Guitar Books the Podcast

“The Devil Is In It” by John Stubbings is an incredible historical look at the acoustic guitar: its players, its builders, and how it is woven into the history of the United States and Europe. This is an extremely valuable read for guitarists of all stripes. • You will learn about the evolution of the acoustic guitar from its earliest forms through to modern luthier-built masterpieces. • You will...

Do you want to become a better fingerstyle guitarist?  Today I’m here to talk about how studying classical guitar technique and repertoire will elevate your fingerstyle playing.  Additionally, I will present my favorite classical guitar method books for fingerstyle players.  Please note, I am aiming this video specifically at fingerstyle players and not aspiring classical guitar players, although...

Is this one of the best or worst method or repertoire books for learning to play acoustic fingerstyle blues guitar? You can learn to play music using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books. Understanding DADGAD for Fingerstyle Guitar is a method book for… learning to play fingerstyle guitar using the wonderous alternate tuning known as DADGAD tuning.  This tuni...

Welcome back to my mini-series on how to become a better acoustic fingerstyle guitarist through the use of general guitar method books. I’ll show you how to arrange melodies from: • Essential Elements for Guitar: Comprehensive Guitar Method, and • Hal Leonard’s Guitar Method Book 1 In today’s podcast, I’ll walk you through the process of arranging Example 29 from the Essential Elements book.

Welcome to my mini-series on how to become a better acoustic fingerstyle guitarist through the use of general guitar method books. I’ll show you how to arrange melodies from: • Essential Elements for Guitar: Comprehensive Guitar Method, and • Hal Leonard’s Guitar Method Book 1 In today’s podcast, I’ll walk you through the process of arranging Example 10 from the Essential Elements book.

General guitar method books are intended to guide beginner players through a comprehensive study of technique, reading standard notation, playing basic chords, etc. However, they can provide a very useful platform for acoustic fingerstyle practice if you know how to use them!  Today we’ll take a look at two widely used guitar method books that are closely related: Essential Elements for Guita...

Looking to learn new fingerstyle blues tunes to play on your acoustic guitar?  This is a rundown of my favorite fingerstyle blues repertoire books. Hopefully you have already seen my previous video of “Best Fingerstyle Blues Method Books.”  Method books provide a guided course of study with explanatory text, exercises, example tune arrangements, etc.  In this video I will be talking...

If you want to get started playing fingerstyle guitar, you will benefit from private lessons with a teacher, online video courses, listening to fingerstyle recordings, and of course… books.  It is beneficial to mix and match all of these resources.  Remember that everyone’s brain works differently, so you may gravitate more toward certain styles of learning / methods of presentation.&#16...

Is this one of the best or worst method or repertoire books for learning to play acoustic fingerstyle blues guitar? You can learn to play music using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books. 12-Bar Fingerstyle Blues by Dave Rubin is another great repertoire book full of 12-bar blues choruses.  I loved the author’s other book, Solo Blues Guitar , and now I recomm...

Is this one of the best or worst method or repertoire books for learning to play acoustic fingerstyle blues guitar? You can learn to play music using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books. Solo Blues Guitar by Dave Rubin is different from any other book that I’ve reviewed thus far in that it is not a fingerstyle guitar book.  The examples can be played fingers...

Is this one of the best or worst method or repertoire books for learning to play acoustic fingerstyle blues guitar? You can learn to play music using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books. Roots and Blues Fingerstyle Guitar Explorations by Steve James is a hybrid repertoire/method book for learning to play fingerstyle and bottleneck blues.  This book is suitab...

R.I.P. Bob Weir (1947-2026) Original solo fingerstyle guitar arrangement of the Grateful Dead tune, “Scarlet Begonias” (arr. Joe McMurray). “Scarlet Begonias” was released on the 1974 album, “From the Mars Hotel” and was written by Jerry Garcia and lyricist Robert Hunter. TABs are available for purchase through my PayPal link at https://www.paypal.com/ncp/paymen...

Is this one of the best or worst method or repertoire books for learning to play acoustic fingerstyle blues guitar? You can learn to play music using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books. Despite the book’s title, this is not a traditional method book for learning to play fingerstyle blues guitar.  This is a repertoire book containing fingerstyle blues arrang...

Original solo fingerstyle guitar arrangement of Winter Wonderland by Joe McMurray.  One of my favorite Christmas tunes, Winter Wonderland was written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and lyricist Richard B. Smith. TABs are available for purchase through my PayPal link at https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/6ZEEQXVEQ7MFA If you are interested in purchasing the TABs, be aware that this arrangement is su...

Christmas repertoire books featuring solo fingerstyle guitar arrangements are great for the holiday season!  Whether you simply want to get into the Christmas spirit or you need to perform Christmas tunes at your gigs, there are a number of great Christmas repertoire books.  Last year I did a similar multi-book review, but I need to put out an update since I have since gone on a buying s...

Is this one of the best or worst method books for learning to play acoustic fingerstyle blues guitar? You can learn to play music using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books. Another great find!   Beginning Fingerstyle Blues Guitar, by Arnie Berle and Mark Galbo, is a method book for learning to play fingerstyle blues guitar (both solo and accompaniment).&#160...

Is this one of the best or worst method books for learning to play acoustic fingerstyle blues guitar? You can learn to play music using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books. Open with 12-bar blues performance Imagine ripping a blues solo on stage with your band – your drummer and bassist providing a comfortable soundscape on which your tasty guitar lines can float...

Is this one of the best or worst repertoire books for learning to play acoustic fingerstyle blues guitar? You can learn to play music using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books. Steve James’ Fingerstyle Blues Songbook is a repertoire book drawing from various substyles of fingerstyle blues (general old time country blues, Delta blues, ragtime blues, Texas blues, a...

Is this one of the best or worst method books for acoustic fingerstyle guitar? You can learn to play music by simultaneously using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books. Rainer’s Acoustic Blues Guitar Picking School, written by Rainer Brunn, is a method book for learning to play solo fingerstyle blues guitar.  The material is generally appropriate for late beg...

Is this one of the best or worst books for learning about vintage Gibson acoustic guitars? Kalamazoo Gals by John Thomas is a great book for vintage guitar enthusiasts, anyone curious about why folks are so crazy about vintage guitars, anyone generally interested in the Gibson guitar company and its founding, and anyone interested in the culture and society of the U.S. home front during World War...

If you want to get started playing acoustic fingerstyle guitar, you will benefit from private lessons with a teacher, online video courses, listening to fingerstyle recordings, and of course… books.  It is beneficial to mix and match all of these resources.  Remember that everyone’s brain works differently, so you may gravitate more towards certain styles of learning / methods of presentation.  I...

Is this one of the best or worst books for learning to play acoustic fingerstyle guitar? You can learn to play music by simultaneously using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books. The Inner Game of Fingerstyle Guitar by Adam Rafferty is an inspirational collection of practical advice on becoming not only a better fingerstyle guitarist, but a better musician and hum...

Is this one of the best or worst method books for acoustic fingerstyle guitar? You can learn to play music by simultaneously using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books. This book is a gem!  Travis-Style Guitar From Scratch , written by Bruce Emery, is a method book for learning to play solo fingerstyle guitar using an alternating bass (in the Travis style).&#...

Is this one of the best or worst method books for acoustic fingerstyle guitar? You can learn to play music by simultaneously using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books. The Alex de Grassi Fingerstyle Guitar Method , written by fingerstyle legend Alex de Grassi and produced by Stringletter (the publisher of Acoustic Guitar Magazine), is a method book for learning t...

Quick advice, tips, and tricks for improving at fingerstyle guitar, ukulele, etc. Selecting and maintaining a repertoire of tunes is critically important.  Whether you want to casually play for friends/family or you aspire to perform at a local bar/restaurant gig, you should intentionally choose repertoire tunes that suit your desired performance outlet. Once you’ve built a repertoire, mainta...