Customer Reviews

The Irish DADGAD Guitar Book

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

 

 

Although this book is quite well written, as someone who has been playing open tuned guitar for more than 20 years, I found very little that was truly helpful. Almost half of the book covers basics such as a quick overview of music theory, an explanation about modes and basic information on acoustic guitars. This information seems better suited to people who are brand new to the guitar.

Where I found the book to most disappointing was in miniscule amount of information on DADGAD as a tool to accompany fiddle tunes. The author only features backing information on one tune, Drowsy Maggie. She only takes the time to give one basic very basic set of changes for the tune followed by a second set of more complex changes. That was it.

A large amount of the book covers playing fiddle tunes fingerstyle, and despite the large number of tunes and notations, there was almost no information on fingerstyle instruction or technique.

Overall I found the book to be a good background resource but very disappointing as a guide to teach new techniques or chord progressions.

I have played guitar for 16 years, and only recently have begun to explore alternate tunings and especially Irish music. I found the book very informative concerning the structure of, and backing Irish music. There are several pages of general music/guitar info that could be helpful for beginners. There is a discography as well, but several other books offer more in-depth lists (as the author aknowledges). As for the tunes themselves, they are well organized, and consist of jigs (most abundant) , reels, hornpipes, polkas and seven other tunes of different types. All of them are written in standard notation, and tablature. I am happy with the investment, but for some reason I thought I would get a cassette with the book - I did not.... Have fun.

My guitar teacher is a veteran of sessiuns and recording and highly recomended this book as a primer for learning trad music. I read it and it covers theory deeply as well as practical learning methods

I agree that this book is a must-have for guitarists serious about Irish music. This book, though, is for fairly advanced players, in spite of the beginner level section called "The Guitar", an oddly simplistic chapter for an alternate tuning guide. This book will meet your needs only if you have some grounding in music theory, good intermediate chops and a willingness to do further research on your own.

The theory chapters are quite dense, covering modes, keys and chord structure in a few pages. These are subjects that should have been developed further to be of practical use. Also, the 24 songs charted in the back of the book are only melody lines, no backing chords.

The chapter "Backing Irish Music" reveals Ms. McQuaid's attitude: "You cannot back a tune that you do not know", admonishing less accomplished players not to play at all if they cannot add something to the mix. This stinginess of spirit pervades the chapter. Needless to say, I disagree completely. Open sessions are about having fun, socializing and sharing with the community, not virtuosic grandstanding. Most session players would agree ... even in the pubs :-)

Ms. McQuaid does include an wonderful discography for 30 Irish guitarists that is worth the price of the book, IMHO; hard-to-find info. In spite of it's flaws serious Irish players should have this book on their shelves for reference.

This book went deep into Irish music played in DADGAD tuning on guitar. Songs are in tab with chords above. It teaches about music theory, and chord shapes for DADGAD. I ordered the cd from the company that made the book also, to hear all the tunes. This book is a must have for anyone into Irish music for guitar or just wanting to expand there guitar playing into alternate tunings.

I've been buying musical instruction books for over 20 years. Without qualification, this is the worst book I've ever purchased. The biggest deficiency is that for the songs that are printed in the book, there are no chord marking. All you get is the melody and key signature. Very disappointing. John Doyle and Galvin Raston's books are infinitely superior to this