Flatpicking Guitar Essentials Book/CD (String Letter Publishing) (Acoustic Guitar) (Acoustic Guitar Magazine's Private Lessons)

But then we get into the real meat of the book with fiddle contest accompaniment and all the chapters past that. This is where we seem some real insigt. There are some very nice chord substitution lessons. If you ever got sick and tired of playing thesame G and D chords over Salley Goodin (Or A and E7 since the version in the book is in the key of A) then you'll be happy to learn some very nice new chord sequences from that chapter. There's also some very nice Irish backup ideas.

Then we move into the flatpicking melody section. The fiddle tunes and cross-picking chapters in particular are quite good. At this point you're moving into intermediate to slightly advanced level techniques so be prepared to spend some practice time.

Normally, I can run through one of these String Letter "Essentials" books in a weekend. But this one has a bit more deapth than some of their other offerings. If you play acoustic guitar of any style, even if you're not a bluegras fan, I think you'll find something worth while in here.


Flatpicking Guitar Essentials   December 21, 2000
Kevin Yeoman (Fort Worth, Texas USA)
15 out of 19 found this review helpful

This book is put out in association with the people at Acoustic Guitar magazine. It was this fact that led me to look at this book. The lessons are clear and easy to follow which makes it good for beginning guitar players and intermediate players also. The CD that is included with the book is very helpful. Without it the book would not be nearly as helpful. There are several styles covered in the books 89 pages. Some styles easier to pickup than others. Overall this is a good book that will help you learn flatpicking technique.