Beginner Blues Guitar National Guitar Workshop

First the facts and then my own personal opinion about this book.

The book is authorized curriculum for the National Guitar Workshop. The publisher is Alfred Publishing. This book is the first in a set of four.

There were three selling points for me, it starts out very simply, a CD of all the lessons is included and the lessons and CD include jam sessions. The first few lessons include how to pick notes on each string of the guitar to a particular rhythm. After you have completed this, you will progress to playing a few chords and twelve bar blues in D.

Then there are a large number of lessons in which you will play a pattern of notes on each string, eventually working to the point were you will be working up and down the neck and across a number of strings. Once you complete these lessons there is a short 12 bar blues in A where you play the rhythm part and then a simple solo riff.

The instruction works reading music (standard & tablature), scales, shuffles, a number of common blues chords and progressions, moveable chords (barre chords), moveable scales, hammer on/off, and bends. Throughout the lessons are opportunities to jam with the a band from the CD. The final lesson is a long jam session where you will get practice everything you have learned to a Blues Jam in A.

Now that I have covered the facts, I have to say that I am very glad that I bought Blues Guitar for Beginners. I am now at the point where I can play a strong lead for a 12-bar blues songs in the keys of A & E.

I highly recommend this book and the series if you want to learn how to play the blues.