Customer Reviews

Mel Bay Tommy Emmanuel: Only--Note for Note Transcribed Solos from Tommy's album "Only"

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Pay no attention to the naysayer(s) -- this is without doubt the best transcription book I've ever come across, and that's saying something, as I've been through a lot of them in my 25 years of playing the guitar. What Pritcher's done with the transcription, in fact, resembles what Tommy's done with the recording: presented remarkably rich and nuanced guitar music. Unlike many transcribers, Pritcher's approach has been to present each piece in its entirety, *including* subtle variations in articulation. As a result of Pritcher's determination to present every last detail of the performance, there's nary a repeat symbol to be found, and virtually every transcription runs 10 pages or more. That may be more than some people want, but (especially when dealing with a player of Tommy's caliber) I certainly appreciate it. Having seen Tommy play some of these tunes, I might quibble here and there with Pritcher's fingerings, but thoses are minor details. Without doubt, this is a transcription book every fingerstyle guitarist should own. Studying these pieces has opened up my own playing and composing beyond anything I'd ever have imagined.

Masterpieces of Tommy's work which are eloquently presented in an easy-to-follow book and inspiring CD. Narrative description of each song that Tommy played in this album brings student follower to his inner world of guitar talking.

I don't know what transcription book J. M Matney "justinmatney" looked at, but the transcription of the five songs I've worked out were spot on (literally note-for-note). I expect the others are as well.

If you are a fan of fingerstyle guitar in general, and/or Tommy Emmanuel in particular, you will love this book of transcribed solos. The transcriptions are clear and concise, and the music is, of course, just awesome! I highly recommend this book and Tommy's companion "Only" CD to any serious aficionado of this musical genre!

Few would argue that Tommy Emmanuel is one of the top guitarists in the world today, and not many of us guitar hackers can come close to him. However, if you are a somewhat accomplished player and can read music, then this book will get you darned close to at least passable executions of many of his songs. If you're a beginning guitar player you'll only be frustrated, but if you have some experience this book will allow you to see how Emmanuel accomplishes what he does. Infinitely quicker than trying to figure it out by ear.

There is little I can say about the best fingerstyle guitarist in the world that hasn't already been said, but this book really captures the essence of Tommy's album. The transcriptions themselves are dead-on from what I can tell. I've watched many of these pieces played live and the book is accurate right down to the positionings.

The difficulty of the pieces within this album/book range from intermediate to advanced. One of the great things about this book is that it will provide years of study and enjoyment. Some of the more difficult pieces in this book have taken me several months to learn, which provides valuable repetoire study and technique improvement.

You will need a capo to play a couple of these pieces note-for-note and some of the pieces use dropped-D or a de-tuning, just a heads up.

I love this book! I've gone through several pieces and found the transcriptions extremely accurate.
Tommy makes them seem easy to play, but for me they are quite difficult. I'd say they are for
solid intermediate players bordering on advanced. I have the other book, too, and can play "Angelina"
fairly well, it is much more accessible to intermediate players.

From reading the intro notes to each piece (in both books), it is obvious that the author has talked to
Tommy and seen how he fingers the odd chord shapes and transitions between them, and these fingerings are noted in the tab.

Highly recommended!

I was so stoked to get this, *ahem*, "note-for-note" transcription of Tommy Emmanuel's instant classic "Only". This is probably the biggest disappointment as far as Amazon purchases go that I've ever experienced. Don't get me wrong, this isn't Amazon's fault, and it certainly isn't Tommy Emmanuel's fault. There are just so many mistakes in the transcription, I really have to wonder if Mark Pritcher has even heard the album.

If you're wanting to learn these songs, I suppose it could get you going in the right direction, but that is it. Don't rely on these transcriptions alone, they are simply too inaccurate.