Tutorials Books

This is the book for you. It introduces each note very slowly (there is only one scale, 6 open chords, and 3 power chords) and provides plenty of songs to give you a context for each note. The description is also misleading as you learn absolutely no blues scales or chords in this book (there are just a couple of songs) and don't even get me started on the puns. This could be a good book if you have no musical background and like playing simple songs more than learning new concepts but even then this book is light on the concepts and big on corny humor.

It's hard to get past the corny "humor" and wacky Comic Sans font, but even when I do, the text itself frustrates. There must be a better way to initiate a musical novice into playing an instrument. I've yet to make it past the six notes in the first two chapters. Maybe it works for others, but definitely not for me.

I bought my guitar over a year ago and wanted to learn how to play but couldn't afford to pay for guitar lessons. So I bought this book. It's amazingly clear on what to do and even shows you how to hold your hand for different chords and which finger to use for various notes.

You don't even have to be able to read a note of music to get started with this book: at the very beginning of it, before you actually start playing the guitar, it explains measures, whole notes, half notes, quarter notes (etc.), time signatures, which notes are on which lines and spaces, what a clef is, etc. Eventually (towards the end of the book) it gets into tablature.

It comes with a cd so that you know what sort of a sound you're going for and to make sure that you're doing it right... plus it's fun to have some background music to play along with. Yes it is very sappy in that the book changes the names of songs from "ode to joy" to "ode to joyful rock" and "johnny be good" to "billy b.badd". The book doesn't just throw you into chords right away but instead gradually makes things tougher and slowly introduces you to different techniques.

I highly recommend the FastTrack series to learn the basics and then taking lessons from an instructor.

I originally purchased this when I got my guitar so I would have a quick reference for the notes of the strings as well as tuning and then I bought a DVD to learn basics from. I played around with the DVD and then I played around with this book. As a complete beginner, I love the book! It teaches you the notes and how to read the music and then it has you practice. It is amazing after the drills how quickly you can look at a note and then just know where to place your fingers without even thinking. I have not used the CD yet...I just keep trying the practice sections until I feel it is right...I may use the CD later. This book is so cheap so if you are a complete beginner, I recommend it. Later in the book are some chords and also tablature (I am not there yet). After I finish this book I will move on to the DVD that I bought. Great starting book I think.

There are books that only focus on playing chords. And then there are books that convert notes into that easy to read tablature. But there isn't much sheetmusic or many songbooks written in tablature.

I don't want to count strings and frets for each note. I just want to look at the notes on any sheet of music and know what to play. That's what I do when I play piano and it's what I want to do when I play guitar. This book teaches you how to do just that in addition to reading tablature and chords.

The CD makes practice more fun. Even the simplest exercises sound great with a little backup music. And if you aren't having fun...what's the point? Buy this book and start having some of that fun!

This book is a decent introduction into standard fingerpicking but advanced players who want to get into fingerpicking should probably look elsewhere. There are maybe two - four pieces in the book which will take advanced players more then 20 minutes to basically master. I would of liked much more work on advanced alternative bass compositions so if you are looking for that than look elsewhere.

If you are brand new to the guitar then this is a great place to start as it will have you playing simple tunes right away. It will also teach you some basic things (like chords) which are used in other aspects besides just fingerpicking.

I've had this book for several years now, and only recently picked it up again, and started working my way through it. It is a great book for those like me, who like to who are too lazy to pony up for real lessons, and learn well out of books. It nicely illustrates several different fingerstyle patterns as well as quite a few different chord progressions that sound great. There are also some excellent pieces to learn, specifically "Spanish Ballad", and "Andante", which have worked their way into my repetoire. My only complaints would be that it would be nice if it were in a spiral book form for easier use on a music stand, and it could go a little deeper into theory. It really just skims it very lightly, and if you don't know it already, you are just memorizing chord shapes and patterns. That aside, It's been at the front of my collection for many years, and I am still finding cool stuff to pick out of it.

I recently bought this book,having played guitar for some time mainly classical and decided to learn fingerstyle/fingerpicking patterns through chords.I did have experience with the progressive series books in the past and once again they came through with this one.The lessons are easy to learn and precise.It also contains large easy to read notes and diagram.It contains about a hundred forty pages or so of quality instructive lessons and excercises and includes a glossary at the end of the book.With this book and practice you'll be fingerpicking for years to come. Highly recommendable.

This book has helped me a lot. Excellent examples for a beginning fingerpicker.

Good book in that author exposes various styles to the new student. That is also the weakness of the book. Going from style to style with short lessons tends to confuse the student new to guitar fingerpicking.

John Bertalot lives in a fairy-tale
-Whenever John Bertalot encounters a problem with his choirs, he has an immediate solution and tada! it works flawlessly. It feels like JB has never been in real life situations where something might not work.
-His writing style is irritating. Instead of a useful textbook, he tries to make his points with a story about a pupil who visits him. We have to read through very uninteresting descriptions of what they have for dinner, where they do their shopping...

I wasn't sure what to expect after starting this book, but I find it to be an immense help to any choral director.

John Bertalot is the Director of Music at Trinity Episcopal Church in Princeton, New Jersey, and has a good deal of experience to draw from in this book.

The most important aspect about Bertalot's book is that it is set in dialogue style--it reads more like a novel as a master choral director shares his insights on a typical week of life as a choral conductor with a bright, young protégé.

Bertalot writes this with the church choral director in mind. Many tips relate specifically to being a church director, and community choir/school choir directors will not be able to utilize every important bit of information. There is also a little bit about how to practice the organ, which I thought was outside the book's subject matter.

That said, Bertalot has a great deal to say about the non-conducting related aspects of being a choral director. Rehearsal pedagogy is discussed, though I found it a little light in this area, but the main focus is on administrative aspects-the audition process, creating and sustaining interest in order to create a strong music program--these are Bertalot's strengths.

Some readers evidently do not seem to appreciate Bertalot's dialogue style. In this fictionalized week, the master conductor does things the ideal way, and everything therefore seems to happen perfectly in Bertalot's world. I think Bertalot is trying to show readers how things can be improved and made smoother by illustrating the ideal method. It also makes it more enjoyable to read. On the other hand, this may put off some readers by making it seem "holier than thou."

If you don't mind his writing style, Bertalot's book is an invaluable resource to a church choir director, and any choir director can find helpful ideas to utilize in their own experience.

When I encountered the author shortly after reading this book, I said that I wished it had existed when I was just starting out as a choirmaster. He said, "So do I." With little experience even singing in a good choir or observing an excellent director, I had tried to make up for that deficiency by studying as many books about choir training as I could find (typically dating 1880-1940)-- but not with much profit. Indeed the most detailed treatise, by William Finn, probably did my choir's tone, and my own habits, more harm than good. Much of this art is too ineffable to be captured in a book.

But Mr. Bertalot's book differs from the others and would have been valuable. Much of it is common sense (which is not to say that the suggestions would always occur to one on one's own). There are many details, too, about dotting i's and crossing t's: Yes, not only a highly successful, enthusiastic, and energetic choirmaster is speaking to us (rare), but one whose musical tastes and ideals are the worthiest possible (rarer). And yes, he is telling us how his success depends on keeping his choir room tidy, filing papers away in the correct folders, following up anyone's unexpected absence with a phone call or postcard, and writing thank-you letters for any favors received.

Such advice is in the tradition of Bach: "I have worked very hard, and anyone who works as hard can do as well." Or Edison: "10% inspiration, 90% perspiration." This should come as encouraging, even inspiring news to those who have been bitten by the ambition to train an excellent choir, and who probably feel unprepared for the task and isolated from living paragons or mentors. Encouraging, at least, to those who retain enough of their youthful energy and idealism not to be daunted by the overall magnitude of the challenge.

And that is another feature of the book which makes it particularly valuable to the beginning professional. Mr. Bertalot wrote this and his other book (5 Wheels) shortly before retirement-- a retirement which must have surprised many because his manner remained so youthful in its enthusiasm and joi-de-vivre. This outlook shines through clearly in the style of the book as well. Are you young, enthusiastic, and idealistic? That's good, he will tell you. Then he will impart wisdom which preserves and builds on those strengths.

I agree with all positive reviews of this book, and would add that I appreciated the insights on what we typically skip over in preparation for directing music. Specifically, learning how to say "Thank you" and the non-music-degree skills of letter writing, telephone calls, miscellaneous secretarial duties, and dragging the choir chairs around the room. Other authors and lecturers either don't think of mentioning these things, or simply don't have the guts to tell us like it is.

The format of the book made it a pleasure to read instead of a chore to get through.

Bertalot's practical tips for choral directors should be a must for professionals as well and even more for non professionals in choral conducting.

It is a splendid, almost infinite source of inspirations, hints, tips and, what counts most to my opinion, gives to choral directors all the basic's about the relation to and the work with singers. One sentence that impressed me most (because it's so simple): 'You have to love people if you want to be a good choirmaster'.

This book should be translated into German and other languages wordwide!!! I'm going to write some further reviews for german choir magazines.

When buying a french cookbook, one can choose from wonderful derivative sources (for example, an American popularist of french cooking such as Julia Childs, or a Betty Crocker clone) or visit with a text written by a master native-born French chef for those who wish to learn how to cook authentic French cuisine from one of the top chefs in France. Interestingly, the same phenenomena exists with books on piano-playing. There are certainly Betty Crocker-style books written by marginally talented pianists who tailor their texts to aficionados who don't wish to think too much about piano-playing theories and methods. Then there are the books written by the real "chefs" or "chiefs" of piano-playing, like Josef Hofmann, who along with Rachmaninoff and a few others, ranked as the superlative pianists of the 20th Century. What Liszt was to the 19th Century, Hofmann was in the 20th Century. In Piano Playing the reader is treated to high-level advice on many of the most important aspects of piano playing. To be sure, unless the reader has had a high level teacher who has provided him/her a legitimately good foundation in piano-playing and piano knowledge, the book may feel less useful. But that's true only if the reader reads too hastily, and with an eye at being entertained instead of educated. Serious, that is "real" pianists, would not want to miss owning and reading this wonderful book.

I have to be honest. I do not like this book. I don't even think I got through the first chapter. I am a real nut about piano playing and piano theory, so if there is something good in the book I guess I just missed it. I was so bored reading it I just tossed it.

I gave it 2 stars just because there may be something good in the book I missed.

I was slightly disappointed in this book. I did not feel that I learned very much that I didn't already know. There were a few
answers to some problems that I have been experiencing on the piano, however, for the most part the answers to the questions were rather simple and common sense.
I also felt that this book, written in the early 1900's, was outdated. I did get a good chuckle though from some of the advice.
I felt that a beginner may have gleaned more usefull information from this book than I did.If you are looking for in depth answers, and advice on piano playing, etc. this didn't do it for me.

I can't begin to tell you how many people make a poor attempt at learning very difficult piano pieces just so they can say "I can play this, and I can play that". However, if they're serious about piano, they will come to a point where they realize that, sure, they can "get through" the piece, but they can't actually "play" it. There is so much more to the piano that so many people are missing out on these days. Technique, dynamics, tempo, and even simple things such as how you are seated at the bench. Most teachers skip over teaching these key aspects of music because most students just want to be able to play what they want as fast as they want. This book covers all the things that many have missed out on. It covers nearly everything you need to know on how to be a great piano player. Combine this book with natural talent, and a desire to bring the piano to life, and you're set. Theres even over 160 pages of frequently asked questions that amatures sent to Hoffman over the years (and answers of couse).

If you're serious about playing the piano, get this book before your poor playing habbits are implanted in your head even further. If you're not serious, or just like to mess around... then skip it. It would be a waste of your money.

Probably the greatest pianist of our time telling us the secret of his success: how one should approach the piano and music, how Rubinstein taught him, what music to start with, the advantage and disadvantage of having a perfect pitch... a lot more. Most amusing as well as informative. It deserves more than 5 stars.

However, note that more often than not, a child prodigy wouldn't be able too tell you very much how he got there. And I dare say Mozart's father would be able to tell you more about it than himself.

Say, for instance, how would it be possible to avoid all but really good concerts as suggested by Hofmann? Without the benefit of both, how would we be able to differentiate the two? However, at a certain point of time this is so correct! Hofmann's insistence on the cleanliness of the keyboard, I suppose would carry different meaning for different pianists too. Likewise, soaking one's hands in warm water to warm them up may or may not work for all. And having a terrific memory, Hofmann is celebrated for his ability to learn, like Mozart, a piece by listening to it instead of sightreading any music. As such, Dohnanyi (the pianist), Richter, Gulda or even Nelson Freire might be in a better position to tell anything substantial about it...

All in all, this book is nothing like an anti-biotic that can cure your ailments within virtually a couple of days, but just some very general guidelines or principles which would, nevertheless, takes you years if not months of practice to accomplish, if at all. Nonetheless, there are some good suggestions that would lead you and guide you through some turning points, without which you may get easily lost or else need much more time to unlearn.

This book is 216 pages of banjo tunes arranged for three-finger and clawhammer players. It includes a cross-reference of alternate titles and a 24 page general discography, as well as a discussion of the types of tunes included. There is also a short discussion of technical topics such as modes (very appropriate for traditional music) and how to read tablature.

This book is a lot like a Grainger's collection of fiddle tunes for flatpickers. Unlike Grainger's, which only provides enough tablature to spell out the melody for the A part and the B part, The Banjo Picker's Fakebook takes you through one whole iteration of each tune complete with first and second endings. Also like Grainger's, this is not an instruction book. It leaves both the right and left hand fingerings entirely up to the reader. For example, if you are a strictly a bluegrass player, the clawhammer arrangements will not be useful to you.

Although the discography could be used to collect aural examples of the tunes, a CD or a set of tapes would have been a welcome addition. Music is an aural art, and it is impossible to convey the full musical sense in tablature or in standard musical notation alone.

If you are looking for a lot of tunes, thoughtfully arranged in a single volume, I highly recommend The Banjo Picker's Fakebook. If the tune can't be found in this book, chances are no one eles knows it either, so you could go ahead and play anything that fit.

The good news is there are tons of songs in this book and you'll have many hours of fun learning all sorts of new music. For that alone, this book is worth having.

The bad news: The Fiddle, Mandolin, and guitar versions of this book all have exactly the same song list all in the same keys. This is great because your fiddler, mandolin and guitar player all have the same reference to the same songs and can easily play together. The banjo book, however, does not have the same song listing. Many of the songs in the other 3 books are not in this book. Also, quite a bit of the music is in "Melodic clawhammer" style. If you don't play that style then you'll miss out on about half of the songs in this book.

However, the music that is here is pretty darn fun. Just be aware that if the other members of your group all have this book then your book won't match up to thiers.

LOTS of good tunes; however, the print is too small and the tab noteheads are between the staff lines rather than on them, as more commonly found, making for difficult sightreading. It's still a very good resource for Oldtime/Bluegrass pieces for the banjo.

This is a great book if you already know how to play and just want a lot of tunes. My only complaint is that not all tunes are available in all styles. (That is, some have a clawhammer arrangement, some have a 3-finger arrangement, and some have both.) I can't really blame the authors, though, as it's a pretty large volume as it is. Overall, it's exactly what it's advertised to be.

If you're after the usual folk-tune-collection introductions to each song, you won't find them here: just the bare bones of the songs in various arrangements (mostly clawhammer, quite a few Scruggs-style). The music speaks for itself, though, and like all books of this type it's fun to pick a page at random and see what it sounds like.

Looks like a faithful walkthrough of the guitar stylings of one of my favorite ever guitarists. Thumbs way up!

The book is OK, however there are some mistakes in the tabs, when compared with the version in music notation right above. This will be a problem for those who can't read music notation.

The bass transcriptions are sometimes incomplete, but, as far as I could check, they are correct.

Well, I got this book for a bit of money and IS IT WORTH IT!!! This is my favorite guitar tablature book that I own. It is very accurate, it has good songs in it,and comes with a CD!! This is a very good item and any queen fan who plays guitar should own this.

Brian May is one of the finest rock guitarists of all times - I do not think most rockers in the USA fully appreciate his creativity and talent. Now, guitarrists everywhere and of all generations have a fine chance to immerse into the rich music of Queen. this book rocks!
This is a fine songbook with great information about May's style and the career evolution of Queen. I thank the author and the publisher for such a good, thoughtful work. Even the cover is very classy ;-)
This book covers many facets of May's style, from the heavy riffs of "Keep yourself alive" "Hammer to Fall" and "Stone Cold crazy" to the epic solo of "Bohemian Rhapsody" and his work in hits such as "We are the champions", "Killer Queen", "Bycicle race", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "A Kind of Magic". All the music is superb and covers every style in rock, from metal to rockabilly to funk ("Another one bites the dust"). the CD contains all the riffs and solos played in "real" speed and in sequence also VERY SLOW so the beginners can pick up. The author also comments on how to get the distinctive "Brian May sound". I still think it sounds more real when you play the guitar model that bears his name!
It won't be easy to play it all note-by-note and at track speed (after all, it is Brian May stuff) but this is a fun book and you can learn technique and soloing and songwriting in the process of working through the tracks. And it is fun! Hey, it is the "Bohemian Rhapsody" solo, folks!
A commendable work that truly respects and promotes the legacy of a great and influential musician.

THe reviews written below - about info about Brian May, his style, descriptions of licks and audio CD - ARE NOT INCLUDED OR DISCUSSED IN THIS BOOK - there is another book called "BEST OF QUEEN" by a different author and for some reason the reviews are under this book, which is a different product and I'm disappointed as it's not the product I wanted as I was reading the reviews below and there is no decription via Amazon to let people know the difference.

The book has no audio cd or any May info at all - it has in depth sheet music for EVERY BAND MEMBER so you can fully recreate the sounds - great as sheet music for multiple members or anyone who knows multiple instruments.

However there are mistakes - I've noticed a few guitar tab problems that don't correspond with the actual song - so you'll really have to listen along with your copy of the songs if you get into a bind or if something doesn't sound right and double check the tabs with the musical notation to make sure the notes match.

THe songs included are....

Bohemian Rhapsody
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Hammer to Fall
Headlong
I Want It All
I Was Born to Love you
Keep Yourself Alive
Killer Queen
Now I'm Here
Seven Seas of Rhye
Somebody to Love
Stone Cold Crazy
Tie Your Mother Down
We Are the Champions
We Will Rock You

Another complaint I had was somewhat innacurate descriptions of when you're supposed to bend vs. playing the exact note...lot of inconsistencies there

Really wouldn't recommend this for someone looking for guitar tabs.

I'm in an MBA program right now and still refer back to this book for my intermediate accounting course. I'm a tough judge on books, coming from the UC system, and let me tell you - this is one of the best written textbooks I have ever encountered. Period.

hi i bought 2 books from these people for the first time in the past two weeks and i got the book on time and it was in great condition!
thanks

First of all I paid for 2 days express shipping. The book came after 5 days.Then I did not get your guide to an A which is a free pakage that comes with a new book.The point of buying a new book was just because of this pakage.I am not very satisfied with the service.

Best book so far for teahing accounting. This is the book for learning accounting.

My accounting professor was awful and it was this book that saved my grade in the class. It provides very detailed explanations and summaries of each concept it covers throughout the chapter, not just at the end of the section. The accompanying working papers and study guide were also very informative and helpful.

This book has lots of licks, but the licks aren't very practical for any style of playing. None of them particularly stand out as musical, or something that I would want to put into a guitar solo. I was very disappointed with this book and wish I hadn't purchased it.

Thank you for your quick delivery. The product arrived in great shape. I am looking forward to using it.

This book covers a wide variety of styles but is really more weighted toward jazz licks. Some licks are played twice, the second time at a slightly reduced speed. However, this is done inconsistently. It's a good book but I probably wouldn't have bought it if I could have listened to the cd first. Although some of the jazz licks I find useful in my playing, I'm more into blues/rock and this book doesn't cover those styles as well as other books.

I have played guitar for over 12 years. I practice regularly, running scales, increasing my chord vocabulary, etc. I have struggled, after running scales for so long, to create tasteful, melodic solos.

The Guitar Licktionary has really helped me improve my soloing technique. This book takes many famous licks from various artists and sets them down in TAB for you to read and play. I enjoyed the mixture of genres, from heavy metal to country and bluegrass. I believe all styles can be incorporated into your music to spice it up and make it interesting.

I would definitely recommend this book.

-Craig Nybo, author of Total Human: The Complete Strength Training System

I buy these books compulsively, and have a library of 3o or more.
this book stands out. dave hill has great technique, if a little bias towards the larry carlton/robbin ford schools. the examples are fun and technically challenging, and run the gamut from relatively easy bb king/double stop blues licks to much harder altered/minor scale stuff that really challenges. and some great pentatonic/"hard" rock riffs, too. the examples are doubled on the cd tracks, two discs would have been better. all in all, probably the best "lick" book I've purchased, which is a little like saying it's the best term paper I've ever bought. highly recommended.

I was introduced to the Hal Leonard series by my piano teacher. I use it in addition to my regular instruction book. It is a great tool to reinforce note recognition as most of the songs you have not heard so having to actually read the music instead of already having the song in your head is very beneficial. The book came with a CD and it is great fun to play along. I highly recommend this book to further your music education.

Well, it seemed like a good try, but this book isn't for beginners. Thinking Book 1 would be the right place to start, i ordered it. But it assumes you know more than a beginner would know. Even my extremely talented brother-in-law, a pianist by trade, said that it wasn't for beginners. So beware...good book or not, don't order it if that's what you need. Now i need to keep looking...still need a beginner book.

Many children's methods may not appeal to the adult learner. Hal Leonard's Adult Piano Method takes all the core concepts of it's student method books and presents them at a more 'graduated' pace. This book combines theory, technique, and solos. The CDs have both practice and performance tempos for each accompaniment track. The accompaniments are also written at the bottom of each piece in the book.

This book can be used with a teacher or on your own. Having four authors keeps the material fresh and varied. Also important is the inclusion of improv exercises. And if you like this book, there are supplementary items like 'Popular Hits' and 'Christmas Favorites.'

This is a good book for Adult beginners. We use it for our piano class in our university

Very good info. Wish it had more practice pages / songs, per section. Also would be nice to explicitly let student know how many beats to expect before each song begins, so student can always start with the CD. Otherwise, it's a very good system!

My 4-year old got attracted to this book right away, but too early to tell if it can keep her learning piano.

This book is for someone with a previous knowledge of written music, since this is not my daughter's case, she thought it was too dificult for her. Maybe once she learns to read music this will be a great book, for now however, since she likes another book I bought with a much different approach to teaching piano, she doesn't even want to try this one.

The John Thompson beginning piano series has always been a good instructional tool. This is very basic and a little slower pace for young students. I personally prefer to teach with the "red" John Thompson beginning series book for interest and pacing, as well as the Lelia Fletcher beginning piano book. You can't really go wrong with John Thompson, but it helps to utilize a variety of beginning level books to keep students interest.

It's my business to know what works because I'm a full time professor of piano both at university level and in the private sector. The John Thompson series has always been one of the best traditional learning method books for students who wish to learn how to play piano (or keyboard). This book is part of the "easiest series" which was originally published by Willis back in 1945. This series is not the original "Teaching Little Fingers To Play"-- I call it the "red book" series simply because all the covers to each grade level are red in colour. The red book series was Thompson's first piano method published in 1931. In fact, I still have my original "Teaching Little Fingers" book from when I started at age 5. The important fact to remember about the "Easiest" series is it's purpose. It was designed for persons who have had difficulty with John Thompson's "Teaching Little Fingers to Play" (which is the primer which leads to "Grade One, Grade Two" and so on. You will find this "Easiest" series the continuation of the John Thompson Easiest Piano Course, Part One. And, like "Part One" it progresses at a slower rate . I use this series for very young students, ages 4 to perhaps 6/7.
One final thought: None of the John Thompson piano courses were designed to be "self teaching" methods. And, no matter what any teacher tells you, there is NO piano course which can be used as a "stand alone" curriculum. This includes publishers like Bastien, Faber and Faber, and others. Fortunately, any of the John Thompson method books far surpass the others. One caveat: If you want to learn pop music or to play using chords, I would recommend "The Older Beginner Piano Course" by Bastien. However, if you want to learn traditional classical (so called "serious" music), than this book would be a good choice (although I would try the "Teaching Little Fingers to Play" Thompson book first. It progresses a bit faster but is just a little more difficult). Please visit my website for more information and FREE downloads like chord charts and Circle of Keys, and much more. Go to: http://kenmahood.com/ .......and don't forget to practice! :)

The book is so cool. Please buy it. The songs are great. My favorite there is the ballet dancer it's so great. you learen new notes.