Customer Reviews

Bluegrass Guitar Solos That Every Parking Lot Picker Should Know (Series 1) 6 CD (Homespun Learning Discs)

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The product description doesn't do this justice. This is a terrific resource if you want to flatpick fiddle/bluegrass/OT tunes. There are 20 standard tunes. Each has the following 4 parts laid out in notation and tab

1. A beginner's version;
2. An intermediate version;
3. An advanced "hotrod" version worthy of a contest;
4. An ending that can probably also be used to end any other tune in the same key, so it's very versatile.

It's recommended you work through all the beginner versions before going onto the intermediate; it'll take you several months do that.

The CDs walk you through each tune, though I'm not big on CD instruction. Nevertheless, the CDs also have a full speed version of each tune where Steve plays through all three versions (and then repeats the beginner version). I found that putting all 20 fullspeed versions on a CD makes its own great CD and is a good way to "get the songs in your head."

Here are the songs on Vol. 1: Ragtime Annie; Bill Cheatham; Gold Rush; Flop-Eared Mule; Forked Deer; Old Joe Clark; Soldier's Joy; Nothing To It; Red-Haired Boy; Salt Creek; Big Sandy River; Billy In The Low Ground; Under The Double Eagle; Fisher's Hornpipe; Blackberry Blossom; Turkey In The Straw; St. Anne's Reel; Arkansas Traveler; Sweet Georgia Brown; Whiskey Before Breakfast

All that's just to give a worthy description. As for my take on it all -- terrific. I was a beginner flatpicker and at first it took some time to get a song under my belt. As I've progressed it takes less time and it's just plain fun to learn good arrangements to standard tunes. And I've still got the intermediate and advanced versions to learn! Just a terrific resource for great tunes. I'm through the beginner versions and am half way through Volume 2 (same set up; same quality).

You will get your money's worth and more with this Book/CD combo. It's a great way to expand your flatpick repertoire. The tunes are brilliantly arranged, you'll find signature phrasings as well as surprises as you work through the book. I've had it a year and have only learned about half the material. But I have come to understand that Kaufman has a consistent, well organized approach to flatpicking. He is a great teacher, and this is the best resource I've found for learning solid arrangements of flatpick tunes. Also, I've won contests using arrangements in this book. Highly reccomended.

I have all 4 of these in the series. I've never been much of a flatpicker, and it had been 20 years since I indulged my love of guitar finger picking when I started taking lessons again. I went to the Kaufman Acoustic Kamp in TN, and that's when I realized what rare talent Steve has for teaching all levels of Bluegrass (and probably general guitar as well). I will never be as fast a picker as most Bluegrass players, but just mastering the Beginner and Intermediate levels (still not confident to do the Advanced yet) has improved not only my guitar playing but also my sense of timing and rhythm. It has also given my confidence a huge boost. For those who don't know, Steve Kaufman is the only person to win the National Guitar Picking Championship THREE times. Hear him on these CDS, read the easy-to-read tablature, and use a piece of software called "The Amazing X" (you can slow down the tunes without changing the pitch--of IMMENSE help in learning) to give a boost to your playing. BTW, my guitar teacher told me my playing had improved "exponentially" after using these books! Sweet music to my ears!

I was unsure just how I could benefit from this, But to my amazement, it was a big help. It kept me interested the whole way thru. The techniques were simple and easy to follow. Most that I had tried before didnt make much sense in their techniques. But I really caught on to this. It helped me with some things that I had been struggling to figure out. I would recommend these Bluegrass series to beginners and advanced players. Steve Kauffman explains every step he is doing. He is wonderful.

Steve is a great teacher. His beginner versions are the quickest way I've seen to be able to play a tune well at a jam session. If you're not already an expert then don't waste your time on tougher arrangements and licks. Start with the beginner version of a bunch of tunes and see where it goes from there.

All of Steve Kaufman's DVDs are very instructive, slow enough to understand properly, and the finished tune is something to want to share and perform. Each of these is difficult to achieve on a DVD, but Steve has worked out how to do it over and over again on his products.

I'm a professional guitar and bass teacher so I've seen a whole lot of DVDs and about 9 out of 10 are pretty poor because either they are a promo for the artists and there to keep fans entertained, or they are by a famous preformer who just can't pull off what it takes to teach. These Books and CDs are as good as you can buy and Steve Kaufman is a master of the Book/CD genre of guitar teaching.

This is the first volume of what is currently 4 in a series looking at Bluegrass 'standards' - how to play the basic melody and some examples of soloing over them. Here's what it says on Steve Kuafman's own site. "A champion flatpicker takes some favorite bluegrass solos and breaks them down so you can really hold your own in a hot jam session. This unique six cassette course has been produced for all levels of players: Steve Kaufman teaches the melody to familiarize the beginning guitarist with the tune in it's most basic form; then he gets the intermediate guitarist started on a series of licks and runs with the intermediate version of the same tune. The advanced version will spice up the tune and make it a real show piece"

I've actually stood beside Steve and asked what any flatpicker should be working on once they kn0w the basics and can play a bit. This is the book and CDs he recommends - not because it's expensive - but because the 6 CDs and book cover so much that you need to know to jam with other players and do solo gigs in the Bluegrass style. 20 songs give you about an hour (maybe less) of good solid playing at a gig and knowing there are three other versions of this series means that's four hours sorted and 80 tunes nailed. These are all songs you need to know - the best known, the standards of Bluegrass flatpicking.

You'll also want to look at the other three books and CDs, but parallel to that take a look at Ragtime and Polkas Flatpicking the Rags and Polkas [With 2 CDs], Waltzes,Steve Kaufman - Learn To Play Waltzes [DVD] and Crowd Pleasers Steve Kaufman Teachers Crowd Pleasers And Showstoppers [DVD] [2009]. All good giggable material.

Although this might seem expensive, it is 6 CDs and a nicely produced book of everything you need to knock out these songs at performance level. Steve is a very good teacher in this medium.

So, if you can play a bit and have got the basics down - alternate picking, know your basic chords and barres, scales, and can play up the neck a bit, then these books and CDs are aimed at you. Steve feels this is some of his best work. He's very enthusiastic about them.

Pretty easily the best flatpicking instructional book I have found. Three versions of each tune, starting with a simple one that shows you the bread-and-butter melody, an intermediate one with some nice variations, and an advanced version with some seriously cool licks. A great way to learn how to build a solo of your own. Honestly I don't use the CD's much, and I wish there were a less expensive print-only version.

This book and cd's are excellent instruction. I have already completed one of Steve Kaufman's beginning books for flatpicking so that has led into this book very well. I will be sure to go through this book and then move into the other books in the series. Highly recommended. I will be busy with my guitar in the shed going through these lessons for a while..

I was a little skeptical about this at first. but if you know how to read tab, the solos are easy to render. but trust me, even the beginner speed takes a little while to get used to. Great training tool for picking and ear training.

I only wish that the tab had notes above as well. It seems like we should also be learning to site read music rather than just tab.

I am also sad that there are only a few songs. But, it is still worthwhile because Steve is a great teacher. each lesson can be revisited to provide a new takeaway from the original lesson.

I love the material in this book, and Steve Kaufman comes across as your friend next door. All of his tips make perfect sense and he presents the material in a logical and straightforward fashion. The songs are broken up into beginner, intermediate, and advanced versions, each played at around half-speed. And then there is a full version of all three combined, played up to speed with backing instruments. Some pickers are not going to like a CD instructional package versus having the material on a DVD instead. I'm in the opposite camp...I really find the audio CDs to be easier to work with. I don't think this is really material for a rank beginner, but if you've been playing a bit, know your basic chord positions (barre chords not required) and have the ability to strum to a tune and change chords without hesitation, then you'll find you can advance with this pretty steadily. A good selection of tunes. The package will keep you busy for months on end. Highly recommended for aspiring bluegrass flatpickers!