Customer Reviews

Swing Guitar Essentials Book/CD (String Letter Publishing) (Acoustic Guitar) (Acoustic Guitar Magazine's Private Lessons)

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

 

 

I've found that String Letter's "Essentials" books appear to be fairly light on information at first glance, but as you dig into them there's more and more there. In fact, the problem I have is that I'll study a lesson and it will inspire me to play and compose new and different things and my practice session turns into a composing session. Then I never finish the book because I'm writing instead of practicing. This book in particular is a bit deeper than the typical "Essentials" book. You probably won't learn everything in this book in a weekend (Although it would be a fun thing to try).

"Swing Guitar" encompasses such a broad variety of music. This book trys to touch on several of the swing styles. You'll learn the basics of Duke Ellington/Count Basie swing, Gypsy Jazz Swing (my favorite section) and even Texas Country Swing. But this is not a primer on how to play like Brian Setzer. It covers the traditional swing styles.

As with all of this publisher's CD this CD is excellent, if a bit over instructive. Every piece and every phrase is played slowly, and then up to tempo. But I could do without every teacher having a 30 second track to introduce themself. But as a practice and play-along tool the CD is excelent.

I found this to be an excellent introduction to the basics of Swing Guitar. It covered the areas of chord progressions and their corresponding scales, arpeggio's, licks etc very well. The chord voicings are quite different from the usual folk style voicings but are essential to give the desired sound of the Swing Guitar style. The theory of progressions is explained but not overwhelming. The areas on soloing provide a sound basis for the aspiring guitarist to develop from. There are also brief introductions to the various Swing Guitar styles and the personalities associated with them. All in all an excellent introduction to this style although the chord fingerings might be a challenge to those unfamiliar with them. But for those who persevere it is well worth the effort.

I've really been working with this book a lot these past couple weeks. It is fun, often challenging, and rewarding. I have heard improvements in my sound and style, especially with regards to chord melody.

I'm not really well versed in musical theory, but this book breaks it down well. What I like most about this book is how diverse it is. Sure, it covers swing, but it goes through all the branches (gypsy, western, etc) speaks a bit about the development of the style, and gives a brief bio of principle players such as Freddy Green.

The lessons in this book range in skill level. They're not slope graded either, so you can feel free to jump around to what interests you. The books has notation, tab, and the cd. Really, I couldn't think of a better resource for someone who has heard swing styles, but doesn't know exactly where to begin to start.

Of course, you only get what you put in. I'd definatley recommend reading each article prior to going through the lesson.

Perfect if you know guitar basics but you don't read music. Teachers are just wonderful.

Buyer beware: this book might in fact be essential, but only if you can read music with fluency and work well with tab. Otherwise, it is light on useful information and extremely frustrating. Lessons are too fast, without proper and reasonable building block instruction. Only for advanced guitarists well versed in theory. Rating. 1/5