Beyond Basics Fingerstyle Guitar (The Ultimate Beginner Series) [Paperback]

Mark Hanson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1998 | Series: The Ultimate Beginner Series

Featuring standard notation and tablature, this new book & CD package introduces basic accompaniment patterns, how to use the thumb and fingers, "Travis" picking, and much more. Readers learn the applications of folk, blues, ragtime and new age styles to solo guitar while learning beautiful new chord voicings.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

One of America's premier fingerstyle guitarists introduces the exciting world of fingerpicking. After a quick review of open-position chords and proper right-hand position, Mark teaches picking with the thumb and three fingers. He covers the famous 'Travis' alternating thumb pattern as well as some great chord moves. Tab booklet included. (70 min.)

Product Details

• Paperback: 56 pages
• Publisher: Warner Bros Pubns (June 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0769200397
• ISBN-13: 978-0769200392
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,432 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #98 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Instruments & Performers

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

160 of 168 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Be careful of the level..., November 29, 2003

By 

A. Mutimer "amutimer" (Essex, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beyond Basics Fingerstyle Guitar (The Ultimate Beginner Series) (Paperback)

Let me be clear; this book is very good, but I made a mistake. I read the reviews here and took it that the peices would be harder than they are. If you have basic finger separation and the ability to play two and three note thumb patterns you may easily be able to play, and remember, everything in this book in a bit over an hour. It is straight-forward.

I disagree with the people here that say the peices will make you sound better than you are. What you get with this book is peices that bring out the beauty of the *sound* of the guitar. Most people, including us guitarists, are just suckers for the open ringing you get so easily with a (decent) guitar and that is what these peices exploit. If you play these peices you will not sound like a pro (at least not to a musician, maybe to your grandma). You will, on the other hand, sound....lovely.

So, I recommend this book one hundred percent to a beginner who can play a few chords competently and wants to get into fingerstyle. But if you can play with you fingers a little already, look around for a slightly more advanced book.

53 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this book!, January 8, 2003

By 

Dwayne Lee (Eagle River, AK United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond Basics Fingerstyle Guitar (The Ultimate Beginner Series) (Paperback)

This is the fourth book I have purchased by Mark Hanson. I also have the Travis Fingerpicking, Solo Fingerpicking, and Christmas Noel. This book gets into basic information real fast and will have you playing some "REAL GOOD STUFF" fast. I was able to play the first song in about an hour. The book has many difficult appearing chord names--BUT--most of the chords are two fingered and can be moved up an down the neck to make for some really great accompaniment. You will be playing all over the guitar--and sounding like a pro real fast. The book gets into more complicated material towards the end--but this book is not as complicated as the earlier mentioned books--so I would recommend this one first.

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fingerpicker, February 25, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Beyond Basics Fingerstyle Guitar (The Ultimate Beginner Series) (Paperback)

This book is superb. Hmm. Wait: it's flawless. I had heard that Hanson was a great teacher. Now I see why.

I've been playing about four years, I have a certain amount of ability, and I was able to start picking things up from this book right away. I was playing the first song in an hour or so. It uses all kinds of complex-sounding chords (Amin6, Dmin6, etc.), but Hanson ingeniuously uses very simple-to-play chords. As in, most of them require only one or two fingers!

I recently recorded myself playing one of the book's first songs and posted it to a message board of guitarists. Several people commented that it sounded "really complicated." Little do they know how easy it is to play! (They wanted me to post tabs--I gave them a link to come here and buy the book.)

The book's songs start at the fairly easy level, but by the end of the book, the material is extremely challenging. (Some high-speed ragtime.) If you're brand-new to the guitar, you'll struggle even with the first songs--but they would be learnable even by a novice. It will be a mighty struggle for me to learn the later songs in the book.

If you have any level of fingerpicking experience at all, you will jump into this book like a fish into a river. You will find excellent material to build your chops.

The book contains very little in the way of theory, but those two-finger chords I was telling you about are a great way for an advancing guitarist like me to sit and think about chords and the notes that go into them, and how to build them all over the neck. So you don't really get any theory about this book, but with a little dedication on your part, you can use it as a sort of launching platform. That's what I'm doing.

... It has vaulted straight into the "top 5 most valuable books" category for me--and I've bought a lot of guitar books.

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