Customer Reviews

The Best of Chet Atkins: A Step-by-Step Breakdown of the Styles and Techniques of the Father of Country Guitar (Guitar Signature Licks)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I don't understand the one star rating of the first reviewer. I took a chance and bought this book with the CD and found the transcriptions are note for note accurate (at least on Mister Sandman and Chinatown, My Chinatown, which are the only songs I've learned so far): the same notes as the 1952 and 1954 Chet Atkins recorded versions! I bought the book specifically for those songs and am very happy with the product. Tabs for these songs are difficult to find anyway and here's a book with some early Chet songs (which are my favorites). I wish there were more pre-1960's on this product, but it's still a great book. As a fingerpicking guitarist of thirty years, I would recommend this product as a great place to start learning Chet Atkins.
The CD is very helpful with regular and slow speed versions of each song!

Chet once said that time is music. The space between the notes if everything. This book not only seems to be note for note accurate but also provides a play along CD to help with timing. I bought this book for the Mr. Sandman arrangement. I am not disappointed.

I bought this book because it had a song in it that I have always wanted to learn to play. The standard notation and the tab work hand in hand to help you find where to put your fingers. The CD allows you to hear what the piece sounds like played at a slower speed. The selections are divided into to sections allowing you to learn each piece in small chunks. I'm glad I bought the book I'm learning something I've wanted to learn for a long time. BUY THIS BOOK!!!

If you love Chet Atkins, as you should, then you should love learning the various songs he has written in this book. Not by any means for beginer guitar players but a great book nonetheless.

Enjoy!

The description is essentially correct, but at the same time misleading. This is not a book for beginners. If you don't know what a E7#9-A13-D7#9#5 is, then the breakdown will probably not do you a lot of good. This is not a teaching book. It is a high level overview of Chet's music. It contains sheet music with tab and text. No diagrams or pictures. If you want some great background and history about Chet Atkins or you want the sheet music and tab, then this book is what you are looking for. If you are a beginner or expect it to teach you how to play Chet's music, probably not.

Overall this is a very useful book for advanced guitarists wanting to learn some difficult Chet Atkins arrangements.
The songs covered are Big Foot, Blue Angel, Cascade, Chinatown- My Chinatown, Country Gentleman, A Little Mark Music, Galloping On the Guitar, Mr Sandman, So Soft Your Goodbye, There'll Be Some Changes Made, Yakete Axe and, You Do Something To Me.
I wasn't interested in learning all these songs- but its a good selection which covers a lot of Chet's technical stuff.
The accompanying CD is really helpful- and breaks down each song into segments with fast and slow takes.
My only complaint is that the tab is often in a different neck position to how Chet Atkins played it, even if the notes are accurate- I only know this from watching videos of Chet playing these songs- so a combination of this book and a bit of video research will enable you to get some happiness working out some great Chet Atkins picking.
Therefore, I recommend it!

These transcriptions are typical example of this publication's
misinterpretation of the work of Chet Atkins. They are not accurate transcriptions, and are a waste of money.