Customer Reviews

Ultimate Guitar Blues Play-Along (Guitar Trax) (Ultimate Play-Along Series)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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The book includes a CD with demonstration solos. On each track the solo drops out and the background continues so the user can play lead. Really good background tracks in a variety of blues styles. Though the book includes complete tabs and notation, the solos are fairly advanced. Actually duplicating them is for reasonably experienced players, though others can pick up some of the licks.

I knew the solos would be over my head, but I bought it anyway. No problem, because when the solos drop out, there is plenty of time to play along with some excellent blues. The solos at the beginning start me off just right. I haven't really played in years, and after getting this book and CD today, now my playing fingers have blisters, and my thumb, too (I finally found a pick, thank God). BTW, I found this under a search for Robben Ford, but he does maybe three solos on the CD, but no matter, it's all good.
This is a great tool to play your own unique style along with the backup band. You really only need knowledge of the blues scales and a facility with bending notes. Hey, if any music book and/or CD gets you up off the couch and playing that thing, then it's good!!

This is a fantastic tool to increase your knowledge of the blues. It includes full transcription, chord progression, and a nice write up about the details of each piece. I've never seen something presented in this way and was very pleasantly surprised with this. I have attacked this by spending a day on each song because there is a lot to digest aside from the normal pentatonic and blues scales that are typically associated with the blues. The best part to me was being able to hear how some great players approached the song and then being able to follow them with the backing track. Great!

It can be kinda tough to find good guitar books for the intermediate/advanced player looking to go up a notch. This is definately a good book for that. This is not for beginners. From start to finish it's all a challenge. I've definately added some new licks and technique to my bag, especially in the string bending department. The cd is invaluable and it's great to play along with. I usually start off trying to play the solos note for note but end up wandering off doing my own thing. Another good feature is that the solos stay within one key and the scales/positions used are explained before the solo. So instead of just learning a solo, you also learn how to apply the licks in your overall playing.

I have more than a dozen instructional books on blues, and this one counts as one of the best.

It shows not only the solo parts, but also the rhythm sections. Another book that does that is 'More Blues You Can Use', also a very good book, but solos on 'Ultimate Guitar Blues Play-Along' are more challenging.

So I would recommend this book to intermediate/advanced blues guitarists who want to increase their vocabulary.

Invaluable to seasoned blues hounds and newcomers alike, this package offers excellent lead examples from pickers like Robben Ford and Keith Wyatt - Not to mention a few other incredibally talented instructors at GIT. As if this were not enough, there is also ample rhythm time on each cd track to allow the aspiring blues man more than his/her fair share of gut-wrenching benchmark whiskey blues time!

Robben Ford does 4 solos ranging from 1 to 2 minutes with only one, 'Deja Blue' clocking in at close to 2 minutes. He's hands down the best player represented here. He even makes a boring progression like 'Ship Captain & Crew sound good. It's just timing, phrasing and classy chops that do it for him along with alot of God given ability. You have all these solos tabbed out,(I can't vouche for the accuracy but I'm assuming they're fairly accurate) and the remaining 3 to 5 minutes of the tune to jam to. Steve Trovato does 3 solos and he's just a notch down from Robben. His Stevie Ray Vaughan pistache 'Never Ending Blues' is a stand-out. Scott Henderson has just 1 solo and it's very energetic but his playing is best represented in Tribal Tech recordings. He uses his whammy bar alot in subtle ways but to my ears he needs more interesting progressions to jam to to bring out his outrageous musical personality to best effect. Nevertheless, the best of luck trying to decipher his solo,(even with the transcription !) The rest of these solos are good but not great. If you like country, the very last song, 'Sunset Saloon' has B bender Tele phrases for you to try and emulate by Pedro Wyant. Not my cup of tea. This is a good value at 14 bucks because you get instructional material, performance notes, tabs and at least 7 expert blues solos,(4 by Robben Ford-perhaps the very best player in the genre). If you can play some,(know your blues and pentatonic scales), and have the motivation you could get pretty awesome at blues lead guitar with this book/CD package.