Customer Reviews

Fast Forward/Acoustic Guitar Chords (Fast Forward (Music Sales))

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I've been a fan of this author ever since I picked up a copy of his Alternative Guitar method. Over the years I have been collecting his books and have found them to be "hit or miss".

This one is unfortunately the latter. I've been playing guitar for years but mostly classical and Metal. I know intermediate theory and my way through the fretboard but when playing acoustic I pretty much only use major and minor chords and a barre chord here and there for color. I was hoping this book would assist in using suspended, 7th and 9th chords and other assorted esoteric goodies I often see acoustic guitarists use, such as odd looking open chords way up the neck. The short answer is it didn't much help.

The Good:
1) Some -and only some- decent chord progressions (although nothing inspiring).
2) Only basic theory behind Major, minor, 7ths, 9ths and suspended chords and how to combine them (a big plus to me). I've known some of these chords but never had the knowledge or the patience to figure out how they work or how/when to combine them with other chords.
3) Fares well in length, although none of the books in the Fast Forward series are very long.

The Bad:
1) The songs are actually recorded using an electric guitar! And that is my biggest complaint; the acoustic guitar has its own sound and colors and they are totally not in the recording. This is like asking for gelatto and getting low-fat frozen yogurt instead; it's just not the same. It makes absolutely no sense to record the examples this way.
2) The book is very basic and the title should have reflected that. Now, I cannot fault a book for being "basic", but that it's not made clear to the buyer. Something like "Basic Acoustic Chords" is more apt a name.
3) The examples are short and the book features no original songs. Most Fast Forward books will give you at least one full-length song at the end. This one only gives you short chord progressions which range from decent to VERY bland.

Fast Forward books are never, even in this their worst issue, a complete waste of money. If you study them diligently you get a lot for a fairly low price. In this case though, if you are anything other than a complete beginner this will likely give you buyer's remorse. If you are a beginner, there might be other books on acoustic guitar to consider before this one.