Red Hot Country Guitar (Guitar Signature Licks) (Paperback)

by Michael Hawley (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The complete guide to playing lead guitar in the styles of Pete Anderson, Ray Flacke, Danny Gatton, Albert Lee, Brent Mason, and more! This book and CD pack will take your country guitar playing to the next level with loads of red-hot licks, techniques, solos, theory, and more! You'll learn: hybrid picking, single-note soloing, open chord licks, double stops, bending, open-string licks, licks in the style of the masters, CAGED system, chord and scale diagrams, and more.

Product Details

• Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation (January 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 063407640X
• ISBN-13: 978-0634076404
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 8.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #104,103 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book on modern electric country guitar playing, July 26, 2006

By	Brian Busch (Mankato, MN) - See all my reviews

This isn't a Mel Bay country western sing around the campfire guitar book your grandpa used. This book is written for the electric guitarist that loves the new "Hot Nashville" style of Brent Mason Telecaster playing heard coming out of the recording studios of Music Row in Nashville today.

The book's greatest asset is in its format. Very well organized. Every lick, whether it be by Albert Lee, Ray Flacke, or Brent Mason, is preceded by a theoretical explanation showing which scale the lick came from in clear diagram form for you to practice. You can reference the CD which includes most examples, and which really helps to train your ear as far as what hot country guitar is supposed to sound like.

The scales are country specific. Not that they're ONLY played in country music but they're the most commonly used by today's Nashville session guitarist. What I found interesting are the composite country scales that include bebop chromatic notes. I've seen these composite scales before in jazz books as being called "blues scales" or "mixolydian bebop" scales, but now I see, and hear, how they apply to country.

Another great feature of the book's format is that a lot of music theory has been put at the end of the book for further study and for reference. You can tell the author, Michael Hawley, is a professional guitar instructor and you feel as though you're being taught country guitar in his master class.

There's of course Telecaster chicken pickin. There is even fast Doc Watson bluegrass runs played on acoustic guitar. The only thing I thought the book lacked was an in depth study of right hand technique, since the right hand popping of the strings is what makes country guitar sound different than other styles and takes years to master.

Great book Michael! Looking forward to more.

5.0 out of 5 stars From Licks to Theory, July 9, 2009

By	LWAddict "Rich" (CA, USA) - See all my reviews

First, I'd have to agree to the Brent Mason style reference in the first review. I've been studying Johnny Hiland, Brent Mason, and Albert Lee since Decemember and this book is most definitely the ticket to help out with mastering these types of styles.

Still mushing my way through the lessons but what I've gotten from this book/cd is outstanding.

Starting off like a standard lick book, this book slowly begins to open you up to an understanding of chicken picken, twang bending, etc and how this all mixes with guitar theory so you can eventually breakout with what you've learned and start coming up with your own stuff.

Not sure if this would be good for the beginner, but since good country guitar lesson material is so hard to come by these days (noting that Red Dog appears to be off the market among others)... I say grab it and hold on to it until you're ready.