various substyles including delta blues (Robert Johnson), boogies (John Lee Hooker), slide blues (Son House), and Texas blues (Lightning Hopkins).  There is even a tune that has a modern character with some jazzier chords.

I love how in each chapter the book provides technical exercises that directly prepare you for the upcoming performance tune.  Often the author will simplify a section of the performance tune and then provide more complexity with each subsequent example.  The first chapter of the book presents a somewhat basic 12-bar blues, then provides 5 separate 12-bar variations that each focus on adding a new technique (hammer-on grace notes, slide grace notes, rubato bends, chords fragments, rubato bends on the higher and lower strings), and finally culminates in an all-inclusive performance tune.  Mr. Rivera really hit the nail on the head with his teaching approach.

The author provides some music theory, but only that which is immediately applicable to an upcoming performance tune.  You will spend much more time playing music than analyzing music theory. 

The book includes access to private/un-searchable YouTube video lessons through QR codes.  You will need a cell phone that can pull these up.  These videos are extremely helpful as they include explanations and demonstrations by the author.  These are particularly useful as they show you the proper rhythms and feel.

One thing to note about this book is that it doesn’t emphasize improvisation which is a huge part of blues music.  However, you could learn about improvisation elsewhere (with a private teacher or with a book like Joseph Alexander’s Fingerstyle Blues Guitar) and then implement it into the tunes of this book.

1. Authentic sounding fingerstyle blues tunes.
2. Excellent difficulty graduation – examples build off each other and get gradually more complex and difficult.  Cohesive feel throughout the book, especially as the final performance tune pulls from the earlier tunes.
3. Not much emphasis on improvisation.
4. Online video lessons are extremely helpful – difficult rhythms and feel are much easier to learn with the videos.

The book does introduce some modern percussive techniques used by modern players like Michael Hedges, Don Ross, Andy McKee, Mike Dawes, etc.  You will learn to play thumb slaps and various percussive hits on the guitar body.

I would recommend that you use an acoustic steel string or electric guitar.  You could use a nylon string classical guitar if absolutely necessary, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

Independently published by Miggs Rivera.  © 2020

eBook: Arranging for Fingerstyle Guitar: go to http://joemcmurray.com/checkout/ to purchase a pdf of my eBook.

Riding the Wave: my second fingerstyle guitar album is available on all streaming platforms.

Pins on the Map: my third fingerstyle guitar album will soon be released.

I’ll be back with more guitar book reviews, but I need to take a little break while I work my way through new books, prepare for performances, finish recording/mixing/mastering my third fingerstyle guitar album, and write my upcoming book.

eBook: Arranging for Fingerstyle Guitar: go to http://joemcmurray.com/checkout/ to purchase a pdf of my eBook.

Riding the Wave: my second fingerstyle guitar album is available on all streaming platforms.

You can learn to play music using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books.

Hal Leonard’s 100 Most Popular Songs for Fingerpicking Guitar is a repertoire book filled with solo fingerstyle guitar arrangements of popular songs from mostly the 1960s through present day.  Genres covered include classic and modern rock, pop, folk, jazz, theme songs, Spanish classical, and more.  There are songs from the Beatles, Ed Sheeran, Duke Ellington, Metallica, Aerosmith, Imagine Dragons, Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder, etc.  Most of the tunes are suitable for intermediate fingerstyle players, although there are some easier tunes for late beginners as well as some tunes that are significantly more difficult.  If you are looking to build out your repertoire for local gigs, this book is incredible! 

Overall, the arrangements are in guitar-friendly keys, they stay below the 5th fret, and they sound good.  You can always simplify or add to the arrangements to suit your tastes and skill level.  Most tunes are in standard tuning, although there are some tunes that use drop D tuning.  Tunes are arranged utilizing a variety of techniques including simple melody and bass, alternating bass, and arpeggiation. The book doesn’t get into the modern percussive techniques used by modern players like Michael Hedges, Don Ross, Andy McKee, Mike Dawes, etc.  No thumb slaps, guitar body percussion, or tapping.

Although this book is a repertoire book and not a method book, there is a single page in the back providing an “Introduction to Fingerstyle,” which is probably worthless to anyone who is attempting to play the tunes in this book.  The rest of the book is just filled with song arrangements in alphabetical order, and there is no background information for any of the tunes.  The music is presented as a treble clef lead sheet with the main melody and the harmonizing chords written above, and the solo guitar arrangements are presented in treble clef and tablature.  Occasional left-hand fingerings are provided.

Although this book has great tunes for your gigs, it would be difficult to bring the book to a gig and play from the pages.  The book is 430 pages and has a softcover binding, so you need binder clips to hold the pages open.  Most tunes require multiple page turns, which is a disaster if you are holding the pages open with binder clips.  Your only options would be to photocopy pages or memorize the tunes.

For most of the tunes you could use an acoustic steel string or classical nylon string guitar since most arrangements don’t require using your fretting hand thumb over the top.

1. Extensive song selection.  You are bound to like at least a few of the tunes if you like popular or rock music.
2. Great arrangements that generally feature melody and bass, alternating bass, and/or arpeggiation.
3. Provides treble clef lead sheets (melody with harmonizing chords written above) as well as treble clef and TAB guitar arrangements.
4. Some fretting hand fingering is included, but there isn’t any picking hand fingering.
5. Hard to hold pages open, lots of page turns.
6. No audio access.  However, arrangements generally sound similar to the original tunes.

Published by Hal Leonard.  © 2019

eBook: Arranging for Fingerstyle Guitar: go to http://joemcmurray.com/checkout/ to purchase a pdf of my eBook.

Riding the Wave: my second fingerstyle guitar album is available on all streaming platforms.

You can learn to play music using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books.

Stefan Grossman’s Complete Country Blues Guitar Book is a repertoire book of various substyles of fingerstyle blues (general old time country blues, Delta blues, ragtime blues, Texas blues, and bottleneck blues).  Most of the tunes are suitable for late-beginner and intermediate fingerstyle players, although advanced players will certainly enjoy the tunes as well.  The music in this book may sound “old-timey” (much of it comes from the 1920s and 30s), but it is really fun to play if you are interested in the style.  Aside from the large selection of tunes, the book provides tons of cool history, interviews of blues players (Skip James and W.C. Handy), and historical photos – makes for a great coffee table book!

The book is organized into sections for each substyle of fingerstyle blues.  At the beginning of each section there is a textual description and history of the blues substyle being presented.  Before each tune, there is a description of where that tune originated from, who played it in this style, important recordings to listen to, and some technical performance details.

Most of the tunes provide you with a single progression of the tune – sometimes only 20 or 30 seconds long.  In a real performance you would probably want to repeat the form multiple times with singing, variations, or improvisation.  My only complaint about the book is that it would have been helpful if the author had explained this a bit more.  However, if you take the listening recommendations seriously then you will get the idea.

The book provides both treble clef and tablature.  There are no right or left-hand fingerings provided (except occasionally in the description before the tune).  The tablature is unusual in that the fret numbers are written between the lines instead of on the lines, but I quickly adjusted to it without any problem.

The majority of the tunes use standard tuning.  However, alternate tunings are used extensively within the sections on “Country Blues Guitar: The Alternating Bass and Open Tunings” and “Bottleneck Blues Guitar.”

This is a repertoire book full of song arrangements.  This is not a method book that teaches you the fundamentals of how to play fingerstyle blues guitar.  However, if you have some fingerstyle experience, then this book will provide you with a lifetime of fun (at almost 260 pages, it will literally last you a very long time).

1. Authentic fingerstyle blues tunes from various substyles.
2. Great organization.
3. Good difficulty graduation – easier tunes to start each section.
4. Short tunes.
5. Lots of alternating bass and monotonic bass
6. Strange tablature will take a few minutes to adjust to.
7. No fingerings for right or left hand.
8. No audio access, but there are lots of listening recommendations that are helpful.

The book doesn’t get into the modern percussive techniques used by modern players like Michael Hedges, Don Ross, Andy McKee, Mike Dawes, etc.  No thumb slaps, guitar body percussion, or tapping.

I recommend using an acoustic steel string guitar rather than a classical guitar since there are multiple tunes that utilize the fretting hand thumb over the top.  You will need a slide for the final section, but you can use it with your normal guitar.

Published by Mel Bay Publications.  © 1992

eBook: Arranging for Fingerstyle Guitar: go to http://joemcmurray.com/checkout/ to purchase a pdf of my eBook.

Riding the Wave: my second fingerstyle guitar album is available on all streaming platforms.