If you play rock, blues, country, pop, soul/funk, heavy metal, jazz, or folk, here are all the strumming and picking patterns you need. Over 150 patterns and nearly 100 rhythmic grooves help you cover any musical situation. Styles are cross-referenced. The book includes tablature, music, and a recording of every pattern, plus tips on equipment and effects.
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More About the Author
Fred Sokolow is best known as the author of a library of instructional books and DVDs for guitar, banjo, Dobro, mandolin, lap steel and ukulele. There are currently over a hundred of his books or DVDs in print, sold all over the world. Fred has long been a well-known West Coast multi-string performer and recording artist, particularly on the acoustic music scene. The diverse musical genres covered in his books and DVDs, along with several bluegrass, jazz and rock CDs he has released, demonstrate his mastery of many musical styles. Whether he's playing Delta bottleneck blues, bluegrass or old-time banjo, 30s swing guitar or screaming rock solos, he does it with authenticity and passion.
Born in Los Angeles September 14, 1945, by the early 1960s Fred was well known in the California bluegrass scene, playing with Jody Stecher, Brantley Kearns, Sandy Rothman and Eric Thompson. Relocating to Berkeley, he toured and recorded with a hippie rock band throughout most of the 60s, the Bay Area-based Notes From the Underground (Vanguard Records). In the early 70s Fred performed with R&B, rock, country and bluegrass bands. By 1975 Fred had played with bluegrass luminaries like John Herald, Frank Wakefield and Jerry Garcia, had opened for the Dead, the Doors, B.B. King, Country Joe and the Fish and countless other acts, and he was playing in jazz combos with some of the Bay Areas best studio players.
In 1975 Fred returned to Los Angeles. He recorded two ground-breaking banjo albums for Kicking Mule Records and began touring with Bobbie Gentry and Jim Stafford, playing rock guitar, bluegrass banjo and lap steel. He also toured with the folk group the Limeliters, juggling seven different instruments. By the end of the 70s he had begun writing instructional books (methods, transcription books and arrangement books) for all the music print publishers: Mel Bay, Hal Leonard, Warner Brothers, Carl Fischer and more. He recorded a banjo video for Hot Licks, and several guitar videos for Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop. His transcription books became known for their accuracy, and his method books were lauded for their clarity and effectiveness in music magazines all over the world. He began teaching guitar and banjo seminars in music camps and stores, and he taught classes at the reknowned McCabes Music in Santa Monica.
Fred currently lives in Santa Monica and primarily performs retro jazz guitar with some of LA's finest musicians, playing and singing songs of the 30s and 40s. He often plays and records with British ex-rock star Ian Whitcomb. And he plays bluegrass, blues or rockabilly whenever the opportunity arises. He's active on the studio scene, playing on other people's albums and on numerous TV and movie soundtracks, and he was a musical advisor on Michael Mann's latest film, Public Enemies. Fred also records and performs with children's artists like Dan Crow, Greg & Steve, KPFK's Uncle Ruthie and Paul Stookey. He relishes the diversity of his portfolio: he played lap steel on the Tonight Show, mandolin on Rick James' last CD, played Dobro with Chubby Checker and won on the Gong Show (playing bluegrass banjo), jammed at the House of Blues with Junior Brown...and he performs with the legendary folksinger Tom Paxton whenever Tom comes to California.
Fred holds the title of official banjo player for the TV show Survivor. His music has graced many television shows and commercials, as well as recent movies like Peter Bogdanovitch's "The Cat's Meow." His recent "Fred Sokolow Jazz Quartet" and "Fred Sokolow Sings & Plays Fats Waller" CDs showcase his unique style of playing and singing jazz standards. A performance video of his jazz quartet was released recently, featuring guest stars Lawrence Juber, Ian Whitcomb and Junior Brown. Fred's recent bluegrass/old-timey CD "One More River to Cross," spans generations, as it features his long-time friend & musical partner Brantley Kearns, with whom he has played since they were teenagers, and it also introduces Zachary Sokolow, Fred's son, with whom he has been gigging for the last few years.
Fred's "Fretboard Roadmaps" series is an international best-seller. He conducts seminars up and down the West Coast and recently taught a week-long blues class for the National Guitar Workshop and a Dobro class for Steve Kaufman's Akoustic Kamp in Knoxville, Tennessee. Fred continues to perform and create instructional material, and is regarded as an authority on many musical genres, particularly what is now called "Americana."
Born in Los Angeles September 14, 1945, by the early 1960s Fred was well known in the California bluegrass scene, playing with Jody Stecher, Brantley Kearns, Sandy Rothman and Eric Thompson. Relocating to Berkeley, he toured and recorded with a hippie rock band throughout most of the 60s, the Bay Area-based Notes From the Underground (Vanguard Records). In the early 70s Fred performed with R&B, rock, country and bluegrass bands. By 1975 Fred had played with bluegrass luminaries like John Herald, Frank Wakefield and Jerry Garcia, had opened for the Dead, the Doors, B.B. King, Country Joe and the Fish and countless other acts, and he was playing in jazz combos with some of the Bay Areas best studio players.
In 1975 Fred returned to Los Angeles. He recorded two ground-breaking banjo albums for Kicking Mule Records and began touring with Bobbie Gentry and Jim Stafford, playing rock guitar, bluegrass banjo and lap steel. He also toured with the folk group the Limeliters, juggling seven different instruments. By the end of the 70s he had begun writing instructional books (methods, transcription books and arrangement books) for all the music print publishers: Mel Bay, Hal Leonard, Warner Brothers, Carl Fischer and more. He recorded a banjo video for Hot Licks, and several guitar videos for Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop. His transcription books became known for their accuracy, and his method books were lauded for their clarity and effectiveness in music magazines all over the world. He began teaching guitar and banjo seminars in music camps and stores, and he taught classes at the reknowned McCabes Music in Santa Monica.
Fred currently lives in Santa Monica and primarily performs retro jazz guitar with some of LA's finest musicians, playing and singing songs of the 30s and 40s. He often plays and records with British ex-rock star Ian Whitcomb. And he plays bluegrass, blues or rockabilly whenever the opportunity arises. He's active on the studio scene, playing on other people's albums and on numerous TV and movie soundtracks, and he was a musical advisor on Michael Mann's latest film, Public Enemies. Fred also records and performs with children's artists like Dan Crow, Greg & Steve, KPFK's Uncle Ruthie and Paul Stookey. He relishes the diversity of his portfolio: he played lap steel on the Tonight Show, mandolin on Rick James' last CD, played Dobro with Chubby Checker and won on the Gong Show (playing bluegrass banjo), jammed at the House of Blues with Junior Brown...and he performs with the legendary folksinger Tom Paxton whenever Tom comes to California.
Fred holds the title of official banjo player for the TV show Survivor. His music has graced many television shows and commercials, as well as recent movies like Peter Bogdanovitch's "The Cat's Meow." His recent "Fred Sokolow Jazz Quartet" and "Fred Sokolow Sings & Plays Fats Waller" CDs showcase his unique style of playing and singing jazz standards. A performance video of his jazz quartet was released recently, featuring guest stars Lawrence Juber, Ian Whitcomb and Junior Brown. Fred's recent bluegrass/old-timey CD "One More River to Cross," spans generations, as it features his long-time friend & musical partner Brantley Kearns, with whom he has played since they were teenagers, and it also introduces Zachary Sokolow, Fred's son, with whom he has been gigging for the last few years.
Fred's "Fretboard Roadmaps" series is an international best-seller. He conducts seminars up and down the West Coast and recently taught a week-long blues class for the National Guitar Workshop and a Dobro class for Steve Kaufman's Akoustic Kamp in Knoxville, Tennessee. Fred continues to perform and create instructional material, and is regarded as an authority on many musical genres, particularly what is now called "Americana."
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Buffett of Guitar Rythym and Finger Picking Patterns,
By Little Grey Wolf (Northern California United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Dictionary of Strum & Picking Patterns (Paperback)
The Dictionary of Strum and Picking Patterns is an excellent reference for all the major styles of rythym and finger picking patterns in all the major styles of popular music.This is an excellent book for the guitarist who wants to be able to backup the vast majority of, if not all, popular music they will ever encounter. This is also an excellent book for the song writer/guitarist who wants to be able to compose in any popular style of music. Just go to the table of contents, pick the musical style you want, go to that chapter, either pick the pattern you want to use out of the table of contents or try them one by one until one speaks to you, listen to the cd, get it down then start writing that song, practice backing up songs that use it, create your own pattern or... The book itself, in addition to a section on equipment and an introduction that briefly covers some strumming and finger picking techniques, contains chapters on blues (sections on the shuffle, rag, Texas, hoochie coochie man, boogie, boogie/rock and urban styles), rock (basic, shuffle, rock boogie, rock boogie shuffle, bo diddley style, hi-heel sneakers, rock/funk, 6/8, 6/8 arpeggio, reggae, latin, swamp, rockabilly, ballad), R&B/Funk/Soul (sections on sparse soul, basic soul, uptight funk, sliding funk, funk ballad, disco/scratch, soul shuffle, soul 6/8), metal punk and grunge (sections on power chords, metal riff w/sustain, metal rock riff, fast muted metal lick, metal boogie, metal open string, funk/metal, punk), country (bluegrass, carter style, country, honky tonk, bluegrass waltz, country waltz, travis style, banjo roll, cajun) and folk (ballad arpeggio, waltz arpeggio, calypso, basic, march). Strum patterns are written using rythym slashes. Finger picking patterns are written using tablature and standard music notation. At the end of each chapter are references to similar patterns in other chapters. The cd contains a brief example of every pattern in the book. Each pattern in the book has a numbered reference to its cd track. I would have given this book five stars if each example on the cd were at least three times longer and the book was in a guitar case book format (4 1/2" x 12"). Other than that, excellent guitar resource. If I could only buy one book on strumming and finger picking, this one would be it.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book - few minor nitpicks,
By
This review is from: The Dictionary of Strum & Picking Patterns (Paperback)
There are least 2 million books discussing, mapping, and diagraming everything that the left (fret) hand does while playing. However, my biggest weakness was what to do with my right hand - something that would make the chord changes a little more interesting than V V V VThis book was a tremendous help as far as developing a struming toolkit that actually made all those vanilla chord changes sound a lot more like "music". My only nitpick is that the included CD had "background" insturments, in addition to the guitarist - which in some cases made it difficult to pick out the nuances of the strumming/picking patterns. But that it is a minor problem with this otherwise outstanding book - one that has made a enormously positive impact on my playing.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent instructional guide,
By MLeighton "MLeighton" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Dictionary of Strum & Picking Patterns (Paperback)
If you wondering why should buy Fred Sokolow's books versus other guitar instructional books, the reason is because Sokolow's approach is significantly better. Complex sounding techniques are explained in detail and the content builds in a manner which allows players to improve on several levels (technical/theoretical) at the same time. I recommend you use this book to gain exposure to techniques featured in a genre of interest like country for example, and then dive into the details of that sound with a "complete guide to" book- in this case The Complete Guide to Country (Sokolow). Great books.
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