Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally, someone gets it right., June 28, 2005
Yes, everyone can finally forget all the other transcriptions of Robert Johnson's recordings. Once and for all, this book gives his work the nuance and attention to detail it deserves, with both (full length) standard notation and tablature utilised in order to properly represent the complexity of Johnson's work. Some may quibble over the suggested tunings and capo placements, but the authors make clear that the different Johnson album releases can vary as much as a whole tone - given speed settings and mastering. This has often caused a degree of confusion in previous Johnson transcription books, compelling transcribers to render Johnson's work in Open G and 'standard' tuning, in order to cover all the bases...
In contrast, these transcriptions are based upon the 1998 CD 'The King of the Delta Blues Singers', which utilises high quality 78s by Johnson (and advanced audio technology) to offer exceptionally high sound clarity. This allows for a degree of accuracy in transcription never before available, and the authors pull out all the stops in an attempt to recreate Johnson on paper. Indeed, some might argue that the songs appear somewhat 'over-transcribed', but these transcriptions eclipse those presented by Woody Mann (whose 'Complete Robert Johnson' - previously the key Johnson songbook - is nothing of the kind). The attention here to precisely detailing muting, tunings, trills with (and without) slide and other Johnson techniques is very impressive. The authors make convincing transcription cases for the use of Open A, Open E and (important) capo placements in a way that will allow any guitar player to reproduce Johnson 'from the record'. There is, however, ONE element missing: up/down strumming notation, which the Mann book includes and, frankly, is an important component of Johnson's technique. But then, as can be seen on Eric Clapton's recent 'Sessions for Robert J.' DVD release, even seasoned players can disagree on Johnson's strumming technique. Was it a variation upon flamenco technique? Did he use a thumbpick on every song? Well - perhaps some secrets were destined to die with poor Bob...
You'll often find yourself thumbing through the transcriptions as you listen to Johnson - a fantastic way of understanding his basic approach to creating music and the forms he appeared most comfortable with. Indeed, I've heard so much more in Johnson's recordings with the aid of this transcription book that his work feels entirely fresh and new - even after years of listening intently to his albums.
Seriously, if you want to learn Johnson, pick this transcription book up. You'll not only better your playing, but develop an exceptionally sophisticated ear for listening to Johnson's recordings. This is THE Johnson resource - make no mistake.
Quite simply, an incredible achievement. A hearty congratulations to the author(s).
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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Real Deal, December 28, 2004
I have to imagine if Robert Johnson himself saw this book he would be shocked by the amount of effort that has gone into deciphering every fingering move he made on the few recordings from him that exist. This truly represents a labor of love by the authors.
Almost amazingly, this book truly is as complete as it claims to be - with the tunings (multiple and some unusual), capo placement, and tablature to recreate as accurately as possible the music that Robert Johnson recorded. If you take the time to learn the music represented by the tablature in this book you will be able to exactly recreate Robert Johnson's recorded guitar parts probably more accurately than he would duplicate playing the same song a second time.
Although certainly not for beginners, this book is great assistance for intermediate level guitarists to get an insite into Delta style blues tecniques as played by Robert Johnson, as well as learn some great songs.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent work, October 22, 2009
Since Robert Johnson used non-standard tunings, capos in seemingly random positions, and there's no video recording of his playing at all, it's about as easy to transcribe his music as solving a doctoral-level open scientific problem. While I don't approve of most guitar songbooks published these days, I certainly feel that the authors have offered us more than a fair deal with this book, and unless you have a few years of your life you're willing to dedicate to studying acoustic guitar Delta blues, you'd be well advised to reap these ready results.
It's well worth it.
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