Beginning Fingerstyle Blues Guitar (Book and Audio CD) (Guitar Books) (Paperback)

by Arnie Berle (Author), Mark Galbo (Author) "One day back in March of 1988 a young man named Mark Galbo came to me to study jazz guitar..." (more)
Key Phrases: heel damping, alternating bass, walking bassline (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Takes you from the fundamentals of fingerpicking to five authentic blues tunes. With graded exercises, illustrated tips, plus standard notation and tablature.

Product Details

• Paperback: 98 pages
• Publisher: Music Sales (December 31, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0825625564
• ISBN-13: 978-0825625565
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #12,871 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

99 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid instruction material, November 20, 2004

By	Raj - See all my reviews

Fingerstyle is an obscure genre. It baffles many guitar buffs since there are hardly any established tutorials. I've been obsessed with this style ever since I heard the likes of Robert Johnson, Doc Waston, Leo Kottke etc.

Having scanned the web I purchased three books -

Beginning Fingerstyle Blues - Arnie Berle (the one in question)
Art of Contemporary Travis Picking - Mark Hanson
Art of Solo Fingerpicking - Mark Hanson

It only makes sense to compare these books since in addition to money, we are investing time. Choosing the right book would save you lot of time, and much exasperation. Beginning Fingerstyle Blues is one of the finest guitar instruction tutorials I've come across. The instruction is lucid and the approach very logical. The book takes you step by step through fingerstyle blues building up your right hand ability (and confidence) to the extent where you can play and sing (oh yes!) the blues with relative ease, only after 12-18 months of dedicated practice. 12 months is a fairly short period as fingerstyle tunes can get rather complicated. I've always been impatient when receiving instructions and tend to skip a section or two so as to reach the end ASAP. But this book kept me engaged throughout as it made me believe that everything was achievable, as long as I tried and didn't deceive myself. I rate it five stars, for the instruction and for keeping me hooked throughout (after all learning should be fun!). Like the others have said it also contains 5 full pieces at the end to add to your repertoire, which clearly is a bonus.

The books by Mark Hanson are equally profound in content and tutoring. Mark's books score a point or two above the rest of the fingerstyle books as he (Mark) gives very clear instruction regarding right hand placement, how many fingers to use, pinky finger placement, whether or not to use thumbpicks/fingerpicks and many other finer points which you will require answers to once you immerse yourself in fingerstyle guitar. There are awfully few competent sources who can give you these answers. You will not find these details in Beginning Fingerstyle Blues. It left me confused initially but thanks to Mark's books I figured the right way out.

Many of you may be confused about which books to buy so that you do NOT regret in 12 months time; after you have put in your best and expect returns. Having owned 8 fingerstyle books and 4 fingerstyle instruction videos, I strongly recommend Beginning Fingerstlye Blues and The Art of Contemporary Travis Picking. If you cannot buy both books for any reason, pick either and buy the other in a year's time. You will not need any video instructions if you have these two books. These two are the very best out there and I don't see any books better than these, in the fingerstyle genre. They both share common grounds such as:

1. Both cater to absolute beginners - you can manage even if you cannot change chords confidently
2. Both focus on Travis Picking (alternate bass with melody) which is quintessential to fingerstyle guitar
3. You will be a fairly advanced fingerstyle player after having successfully completed either book

In my opinion no book is bad. You will get to learn something or the other from every book. But there are very few that are jewels - these two books undoubtedly are. There is a reason both these books have been rated 5 stars; they work wonderfully well and the results they provide are truly fulfilling.

57 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy This Book, December 13, 2001

By	Big Dave (Boise, Idaho) - See all my reviews

This is an excellent introduction to playing acoustic blues guitar because;

1. It assumes virtually no knowledge of the instrument to begin with.

2. The exercises are gradated, slowly adding additional chords and keys and more complex picking patterns.

3. The exercises are designed to teach you to move your thumb independently from your fingers. This gives you that great "wow, it sounds like two guitars!" effect.

4. The accompanying CD, while not always perfectly indexed to the book (I think it must have been a cassette first), allows you to hear a very skilled player playing the exercises and pieces.

5. The culmination of the exercises is a collection of five real pieces, including songs by Robert Johnson and Willie Brown. These pieces are stylistically different from each other and require you to stretch a bit beyond what you've learned in the exercises, with the result that together they make a nice little blues repertoire.

Decide today to (get better) on the guitar -- buy this book.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great introduction book to learning fingerstyle blues!, June 27, 2000

By A Customer

This is a great book because it breaks down the process of learning acoustic (fingerstyle) blues step-by-step, and shows you how to play the blues in the old Mississippi-blues and other related styles. It starts off with beginner techniques such as learning how to play an alternating bass, combining the thumb with the fingers, playing chords with this thumb/finger picking pattern, maintaining a steady rhythm, playing different beats, and moves into more complicated playing involving melody and blues notes, fretting hand techniques, picking hand techniques, different chord shapes, vamps, and singing the blues. The end of the book then contains 5 blues pieces: M&O Blues, Beekman Blues, Big Road Blues, 32-20 Blues, and Black Rat Blues.

The CD is a great accompaniment, because it allows you to hear the examples in the book, and really *listen* for that blues feel.

I highly recommend this book!