[Cloodie]

I've worked my way through Arnie Berle's 'Beggining Fingerstyle Blues Guitar' and now I'm just about to start on Keith Wyatt's 'Beyond Basics Acoustic Blues guitar'.

Anyone got any other acoustic blues books that they would recommend?

[dadfad]

Arnie's book was actually written totally by a close friend of mine, Mark Galbo. At the time Mark wrote it (maybe ten or more years ago) Arnie had more "name recognition" and the publisher said he would publish it only if Mark allowed Arnie's name to be put on it as well. It's a pretty decent book (and I was going to recommend it when I first opened your thread). I don't especially care for Keith Wyatt's stuff. It can be useful, but he's more of a jack-of-all-trades guitarist and not really much of a master in the genre of country-blues.

There really aren't a lot of good books around. (There are some really bad ones too, by big-time publishers even, that are pure crap. I even saw one where the author (an experienced video-game music and TV-commercial jingle-writer) tabbed (tried to tab) Skip James tunes using standard tuning instead of DADFAD! . There aren't a lot of guys really deep into the genre that have done books. The old-guys themselves being either dead or often illiterate, and the younger guys who learned from them too busy playing, so there aren't a lot. The exception being probably Stefan Grossman. He's done several books (his first was written in the 60s) and they aren't bad. They aren't perfect, but they're pretty good. (Ignore his lyrics because Stef didn't seem to have a clue about Black-slang and jargon!) He's done them on several different bluesmen as well as specific sub-genres of country-blues, like Delta or Ragtime, etc. For years they were the only instruction books available, period. And still probably the best.

Anyway, take a look at Stefan's books.

[adds]

Well its about time you done a book then aint it John .

[dadfad]

Thanks, Adam. I'd like to. Maybe after I retire (which if I'm lucky is only a few years away). I have so little time. The little bit of stuff I might tab here takes me forever, and I really cut a lot of corners as far as explanation and really doing it right. Probably wouldn't sell many copies without having a "name" somebody might recognize, but a "labor of love" I guess. Someday.... !

[Cloodie]

I've got to admit I hadn't even heard of Arnie Berle and when I looked up his other books it kinda put me off him as they all seemed to be jazz etc. Makes sense then if he never actually wrote the book.

[dadfad]

I've got to admit I hadn't even heard of Arnie Berle and when I looked up his other books it kinda put me off him as they all seemed to be jazz etc. Makes sense then if he never actually wrote the book.

Yes, it was totally Mark's production including the playing on the CD (I don't know if Arnie even does country-blues). Mark gave my daughter one of the first copies printed with the cassette (that it originally came out with) and she liked it a lot. (The first run was only five-hundred copies, a hundred of which was Mark's only payment for doing it. He now gets a small royalty though as it has become more popular (and as Mark has become slightly better known in instructional-material).

[adds]

Thanks, Adam. I'd like to. Maybe after I retire (which if I'm lucky is only a few years away). I have so little time. The little bit of stuff I might tab here takes me forever, and I really cut a lot of corners as far as explanation and really doing it right. Probably wouldn't sell many copies without having a "name" somebody might recognize, but a "labor of love" I guess. Someday.... !

No mate you should do it you know your stuff you just got to sell yourself. Hell sell it off the backs of all those that you knew if you had to. Throw a few names about of the old blues boys im sure they wouldnt mind after all isnt the saying you always say they use is pass it on. You can have a little bit about your life and the people youve met it would be great. You can put my namedown for a copy thats for sure

[jumping_jack_splash]

yeah id be interested dadfad, you always seem to have something to add on topics about da blues, hell you could even sign it, and when im famous ill give you royalties

[RICH.J]

I know I always say it, but the Woody Mann Art of Acoustic Blues Guitar really is a great series of books and DVD's. I still feel they're amongst the best I've come across.

http://www.woodymann.com/

Have a look see what you think. There's about six songs in each book/DVD.

[Crawdaddy]

Not a book but just on the subject of Stefan Grossman that dadfad raised, I've seen a couple of his instructional videos that are worth taking the time to have a look at. Just ignore his singing and you'll be right to pick up a few clues.

[The_buffalo]

Well its about time you done a book then aint it John :D .

Try & make the time. Look what Roy Brooks did with his "Guitarist's Manifesto".

[dadfad]

Not a book but just on the subject of Stefan Grossman that dadfad raised, I've seen a couple of his instructional videos that are worth taking the time to have a look at. Just ignore his singing and you'll be right to pick up a few clues.

I know Stefan a little bit. He's EXTREMELY sensitive about that issue! (But you're right! )

Well its about time you done a book then aint it John .

Try & make the time. Look what Roy Brooks did with his "Guitarist's Manifesto".

You could tell Roy's book was a labor of love. And I have to say reading it made me think about trying to do something like that.

[Crawdaddy]

QUOTE(Crawdaddy @ May 21 2006, 07:31 AM)

Not a book but just on the subject of Stefan Grossman that dadfad raised, I've seen a couple of his instructional videos that are worth taking the time to have a look at. Just ignore his singing and you'll be right to pick up a few clues.


I know Stefan a little bit. He's EXTREMELY sensitive about that issue! (But you're right! )

Glad you saw the funny side of it, I shouldn't have bagged his singing because I'm no great singer myself. What he might lack ( I said might this time, just in case he's got extremely sensitive ears too !) he certainly makes up for in chops. He's no stranger to knowing his way around the fretboard.

[dadfad]

My singing is pretty poor too (I rely on effects alot to "clean it up" a little.). Yeah, Stefan has been into it for a long time. Long before it was popular, in the early 60s, he had the time and money to look-up and find many of the old blues-guys and work with them. He had about a five or ten year jump on me and so there were many more still alive, plus he had the ability to do it pretty much full-time (while I worried about the stuff like finishing school and finding the money to finance my little blues-trips, etc). I give him a great deal of credit for documenting an awful lot of material on the genre. He is very knowledgeable on the subject. Stefan is a good friend of a good friend of mine and so we'd met several times not too many years ago kickin' it around about old blues, etc. We got into a... rather heated discussion... once about a tune and I said something like "yeah, but you play it like a white-guy" (I'm guilty of that myself a lot! ) and he got really pissed! He's pretty sensitive about stuff like that. But he is very skilled, and his instructional material is as good (or better) as anything else available.