Customer Reviews

Blues Licks You Can Use: Softcover with CD (Guitar Educational)

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

 

 

Just like the Blues you can use series, this book rocks. There is a huge number of licks of all types. Most of them sound really good and I'm using alot of them in my own playing. In addition, he actually explains the licks instead of just throwing them at you. Anyone who is in need of improving their blues playing or looking for licks to add to their stash should pick this one up.

This is a good compendium of blues licks. It covers licks in many different styles. It is a very good supplement to the author's Blues You Can Use series. I would recomend beginning guitarists work through the first book in the collection (Blues You Can Use) before getting into this work. However, intermediate and advanced guitarists will find some examples of tasty, authentic phrasing and style between these covers. I definitely recommend this book.

This book is really meant to be a follow-on to the Blues You Can Use or More Blues You Can Use books, rather than a stand alone course. It does not offer the level of detailed intruction that they do, but instead presents 5 chapters of about 15 licks each in various style--slow blues, jazz, blues rock, etc. Ganapes is clear how the licks are derived, and provides backing tracks over which to try them.

I expected a set of tedious exercises, but this book has become my favorite--along with Ganapes' Jazz book--of the whole series. For one thing, I couldn't make the transition very well from Blues You Can Use to More Blues You Can Use, because the finger dexterity required just seemed too difficult. Not anymore. Blues Licks You Can Use has worked the devil out of my fingers, and I have loved it the whole time. For another, these short melodic fragments really stick in your head, then get confused, such that you start to combine parts of one with another, and really start to improvise. It has been an enjoyable, unpredictable experience. I still can't solo well, but I feel it coming now.

John Ganapes is an exceptional tutor and I highly recommend his books. I have one major criticism of this book though, and that is that the licks don't have backing tracks or even a click track on the examples on the CD (except for a click to count in). This has not proved too difficult until I got to the tricky chapter near the end, where the rhythm is extremely complex. Unless you are able to keep perfect time while counting out 32nd rests in 12/8 swing triplets, you will also struggle as the licks get more complex. Still gets 4 stars because of the high quality of the licks and given John's other excellent books.

A good product that builds on the previous books in the series and consistent with the style and standards of Hal Leonard.

This is a pretty good tutorial on the Blues. It contains well thought-out instruction on the pentatonic scales and their relationship to the Blues. However, it has a serious drawback. There are no backing tracks for songs on CD. Also, since it does not provide the tempo (in beats per minute), one has to spend valuable practice time building one's own backing tracks (unless you have your own band handy). These days, there are plenty of tutuorials that include backing tracks, as well. For this very reason, I cannot recommend it.

I received this book in excellent condition and in a timely manner.

Ralph