Customer Reviews

Bruce Springsteen Complete

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

 

 

When I purchased this book, I did not know exactly what "fakebook" style meant. Apparently, it means that the notes correspond not to the notes actually played by the guitar, but to the notes sung by Bruce. Personally, I was rather disappointed with this discovery, and had hoped for a more in-depth transcription of the music. The chords and chord charts are useful if you just can't quite figure out exactly which chord is being played in certain songs, although a lot of Bruce's early stuff is pretty easy to figure out by ear, if you've got an ear for music. Overall, I've given the book two stars, however, in all fairness, I think that any review of a book like this will be influenced by the reviewer's experience level as a guitarist. This book would be great for beginners and lower-level intermediate players, or for players who just want to learn the basic chord structure of the songs. If you want to learn solos, or the more nuanced stuff that you can't always pick out of the background, look elsewhere.

This is a Fakebook of the vocals, not the music so much. So no musical bridges, and it's aimed at solo instruments rather than piano or guitar. It does have all (or at least a very large amount of) his songs, but it's the vocal part it has, with a few areas of instrumental notes called out.

The biggest problems with this book are that it has a glued binding, so it won't lie flat easily without loosening the pages, and that the songs most often begin on the right-page and require a page flip even when only two pages long. The music is good, and it has a lot of great stuff he wrote but wasn't famous for such as "Because the Night" (made famous by 10,000 Maniacs) and "Blinded By The Light". But be prepared for some annoyances due to the binding and layout.

OK, so it doesn't have guitar tab. Never mind. Its got a helluva lotta songs in it with the guitar chords I need and the lyrics. I'll just have to use my ears to get the actual guitar bits being played. Having said that, some of the songs do have the music notation for the guitar part. For example, the intro to Nebraska is scored. Now, what I did was learn some rudimentary music reading. Like, the key signature, and note values and where the notes sit on the stave. That now means I can work out the guitar picking in Nebraska with the aid of the music notation from this book (and my ears). Brill!

And no harp score for Nebraska! Woe is me! What shall I do? I know! I'll just have to work it out myself then won't I?

As for songs being in the correct keys, I'm not sure. For instance, Open all Night is scored in G. When I play along to that song, F# seems to be the key. And Nebraska is scored in D, but Spring plays it in Db. Whatever. This book still aids me with the chord sequences used.

Now, I rated it a five because, with one mouse click, I was able to look at sample pages so I knew what I was purchasing. It never claimed to be a guitar tab book.

I don't get people who don't research a product and then grizzle about it.

You won't find anything else better out there with this much material on Spring Brucesteen's music.

I found this book with my dad's old guitar.....I started reading it and I realized that I had just found a gold mine.... I loved it 'cause it helped me improve my guitar skills and I enjoyed practicing because I love Springsteen's songs..... His work is known to be excellent and this book just goes to prove it.......

I think it's a great gift for anybody who plays the guitar (even if you don't master the instrument, this book could actually help you)!!!